CREATING THE CLIMATE AND CULTURE OF SUCCESS

Without doubt, an organization's climate and culture play important roles in its overall success. In fact, climate and culture are powerful psychological mechanisms through which managers communicate their priorities to employees. In this article, the authors first define three priorities that have a high probability of leading to organizational effectiveness: (1) quality service provided to both external and internal customers, (2) innovation in the research, development, and marketing of new products and services, and (3) good citizenship behaviors (employees' willingness to cooperate and contribute beyond their formal job descriptions to organizational success). Next, the authors draw on various research efforts to identify how management's actions can create the climates and cultures that communicate these priorities. The authors argue that all three of these climates and cultures are simultaneously important to organizational success. Focusing on any one of these and not on the others would be insufficient.