ILM Level 7 8624-705 Shape Organisational Culture and Values Assignment Help in the UK

Get Help with ILM Level 7 8624-705 Shape Organisational Culture and Values Assignment Examples and Answers

Are you up against the ILM Level 7 8624-705 “Shape Organisational Culture and Values” assignment? Worry not because our team of expert native writers is here to save the day! With years of experience in management assignments, our professional writers are highly skilled in shaping assignments according to the highest academic standards. Whether you need help in understanding complicated management theories, shaping organisational values, or analyzing company culture, we here offer comprehensive support in answer to your needs.

Our ILM Level 7 assignment writing service is specifically designed for students who require urgent assistance. We focus on delivering well-researched and expertly-written content that aligns with your assignment’s specific requirements. From the introduction to the conclusion, our native writers ensure that every section is meticulously crafted to demonstrate a deep understanding of organisational behaviour and management principles.

Assignment Activity 1: Gain insight into the culture and values within an organisation.

1.1 Define the scope of organisational culture and its effect on individual and organisational behaviour

Organisational culture refers to the shared values, beliefs, norms, and practices that inform and dictate how individuals in an organisation act toward other employees, customers, and other stakeholders. It therefore encapsulates the working environment, communication styles, leadership practices, means of decision-making, and an approach to work.

Effect on Individual and Organisational Behaviour

1. Individual Behaviour:

• Values and Norms: The cultural expectations of the organisation will keep affecting an individual’s behavior. That may reflect in their motivation, job satisfaction, or performance.
• Work Style: organisational culture dictates whether employees work collaboratively, independently, on hierarchical structures, or on innovation.
• Employee Engagement: Strong organisational culture can help align personal values with organisational values, thus increasing engagement and commitment at work.

2. Organisational Behaviour:

• Decision Making: The nature of culture could influence how decisions are made, whether top-down, decentralized, or team-based.
• Performance and Productivity: organisations with a healthy culture have higher morale, better teamwork, and increased productivity.
• Agility and Adaptability: organisational culture affects its ability to respond and change when necessary, like moving into new markets or introducing new technologies.

1.2 Evaluate theories and models of organisational cultures and values

1. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

• Overview: Focuses on cultural dimensions like power distance and individualism vs. collectivism.
• Strengths: Helps understand how cultural values affect behavior.
• Weaknesses: Primarily suited for national cultures, not organisational-specific ones.

2. Edgar Schein’s Model

• Overview: Describes culture in three levels: artifacts, values, and assumptions.
• Strengths: Provides deep insights into visible and hidden cultural elements.
• Weaknesses: Requires thorough organisational analysis, which can be challenging.

3. Competing Values Framework (CVF)

• Overview: Categorizes cultures into clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy.
• Strengths: Simple and actionable for organisational assessment.
• Weaknesses: May oversimplify complex cultures.

4. Charles Handy’s Model

• Overview: Identifies four culture types: power, role, task, and person.
• Strengths: Simple and aligns culture with structure.
• Weaknesses: Doesn’t account for hybrid cultures in modern organisations.

5. Deal and Kennedy’s Corporate Culture Model

• Overview: Classifies cultures into four types based on risk and feedback.
• Strengths: Easy to understand and aligns with business strategies.
• Weaknesses: Doesn’t address cultural evolution or external impacts.

1.3 Evaluate the drivers to the development of organisational values in different types of organisation

• Leadership Impact: Effective leaders define the culture by establishing a standard and demonstrating behaviors. Therefore, personal values from the leaders are translated to the organisational culture, especially in smaller or family-owned businesses.

•  External Environment: Industry trends, market demands, and societal expectations influence values. For instance, sustainability values are more prominent in industries like manufacturing and tech, due to environmental concerns.

• Employee Expectations: A workforce’s demographics and values play a key role. Younger generations tend to prioritize diversity, inclusivity, and work-life balance, prompting organisations to align their values accordingly.

• Legal and Regulatory Requirements: Regulatory compliance, ethical expectations, and social expectations force organisations to conform to certain values like fairness, transparency, and corporate social responsibility.

• Organisational and Cultural Heritage: Past organisational experience, including founder values and past success/failure, plays a major role in shaping current values. The older the organisation, the more it would be traditional while the newer entities are expected to be more flexible.

