Organizational climate serves as
the guidelines for dealing with people, as n has a major influence on
motivation and productivity of individuals as well as total work group. A sound
group climate is a long term proposition. Managers take an asset approach
meaning that they take the climate as organizational assets.
CONCEPT OF
ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE
Climate, in natural sense, is
referred to as the average course or condition of the weather at a place over a
period of year as exhibited by temperature, wind velocity, and perception.
However it is quite difficult to define organizational climate incorporating
the characteristics of natural climate. This is so because the most frustrating
feature of an attempt to deal with situational variables in a model of frustrating
feature of an attempt to deal with situational variables in a model of
management performance is the enormous complexity of the environment itself. It
makes the definition and measurement of situational variables very difficult.
One way to conceptualize the organizational climate is to consider its
potential properties. Forehand and Gilmer feel that climate consists of a set
of characteristics that describe an organization, distinguish it form other
organizations, are relatively enduring over time and influence the behaviorof
people in it. Based on these characteristics Compbell et al define
organizational climate as:
“ A set of attributes specific to
a particular organization that may be induced from the way that organization
deals with its members and its environment. For the individual members within
organizations, climate takes the form of a set of attitudes and expectancies
which describe the organization in terms of both static characteristics and
behavior outcome and outcome – outcome contingencies.”
When organizational climate is
defined in this way, many kinds of organizational factors are relevant
contributors to it. The crucial elements are the individual perceptions of the
relevant stimuli, constraints and reinforcement contingencies that govern human
behavior. Thus the perception of people regarding the functioning of these factors
is important. From this point of view, the discussion of relevant factors is
important.
