This paper is a challenge in taking another view on cultural elements, considered to be more specific then any other strategic issues of management.  The paper is structured into the following parts: cultural dimensions and variables; barriers to the organizational culture change and organizational culture change and its adaptation to world values. Conclusions lead to the possibilities of standardizing some related to organizational culture issues, such as: communication, relations and organization’s flexibility, which may be considered as organizational culture elements that are to be standardized

Doval, E

Doval, O

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MPRA
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Issues of standardization concerning
organizational culture in change
management
E Doval and O Doval
Spiru Haret University, Faculty of Management, Brasov, Spiru Haret
University, Faculty of Management, Brasov
5. April 2008
Online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/25790/
MPRA Paper No. 25790, posted 13. October 2010 11:18 UTC
 1 
Issues of standardization concerning organizational culture in change 
management* 
 
Elena DOVAL1 and Oriana DOVAL2 
 
Spiru Haret University, Bucharest 
 
Abstract 
 
This paper is a challenge in taking another view on cultural elements, considered to be more specific 
then any other strategic issues of management.  The paper is structured into the following parts: cultural 
dimensions and variables; barriers to the organizational culture change and organizational culture 
change and its adaptation to world values. Conclusions lead to the possibilities of standardizing some 
related to organizational culture issues, such as: communication, relations and organization’s flexibility, 
which may be considered as organizational culture elements that are to be standardized. 
 
JEL Classification: M33, L19, L15 
 
Keywords: change management, organizational culture, standardization 
 
 
1. Introduction 
 
Terms as organizational culture, culture management or culture change management are still of 
interest in the 21st century. The cultural values are inherited from generations and are difficult to be 
changed, but in conditions that the organizations are forced to adapt to the environment that is 
changing fast their management has to act for changing some cultural components (habits, behaviors, 
management styles, the mode of relationships, organizational structures, the mode  of communication 
and others.  Schein [11] argues about organizational culture that is the “deeper level of basic 
assumption and beliefs that are shared by the members of an organization that operate unconsciously 
and define in a basic taken-for-granted fashion an organization’s view of it self and its environment”.  
 
Each organization has its “personality” or its culture. For an organization to be successful its culture 
has to be managed effectively. The management of cultural systems or culture management defines 
culture and makes possible the understanding of the mode in which this affects the organizational 
behavior. The entire process serves to the development of strategies as competitive advantage.  
 
The culture management is focused on the following directions: 
• Identification of the real culture versus „what is said or think”; 
• Determination of what the culture should be to promote behaviours according to the 
organization’s scope; 
• Development of a plan that should conduct the organization from „where is” to „where needs to 
be” according to its culture.  
 
Cultural factors are important in change management because they affect the process of change and 
what people are taken for granted.  A high context of culture is that one in which people are deeply 
involved with each other in a structure where hierarchy exists and a low context culture, in contrast, is 
that one in which people are highly individualized, somewhat aliened and fragmented [6].  
 
 
*
 This paper has been published in the 32nd Annual Congress of ARA Proceedings, American Romanian Academy of Arts 
and Sciences, USA. Polytechnic International Press, Canada, 978-2-553-01424-6, pp. 374-377.  
1,2
 Spiru Haret University, Faculty of Management, Brasov, 7 Turnului street, Romania, doval.elena@yahoo.com 
 
 2 
In this context it might be not possible to standardize cultural elements, but there could be find related 
cultural issues that could considered in some extend. 
 
Standardization allows for clear communication between industry and its suppliers, relatively low cost, 
and manufacture on the basis of interchangeable parts. The benefits of standardization are that the 
management can achieve economies of scale and the ability to attract common cutural issues by 
using standardized programs.   
 
2. Cultural dimensions and variables 
 
Analizing the management culture, which is often found in the organizational culture is necessary to 
take into account the culture’s dimensions and the variables that influence the organizational culture. 
 