1.4 Evaluate ethical dimensions of organisational culture and values

1. Influence of Leadership: Leaders shape ethical standards by creating examples of ethics in action. Their actions and responses help set the tone for the whole organisation. The entire organisation is influenced by how the ethical issues are treated.
2. Cultural Norms: Organisational culture can be seen as a reflection of the ethical norms that the company upholds. Honesty and fairness are promoted in the culture of integrity, and profit-driven results lead to unethical behaviour, such as taking shortcuts.
3. Employee Behavior: Employees are shaped by the ethical values of the organisation. Ethical values determine decisions so that employees work with honesty and integrity.
4. External Pressures: Organisations are facing intense pressure from customers, regulators, and society at large to embrace ethical practices. Sustainability and fairness are becoming new competitive advantages through ethical values.
5. Reputation Impact: Ethical practices affect an organisation’s public image and trust with stakeholders. Unethical behaviour, on the other hand, can damage the reputation, harm relationships, and lead to legal consequences.

1.5 Evaluate organisational communication perspectives

1. Top-Down Communication: Information flows from higher management to employees. It ensures clear direction but limits feedback and employee engagement.
2. Bottom-Up Communication: Feedback is received from employees into management. It promotes a culture of openness and innovation. However, it could be less efficient in hierarchical organisations.
3. Horizontal Communication: Communication between peers or departments. It enhances collaboration and problem-solving skills but leads to misalignment if not well managed.
4. Formal vs. Informal Communication: Formal: Systematic, formal communication through emails, meetings, etc., is consistent. Informal: In-formal, frequently more effective in building relations and providing timely information, though sometimes communication becomes less clear.
5. Digital Communication: Increasing use of emails, instant messaging, and video calls is becoming more and more free and faster, although the chance of misinterpretation or lack of personal contact cannot be neglected.

1.6 Assess the role of change management techniques in developing positive organisational cultures and values

1. Clear Vision and Leadership: Effective change management is highlighted by clear communication of the vision and strong leadership, giving the employee trust and alignment with the organisation’s culture and values.
2. Involving Employees: Engagement of employees in the change process cultivates ownership, lessens opposition, and strengthens the merging of new values into their cultures.
3. Training and Support: Training and support for the employees facilitate them to adapt to the changes so that the new behaviours are introduced with the desired culture.
4. Continuous Feedback: Feedback periodically is used in identifying problems, reinforcing positive behaviour, and establishing values.

1.7 Analyse the potential for friction between organisational values and individuals’ values

1.  Value Misalignment: An individual may be tensioned by organisational values that conflict with personal beliefs or ethics. For instance, an organisation that prioritizes profit over sustainability may be misaligned with employees who value responsibility for the environment.
2. Differences in Culture: Various employees may have different views on the same set of organisational values, which might cause misunderstanding or a feeling of exclusion if the values are not easy to adapt to or sensitive.
3. Forced Assimilation: Employees may feel forced to embrace the values of the organisation if they do not hold these values personally forced under stress, disengagement, or ethical dilemmas. 
4. Effect on Job Satisfaction and Motivation Incongruence between personal and organisational values may impact job satisfaction, employee morale, and motivation and, as a result, lower productivity or increased turnover.

Assignment Activity 2: Develop the skills to positively impact and shape the culture and values of the organisation.

2.1 Characterise the nature, strengths and weaknesses of organisational culture, sub-cultures and values within an organisation

1. Organisational Culture:

• Nature: Shared beliefs, behaviours, and norms determine how employees should interact and work with the organisation.
• Strength: Increases unity, consistency, and alignment toward the achievement of organisational goals.
• Weakness: Is resistant to change, stifles innovation and can isolate diverse perspectives.

1. Sub-Cultures:

• Nature: These are subgroups within an organisation that develop distinct norms or values based on the departments, teams, or locations.
• Strength: These will encourage innovation, adaptation, and specific team needs, and ensure inclusion.
• Weaknesses: Fragmentation risk, misalignment with the main culture, and potential conflict between groups

1. Organisational Values:

• Nature: Principles or standards that define the priorities and ethics compass of the organisation
• Strength: Guide decision-making, strengthen brand image, and build trust with stakeholders.
• Weakness: If poorly articulated or inconsistent, confusion, mistrust, and disengagement may ensue.

2.2 Identify the way in which organisational culture and values could be enhanced

Organisations can embrace an organisational culture and values by opening up channels of communication, employee participation, and practices aligned with core values. Leaders have to exhibit model behaviours that support such kinds of positive norms and behaviours. Regular or institutionalised training and workshops create a regime that leaves a sting, while recognition or reward for value-driven actions stimulates adherence. 

