Essentials of

Organizational Behavior
13e
Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge

Chapter 5

Personality and Values

5-1
Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 16

Organizational Culture

Copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

After studying this chapter you
should be able to:
1. Describe the common characteristics of organizational
culture.
2. Compare the functional and dysfunctional effects of
organizational culture on people and the organization.
3. Identify the factors that create and sustain an
organizations culture.
4. Show how culture is transmitted to employees.
5. Demonstrate how an ethical culture can be created.
6. Describe a positive organizational culture.
7. Show how national culture may affect the way
organizational culture is interpreted.
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Organizational Culture

Organizational culture:
A system of shared meaning held by
members that distinguishes the
organization from other
organizations

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 Characteristics of
Organizational Culture
1. Innovation and risk taking
2. Attention to detail
3. Outcome orientation
4. People orientation
5. Team orientation
6. Aggressiveness
7. Stability
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Culture Is a Descriptive Term

Culture Job Satisfaction

Organizational culture Measures affective

is concerned with how responses to the work
employees perceive an environment:
organizations culture, concerned with how
not whether or not they employees feel about
like it the organization
Descriptive Evaluative

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 Do Organizations
Have Uniform Cultures?
The 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 of
members
Subcultures mirror the dominant culture
but may add to or modify the core values
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Strong Versus Weak Cultures

In a strong culture, the organizations

core values are both intensely held and
widely shared
Strong cultures will:
Have great influence on the behavior of
members
Increase cohesiveness
Result in lower employee
turnover
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Culture Versus Formalization

High formalization creates predictability,

orderliness, and consistency
A strong culture achieves the same end
without the need for written
documentation

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The Functions of Culture

Defines boundaries
Conveys a sense of identity
Generates commitment beyond
oneself
Enhances social stability
Sense-making and control mechanism

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Culture Creates Climate

Organizational climate:
The shared perceptions organizational
members have about their
organization and work environment
Positive climate is linked to higher
customer satisfaction and financial
performance

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 Culture as a Liability
Institutionalization
Behaviors and habits go unquestioned can
stifle innovation
Barriers to change
Culture is slow to change even in
a dynamic environment
Barriers to diversity
Culture seeks to minimize diversity
Can embed prevalent bias and prejudice
Barriers to acquisitions and mergers
Cultural incompatibility can be a problem 16-12
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 How a Culture Begins

Ultimate source of an organizations

culture is its founders
Founders create culture in three ways
1. Hiring and keeping those who think and feel
the same way they do
2. Indoctrinating and socializing those
employees to their way of thinking and
feeling
3. Acting as a role model and encouraging
employees to identify with them
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Keeping a Culture Alive

Selection: seek out those who fit in

Top management: establish norms
of behavior by their actions
Socialization: help new employees
adapt to the existing culture

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 A Socialization Model

Pre-arrival: initial knowledge about the organization

and own unique ideas
Encounter: exposed to the organization
Metamorphosis: member changed to fit within the
organization
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Entry Socialization Options
Formal: new workers
separated for training
Collective: group basis
Fixed: planned
activities
Serial: role models
used
Divestiture: strip away
characteristics to build
up new ones
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Informal: new workers
immediately put to work
Individual: one-on-one
Variable: no timetables
Random: on your own
Investiture: accepts and
confirms existing
characteristics
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Summary: How Cultures Form

Success in employee socialization depends on

managements selection of socialization
methods and the closeness of new employees
values to those of the organization
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How Employees Learn Culture

Culture is transmitted to employees

through:
Stories: provide explanations
Rituals: reinforce key values
Material symbols: convey importance,
degree of egalitarianism desired, and
appropriate behaviors
Language: identify and segregate
members

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 Creating an Ethical
Organizational Culture
A strong culture with high risk tolerance, low-
to-moderate aggressiveness, and a focus on
means as well as outcomes is most likely to
shape high ethical standards
Managers must be visible role models
Communicate ethical expectations
Provide ethical training
Visibly reward ethical acts and punish
unethical ones
Provide protective mechanisms
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 Creating a Positive
Organizational Culture

A positive organizational culture

emphasizes:
Building on employee strengths
Rewarding more than punishing
Emphasizing vitality and growth of the
employee
Limits to positive culture:
Be objective and do not pursue it past the
point of effectiveness
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 Global Implications

Organizational culture can reflect

national culture and it can transcend
national boundaries
Managers need to be culturally sensitive:
Talk in a low tone
Speak slowly
Listen more
Avoid discussing religion and politics
Ethical decision making can be culture-
bound
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 Implications for Managers
Realize that an organizations culture is relatively fixed in
the short term. To effect change, involve top management
and strategize a long-term plan.
Hire individuals whose values align with those of the
organization; these employees will tend to remain
committed and satisfied.
Understand that employees performance and
socialization depend to a considerable degree on their
knowing what to do and not do. Train your employees
well and keep them informed of changes to their job roles.
You can shape the culture of your work environment,
sometimes as much as it shapes you.
Your companys organizational culture may not be
transportable to other countries. Understand the cultural
relevance of your organizations norms before introducing
new plans or initiatives overseas.
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 Keep in Mind

Organizational culture develops over

time and reflects deeply held values to
which employees are strongly committed
Ethical and positive organizational
cultures can be created methods differ
National culture influences
organizational culture

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 Summary
Described the common characteristics of organizational
culture.
Compared the functional and dysfunctional effects of
organizational culture on people and the organization.
Identified the factors that create and sustain an
organizations culture.
Showed how culture is transmitted to employees.
Demonstrated how an ethical culture can be created.
Described a positive organizational culture.
Showed how national culture may affect the way
organizational culture is interpreted in a different
country.
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 16-25
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