Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Organization Culture is important when determining a company for employment. The companies has to compatible with an individuals goals and values (Robbins, 2005). The author has chosen the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) as the ideal organization to further its long-term goals and values. The FDEP is a lead agency in state government for environmental management and stewardship and is one of the more diverse agencies in state government, protecting our air, water, and land (My Florida.Com, September 8, 2008, 1). The values shared by FDEP and the author would be the commitment to the environment.
The author has experience working with the FDEP in its current employment. The dress is informal, because of the need to be out working in the environment. The common work uniform is steel-toed shoes, t-shirt, and blue jeans. The Department is divided into three primary areas: Regulatory Programs, Land and Recreation and Planning and Management (My Florida.Com, 2008, 1). The hours required for work are flexible and require use of the company vehicle and travel around the state of Florida. The seven primary characteristics of organizational culture are: innovation, stability (maintaining the status quo versus growth), people orientation, outcome orientation, easygoingness, detail orientation, and team orientation (Gilsdorf & Wagner-Marsh, n.d., 3). The FDEP embodies these characteristics.
FDEP has to be innovative with its approach to the environment and people. The standards of pollution have changed over the years and the FDEP has a duty to work with people to keep everyone informed of changes. The FDEP is a government agency and its information or reports are public knowledge, which is why the organization must be outcome oriented, detail oriented, and a team player. The agency has a duty to taxpayers to have stability and have a willingness to work through issues relating to the environment.
The organizational characteristic of easygoing is subjective. If a company that is being investigated for contamination and is being unruly or uncooperative: The FDEP can be unpleasant. They can levy substantial fines to an uncooperative business that do not comply with their consent order to work through, or investigate environmental problems.
The FDEP should have strong culture if it were only based only on environment concerns, because the efforts to correct the environment can be an ethical concern. Since the FDEP is a government agency, it would be assumed that the FDEP would have an overall weak culture. There would be extensive paperwork and procedures verifying the legitimacy of all complaints and resolutions.
Employees are working long hours to improve the environment and investigate potential problems. The overall culture would be ethical.
FDEP mission statement (2008) claims Florida's [FDEP] environmental priorities include restoring America's Everglades, improving air quality, restoring and protecting the water quality in our springs, lakes, rivers and coastal waters, conserving environmentally-sensitive lands and providing citizens and visitors with recreational opportunities, now and in the future.(My Florida.Com, 1)
In Conclusion, the FDEP maintain the beliefs and values of the author. FDEP encompasses all the seven primary characteristics of organizational culture. The overall organization culture would be weak, because of extensive paperwork and procedures. The organizational culture would be based on ethics.
References
Gilsdorf, J. W., & Wagner-Marsh, F. (n.d.). Organization Culture. Retrieved September 7, 2008, from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Ob-Or/Organizational-Culture.html
My Florida.Com (September 8, 2008). Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Retrieved September 7, 2008, from http://www.dep.state.fl.us/
Robbins, S. P. (2005). Organization Behavior (11th ed.). Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Education.
