Chapter 2

Organizational Culture

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Learning Objectives

■ Define the terms organization culture,

socialization, and career
■ Explain why it is too simplistic for managers
to state that they are creating a firm’s culture
■ Describe the relationship between a
society’s culture and organizational culture
■ Explain why valuing diversity has become
an important leadership requirement
■ Identify specific practices and programs used
by organizations to facilitate socialization
2-2
 Introduction

 Anthropologists propose that culture…

■ Is learned and shared
■ Defines the boundaries of different groups
 A national culture is the sum total of…
■ The beliefs, rituals, rules, customs, artifacts,
and institutions that characterize the
population of a nation

2-3
 Introduction

 Managers must understand national and

organizational cultures
■ Both affect how transactions are conducted
 Adaptation to new environments involves…
■ Learning new values
■ Processing information in new ways
■ Working within established norms, customs,
and rituals

2-4
Culture and Societal Value Systems

Organizations operate efficiently only when

shared values exist among the employees

Values are the conscious, affective desires or

wants of people that guide behavior

Values are a society’s ideas about

what is right or wrong

Passed along through education systems,

religions, families, communities, organizations

2-5
 Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

Power Distance Short/Long

Unequel power distance in M’sia. (Eg: Called by Dr,pak cik..)
Orientation
-

Culture
Masculinity-
Femininity Individualism
- x about gender Vs collectivism. We care about GROUP.
- Is about characterism
-Masculine – performance, quantity
--Feminine -

Uncertainty
Avoidance
We tends to avoid uncertainties – we have a lot of rules and regulation..

2-6
Cultural Dimensions

Society’s values
impact organizational
values because of the
interactive nature of
work, leisure, family,
and community.

2-7
Cultural Differences

2-8
The GLOBE Project

2-9
 Organizational Culture Defined

 Culture can be sensed or felt, but not seen

■ Consists of attitudes, emotions, perceptions
■ Influences behavior, attitudes, and effectiveness
 There is no single definition of culture
■ Involves assumptions, adaptations, perceptions,
and learning
■ Includes symbols, language, ideologies, rituals,
and myths
■ Creates pattern of beliefs, values, expectations

2-10
 Schein’s Definition of Culture

A pattern of basic assumptions

Invented, discovered, or developed by a group

As it learns to cope with the problems of external

adaptation and internal integration

Has worked well enough to be considered valid

Is taught to new members as the correct way to

perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems

2-11
Schein’s Three-Layer Organizational Model

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 (eg: company uniform where they
wear…)
 Work ethic and practice
 Fair day’s work for 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

Taken for granted, invisible,

Layer III: Basic Assumptions preconscious we assume this is the
 Relationship to environment culture of M’s company.

 Nature of reality, time, & space

 Nature of human nature
 Nature of human activity
 Nature of human relations
2-12
Organizational Culture and Its Effects

Organizational culture involves shared

expectations, values, and attitudes,
so it exerts influence on…

Organizational
Individuals Groups
processes

Influence can be positive or negative, weak or strong

2-13
 Organizational Culture and Its Effects

Efficiency
Motivation

Culture
 Culture provides and encourages stability
■ The more employees share and accept the core
values, the stronger the culture and the more
influential it is on behavior

2-14
 Creating Organizational Culture

 Can culture be created and imposed?

■ It is difficult to simply create core values
■ Imposed values are often met with resistance
■ Disparity between reality and a stated set of
values creates confusion, irritation, skepticism
■ Cultures take time to evolve

2-15
 Creating Organizational Culture

 Types of cultures
■ Customer-Service
■ Ethical
■ Diversity
 Benefits of a positive culture
■ Increased teamwork
A Supportive
■ Information sharing Organizational
Climate helps
■ Better employee morale

2-16
 Influencing Culture Change

 Themes that appear in research…

■ Cultures are elusive and hidden, so they are
hard to diagnose, manage, and change
■ Deliberate attempts to change culture are not
really practical
■ Cultures sustain people through periods of
difficulty and ward off anxiety
■ People naturally resist change to a new culture

2-17
Cultural Change Intervention Points

2-18
 Sustaining the Culture

 Socialization
■ The process by which
organizations bring
new employees into
the culture
■ A transmittal of values,
assumptions, and attitudes
■ The goal is achieving
person-organization fit

2-19
Socialization: The Process Model

2-20
 Socialization: The Process Model

Collective Investiture
Eg: Boss except and let employee hole his identity/culture
Eg: orientationweek
because it don’t contradict.

