Organizational culture should be how the firm achieves its mission by living its values and belief on a daily basis, and management needs to be specific about the values and behaviors it expects from its people. Organizational culture consists of the shared values and assumptions of how its members will behave.

It’s not easy to build a culture that’s open and excited about change, rather than resistant to it. But the culture should instill ethical standards and cultivate people who care about each other and about their work. In this course, we describe how people learn the organization’s culture and the importance of having a strong positive culture.

When hiring, an important consideration is matching the person to the culture. Newcomers need to learn and be integrated into the organization’s culture. Culture is learned through observing and interacting with employees, events, and training.

Organizational cultural strength is characterized by a continuum from strong to weak. Organizations with clear values that are shared to the extent of similar behavior have strong cultures. In strong cultures norms are used to enforcing desired behavior. Organizations that have no stated values and do not enforce behavior have weak cultures. So the more alike the values and behavior, the stronger the culture, and vice versa.

An organizational culture is considered positive or healthy when it has norms that contribute to effective performance and productivity. A negative or unhealthy organizational culture is a source of resistance and turmoil that hinders effective performance. The most effective organizational culture that leads to effective performance is strong and positive.