Organizational culture, meaning

Organizational culture means the shared, often unconscious values, attitudes, standards, and assumptions that govern behavior, especially in situations that lack clearly defined rules and procedures. Organizational culture is the driving values of the organization—"the way things... 

Harrison, R. Diagnosing Organizational Culture Trainer s Manual. San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass, 1993. Harteloh, P.P.M. The meaning of quality in health care A conceptual analysis. Health Care Analysis... 

The results of the interviews and document analysis were used in tailoring the questionnaire (FOCUS, First Organizational Cultural Unified Search by De Witte Van Muijen 1994) to better fit this kind of organisation. Some context-specific questions were also added. The questionnaire was based on the Cameron and Quinn s model (see figure 2). After modifications, the extended FOCUS-questionnaire was distributed to the whole staff of YTO. Response rate was 68 percent, which means 36 subjects. Data was factor analysed and summated scales were formed. In the second phase of the research, a safety culture and development workshop was carried out. The workshop was organised twice so that everybody could have a chance to attend one or the other. 

Finally, improvement efforts are most successful when the organizational culture is well understood by leaders. It is then possible to build upon favorable dimensions and undertake targeted improvement where the culture is weak. It is also possible for the administrative leadership to measure dimensions of the culture in tangible terms and report the results over time as a means of communicating the tone at the top, in the middle, and at the bedside in order to fulfill the board s responsibility to monitor the culture and oversee the emergence of safety hazards and ethical risks. 

Meanings are selected based on the organizational cultures espoused and underlying assumptions, personal experience and perceptions, peer experiences, etc. These meanings include how risk acceptance is viewed by the organization and what level of risk tolerance is expected. 

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