Every business has its own culture. Cultures are built either intentionally or non-intentionally. Organizations have five main dimensions of culture. These are values, relative diversity, resources allocation and reward, degree of change, and impact of the culture (Kelly, 2010). The hospital that I work for has its distinctive culture, and I will examine the five cultural dimensions to determine the direction the hospital is taking to achieve its objectives. The dimensions are the elements that go into forming the organization’s philosophy.
The hospital has value systems that form the foundation of its culture. It defines its values with behaviors to create a culture that supports high performance (Reilly, 2012). One of its core values is integrity. When it experienced quality problems with its drugs, it informed its customers of the nature of the problems despite that it would make a loss. The hospital’s other value is caring about employees.
The hospital pays for retirement accounts, dental insurance, and gives regular bonuses to hard-working staff members. It also has an effective mentoring program for foreign nurses. In addition, the hospital observes cultural diversity. The cultural diversity dimension is essential, as the existence of organizational cultures often assumes certain levels of similarities. However, there are different ways of handling cultural diversities. The hospital tolerates certain diversions to accommodate the interests of all employees.
Additionally, the hospital uses an effective system for managing resource allocation and rewards. The management of resource allocation and reward has a critical influence on culture because it sends a message about the values of the organization (Purnell, 2012). When it had quality problems with its drugs, purchased new drugs to keep true to its values. The hospital is a fast-paced and dynamic organization.
In addition, its degree of managing change is different from that of other similar organizations. The organization’s top management causes the difference. They send the message that they recognize the role of innovation in enhancing the hospital’s service provision systems (Purnell, 2012). Finally, it has a strong culture. The organization’s culture is the main source of direction for its employees. It strongly believes in satisfying patients. Recently, most of its nurses could not accept to train as mentors without ensuring the patients were being taken care of. The hospital recognized the need to create more time to achieve the objectives of the mentoring training.
The organization’s norms influence the behavior of individuals within the system (Reilly, 2012). The hospital has several positive norms. The nurses understand that they are part of the management. The top management exercises a democratic style of leadership, therefore, creating this belief. The nurses also believe that they cannot easily be sacked. This set of beliefs is useful for meeting the objectives of the company. However, they should be used appropriately. For example, the belief that the nurses cannot be sacked should be managed to avoid sending information that may demoralize members of the non-nursing staff.
As the hospital employs nurses from diverse cultures, it faces the challenge of managing the expectations of its employees without creating tension (Purnell, 2012). As the nurse manager in the hospital, I will use particular strategies to overcome the challenges and socialize the nurses to work harmoniously, keep high morale, and perform quality patient care. First, I will determine the representation of different cultural groups in the staff. Different cultural groups have dissimilar perceptions and ways of doing things (Kelly, 2010).
I will endeavor to note the specific differences. In addition, I will ensure that I fully understand the organization’s values and objectives. Next, I will evaluate the values that the groups represent to determine what is best for the hospital. Further, I will analysis the present condition within the hospital and then plan to manage transitions. Finally, I will continuously evaluate the results and improve the strategy.
Concurrently, I will create opportunities for nurses to discuss the different cultural values relating to respect for authority. Such interactions help iron out contentions that arise due to culturally instigated misunderstandings. It is also essential to learn from experts (Kelly, 2010). Therefore, I will organize cultural workshops and invite experts to educate the staff on cultural disparities. Moreover, I will grant nurses who have difficulty communicating in English an opportunity to learn the language. Lack of a common language is a barrier to effective communication, which can lead to several conflicts (Kelly, 2010).
I will therefore endeavor to make the classes conveniently accessible to solve the problem. Further, I will ensure that the nurses understand their responsibilities. To achieve this objective, I will develop a program for orienting foreign nurses and ensure that, if possible, the preceptors be from the cultural groups of the new nurses. Finally, I will consult with experts in trans-cultural communication to understand the most appropriate ways of handling different culturally related altercations.
Organizations have different cultures. However, they have at least five main dimensions of culture in common. The dimensions of culture are useful tools for determining the future of organizations. They help organizations to evaluate the levels of effectiveness of their managers. The analysis of the hospital’s dimensions of culture shows that the management is aware of the organization’s culture and trains new foreign nurses to adopt it. They also endeavor to eliminate negative cultures through mentoring and creating conducive working conditions.
References
Kelly, P. (2010). Essentials of Nursing Leadership & Management (2nd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.
Purnell, L. D. (2012). Transcultural Health Care a Culturally Competent Approach. (4th ed.). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Co.
Reilly, N. P. (2012). Work and Quality of Life Ethical Practices in Organizations. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.