2-1

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2-2

Chapter
2
Organizational Culture

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2-3

Introduction
• National culture: the sum • A nation’s culture and
total of the beliefs, rituals, sub-cultures effect how
rules, customs, artifacts, organizational
and institutions that transactions are
characterize the conducted
population • Learning to operate in a
world influenced by
national culture is
becoming a requirement
for effective management
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Organizational Culture and 2-4

Society’s Values
(1 of 2)

• Values – the conscious, affective desires

or wants of people that guide their
behavior
• Organizations are able to operate
efficiently only when shared values exist
among the employees
• An individual’s personal values guide
behavior on and off the job

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Organizational Culture and 2-5

Society’s Values
(2 of 2)

• Values are a society’s ideas about what

is right or wrong

• Values are passed from one generation

to the next

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Hofstede’s Four Value 2-6

Dimensions
(1 of 2)
Dimension Description
Power Distance The level of acceptance by a society of the unequal
distribution of power in organizations
In higher power distance cultures, employees
acknowledge the boss’s authority and follow the chain of
command
The result is a more centralized authority and structure
Uncertainty Avoidance The extent to which people in a society feel threatened
by ambiguous situations
Countries with a high level of uncertainty avoidance tend
to have specific rules, laws, and procedures
Managers in these countries tend towards low-risk
decision-making
Employees exhibit little aggressiveness
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Hofstede’s Four Value 2-7

Dimensions
(2 of 2)
Dimension Description
Individualism The tendency of people to fend for themselves and their
family
In countries that value individualism, individual initiative
and achievement are highly valued and the relationship
of the individual with organizations is one of
independence
Masculinity The extent to which assertiveness and materialism is
valued
In highly masculine societies, there is considerable job
stress and conflict between job and family roles

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2-12

A society’s values have an impact

on organizational values because
of the interactive nature of work,
leisure, family, and community.

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2-13

Organizational
culture – what the
employees perceive
and how this
perception creates a
pattern of beliefs,
values, and
expectations.

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Edgar Schein’s Definition of 2-14

Culture:
•• AA pattern
pattern ofof basic
basic assumptions
assumptions –– invented,
invented,
discovered,
discovered, or or developed
developed by by aa given
given group
group as as itit
learns
learns toto cope
cope with
with the
the problems
problems ofof external
external
adaptation
adaptation and and internal
internal integration
integration –– that
that hashas
worked
worked well
well enough
enough toto be
be considered
considered valid
valid and,
and,
therefore,
therefore, toto bebe taught
taught new
new members
members as as thethe
correct
correct way
way toto perceive,
perceive, think,
think, and
and feel
feel inin relation
relation
toto those
those problems.
problems.

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2-15

Examples of cultural attributes Layer I: Artifacts & Creations Visible but often not
 Documents
 Technology decipherable
 Physical layouts
 Furnishings  Art
 Language  Visible and audible behavior
 Jargon patterns
 Work ethic and practice
 Fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay
 Loyalty Layer II: Values Greater level of awareness
 Commitment  Testable in the physical
 Helping others environment
 Performance leads to rewards
 Testable only by social
 Management equity consensus
 Competency counts

Schein’s Three-Layer Layer III: Basic Assumptions

Taken for granted, invisible,
preconscious
Organizational Culture  Relationship to environment
 Nature of reality, time, & space
Model  Nature of human nature
 Nature of human activity
 Nature of human relations

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Organizational Culture and Its 2-16

Effects

Strong Culture Weak Culture

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2-17

A strong organization will focus on  A weak Organizational culture

the environment it creates for its refers to values and beliefs not
workers because that will help strongly and widely shared within
encourage a more efficient and the Organization. This implies
productive company. Focusing on that individual members of the
building and sustaining Organizational rely more on
organizational culture shows personal principles, norms and
employees that they are considered values. Organizations with a
an important part of the company. weak Organizational culture
This type of company generally has engage little in culture specific
among the best response from its investments, and such cultures
employees and thus will also have are more volatile
a much better chance of achieving
its goals.

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2-18
The Evolution of a Positive
Culture
Methods Intervening Conditions Outcome
Elaborate on history Develop a
H sense of
Communications about and by
“heroes” and others history

Leadership and role modeling Create a

O sense of
Communicating norms and values
oneness
Cohesive
organizational
Reward systems culture
Career management and job security Promote a
Recruiting and staffing M sense of
Socialization of new staff members membership
Training and development

Member contact
Increase
Participative decision making exchange
E
Inter-group coordination among
Personal exchange members

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Three Views on Influencing 2-19

Cultural Change: (1 of 2)
1. Cultures are so elusive and hidden that they
cannot be adequately diagnosed, managed, or
changed

2. Because it takes difficult techniques, rare skills,

and considerable time to understand a culture
and then additional time to change it, deliberate
attempts at culture change are not really
practical
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Three Views on Influencing 2-20

Cultural Change: (2 of 2)
3. People will naturally resist change to a
new culture
• Cultures sustain people through periods
of difficulty and serve to ward off anxiety
• Cultures provide continuity and stability

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Changing Culture Intervention 2-21

Points
Hiring and Removal of
socialization of Culture
members who fit members who
in with the deviate from
4 culture the culture 5

Cultural Behavior
3 1
communications

Justifications of
behavior

2
Managers seeking to create culture
change must intervene at these points.

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2-22

Socialization and Culture

Socialization – the
process by which
organizations bring new
employees into the
culture.