Cultural dimensions are best defined by Hofstede [7,8,5], who succeded to define the concept of 
“organizational culture” and to highlight “its dimenssions” for 64 countries’ culture. The fourth 
dimenssions Hofstede described are: the power distance,   individuaism / colectivism, masculinity / 
feminity and  uncertainty avoidance. 
 
The main variables that influence the organizational culture are grouped into endogen variables and 
exogenous variables [9]. 
 
Endogen variables relates to: organization’s history, owners, managers, employees, the level of 
organization, technology and the degree of information technology, financial statements, the phase in 
the organization’s life cycle, the organization’s aim and objectives, the management system; 
 
Exogenous variables: the economic environment, institutional environment and national culture.  
These variables define the organizational cultures and subcultures, varying according to values, 
beliefs, aspirations and expectations of the people and to individual, group or organization behaviour.  
 
These issues contribute to the management and organization performances because the culture 
influences directly or indirectly the strategic objectives fullfilment and the efficiency of change process.  
 
What is important regarding the culture analysis is the cultural specificities of different nations, 
organizations, groups and individuals. Studies highlites several cultural models and theories, among 
them may be exemplified: Hofstede model, Douglas cultural theory, Lessem’s classification, national 
stereotypes paradigm etc. [1], that are really usful for any approach of culture.  
 
The specific cultural elements are: meanings, habits and physical realities [14].  
• Meanings are expresed by values that give sense to language and organizational image as: 
time (social and religious significance of specific days of the week), objects (specific ustensils), 
actions (rituals), prices (related to quality) and sounds (specific words and symbols).   
• Habits are the activities that people are used to doing. They may be relatively easy to change, 
because they are no social, ethical or moral imperatives underpinning them.  
• Physical realities mean the real assets the organizations or people own. They also don’t 
depend on social, ethical or moral aspects and may be changed. 
 
Generally speaking it is accepted that cultural differences act as barriers to the standardisation of 
products and services, mainly concerning those on a global scale. In order to change the strategy, and 
as part of it the cultural dimensions, the following issues need to be in the management attention: 
cultural preferences, differences in purchasing power, positioning and advertizing and country of origin 
effect [14]. 
 
 
 3 
• cultural preferences 
The cultural preferences are strongly related to the type of product or service. Thus, food and clothing 
industres are strongly culture-bounded, industrial products are culture free and consumer durables are 
medium culture related. It is real evidence that traditional preferences are going to disapear in the 
foreseeble futture but the rate of standardisation of products and services will be uneven and 
unpredictable. 
 
• differences in purchasing power 
The differences in purchasing power are related to the market split in luxury preferences, low price 
preference and middle price preferences. Some elements do make the preferences, such as: the 
means of transportation, the level of income, the diversity and capacity of fixed assests and others. 
 
• positioning and advertizing  
Positioning and advertizing depend on communication infrastructure and technology. Culture influence 
advertizing in four ways: choice of advertising theme, connotation ofr words and symbols, 
interpretation of pictorial conventions and media selection [4]. Some elements are more culture-
bounded then others, so it is easier to standardize some products advirtizing based on universal 
emotional values and dificult for highly culture-specific [12]. 
 
• country of origin effect/ ethocentrism 
It is evidence that the market is influenced by the source of the product or service. On one side, the 
more homogeneous and standardized the product the less country of origin effect. On the other side 
the degree of consumer ethocentrism depends on four factors: openness to foreign cultures, 
patriotism, conservatorism and the degree of collectivism / individualism in the society [13]. 
 
The combined impact of culture’s four issues above mentioned produces strong arguments against 
standardization for many products and services. 
 
3. Barriers against standardization and organizational culture change  
 
Having in view the world and European political orientation towards social aspects and the more 
intensive implication of the local authorities in sustainable development, management ethics and loyal 
competition of all organizations issues, the cultural issues mentioned have a notable influence in 
cultural characteristics change.   Thus, three aspects might be priorities: communication, relations and 
organization’s flexibility, which may be considered as organizational culture elements that are to be 
standardized. 
 
