Organizational Culture

Questions for Consideration

What is organizational culture?
When is organizational culture functional?

Dysfunctional? How do employees learn about the culture of their organization?

 Culture is the soul of the organization the beliefs

and values, and how they are manifested. I think of the structure as the skeleton, and as the flesh and blood. And culture is the soul that holds the thing together and gives it life force.

 The pattern of shared values, beliefs and assumptions

considered to be the appropriate way to think and act within an organization.

Culture is shared Culture helps members solve problems

Culture is taught to newcomers

Culture strongly influences behaviour

Artifacts of Organizational Culture

Material Symbols Language Rituals Stories

Organizational Culture

Beliefs Values Assumptions

 Innovation and risk-taking

The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take

risks.
Attention to detail
The degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision, analysis,

and attention to detail.

Outcome orientation
The degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather

than on technique and process.

People orientation
The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the

effect of outcomes on people within the organization.

 Team orientation The degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals. Aggressiveness The degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easygoing. Stability The degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth.

 Stories

Rituals
Material Symbols Language

 Organizational culture represents a common

perception held by the organization members. Core values or dominant (primary) values are accepted throughout the organization.
Dominant culture Expresses the core values that are shared by a majority of the organizations members. Subcultures Tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences.

Philosophy of organization's founders

Top management Selection criteria Socialization Organization's culture

 Selection Identify and hire individuals who will fit in with the culture Top Management Senior executives establish and communicate the norms of the organization Socialization Organizations need to teach the culture to new employees

Socialization Process

Outcomes
Productivity

Prearrival

Encounter

Metamorphosis

Commitment

Turnover

 Formal vs. Informal

Individual vs. Collective

Fixed vs. Variable

Serial vs. Random

Investiture vs. Divestiture

Sociability

High

Networked

Communal

Low

Fragmented Low

Mercenary High

Solidarity

 Social glue that helps hold an organization together

Provides appropriate standards for what employees

should say or do
Boundary-defining Conveys a sense of identity for organization members

 Facilitates commitment to something larger than ones

individual self-interest Enhances social system stability Serves as a sense-making and control mechanism
Guides and shapes the attitudes and behaviour of

employees

 Culture can have dysfunctional aspects in some

instances
Culture as a Barrier to Change When organization is undergoing change, culture may impede change Culture as a Barrier to Diversity Strong cultures put considerable pressure on employees to conform Culture as a Barrier to Mergers and Acquisitions Merging the cultures of two organizations can be difficult, if not impossible

 Have top-management people become positive

role models, setting the tone through their behaviour. Create new stories, symbols, and rituals to replace those currently in vogue. Select, promote, and support employees who espouse the new values that are sought. Redesign socialization processes to align with the new values.

 Change the reward system to encourage

acceptance of a new set of values. Replace unwritten norms with formal rules and regulations that are tightly enforced. Shake up current subcultures through transfers, job rotation, and/or terminations. Work to get peer group consensus through utilization of employee participation and creation of a climate with a high level of trust.

 Employees form an overall subjective perception of the

organization based on such factors as degree of risk tolerance, team emphasis, and support of people.
This overall perception becomes, in effect, the organizations

culture or personality. These favourable or unfavourable perceptions then affect employee performance and satisfaction, with the impact being greater for stronger cultures.

Just as peoples personalities tend to be stable over time, so

too do strong cultures.

This makes strong cultures difficult for managers to change.

 One of the more important managerial implications of

organizational culture relates to selection decisions.

Hiring individuals whose values don't align with those of the

organization is not good.

An employee's performance depends to a considerable

degree on knowing what he should or should not do.

 Why Culture Doesnt

Change
Culture develops over

When Culture Can

Change
There is a dramatic crisis There is a turnover in

many years, and becomes part of how the organization thinks and feels Selection and promotion policies guarantee survival of culture Top management chooses managers likely to maintain culture

leadership The organization is young and small There is a weak culture