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The Process of Organizational 2-23

Socialization
Start Careful
Careful selection
selection of
of 1 Deselect
Deselect
entry-level
entry-level candidates
candidates
Consistent
Consistent role
role models
models 7 2 Humility-inducing
Humility-inducing experiences
experiences
promote
promote openness toward
openness toward
Reward and recognize accepting
accepting organizational
organizational norms
norms
individuals who have and
and values
values
done the job well
Teaches the new entrant that
Reinforcing
Reinforcing folklore
folklore 6 he/she doesn’t know everything
about the job or company
Keeping alive stories
that validate the
organization’s culture 3 In-the-trenches
In-the-trenches training
training leads
leads to
to
mastery
mastery ofof aa core
core discipline
discipline
Adherence
Adherence to to values
values 5
enables
enables the
the Rewards
Rewards and and control
control 4 Extensive and reinforced on-the-
reconciliation
reconciliation of
of systems
systems are are meticulously
meticulously job experience
personal
personal sacrifices
sacrifices refined
refined to to reinforce
reinforce behavior
behavior
that
that isis deemed
deemed pivotal
pivotal to
to
success in the marketplace
success in the marketplace

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2-24
Socialization Stages

Anticipatory
Socialization

Accommodation

Role Management

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A Checklist of Effective Socialization2-25
Practices
(1 of 2)

• Anticipatory socialization
Recruitment using realistic job previews
Selection and placement using realistic
career paths
• Role management socialization
Provision of professional counseling
Adaptive and flexible work assignments
Sincere person-oriented managers

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A Checklist of Effective Socialization2-26
Practices
(2 of 2)

• Accommodation socialization
Tailor-made and individualized orientation
programs
Social as well as technical skills training
Supportive and accurate feedback
Challenging work assignments
Demanding but fair supervisors

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2-27

Mentor – a friend, coach,

advisor or sponsor who
supports, encourages, and
helps a less experienced
protégé.

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2-28

Mentoring Guidelines (1 of 2)

1. Do not dictate mentoring relationships, but

encourage leaders/managers to serve a
mentors
2. Train mentors in how to be effective in
mentoring others
3. Include in the firm’s newsletter or in other forms
of mass communication (print and electronic) an
occasional story of mentoring as reported by a
current top-level executive

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2-29

Mentoring Guidelines (2 of 2)

4. Inform employees about the benefits and

difficulties of mentor relationships with
individuals of different race and gender
5. Make sure there is diversity among the mentors
6. All mentors should be trained in dealing with
diversity

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Phases of the Mentor 2-30

Relationship

Initiation Cultivation

Redefinition Separation

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2-31

Cultural Diversity

Diversity – the vast array of physical and

cultural differences that constitute the
spectrum of human differences.
The managerial challenge will be to
identify ways to integrate the increasing
number and mix of people from diverse
national cultures into the workplace.

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Workforce diversity issues for 2-32

managers to consider: (1 of 2)

• Coping with employees’ unfamiliarity with the

English language
• Increased training for service jobs that
require verbal skills
• Cultural (national) awareness training for the
current workforce
• Learning which rewards are valued by
different ethnic groups

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Workforce diversity issues for 2-33

managers to consider: (2 of 2)
• Developing career development programs
that fit the skills, needs, and values of the
ethnic group
• Rewarding managers for effectively
recruiting, hiring, and integrating a diverse
workforce
• Focusing not only on ethnic diversity, but also
learning more about the diversities of age,
gender, and workers with disabilities

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2-34

Spirituality and Culture

• Spirituality – employees have a personal
or inner life that nourishes and is
nourished by performing relevant,
meaningful, and challenging work
• Workplace spirituality is not the same as
religion
• Spirituality is a path, is personal and
private, contains elements of many
religions, and points to a person’s self-
inquiry
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Research on spirituality and work 2-35
dimensions indicates:
• Employees who are more spiritually
involved achieve better results
• Spirituality encourages:
• trust
• work/life balance
• empathy and compassion about others
• the value of human assets
• the full development and self-actualization of people
• ethical behavior
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