Internet Article Review "Organizational Culture and Organizational Change"and "The Multidimensional Character of Biased Perceptions of Individuals with Disabilities
The first article focuses on how organizational culture has changed,beginning with the 1930s and working its way forward. Much of the changesthat have been undertaken in organizational culture have to do with variousmodels of this culture that have been developed at various periods inhistory. The definitions of what actually make up organizational cultureare numerous, and many people have different ideas about this culture andall of the things that are involved in it. Because of this, there is noway to simply state what organizational culture is, since something wouldundoubtedly be added or left out when a simplistic definition is agreedupon. In general, however, it involves a pattern of basic assumptions thatis agreed upon by all and validated enough to be shared by those in theorganization and passed on to those who are new to it (Avallone, 2003). This culture has many dimensions and functions, and these varydepending on the business that is being discussed, because the cultures ofvarious businesses are quite different from one another. This is somethingthat those in the workforce must be prepared for. Even if they remainwithin the same industry, they will encounter a slightly dif
There aremany similarities, but there are also differences that are important, andboth of these articles work to point that out in such a way that onereading them cannot overlook it. Instead, those who have formed the organizational culture must get to knowthe person with the disability in order to determine if he or she would fitin with the culture of the organization. This ability to 'fit in' shouldhave nothing to do with biases opinions about the disability, but rathershould have to do only with whether the person in question can perform therequired tasks and get along with others in the workplace (Thomas, 2001). Cultural change takes place for many different reasons, but many ofthese are changes that respond to something in the environment. This may be a concern where those that work directlywith customers are considered, but for those that do not, this type of biasshould never be an issue. ferent form oforganizational culture whenever they change jobs and move to a new companywithin that same field of expertise. According to the results of this particular article, it appears thatthe main reason that people showed bias about the disabled had to do withphysical disfigurement (Thomas, 2001). This was the category that wasranked the highest when surveys were taken about disabled people andwhether others would welcome them to an organization. Organizational culture is not as simple as the basic definition aboveindicates. It would appear, however, that it is part oforganizational culture in this country that the people who are hired shouldlook, act, and think 'like us' or they will not fit well with the cultureof the organization. Thesechanges are made internally, within the culture of the organization, butthey are a response to external stimuli. Although he writes mostly about disabilities, his ideas andopinions apply here, because he deals with how perceptions about theseissues can cause problems for the culture of an organization (Thomas,2001). Usually these changes areexpected and accepted well by most of the employees. In the second article, Adrian Thomas discusses these perceptions andbiases. As it stands now, organizationsseem to have a strong desire to keep their cultures the way that they havealways been and not let outsiders change the way that they feel aboutanything at all.
Common topics in this essay:
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Adrian Thomas,
organizational culture,
culture organization,
thomas 2001,
fit culture organization,
fit culture,
avallone 2003,
perceptions biases,
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Acceptance Essays
