Communications in organizations are influenced by many factors; some of these factors are personal and dependent on the employees' own backgrounds while other factors come from outside the organization and are shaped by the larger society. In addition, there is a third set of factors which influence communication which stems from the corporate culture itself.
The standards of behavior, or norms, that an organizational culture establishes define how newcomers to the organization are expected to perform. The organizational culture also includes the dominant values of the group as a whole. The rules of a company help set the organizational culture in the amount of freedom they give to individual workers, and the roles that the rules set up between workers and managers. These rules, in turn, influence the effectiveness of communication within the organization.
Leadership styles, which are shaped by the organizational culture, also influence the type of communication which takes place within an organization, and the effectiveness of that communication. Leaders who are autocratic and who discourage input from their subordinates foster a communications environment which is very different from leaders who work in a more transformational style.
By understanding the ways in which organizational culture shapes a company, it is possible to understand how best to communicate in ways which will be highly productive within that environment.
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