Organizational Climate and

Culture
Nicole Dane L. Navea
Comm 226
September 2018
ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE
Introduction on Organizational Climate

• Research on organizational climate began in

early 1960s, percolating since the end of
WWII and stimulated by the Hawthorne
studies.
• When studying leadership work in business
settings, Douglas McGregor used the term
“managerial climate”.
Introduction on Organizational Climate
• Litwin and Singer (1968) developed the first survey
measure of organizational climate, assessing six (6)
facets: structure, individual responsibility, rewards,
risk and risk-taking, warmth and support, and
tolerance and conflict.
• Schneider and Bartlett (1968) also developed a
measure with six (6) dimensions for life-insurance
companies: managerial support, managerial
structure, concern for new employees, intra-agency
conflict, agent independence, and general
satisfaction.
Introduction on Organizational Climate
• The attempt was to capture the totality of the
experience of employees – rather than one
facet or dimension at a time.
• Although the term “organizational” was used
in these survey researches, the level of
analysis was individual. This thinking
dominated the field of research until 1980s.
Introduction on Organizational Climate
• Schneider (1975) proposed that measures should focus
on a climate for something rather than comprised of
items and dimensions focused on generic experiences.
– Climate for service
– Climate for safety
– Climate for innovation
• This approach allowed the level of analysis to go from
individual to the unit – not yet the organizational level.
• The unit-level analysis now dominates the
organizational climate research.
 Definition of Organizational Climate
• The meaning organizational employees attach to
the policies, practices, and procedures they
experience and the behaviors they observe
getting rewarded, supported, and expected at
work (Schneider, 2011).
• The shared perception about a subset of the
entire visible and manifest culture of the
organization.
• Relatively enduring quality of the internal
environment that is experienced by its members.
 Organizational Climate
• Focuses on employee perceptions of the
immediate and visible aspects of the
organization; thus, easier to measure and
changed by the management
• Organizational climate perceptions are treated
as widely shared among employees but not all
perceive it the same way.
 Factors affecting Organizational Climate
(Litwin and Singer, 1968)

• Organization structure
– Ideas on the extent of org rules and regulations
• Individual responsibility
– Sense of autonomy of being one’s own boss
• Rewards
– Commensurate rewards to recognize performance
• Risk and Risk-taking
– Degree of challenge/risk sustained by the incumbent
• Warmth and Support
– Feelings of general good fellowship and helpfulness
in workplace
• Tolerance and conflict
– Degree of confidence that the climate can tolerate
differing opinions Richard Hodgett’s Two
Categories of Org Climate
 Impact of Organizational Climate