Communication 
Regarding communication it has been identified the following obstacles, with a higher or lower impact:  
▪ Inexistence or  unobserved some normes and rules of internal communication: 
- On vertical: information, decisions transmision, training, image creation, motivation and promotion 
of organizational culture;  
- On orizontal: cooperation, mutual knowledge and help. 
▪ Communication interaption or messages distortion due to communication channels used. The 
chosen of inadequte communication channels has important consequences on the communication 
efficency and the determination of a certain statment in the organization and its environment.  
▪ Existance of barriers in te communication process, such as: language, status differences or barriers 
due to interpretation or waiting horisons.  
▪ Reduced effectiveness of politics, strategie and stuctures dedicated to internal or external 
communication.  
 
Relations 
In the relations domain the most important obstacles are:  
 4 
▪ Unsuficient utilization of the electronic channels of communication (Internet or Intranet). 
▪ Unsuficient transparency towards employees or other stakholders (such as closed office doors, short 
sckedule for communication etc).  
▪ Unsuficient direct contact of the managers and employees with different stakholders.  
 
Organizational flexibility 
In organizational culture change a series of obstacles that results from the lack of human flexibilities 
are identified, among are:   
• Inflexibility – the characteristic of persons who approach the problems only in a certain way 
and doesn’t accept other modes indifferent of the arguments brough; 
• Conformism – the characteristic of persons that use available patterns of thinking without being 
able to restructure or abandon; 
• Obedience – characteristic of submissive persons; 
• Psychological inhibition against new – characteristic of persons that anchor  more then 
necessary to the practices already validated and see them as no over taken; 
• Unique response – characteristic of persons that believe that always is only one way to solve 
problems; 
• Fear not to fail – characteristic of persons that are afraid of making errors that paralyses their 
imaginative availabilities.   
 
The lack of cooperation among the members of teams is also a major impediment in the change 
process. 
 
In the process of adaptation to the organizational change, an important role is due to the people, to 
employees, that need to change themselves, to accumulate new knowledge, to approach new tasks, 
to change their labor habits, values and attitude against the work into the organization, because an 
effective change may be achived only if a change of behavior is realized. 
 
4. Organizational culture change and its adaptation to world values 
 
The economic integration lead to the realization of a stable macroeconomic framework in Europe, 
characterized by low inflation rates and interest rates and the creation of unique market with more 
then 380 million consumers. USA still represents the country with the main developed economy in the 
world, with which is compared and measured EU progress. The general EU change process or 
European economy reform (Lisbon, 2000) is structured into eight dimensions:  
• Creation of information society for all; 
• Development of a communitarian zone for innovation, research and development; 
• Liberalization, comprising: the unique market completion, state aids and competition policy; 
• Creation of new industries in transportation, utilities and telecommunications; 
• Creation of integrated and efficient financial services ; 
• Business environment improvement from legal and entrepreneurship points of view; 
• Social inclusion increasing by: new jobs creation, professional abilities increasing and social 
protection systems updating; 
• Sustainable development. 
 
These directions of actions are focused on structural reforms having in view electronic trading and 
electronic money, bureaucracy limitation in business, transparency in business framework, utilities and 
mailing services liberalization, security in energy supplying, investments in private pension funds and 
competitiveness increasing, which imply changes in organizations and individuals behaviors.  
Organizations strategies have to adapt their visions towards performance in a sustainable 
environment and this is generally the future of change management and culture.    
 
 5 
The most important components of a performing management that lead to cultural change 
characteristics may be considered to be the followings:   
 
The orientation of the management towards the accomplishment of the social mission, that implies: 
political wish, managers autonomy, certain activities externalization, development of private-public 
partnership, management style and much more societal responsibility.  
Implementation of organizational cultural system audit, the process of audit having the following steps:  
• Collection and updating of data (using as instruments: interviews, polls, data-bases), data 
analysis and writing an audit report that should contain elements of “real” culture;  
• Emphasizing the gaps between the existing culture and the expected organization’s culture, 
systems, structures and processes that sustain the existing culture and the forces that are 
opposing to and sustain the new culture and the recommendations to increase the 
management efficiency and organization’s performances, as well; 
• Presentation and final discussion in a workshop. 
 
