Organizational Culture In Health Care

Everyone understands the word “culture” however, it is one among the words that are difficult to express distinctly. It is used in different contexts in everyday communication and in scholarly literature as well.

Culture can be defined as a way of thinking, behaving, working or customs followed by a group of people in a society or workplace. Organizational culture is developed from the social behaviours exhibited by the members of the organization. Therefore, it is a social reality that exists in the minds of members of the organization as well as in the governing rules of the organizational structures (Nwugwo 2001).The culture of an organisation plays a key and vital role in shaping the attitudes of the employees and in determining the organisational

It is one among the six hospitals which work under the government medical corporation.

The mission of this institution is to improve people’s lives by providing the highest quality multidisciplinary health care services quickly, safely, effectively and efficiently to meet the needs, opportunities and expectations of the patients and their families within the community.

The culture of this organisation was assessed using Goffee and Jones (1998) Solidarity/Sociability matrix. Sociability is the measure of friendliness that exists between people. It is the prevalence of sincere friendship between the members in a workplace whereas Solidarity is the ability of the community to attain the set goals in a timely and efficient manner. The members in a high solidarity firm have a collective will to succeed which directs their actions within the organisation. Using the concepts of Solidarity and Sociability, the authors further developed a framework for understanding the cultures prevailing in organisations. This framework was called the Double S Cube

This institution has a sociable environment. There is the presence of cordiality and affection in the relationship between people in the organization. Friendship is respected for its own sake and it is independent of its effect on the performance of the organization. Through a relationship of friendliness, people shared their ideas, views, interests and aspirations and it is used for achieving high levels of quality patient care. Furthermore, this hospital also has inculcated the habit of solidarity in its working environment. It has generated single-minded dedication to the organization's mission and goals. This hospital has attained the prestigious JCI accreditation as a result of maintaining solidarity with respect to attaining objectives. It has helped this institution to become a more unified and patient focused organization, offering patients a consistent service and experience across all its facilities. The work roles are clearly defined in clinical policies and understood and everyone is encouraged to work for the overall good and everyone is held with high regard. The employees are constantly interacting within and across the various functional departments.