Week 10 - Organizational Culture/Culture and Values

Organizational Culture

is the pattern of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs that lead to certain norms of behaviour.

Provides: A sense of identity, Commitment to something larger than self-interest, and helps people make sense of what occurs in the organization and the environment

Sources of Organizational Culture

* The beliefs, values, and assumptions of the founders
* The learning experiences of group members as their organization evolves
* New beliefs, values, and assumptions brought on by new members and leaders

Historical foundations of organizational culture

* Anthropology
* Sociology
* Social Psychology
* Economics

Elements of Culture

* Innovation and risk taking
* Attention to detail
* Outcome orientations
* People orientations and team orientations
* Aggressiveness

Archetypes

* Clan
* Hierarchy
* Adhocracy
* Market

Important roles culture plays

* Boundary Defining
* Sense of Identity
* Creates Commitment
* Enhances Stability
* Control Mechanism

Schein’s three levels of culture

* Artifacts that are visible or tangible organizational structures and processes
* Espoused values, such as strategies, goals, and philosophies
* Basic underlying assumptions, which are unconscious, taken-for-granted beliefs, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings

Strengths of a Strong Culture

* Conflict Resolution
* Clear sense of purpose
* Commitment and loyalty
* Pride in working for the organization
* High performance

Liabilities of a Strong Culture

* Resistance to Change
* Conformity
* Culture clash in mergers
* Pathologies
* Inward focus

Mechanics for transmitting culture

* Socialization
* Stories
* Symbols
* Jargon
* Rituals and ceremonies
* Statements of principles
* Heroes

Socialization processes in strong cultures

* Selection of entry-level candidates
* Humility-inducing experiences
* In-the-trenches training
* Rewards and control systems
* Adherence to the firm's core values
* Reinforcing folklore
* Consistent role models

4 things culture does

* motivates performance
* creates committment
* integrates organizational units
* motivates ethical behaviour

Dominant Culture

Manifest value shared by a majority of the organization's members

Subcultures

usually share the dominant culture's core values as well as other values that characterize their own development, geographical unit, and so on

Counter Culture

Values in opposition to those of dominant cultures

External adaptation

Contributions to organizational cultures do not yield high performance unless there is a fit with the environment

Organizational Justice

* distributive
* procedural
* interactional

Distributive Justice

fairness regarding the distribution of resources - pay, rewards, promotions, and dispute resolutions

Procedural Justice

fairness of decision-making procedures that are used to determine how resources are distributed \n

Interactional Justice

treatment employees receive from others, particularly authority figures

The organizational life cycle

Entrepreneurial stage \n Creativity stage \n Formalization stage \n Elaboration stage

9 signs of organizational decline

1. Excess personnel
2. Tolerance of incompetence
3. Cumbersome administrative procedures
4. Disproportionate staff power
5. Replacement of substance with form (the planning process is more important than results)
6. Scarcity of clear goals and decision benchmarks
7. Fear of embarrassment and conflict prevents problem identification
8. Loss of effective communication
9. Outdated organizational structure