Types of Organizational Cultures Organizational culture is the way in which organizational members relate to each other, to their work, and to the external environment in relation to other organizations. An organization's strategy can be enabled or hindered by its cultures (Hofstede). In explaining the types of culture, Hofstede begins with means-oriented and goal-oriented cultures. Means-oriented culture is characterized by the way work is done in an organization. In this culture, individuals see themselves as risk avoiders and putting less effort into the work they do, even if the working days are the same. Goal-oriented culture expects organizational workers to achieve particular internal goals regardless of the level of risk associated with those goals (Hofstede). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The other type is internally and externally driven culture. Internally driven culture implies that employees perceive their tasks towards the external environment as totally given. This comes from the concept that business ethics are very vital and that the company knows what is good for customers and the world. Externally driven culture focuses primarily on meeting customer needs (Hofstede). Hofstede talks about accommodating and rigorous cultures. Accommodating culture is indicative of loose internal structures in which there is very little control. Rigorous culture, on the other hand, indicates a culture in which employees are cost- and time-conscious. Another culture is the local and professional one. By local culture, workers identify with the organizational leader of their organizations. For the professional type, the identity of employees is characterized by the profession and the content of the work. Hofstede talks about the open and closed type of culture whereby for the open type, the organization believes that everyone can fit into the organization, which the closed type does not support. The last cultures Hofstede talks about are employee cultures and work-oriented cultures. In employee-oriented culture, workers feel that the organization cares about their well-being, while this is not the case in work-oriented culture where they feel pressured to work (Hofstede). Some countries are more likely to have some of the specific organizational cultures than others. The distribution of resources is different between countries; some countries are richer in resources than others (Cray 56). When there are abundant resources, individuals tend to engage in riskier ventures compared to those countries with fewer resources where individuals avoid risky endeavors because they aim to protect the fewer resources they have. Therefore, in rich or resource-rich countries, their organizations are likely to have a goal-oriented culture, while those less fortunate with resources have a means-oriented culture (Schein 81). Employee motivation is vital to the success of any organization and the focus should be on motivating employees in different types of organizational cultures. To motivate employees in means- and goal-oriented culture, organizations should make room for risk-taking; employees should not be penalized for doing innovative things that could have benefited organizations. In case of failure, employees should be appreciated for their effort. For internally and externally driven culture, the focus should be on creating a platform that can enable employees to meet. 21).