1.

In recent years companies like Google and Innocent have tried to implement ‘fun’

corporate cultures. Assess the pros and cons of such organizational cultures for workers

and organizations.

Organizational Behavior:

Organizations often shape the fates of people and communities. Behavior of an individual or the

employee is affected by the group dynamics and the way organizations are structured. The

structure helps in limiting the behavior of the employees. It also helps in understanding the

organizational controls have been implemented. The reason is to shape a productive group of

employees. Organizational behavior is structured by the microstructures such as job design,

ethical practices or the leadership etc. It also includes the feelings, emotions etc. Micro, Macro

and global structure surround people and effect the organizational behavior. The ability to predict

and control organizational behavior helps in making the informed decisions. It is considered as

an essential toolkit. It is considered as the journey of enlightenment. It is necessary to go to root

of the nature. A number of factors impact the organizational behavior most important one is

Social influence which includes the cultural influence example the aging population. (Bratton,

2015)

Organizational Culture:

In simple terms the culture shapes the behavior and vice versa. It is found that the behavior is

influenced by the environment as well as the personal factors. Organizational culture includes all

the tangible and intangible aspects of the behavior. It is basically not the way things are done in

the organization. (Fiske, 2010). There is a need to look in to systems, processes and procedures.

It people, their behavior and their response. A person has an identity while a group has a culture.

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Fun Culture for organizations:

For more than 20 years in the workplace ‘fun’ has been argued. In book built to last, two

companies have been discussed ‘Marriot and Walt Disney’ to have one of the most attractive

organizational culture. These companies have a focus on the fun culture. Google is openly

known as the company with the positive work culture. According to the Google leaders the mark

of fun comes from everywhere. Google incorporates fun in the workplace in a number of ways.

For example the company allows the employee’s on April fool day to play volley ball and ping

pong on the beach in the breaks. This helps in generating fun in the routine of the office. It is one

of the central means to increase the employee engagement, cohesiveness and the creativity in the

workplace. It is found that the fun in the workplace is directly proportional to the job satisfaction.

On the other hand it is not a motivator to perform. Fun in work place has two sides one positive

and other negative. (Baptiste, 2009) It is important to understand the meaning of fun in the

workplace. If the literature is explored it is found to be a term for the activities that tend to

generate positive reaction in the workplace. Emotions such as enjoyment or amusement are

associated with the fun. Another author defines fun in work place as the work environment that

intentionally encourages and jump starts the activities that make the job enjoyable and amusing.

It is found that the fun is consciously promoted in the work place. Consistently working becomes

a monotony. It makes one dull and innovation is something lost. (Deal, & Peterson, 2016).

Some of the global researches show that humor and play are some of the specific tactics that are

used to foster fun in the workplace most likely. Humor is mostly used for collaboration needs

and by the managers mostly. This helps in enhancing the social interaction and furthermore has a

positive impact on the cognitive abilities of a person. It proves to be a buffer against the stress

and like fun play is an activity that is utilized to promote fun. Having fun means to have actual

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experience of the positive effect. It helps in elevating the performance in the long run with more

goals achieved then before. It also jump starts the intrinsic motivation to perform.

Another research shows that the fun at work is a road to understanding the workplace and

employees. It is important to understand the concept of the motivation and outcomes of the

managed fun at the workplace. This helps in determining the different shades of engagement,

enjoyment and endure. (Fleming, and Sturdy, 2009)

Fun Culture for individuals:

Fun in the workplace can provoke emotional reactions from the individuals. When the

individuals experience fun in the workplace they tend to develop positive feeling rather than

negative. Engaging in work place can have long-term benefits. According to Broaden and build

theory the fun in the workplace expands on the intellectual, social and psychological

development of the employees. This gives room to the people to have creativity and innovation

cultivated. People come up with the positive solutions. It helps in developing positive

relationship and acquire better coping mechanism which helps the individual to perform better.

They can engage in more learning and experience higher level of well-being. (Bolton, &

Houlihan, 2009).

It is also considered one of the most attractive strategy for recruitment. It is used as to market

one of the most key strategy to attract most eligible candidates to the organization. A positive

culture speaks for itself and thus, many candidates while looking for a job consider the culture of

the organization at as a top priority. (Karl, Peluchette, and Hall, 2008).

Disadvantages for Managers:

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Although as discussed that the fun has many advantages it has some key disadvantages too. It is

something that is not universally accepted by the managers. It has some valid criticism attached

to it. According to Roosevelt work should be about work and not fun. According to a research

conducted by SHRM it was found that the some managers question the effectiveness of fun. It

was found that the 83% of the managers did not endorse fun due to the constraint of time and

pressure of the deadlines. Some of the other issues included the cost, time, long-term payoff, lack

of management support and the potential danger to the employee productivity. According to a

research many employees disliked the company sponsored fun. Some employees considered it

fake and an activity to just show on paper with no credibility in real life. It was also found that

some individuals resisted in participating in the outside activities and just acted to have interest

in it. The entire conclusion is that work should be work and it should be mixed with pleasure.

(Fleming, 2005).

Disadvantage Of fun culture for organization:

The fun culture is although much looked up to but it lags in many ways such as the people with

similar attributes are picked to fit the culture. This hinders the innovation and progression for an

organization. (King, 2009). All organizations progress when they have diversity in the work

place which helps them to think out of the box. The competitive edge is important. In order to

maintain the fun culture the company at times loses the formality needed for some important

tasks.

Analysis:

The impact of the culture on a performance of an organization cannot be denied in any way.

