Factors influencing Organization climate

Climate of an organisation is somewhat like the personality of a person. Just as every individual has a personality that makes him unique and different from other persons. Each organisation has an organisational climate that clearly distinguishes it from other organisations.

Basically, the organisational climate reflects a person’s perception of the organisation to which he belongs. It is a set of unique characteristics and features that are perceived by the employees about their organisations which serves as a major force in influencing their behaviour. Thus, organisational climate in a broad sense, can be understood as the social setting of the organisation.

According to Forehand and Gilmer, “Climate consists of a set of characteristics that describe an organisation, distinguish it from other organisations are relatively enduring over time and influence the behaviour of people in it.”

According to Campbell, “Organisational climate can be defined as a set of attributes specific to a particular organisation that may be induced from the way that organisation deals with its members and its environment. For the individual members within the organisation, climate takes the form of a set of attitudes and experiences which describe the organisation in terms of both static characteristics (such as degree of autonomy) and behaviour outcome and outcome- outcome contingencies.”

Thus, organisational climate is a relatively enduring quality of the internal environment that is experienced by its members, influences their behaviour and can be described in terms of the value of a particular set of characteristics of the organisation. It may be possible to have as many climates as there are people in the organisation when considered collectively, the actions of the individuals become more meaningful for viewing the total impact upon the climate and determining the stability of the work environment. The climate should be viewed from a total system perspective. While there may be differences in climates within departments these will be integrated to a certain extent to denote overall organisational climate.

Factors Influencing Organisational Climate:

Organisational climate is a manifestation of the attitudes of organisational members towards the organisation. Researchers have used the data relating to individual perception of organisational properties in identifying organisational climate. Even in this context, there is a great amount of diversity.

Litwin and Stringer have included six factors which affect organisational climate. These factors are:

(i) Organisational Structure: Perceptions of the extent of organisational constraints, rules, regulations, red tape,

(ii) Individual Responsibility: Feeling of autonomy of being one’s own boss,

(iii) Rewards: Feelings related to being confident of adequate and appropriate rewards,

(iv) Risk and Risk Taking: Perceptions of the degree of challenge and risk in the work situation,

(v) Warmth and Support: Feeling of general good fellowship and helpfulness prevailing in the work setting.

(vi) Tolerance and Conflict: Degree of confidence that the climate can tolerate, differing opinions.

Schneider and Barlett give a broader and systematic study of climate dimensions.

They include the following factors:

(i) Management Support,

(ii) Management Structure.

(iii) Concern for new employees

(iv) Inter-agency conflict,

(v) Agent dependence and

(vi) General Satisfaction

Taguiri has identified five factors influencing the organizational climate on the basis of information provided by managers.

These are:

(i) Practices relating to providing a sense of direction or purpose to their jobs-setting of objectives, planning and feedback,

(ii) Opportunities for exercising individual initiative,

(iii) Working with a superior who is highly competitive and competent.

(iv) Working with cooperative and pleasant people,

(v) Being with a profit oriented and sales oriented company. KATZ et. al. have identified five factors which affect individual performance in organisation;

(i) Rules orientation,

(ii) The nurturance of subordinates,

(iii) Closeness of Supervision,

(iv) Universalism,

(v) Promotion-achievement orientation.

Lawrence James and Allan Jones have classified the following factors that influence organisational climate:

(i) Organisational Context: Mission, goals and objectives, function etc.

(ii) Organisational Structure: Size, degree of centralisation and operating procedures.

(iii) Leadership Process: Leadership styles, communication, decision making and related processes.

(iv) Physical Environment: Employee safety, environmental stresses and physical space characteristics.

(v) Organisational Values and Norms: Conformity, loyalty, impersonality and reciprocity.

Richard M. Hodgetts has classified organisational climate into two major categories. He has given an analogy with an iceberg where there is a part of the iceberg that can be seen from the surface and another part that is under the water and cannot be seen. The factors in the visible part that can be observed and measured are called OVERT factors and the factors that are not visible and quantifiable are called covert factors.

Both these factors are shown in the following figure in the form of an iceberg:

The results of the above studies show that it is very difficult to generalise the basic contents of organisational climate, based on these studies. However, some broad generalisations can be drawn and it can be concluded that four basic factors are somewhat common to the findings of most studies.

These factors are:

(i) Individual autonomy.

(ii) The degree of structure imposed upon the position.

(iii) Reward Orientation.

(iv) Consideration, warmth and support.

Another common factor can be in respect of conflict and cooperation. But this factor is used in different perspectives by different people.