Factors Influencing Organizational Climate

Lawrence James. R and Allan Jones (1974).¹

1. Organizational Context: The first and foremost influential factor that affects the climate is the management philosophy. If the company is wedded to such a policy that it effectively utilizes its resources both human as well as non-human, then it can be concluded that the climate is good. have tried to identify the factors influencing Climate and they grouped these factors under five heads.
2. Organizational Structure: The structure of the organization represents another variable that affects climate. It needs no relationships and delineates authority and functional responsibility.
3. Process: In every organization, certain processes are vital so that it runs. Communication, decision-making, motivation, and leadership are some of the very important processes through which the management carries out its objectives.
4. Physical Environment: The external conditions of the environment, the size, and location of the building in which an employee works, the size of the city, the weather, or the place all affects the organizational climate.
5. System values and norms: Every organization has discernible and fairly evident formal value system where certain kinds of behaviours are rewarded and encouraged and certain kinds of behavioural forces an individual to formal sanctions. The formal value system is communicated to employees through rules, regulations, and policies.

Katz et.al²

• i) rules orientation identified five factors which affect individual performance in an organization: they include
• ii) the nurture of subordinates
• iii) closeness supervision
• iv) universalism and
• v) promotion-achievement orientation.

Based on information received from managers, Renato Taguri³

1. practices relating to providing a sense of direction or purpose to employees’ jobs-setting of objectives, planning, and feedback. has identified five factors in organizational climate.
2. opportunities for exercising individual initiative.
3. working with a supervisor who is highly competent and competitive.
4. working with co-operative and pleasant people.
5. being with a profit-minded and sales-oriented organization.

Basically, Organizational Climate reflects a person’s perception of the organization to which he belongs. It is a set of characteristics and factors that are perceived by the employees about their organization, which serve as a major face in influencing their behaviour. These factors may include job descriptions, organization structural format, performance and evaluation standards, leadership style, challenges and innovations, Organizational values and culture, and so on.

Richard M. Hodgetts (1991)⁴ Overt factors classified organizational 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 water and is not visible. The visible part that can be observed called as overt factors. The secondary invisible parts that are not visible are called covert factors. Both of these categories are shown below in the form of an iceberg.

For citing this article use:

• Padmaja, B. (2014). Organisational climate and human resource dimensions a study with special reference to andhra pradesh southern power distribution company limited prakasam district.

References:

1. Jones, A. and L. James. “Psychological Climate: Dimensions and relationships of individual and aggregated works environment perceptions”, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, (1974), Vol. 23: 38-76.
2. Katz et.al
3. Renato Taguri, “Comments on Organizational climate”, quoted in JohnP.Campbell et al, op.cit, 1970, p.392.
4. Litwin. Op.cit.,