• Job satisfaction
• Employee motivation
• Need for achievement
• Affiliation and power
• Individual performance
• Organizational commitment
• Employee well-being which has a direct
influence on work quality
 Role of Communication in
Organizational Climate
• From a communication perspective, an organization’s
climate is derived (or is a consequence) of
communicative practices in the organization.
• Communication as one of many dimensions of
organizational climate, measured as:
– “There is adequate communication between units.”
– “I receive clear communication about changes in the
organization.”
• Other dimensions include communicative aspects
– Managerial task support  “Manager provides frequent
informal feedback regarding performance.”
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Introduction on Organizational Culture
• Earliest studies about organizational culture in
1980s focused on understanding its nature
and content, how it emerges and evolves, and
how it contributes to organizational
performance and competitive advantage.
 Definitions of Organizational Culture
• The shared values, beliefs, ideologies, and norms held by
organizational members that influence their behavior
(Sackman, 1992).
• A cognitive framework consisting of attitudes, values,
behavioral norms, and expectations (Greenberg, 1997).
• A pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group
as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal
integration, which has worked well enough to be
considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new
members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in
relation to those problems (Schein, 2010).
• A system of informal rules that spells out how people are
to behave most of the time (Deal and Kennedy, 1982).
Organizational Culture as a Content
• The content perspective describes three (3)
general characteristics:
– Organizational culture has intangible, non-
material, and cognitive components.
– Organizational culture has tangible and material
components.
– Organizational cultures plays a supportive role in
the organization.
Organizational Culture as a Content
• Intangible, non-material • Tangible, material
components components
– Beliefs, values, – Symbols, slogans, and
perceptions, underlying stories about the
assumptions shared by organization that are
individuals in an understood by employees,
organization creating a sense of pride
– Manifested in employee and a feeling of community
behaviors towards – Consists of tools for
customers, peers, communication, problem-
supervisors, and the solving, and decision-
community making
Organizational Culture as a Content
• Organizational cultures plays a supportive role in
the organization.
– Enables the organization to adapt to its environment
– Supports the organization’s strategic goals
– Guides its members in problem solving and decision
making
– Shares with its member's characteristics to the
company’s success
– Fosters company-wide integration
– Serves as a unifying force within the organization
Levels of Organizational Culture
 Importance of Organizational Culture
• Significant impact on productivity (Deal and
Kennedy, 1982)
• Significant link between strong culture and
superior financial performance (Peters and
Waterman, 1982)
• Significant impact on organizational effectiveness
(Prajogo and McDermott, 2011; Tsai, 2011)
• Organizations with strong, adaptive cultures
enjoy labor cost advantages, great employee and
customer loyalty, and smoother leadership
succession (Heskett, Sasser, Wheeler, 2008).
 Importance of Organizational Culture
• Dramatized in business mergers
– Daimler-Chrysler merger
– Pharmacia AB-Upjohn Company merger
• Once deeply rooted in employees, it can
become its competitive advantage.
– Toyota Way
 Categories of Organizational Culture
• The impact of organizational culture depends on
the level of commitment the employees have
towards the organization’s values and beliefs.
• Several subcultures could also exist in the
organization stemming from functional,
hierarchical, professional, and geographical
differences.
• Typologies of organizational culture:
– Based on structure and strategic focus (orientation)
– Based on dominant attitudes and characteristics
Categories Based on Organizational Culture’s
Structure and Focus
 Categories Based on Dominant Attributes
or Characteristics of Organizational Culture
• Goffee and Jones (1996)
– Organizational culture as communities
– Solidarity: ability to pursue shared objectives
quickly and effectively
– Sociability: measure of sincere friendliness among
members of the community
 Categories Based on Dominant Attributes
or Characteristics of Organizational Culture
• Martin (2004)
– Degree of consensus and consistency evident in
the culture
• Integration Perspective
Consistency, org-wide consensus, clarity
• Differentiation Perspective
Overlapping of subcultures coexisting in harmony,
conflict or indifference
• Fragmentation Perspective
Ambiguity such as multiple meanings, irony, paradox,
contradictions is the defining feature
The Role of Philippine Culture in the
Workplace
• In the Philippines, cultural values profoundly affect
employee behavior at work and are deeply embedded in
the organization’s culture.
– Ameritech Corporation
• The uncritical use of Western management theories in the
Philippines could lead to organizational inefficiency and
miscommunication between management and labor
(Jocano, 1999).
– “In the Philippines, traditional values are so deeply rooted in the hearts and
minds oh Filipinos that they remain the ‘given constant’ in an otherwise
rapidly changing world. These values are the foundation of Filipino character.
They may have been and may still be tapped to attain corporate ends and
goals. Managerial skills can be greatly improved by enriching it with a cultural
humanist approach through the positive and best use of Filipino values and
practices.”
The Role of Philippine Culture in the
Workplace
• Values held by Filipinos that have significant
implications for organizational culture
– Pakikisama
– Kapwa
– Malasakit
– Hiya
– Bayanihan
– Centrality of the family
– Tendency towards power distance
– Deference to authority or to elders
– Dislike for confrontations and discussing issues openly
Management of Organizational Culture
• May include (a) maintaining the current culture
or strengthening it, (b) coordinating the
subcultures to ensure the preservation of the
organization’s core values, and (c) changing the
culture to meet the strategic goals of the
organization
• Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument
(OCAI)
• CREATE Process (Ateneo Center for Research and
Development)
Management of Organizational Culture
• Selection of potential employees based on
technical know-how and attributes that match
the organization’s required competencies and
core values
• On-boarding of new employees to introduce
them to the organization’s culture
• Inclusion of corporate values in setting
performance standards and in evaluating
employee performance
• Create rewards system to reinforce the type of
culture
 Role of Communication in
Organizational Culture
• Communication is used as a tool for shaping
the organizational culture (Schein, 2010). Off
hand, it is a tool for making things happen in
organization.
• To communication scholars, communication is
how anything happens in an organization. In
whatever form, communication is the only
process for conveying information and
developing shared meaning.
 Organizational Climate vs
Organizational Culture
Organizational Climate
Generally focused “toward
something”; on a specific
dimension
Roots in field theory and gestalt
psychology (perceptions)
More flexible, can vary based on
surrounding conditions
“How it feels to work around
here”
“Mood”
Organizational Culture
Generally holistic; develops
taxonomies that reflect holistic
culture
Roots in the symbolic interactionist
perspective and social construction
perspective
Relatively deep and stable
“How things are done around here”
“Personality”
Sources
• Deal, T. E., & Kennedy, A. A. (1982). Corporate cultures: The rites and rituals of corporate life. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley.
• Ehrhart, K. H., Witt, L. A., Schneider, B., & Perry, S. J. (2011). Service employees give as they get: Internal
service as a moderator of the service climate–service outcomes link. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(2),
423–431.
• Ehrhart, M. G., Schneider, B., & Macey, W. H. (2014). Organizational climate and culture: An introduction
to theory, research, and practice. New York: Routledge.
• Hechanova, R., Calleja, M. & Villaluz, V. (2017). Understanding the Filipino worker and the organization (2nd
edition). 243-272
• HHellriegel, D., & Slocum, J. W., Jr. (1974). Organizational climate: Measures, research, and
contingencies. Academy of Management Journal, 17, 255–280.
• Lewin, K., Lippitt, R., & White, R. K. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created
“social climates.” Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 271–299.
• Martin, J. (2002). Organizational culture: Mapping the terrain. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
• Payne, R. L. (2000). Climate and culture: How close can they get? In N. M. Ashkanasy, C. P. M. Wilderom, &
M. F. Peterson (Eds.), Handbook of organizational culture and climate (pp. 163–176). Thousand Oaks, CA:
SAGE.
• Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Schneider, B. (2017). Organizational climate and culture. Retrieved from:
http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/79803/1/JAP_climate_andCulture_complete_finfin.pdf