Organizational culture rules

Operationally, organizational culture is defined as a set of shared philosophies, ideologies, values, beliefs, expectations, attitudes, assumptions, and norms (Mitroff and Kilmann 1984). Cultural norms are the set of unwritten rules that guide behavior (Jackson 1960). Use of this concept allows the capturing of those dimensions of organizational life that may not be visible in the more rational and mechanical aspects of the organization. 

Some organizational cultures inhibit the kinds of behavior needed to reduce industrial injuries. Getting employees involved in safety is difficult within the context of top-down rules, regulations, and programs supported almost exclusively with the threat of negative consequences. In contrast, employee involvement is much more likely with top-down support of safety processes developed, owned, and continuously improved upon by work teams educated to understand relevant rationale and principles. 

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... 

The leadership team must have an in-depth understanding of the current organizational culture in order to begin the process of what has to change the culture of an organization in order to shape a new culture. Every department in an organization has unique behavioral that include adherence to facility rules, dress codes, etiquette, performance goals, etc. 

Losers seem to have very few strengths. They perform moderately in execution, but only against a weak strategy. The organizational dimensions are particularly weak bureaucracy rules and there are few mechanisms for cross-functional coordination. Culture is controlling,... 

For scales to measure other safety-related factors, the reader can consult Costa and Anderson (2011) for trust measures Zohar (2000) for safety climate measures Barling et al. (2002) for safety consciousness Sneddon et al. (2013) for situational awareness Neal and Griffin (2006) for safety participation and compliance Chmiel (2005) for bending the rules Cox and Cox (1991) for safety skepticism Neal et al. (2000) for safety knowledge and safety motivation Tucker et al. (2008) for employee safety voicing Tucker et al. (2008) for perceived organizational and perceived co-worker support for safety and Diaz-cabera et al. (2007) for safety culture. Another good source of information on safety measures are meta-analyses (e.g., Christian et al. 2009 Clarke 2006). 

According to the safety culture—oriented organizational behavior, organizational behavior determine individual behavior , the measures should be taken from level of awareness of the safety culture (root cause), the improvement and enforcement of safety rules habits (primary cause) and the training of security acts habits (indirect cause). 

Shein divides culture into three levels (figure 13.2) [188]. At the top are the surface-level cultural artifacts or routine aspects of everyday practice including hazard analyses and control algorithms and procedures. The second, middle level is the stated organizational rules, values, and practices that are used to create the top-level artifacts, such as safety policy, standards, and guidelines. At the lowest level is the often invisible but pervasive underlying deep cultural operating assumptions... 

Functional Hierarchy versus bureaucracy. A functional hierarchy is not the hierarchy that exists as a barrier in health care today, such as the hierarchy of power differentials between physicans and nurses, physicians and patients. Rather, a functional hierarchy is a system of formal rules, structures, procedures, training, and decision making in the service of organizational mission and values. In a safety culture, there is a clear chain of command so that jteople at the sharp end know where to go for help, but hierarchies are flexible and can be modified when organizational conditions so warrant. Senior managers see the big picture and therefore do not micromanage instead, they attend to patterns and systems. De-... 

Some explanations of non-compliance focus on the workplace. For instance, non-compliance may be associated with a negative corporate culture where compliance is not encouraged and where there may be peer pressure not to comply (Massey, 1979 Sigler and Murphy, 1988 Whitehurst, 1977). Low worker morale was a major reason for non-compliance identified by occupational health and safety inspectors in Britain (Hutter, 1997). Low morale could result for a variety of reasons. For instance, it could be a consequence of low pay or industrial action such as a work to rule or strike. Often, of course, these factors were related. A positive corporate culture, however, could encourage compliance and lead to intra-organizational pressures to comply (Bardach and Kagan, 1982). 

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