Ways to
Formal Structure
Eg: physically seperated frm existing employee
Socialization Serial

Sequential
Eg: having a mentor to learn in 2 month
Fixed

2-21
Career Stage Model of Socialization

Socialization stages coincide with…

Anticipatory Socialization
Anticipatory Socialization

Accommodation
Accommodation
Role Management
Role Management

2-22
 Socialization Stages

Anticipatory  Recruitment using realistic job previews

 Selection/placement using realistic
career paths
Accommodation  Individualized orientation programs
 Social as well as technical skills training
 Supportive and accurate feedback
 Challenging work assignments
 Demanding but fair supervisors
Role  Provision of professional counseling
Management  Adaptive and flexible work assignments
 Sincere person-oriented managers
2-23
 Mentoring

Mentor – a friend,
coach, advisor or sponsor
who supports, encourages,
and helps a less
experienced protégé.

2-24
 Mentoring Functions

Career Psychological
Functions Functions

Sponsorship Role modeling

Exposure and visibility Acceptance

Coaching Confirmation

Production Counseling

Challenging assignments Friendship

2-25
 Mentoring Relationships

 Develop over time

and go through
distinct phases
■ Initiation
■ Cultivation
■ Separation
■ Redefinition

2-26
 Mentoring Guidelines

Do not dictate mentoring relationships

Show mentors how to effectively mentor others

Use mentoring stories in firm’s communications

Explain the benefits/difficulties of mentoring
those of different race and gender
Have diversity among mentors
Provide diversity training

2-27
 Ways to Be a Great Mentor

■ Determine the most valuable technique

■ Don’t be afraid to be honest
■ Get a mentor yourself
■ Get mentorees to agree with your style of
intervention
■ Don’t keep your feelings bottled up
■ Understand that mentoring is an important
relationship, for both of you
■ Work at building trust and at feeling it yourself
■ Realize that this process will change both of you

2-28
Phases of the Mentor Relationship

Cultivation

Initiation Redefinition

Separation

2-29
 Diversity

 A vast array of physical and cultural

differences
■ Constitutes the spectrum of human differences,
including religious, cultural, and ethnic
■ Not the same as equal employment opportunity

 The challenge
■ Finding ways to integrate the increasing number
and mix of people from diverse national cultures
into the workplace

2-30
 Diversity

Better
communication
with customers
Enhanced More creative
decision innovation
making

2-31
 Workforce Diversity Issues

Poor English language skills

Increased training for jobs that require verbal skills

Cultural awareness training for current workforce

Learning which rewards each ethnic group values

Learning about diversities of age, gender, disability

Creating career development programs that fit the skills,
needs, values of ethnic groups
Rewarding managers for recruiting, hiring,
integrating diverse workforce
2-32
 Spirituality and Culture

Employees have a personal or inner life

It nourishes and is nourished by performing

relevant, meaningful, challenging work

Spirituality is not the same as religion

Spirituality… a personal, private path that contains religious

elements and points to a person’s self-inquiry

Religion… a system of thought, set of doctrines and beliefs,

prescribed code of conduct, product of a time/place

2-33
 The Person and Spirituality

 Spirituality has not been given much

research attention
■ Considered “soft” or “non-strategic”
 There is a long tradition in the U.S. of
separating religion and government
■ It is logical to keep religion separate from
non-government organizations as well

2-34
 Spirituality and Work Dimensions Research

 Spirituality encourages…
■ Trust
■ Work/life balance
■ Empathy and compassion for others
■ The value of human assets
■ Development and self-actualization of people
■ Ethical behavior
■ Better results

2-35
Spirituality and Work Dimensions Research

Workplaces Practicing Spirituality

Recovery Alcoholics Anonymous
Evolutionary YMCA
Socially Responsible Ben & Jerry’s
Values-based Kingston Technology
Religion-based Ag Reserves, Inc. (Mormon)

2-36