World has become a global village is a cliché term. However, it is one that cannot be denied. The

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impact of the inclusion of diverse workforce and the competition while a dire condition of the

world economic conditions, increases the hyper levels of stress in every one. People are more

and more being affected by stress and mental problems. This is the reason that the people are

suffering in their work related performance and achieving objectives. (Nimrod, 2010).

Keeping this in mind, there is also a high need of creativity. To improve the levels of innovation

a stress free environment is required. People when provided with space tend to accept the

different and new environment. It helps in increasing the level of interaction among people. They

are able to understand in the ‘fun’ time. Often people find to move mountains during this ‘fun’

time rather than in a stressful environment. As the idea is becoming popular the idea is being

implemented by the multinational organizations more and more. This need to improve the level

of engagement of employees as well as help them to be able to perform effectively. Many

organizations still do not accept the new way of things. (Plester, and Hutchison, 2016)

They believe that when work is there all concentration and energies must be put in to it. The

ideology is to engage in all work related activities so that the level of outcome is high. It is found

that only 4 hours of productivity is found out of the standard 8 hours of job. Continuous work is

stressful and creates monotony for people. (Kunda, 2009)They find themselves unable to

perform. In a few organization the time is found to be 5 while in others it is found to be 3.5

hours. Depending upon the job type the productivity levels vary. ‘Fun’ activity allows for the

employees to not let out steam but also enjoy what they do. More stressful conditions arise a

more conflicting situation. The patience of the people is lost not only that people are unable to

perform well if completing all the tasks. This is the reason that the need for a creative and

innovative environment is needed. To meet the competition head long it is important that the

innovative culture is cultivated. (Han, Kim, and Jeong, 2016)

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In organizations such as google and Microsoft the need for innovation is high. The improving

technology puts everyone on their toes. This is the reason that these organizations have groomed

a fun culture. Multiple ways like employees are allowed to have casual dressing to work and they

may start work at their ease as long as they meet the end deadlines. There are provided with

multiple facilities in which they can engage if they are on a break. Multiple tournaments are

being organized for employees that provides boost to their motivation and increase their positive

feeling. It is also an opportunity to increase the social interaction of the employees and they are

able to communicate with one another outside of work. People are put to ease and they are able

to perform on a better score. An uptight atmosphere becomes a road block for many and for other

it becomes a bottle neck. Open and welcoming culture allows the employees to perform

effectively. (Harris, and Ogbonna, 2002)

Conclusion:

The conclusion from the discussion is that there are pros and cons of the situation but in present

day and age, a change is required. A fun culture has more flexibility and adaptability to promote.

People have a relaxed mindset. They are able to understand, accept and engage in the work with

more freedom then in a formal atmosphere. Their motivation level are high and so is the

engagement level in the job. Only a few employees are an exception who are unable to either

engage or for that develop a social relation outside of work with their colleagues. It is mostly to

found have a profound impact upon people. The people are able to enjoy and have improved

motivation to work. The organization such as Google have thriving business as is the other

companies who exercise similar culture. People are able to innovate and perform the set

objectives well. This high level of the standard has been majorly contributed through the ‘fun’

and paly culture of these companies. Despite fun being considered paradox, it proves to be a way

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of being a smart company in modern times. The researches show a high level of outcome.

(Plester, Cooper-Thomas, and Winquist, 2015)

References:

 Baptiste, N. R. (2009) Fun and well‐being: insights from senior managers in a local

authority, Employee Relations, 31(6), 600-612

 Bolton, S. C., & Houlihan, M. (2009). Are we having fun yet? A consideration of

workplace fun and engagement. Employee Relations, 31(6), 556-568.

 Bratton (2015) Chapter 17: Culture. In Bratton, J. Work and Organizational Behaviour.

3rd edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

 Deal, T. E., & Peterson, K. D. (2016). Shaping school culture. John Wiley & Sons.

 Fleming, P. (2005). Workers’ playtime? Boundaries and cynicism in a “culture of fun”

program. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 41(3), 285-303.

 Fleming, P. and Sturdy, A. (2009) "“Just be yourself!”: Towards neo ‐normative control

in organisations?", Employee Relations, 31(6), 569-583

 Fiske, J. (2010). Understanding popular culture. Routledge.

 Han, Heesup, Kim, Wansoo and Jeong, Chul (2016) Workplace fun for better team

performance: focus on frontline hotel employees, International Journal of Contemporary

Hospitality Management, 28 (7), 1391-1416

 Harris, L.C. and Ogbonna, E. (2002) The Unintended Consequences of Culture

Interventions: A Study of Unexpected Outcomes. British Journal of Management, 3(1):

31-49.

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 Karl, K. A., Peluchette, J. V. and Hall, L. M. (2008). Give them something to smile

about: a marketing strategy for recruiting and retaining volunteers. Journal of Nonprofit

and Public Sector Marketing, 20 (1), 71-96

 King, R. (2009). The Fun Factory: The Keystone Film Company and the Emergence of

Mass Culture. University of California Press.

 Kunda, G., 2009. Engineering culture: Control and commitment in a high-tech

corporation. Temple University Press

 Nimrod, G. (2010). The fun culture in seniors’ online communities. The Gerontologist,

51(2), 226-237.

 Plester, B. and Hutchison, A (2016) "Fun times: the relationship between fun and

workplace engagement", Employee Relations, 38 (3), 332-350

 Plester, B, Cooper-Thomas, H. and Winquist, J. (2015) "The fun paradox", Employee

Relations, 37(3), 380-398