Style in literature, architecture, ...

The Style concept in literature and in architecture

The concept of Style is - besides the arena of fashion - most common in architecture. There, each period has it's own architectural style in which it's describes the typical of a
period.

Style - is also in literature - and in writing in general - an essential aspect; it can
be described as the voice of the author; no matter how diverse each new book of the writer, the
constant factor in his or her work is the style.

Determine
the STYLE of your organization by using the
online assessments.

Organizational Style - the style of a company

The way in which - similar - companies differ in taking decisions, can be seen
as a difference in Style. This is however not directly visible, but
something which is shown beneath the surface.
The principles can be seen
as the internal voice of a company. These principles are however not visible.
Organizational Style and corporate or business principles do have everything
to do with each other. Where principles describe the inner part of a
company, there is style the visible outcome. So the organizational Style is
the tangible part of the internal mechanisms, the working principles.

The visible elements of a Company Style

Companies, corporations and institutions manifest themselves in a variety of
ways, like:

• The
  buildings they are located in
  
  
  • A building offers a
    company a certain identity.
  
  
  
  

• Their
  environment and environmental relations - external organization
  
  
  • The environment of a
    building defines in a great deal the style. A building that is located
    in the Silicon Valley inherits characteristics of other organizations
    operating in that area. A common aspects in this example is innovation.
  
  
  • In the same way the (economic
    and social) surroundings of a company influences the style; with
    examples like Greenpeace, the red cross and the governmental
    organizations (which all share some official culture), etc.
  
  
  
  

• Systems
  and equipment (used within a company)
  
  
  • This is about more or
    less innovative systems and or equipment.
  
  
  • The relative relation
    between system and equipment on one hand versus the human capital on the
    other.
  
  
  
  

• The
  organizational form and structure
  
  
  • De organizational
    structure
    is also the visible part of the human capital in a company.
    This is about, hierarchy, division structures product of client
    orientation, etc.
  
  
  • The juridical form.
  
  
  • De age distribution. One
    of the most hear-off ways to influence the style of an organization is
    to hire more younger employees.
  
  
  • De man/woman-distribution.
    Especially in the management, this distribution is important - in order
    to be credible. Man have another way of approaching and that influences
    the organizational style.
  
  
  • The culture of an
    organization is not discussed here because it is not manifest but
    inherent
  
  
  
  

• The infrastructure (the
  access to the company)
  
  
  • What is the most
    essential gate to the company? The offices, the telephone lines,
    external representatives. All essential aspect influencing the organizational
    style.
  
  
  • Internet belongs partly
    to infrastructure but can also be categorized under the virtual building
    of the company - see further along the text.
  
  
  
  

• 
  Communication
  
  
  • In this category there
    are the house style, all written communication
    (news communiqués, advertisements, bulletins, etc) and other
    communicational offerings.
  
  
  • The (internal and external) communication is related with the corporate values.
  • Organizational rituals communicate also the style of the company
  
  
  
  

• The website
  - the virtual building / environment
  
  
  • The website is probably
    the most visible utterance of all the visible style elements of a
    company. With internet the client can peek into the kitchen of a
    company. All other expressions of style are shown on the website of a
    company (the surrounding- the communication - the infrastructure - de
    organizational form - the systems and equipment and the application of
    technology - the relations with the environment.
  
  
  • The environment or scope
    of the website. What links and resources are there, what is the focus
    and where (market) can it be found.
  
  
  
  

The essential
about (the why of) an organizational Style... Act now!

Why this extended list? The essentials are in the coherence.
Behind al these aspects and expressional forms of organizational style are
the steering principles. For example, the decision to invest in an extended
internet infrastructure means a choice against another element in the
company (face to face interaction). The
analysis of organizational style of a company means an analysis of all these
elements in search for the fundamental principles. Exploring these
principles facilitates the future decision process and expedites changes.

And ... Style is visible, you can't hide from it

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Previously published on Astor White.