Additionally, soliciting staff input ensures culture dynamically responds to the needs of the workforce, and incorporating cultural values into the hiring process ensures alignment at the outset. This integrated approach builds strength in coherence and fosters a positive, values-driven environment.

2.3 Identify the factors that influence organisational culture and values

1. Leadership Style and Behavior:

Leaders impact the organisational culture through their behaviors, choices, and communication. Organisational norms are significantly influenced by the values and priorities of leaders.

1. Industry and Market Dynamics:

Industry pressures, customer demands, and the expectations of industries influence organisational cultures to live up to environmental pressures and demands on organisations.

1. Organisational Structure:

Mechanistic structures might lead to cultures that are formal and highly hierarchical, whereas organic ones might lead to innovation and collaboration.

1. Workforce Diversity:

Employee demographics, age, gender, and cultural influences introduce diverse perspectives that evolve and shape values.

1. Mission and Vision:

An organisation’s mission and long-term vision directly determine its values and drive its culture.

1. Historical and Foundational Practices:

Evolutionary longevity reveals the culture within legacy practices, traditions, and the beliefs of the founders as the organisation changes.

1. External Environment:

Societal norms, regulation, and technological advancement keep promoting organisations to adopt and reflect the values of the greater culture.  

2.4 Assess the effect of different organisational cultures and values on business performance and an organisation’s place in the market

1. Impact on Employee Performance:

Positive cultures emphasizing teamwork, innovation, and values motivate employees to enhance better business outcomes.

1. Customer Perception and Loyalty:

Customer-centric organisations are trusted and loyal. Organisations make market reputations better.

1. Adaptability and Innovation:

Cultures which support innovation and nimbleness respond to changes in the market more rapidly and thus retain competitive advantages.

1. Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility:

Ethical cultures reflect societal expectations, enhancing stakeholder relationships and the arrival of socially conscious investors.

1. Market Differentiation:

Distinct cultural characteristics such as outclassing customer service or employee welfare create a competitive advantage and differentiate the brand.

2.5 Develop a vision, strategy and structures for influencing organisational culture and values

1. Vision Development:

• Create a Focus-Clear Purpose: A great vision has to be driven by the mission of the organisation and long-term aspirations.
• Alignment to Core Values: The vision is supplemented by principles that include integrity, innovation, and collaboration, such that guidance for behavior ensues.

2. Strategic Approach:

• Leadership Commitment: Leaders must demonstrate the desired culture through constant action and communication.
• Stakeholder Involvement: Employees, customers, and partners must be involved in developing cultural changes in order to ensure alignment and buy-in.
• Training and Development: Enact initiatives that activate such values as ethics training, leadership development, and team-building exercises.

3. Structural Changes:

• Establish Governance Frameworks: Develop policies, codes of conduct, and oversight committees to enforce desired cultural norms.
• Link rewards, performance appraisals, and promotions to behaviour that reflects organisational values.
• Develop Open Communication: Foster open communication internally regarding values and progress to the vision.

4. Measuring and Adjusting

• Culture should be assessed regularly through employee surveys, feedback, and performance metrics.
• Continue to learn, strategies, and structure for the dynamic evolution of culture and values.

2.6 Use leadership, interpersonal and communication skills and tools to influence organisational culture and values positively

1. Leadership Skills:

• Lead by Example: Role model behaviour and attitudes toward the organisational values of integrity, respect, and accountability.
• Inspire a Shared Vision: Clearly outline the organisation’s mission and goals toward uniting employee efforts and providing a catalyst for cultural alignment.
• Empower Teams: Identify ways to delegate responsibilities and create conditions that allow employees to make decisions based on their values.

2. Interpersonal Skills:

• Build Relationships: Establish trust with employees to help them feel owned and invest in their work.
• Conflict Resolution: Use empathy and negotiation to correct value alignments or cultural barriers in an effective and positive manner.
• Collaboration: Foster teamwork by acknowledging differences and aligning them with the values of the organisation.

3. Communication Skills:

• Transparent Messaging: Clear, consistent, and open communication that focuses on values as a means to reaching goals
• Active Listening: Creating a culture of inclusion by encouraging feedback and adapting approaches based on input from the employees.
• Story: Communicate success stories that illustrate the organisational values to inspire the workforce.

4. Tools and Techniques:

• Workshops and Training: Organize training sessions where employees are sensitized to the need for adherence to values and cultural aptness.
• Recognition Programs: Reward individuals or teams that demonstrate value-centric practices.
• Feedback Mechanisms: Utilize surveys and other one-to-one interactions to determine the extent of alignment and required engagement.