Organizational Culture: Life or Death

Organizational culture has a great influence on organizational success and productivity; it affects the way in which organization provides its products and services. An organization's culture is influenced by its beliefs and values. According to Ivancevich (2011), "a strong culture is characterized by employees sharing core values and agreeing to the way things should be done. The more employees share and accept the core values, the stronger the culture is" (p.42) and therefore, the more successful the organization is.

In case study 2.1 eleven hospitals treating heart attack patients provided speedy therapy and saved the lives of many people. Research showed that the success of these organizations was based not only on skilled personnel - it was directly related to the organizational and team culture, which is strongly impacted by core values of each person and the whole team. Doctors and nurses are driven by such values as the life and health of others, dedication to customer service, high-quality healthcare and, of course, they highly value collaboration and working together towards the same goal.

The teams of the hospitals which showed high performance were formed with the employees who had similar personal values and work habits, and who fit the organizational culture. This is an important factor for the success of the organization especially in the hospitals where team-work has a great influence on saving the lives of others. When the employees have the same values and work habits, they can fit better to the organizational culture; and they "are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, co-workers and supervisors and be more committed to the organization" (as cited in Ivancevich, 2011, p.47).

Workplace spirituality influences organizational culture which impacts team culture strength and employees' productivity, as it allows employees to "have a personal or inner life that nourishes and is nourished by performing relevant, meaningful, and challenging work" (as cited in Ivancevich, 2011, p.57). As the case study showed, all of the top hospitals had common characteristics that drove their ability to deliver fast and effective treatment to patients. Among them are senior management support for quality improvement efforts, collaborative teams across nursing, cardiology and emergency services, and a strong organizational culture. From my point of view, constant communication between team members and leaders could keep the team more on track and motivated. Good management and workplace activities such as daily staff meetings, teamwork performance rewards, regular team-building games and corporate sports could be used to improve employees' teamwork skills and help to build up an effective team.