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Organizational culture is the foundation of performance in the organization. In order to understand how the organization performs is to understand the organization’s culture. This understanding must exist in order to manipulate or change the organization’s culture allowing the organization to meet the demands of its clients. Many studies have been performed to better explain the types of cultures which can be encountered within organizations. Andy Allen describes the research done by Rob Goffee, Professor of Organizational Behavior at London Business School, in his article entitled Follow Suit (2003): Goffee describes four characterizations of cultures within corporations: “Networked, Mercenary, Fragmented, and Communal.” Goffee goes further to explain that organizations such as Heineken, who demonstrate sociability over solidarity, are a Networked culture. However, organizations such as Pepsi-Cola where solidarity is more prominent would be a Mercenary culture. Organizations that are more individual based and not prominent in either solidarity or sociability would be Fragmented; where organizations with high elements of both sociability and solidarity would be Communal. Due to the negative and positive aspects of each of these types of cultures, organizations need to determine their needs in order to determine where emphasis should be placed. Aspects of the organization such as office politics, hiring practices and environment can affect both the social and solidarity characteristics of the organization, thus changing the culture.
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