Organizational Culture

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Organizational Culture

• A pattern of basic assumptions that the group
  learned as it solved its problems of external
  adaptation and internal integration, that 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.
• Edgar Schein, 1992

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Levels of Organizational Culture
Artifacts symbols of culture in the
physical and social work environment
Values Espoused what members of an organization
say they value Enacted reflected in the way
individuals actually behave
Assumptions deeply held beliefs that guide
behavior and tell members of an organization how
to perceive and think about things
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Organizational Culture
Artifacts symbols of culture in the
physical and social work environment
Visible, often not decipherable
Values Espoused what members of an organization
say they value Enacted reflected in the way
individuals actually behave
Greater level of awareness
Assumptions deeply held beliefs that guide
behavior and tell members of an organization how
to perceive and think about things
Taken for granted, Invisible, Preconscious
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Types of Artifacts

• Personal Enactment
• Ceremonies and Rites
• Stories
• About the boss
• About getting fired
• About relocating
• About promotions
• About crisis situations
• About status considerations
• Rituals
• Symbols

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Functions of Organizational Culture

• Culture provides a sense of identity to members
  and increases their commitment to the
  organization
• Culture is a sense-making device
  for organization members
• Culture reinforces the values
  of the organization
• Culture serves as a control
  mechanism for shaping
  behavior

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Understanding Organizational Culture
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Types of Cultures

• Constructive
• Valuing members, self-actualizing, affiliative,
  and humanistic/encouraging normative beliefs
  (expected behavior or conduct)
• Passive-defensive
• Approval-oriented, traditional and bureaucratic,
  dependent and nonparticipative, punish mistakes
  but ignore success
• Aggressive-defensive
• Confrontation and negativism are rewarded,
  nonparticipative, positional power, winning
  valued, competitiveness rewarded, perfectionistic

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Constructive Culture
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Passive Defensive Culture
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Aggressive-Defensive Culture
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Organizational Culture Research Suggests

1. Organizational culture correlated with employee
   attitudes and behavior
2. Congruence between an individuals values and the
   organizations values associated with
   organizational commitment, job satisfaction,
   intentions to quit, and turnover
3. Organizational culture did not predict a
   companys financial performance
4. Mergers frequently failed due to incompatible
   cultures

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Theories on the relationship between
organizational culture and performance
Strong Culture Perspective Fit Perspective Adaptiv
e Perspective
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Strong Culture

• an organizational culture with a consensus on the
  values that drive the company and with an
  intensity that is recognizable even to outsiders

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Strong Cultures Facilitate Performance

• BECAUSE
• They are characterized by goal
• alignment
• They create a high level of motivation
• because of shared values by the members
• They provide control without the
• oppressive effects of bureaucracy

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Fit Perspective

• a culture is good only if it fits the industry or
  the firms strategy

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Fit Perspective

• Three particular industry characteristics affect
  culture
• Competitive environment
• Customer requirements
• Societal expectations

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Organizational Socialization

• Phase 1 Anticipatory
• Phase 2 Encounter
• Phase 3 Change and acquisition

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Adaptive Culture

• an organizational culture that encourages
  confidence and risk taking among employees, has
  leadership that produces change, and focuses on
  the changing needs of customers

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• Adaptive vs. Nonadaptive Cultures

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Most Important Elements in Managing Culture

• What leaders pay attention to
• How leaders react to crises
• How leaders behave
• How leaders allocate rewards
• How leaders hire and fire individuals

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Organizational Socialization Process
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Organizational Socialization
Phases
Perceptual and Social Processes
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Organizational Socialization
Phases
Perceptual and Social Processes

1. Encounter values, skills, and attitudes start to
   shift as new recruit discovers what the
   organization is truly like

• Managing lifestyle-versus-work conflicts
• Managing intergroup role conflicts
• Seeking role definition and clarity
• Becoming familiar with task and group dynamics

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Organizational Socialization
Phases
Perceptual and Social Processes

1. Change and acquisition recruit masters skills and
   roles and adjusts to work groups values and norms

• Competing role demands are resolved
• Critical tasks are mastered
• Group norms and values are internalized

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Outcomes of Socialization

• Newcomers who are successfully socialized should
  exhibit
• Good performance
• High job satisfaction
• Intention to stay with organization
• Low levels of distress symptoms
• High level of organizational commitment

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How cultures are embedded in organizations

• Formal/public statements
• Physical Layout
• Slogans, co. lingo
• Mentoring, modeling
• Explicit rewards, promotion criteria
• Stories, legends, myths
• Processes and outcomes, measurement
• Workflow and systems

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Mentoring

• Outcomes for Mentees
• Outcomes for Mentors
• Outcomes for Organizations
• Maintaining the Culture

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Functions of Mentoring

• Career Functions
• Sponsorship
• Exposure-and-Visibility
• Coaching
• Protection
• Challenging Assignments
• Psychological Functions
• Role Modeling
• Acceptance-and-Confirmation
• Counseling
• Friendship

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Interventions for Changing Organizational Culture
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Questions on Culture

• Can the organizational culture change?
• How?
• Where does the culture come from?
• 1.
• 2.
• 3.
• Does the culture look the same from the top and
  from the bottom?