Organizational Culture

Culture encompasses written and unwritten rules, customs, beliefs, and attitudes that
are developed over time and are shared by a group of people. Thus, organizational culture is
the values, philosophy, and expectations that guide the behaviors of members of a given
organization when interacting with each other and with people outside of the organization.
Just like culture makes a group of people unique, organizational culture is among the things
that make one organization different from another one. It also contributes to an organization’s
success as it affects the productivity, morale, effectiveness, and performance of employees
(Warrick, 2017). Developing and maintaining a strong organizational culture is one of the
functions of leadership. When an organization has a strong organizational culture, members
of the organization are going to have consistent behavior thus reducing conflicts and creating
a working environment that is healthy for employees.

How Scott O’Neill Builds Organizational Culture

Scott O’Neill, the president of NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, holds that organizational
culture is built through actions that people within an organization take on a daily basis.
Indeed, Scott O’Neill has built Philadelphia 76ers’s culture through daily actions of staff,
management, and players. First, the organization promotes culture of appreciating good deeds
through having pin on windows, tables, and other spaces cards expressing their appreciation
for people who did them good deeds (Vooris, 2017). This element falls under symbols.
Secondly, O’Neill has promoted a culture of community service by requiring that staff
commit at least 76 hours of their time to community service (Vooris, 2017). This aspect of
the organization’s culture falls under rituals and routines as it shows the kind of behavior that
is acceptable in the organization (MindTools, n.a). Third, O’Neill has created a culture of
teamwork by requiring each staff member to be part of a team and to celebrate individual
success as a team (Vooris, 2017). This element falls under organizational structure in the

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cultural web as it shows how the organizations treats contributions of each member
(MindTools, n.a). O’Neill has also created a culture where employees do something nice to a
fan regularly. This element falls under strories in the cultural web as it shapes what people
say about the organization. There is also a culture of rewarding employees who record
excellent performance in their tasks. They are rewarded by being made a CEO for a day. This
element falls under control systems as it shows how rewards are made by the organization
(MindTools, n.a).

Creating Organizational Culture as a CEO of Sports Organization
The organizational culture that I would like to create is one of teamwork, accessible
leaders, and continual professional development for employees. With regards to teamwork, I
plan to ensure that most of the organization’s tasks are carried out through teams. Every
success, even individual success will be celebrated as a team. According to Halldorsson,
Thordlindsson & Katovich (2017), teamwork creates a strong bond and solidarity among
employees. Such bonding and solidarity help the organization to achieve success. Apart from
teamwork, another component of my organizational culture is high accessibility of leaders. I
plan to achieve this by having all leaders in managerial and executive positions taking a half a
day each week to partake in activities and tasks performed by teams under their leadership.
Such interactions will increase their accessibility to the employees that they are supposed to
be leading. Lastly, I plan to implement continual professional development for employment
through organizing regular seminars where employees can learn the most current and best
practices from invited guests.

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References

Halldorsson, V., Thorlindsson, T., & Katovich, M. A. (2017). Teamwork in sport: A
sociological analysis. Sport in Society, 20(9), 1281-1296.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2017.1284798

MindTools (n.a). The Cultural Web: Aligning your Organization’s Culture with Strategy
Vooris, R. (2017, September 27). Veeck Address by Scott O’Neill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXOINs49O3Q

Warrick, D. D. (2017). What leaders need to know about organizational culture. Business
Horizons, 60(3), 395-404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2017.01.011