Organizational flexibility 
Open systems imply flexibility and orientation towards external environment where the knowledge and 
adaptation represent the priority in goals achievement, resource acquiring (material, financial, human 
and informational) and success on the market, named “cultural development systems” [3].    
 
Innovation 
It is important to mention that innovation and intellectual assets are the source of value creation and 
bring contributions to changing, maintaining and reinforcing the new culture, the culture of consistency 
with future plans. 
 
In the depicted context, it could be considered that some cultural issues are the subject of 
standardization, mainly when the organization is acting internationally. Examples from the real world 
are multiple, such as: learning procedures, subsidies structures, brand messages for the market, staff 
behaviors and others. 
 
Even it is not possible to standardize cultural elements it may be possible to standardize some 
processes related to culture. This involves standardization of:  
• Coordinating processes whereby information from one market being available to another 
market or operating subsidiary to another; 
• Applying standardized procedures, structures or strategies patterned by the competitors. 
 
6. Conclusions 
 
The main cultural issues influencing the organizations’ performance and therefore the organizational 
culture change are: the orientation of the management towards the accomplishment of the social 
mission, organizational flexibility, cultural audit and innovation.  
 
Generally speaking, the more standardized products and services the more standardized 
organizational cultural issues. In high context culture, individual inner feelings are kept under control. 
They avoid direct confrontation, but it is more subtle and verbal and the change process is complex, 
needing an unbounded strategy to be applied by the change management.    
 
References 
 
[1] Altman, Y., Towards o Cultural Typology of European Work Values and Work Organization, in 
Inovation Socal Science research, vol.5, 1992. 
[2] Bradley, L., and Parker, R., Organisational culture in the public sector, Institute of Public 
Administration Australia, 2007. 
 6 
[3] Denison, D. R., & Spreitzer, G. M., Organizational culture and organizational development, 
Research in Organizational Change and Development, 5, 1991, p 1-21. 
[4] Douglas, S.D. and Dubois, B., Looking at the cultural environment of international marketing, 
Columbia Journal of World Business, Vol. 12, 1977, p. 102-109. 
[5] Foriş, T., Doval, E., Doval O., O analiză Hofstede asupra culturii organizaţionale din Romania, 
Articol publicat in volumul Pro-Active Partnership in Creativity for the Next Generation, Internationales 
Polytechnique, Quebec, Canada, 2007, pp 336-338. 
[6] Hall, E.T., Beyond Culture, Garden City, NY, Doubleday Anchor Books, 1976, p.39. 
[7] Hofstede, G., Culture's Consequences - International Differences in Work-Related Values, SAGE 
Publications, 1991. 
[8] Hofstede, G., Cultures and Organizations Software of the Mind, Mc. Graw-Hill, 1991.  
[9] Nicolescu, O., Verboncu I., Management, Editura Economică, Bucureşti, 1999.  
[10] Olteanu D., Progres tehnologic. Competitivitate si specializare. Ed. Expert, 1999.  
[11] Schein, Edgar, Organizational Culture and Leadership, (Second Edition) Jossey-Bass Publishers, 
San Francisco, California, 1992. 
[12] Seitz, V., Direct response advertising in the US and European markets: a content analysis of 
fashon products, European Business Review, Vol.98, No.5, 1998, p.268-275. 
[13] Sharma, S., Shrimp, T.A. and Shin, J., Cnsumer ethocentrism: a test of antecedents and 
moderators, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 23, 1995, p.26-37. 
[14] Stampleton et al., Marketing in a complex world, Book 1, Complexity and the External 
Environment, and Book 3 Complexity and Internationalization, The Open University, 2000, p. 35-36; 
48-54. 
[15] Sullivan, Keith, “Organizational Culture and Its Relation to Personnel Management in the Public 
Sector,” School of Public Administration, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., 2004. 


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