Organizational Culture Chapter 13 IBUS 681, Dr. Yang 1

Organizational Culture
Chapter 13
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Learning Objectives
Define organizational culture and know
why it is important
Distinguish among organizational,
national, and global culture and
understand the relationships among
them
Evaluate the culture-free approach to
understanding organizational culture
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Learning Objectives (cont.)
Identify levels of organizational culture
Know what organizational culture does
Discuss the cultural dimensions and
typology approaches to understanding
organizational culture
Understand how organizational culture
can be managed
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Organizational Culture
A pattern of basic assumptions - invented,
discovered, or developed by a given group as
it learns to cope with 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
(Schien, 1985).
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National and Global Culture
Relationship between national and
corporate culture is complex:
“Logic of industrialization" may affect all
organizations the same way
National culture and other elements in an
organization's environment may determine
internal organizational culture
Globalization also affects organizational
culture
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Henry Ford, founder of the Ford
Motor Company said:
Getting together is beginning
Keeping together is progress
Working together is success
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National and Global Culture
One can not understand what’s going on inside an
organizational culture without understanding what
exists outside the boundary.
National culture provides basic assumptions that
legitimize and guide organizational behavior.
Industrialization promotes changes in national culture.
Globalization increases awareness of successful practices
elsewhere.
Modern communication enhances connections among
manufacturers, merchants, financiers, consumers, etc.
globally.
MNCs seek consistency and shape organizational culture
on a global basis.
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Culture-Free Approach
It argues that technology, policies, rules,
organizational structure, and other variables
that contribute to efficiency and effectiveness
make national culture irrelevant for
management.
McDonald’s fast food service
World Disney
IKEA
Disney Paris Ears
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Understanding Organizational
Culture
Organizations are culture free in some
respects, but culture bound in many
others (Trice & Beyer, 1993).
Global, national, and organizational
elements interact to influence
organizational culture and behavior.
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McDonald's Restaurants
Moscow or some others
Types of the restaurant
Food adaptation
Service adaptation
Perceptions of jobs
Workplace culture
Employee commitment
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U.S.
Fast food life style
Convenience
Temporary jobs
High turnover rate
Standard food items
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Levels of Organizational Culture
Artifacts
Espoused Values
Actual Values
Basic Underlying Assumptions
Subcultures
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Artifacts
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Microsoft’s Mission:
To enable people and businesses
throughout the world to realize their full
potentials
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Great People with Great Values
Delivering on our mission requires great people who
are bright, creative, and energetic, and who share
the following values:
Integrity and honesty.
Passion for customers, partners, and technology.
Open and respectful with others and dedicated to making
them better.
Willingness to take on big challenges and see them through.
Self-critical, questioning, and committed to personal
excellence and self-improvement.
Accountable for commitments, results, and quality to
customers, shareholders, partners, and employees.
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National Vs. Organizational Culture
National culture
Organizational culture
Broader
More complex
Influence org. culture
Primary and secondary
socialization
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Narrower
Manageable
Secondary socialization
Subcultures
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What Organizational Culture Does
FUNCTIONS
Provides an external
identity
Creates a sense of
commitment
Acts as source of high
reliability
Defines an interpretive
scheme
Acts as a social control
mechanism
DYSFUNCTIONS
Can create barriers to
change
Can create conflict
within the organization
Subcultures can change
at different rates than
other units
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Some Underlying Dimensions of
Organizational Culture
Dimension
Questions to be answered
1. The organization’s
relationship to its
environment
Does the organization perceive itself to be
dominant, submissive, harmonizing,
searching out a niche?
2. The nature of human
activity
3. The nature of reality
and truth
Is it the “correct” way for humans to
behave to be dominant/proactive,
harmonizing, or passive/fatalistic?
How do we define what is true and what is
not true; and how is truth ultimately
determined both in the physical and social
world?
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Some Underlying Dimensions of
Organizational Culture (cont.)
Dimension
Questions to be answered
4. The nature of time
What is our basic orientation in terms
of past, present, and future, and what
kinds of time units are most relevant
for the conduct of daily affairs?
5. The nature of human
nature
Are humans basically good, neutral,
or evil, and is human nature
perfectible or fixed?
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Some Underlying Dimensions of
Organizational Culture (cont.)
Dimension
Questions to be answered
6. The nature of human What is the “correct” way for people to relate to
each other, to distribute power and affection? Is
relationships
life competitive or cooperative? Is the best way
to organize society on the basis of individualism
or groupism? Is the best authority system
autocratic/paternalistic or collegial/participative?
7. Homogeneity versus Is the group best off if it is highly diverse or if it is
highly homogeneous, and should individuals in a
diversity
group be encouraged to innovate or conform?
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Trompenaars’ Four Corporate
Cultures
Family Culture
Eiffel Tower Culture
Guided Missile Culture
Incubator Culture
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Characteristics of Trompenaars’ Four Types of
Corporate Culture
Variables
Family
Eiffel Tower
Guided Missile
Incubator
Relationship
between employees
Diffuse relationships to
organic whole to which
one is bonded
Specific role in
mechanical system of
required interactions
Specific tasks in
cybernetic system
targeted upon shared
objectives
Diffuse, spontaneous
relationships growing
out of shared creative
process
Attitudes toward
authority
Status is ascribed to
parent figures who are
close and powerful
Status is ascribed to
superior roles, which
are distant yet
powerful
Status is achieved by
project group members
who contribute to
targeted goals
Status is achieved by
individuals
exemplifying
creativity and growth
Ways of thinking
and learning
Intuitive, holistic,
lateral, and errorcorrecting
Logical, analytical,
vertical, and rationally
efficient
Problems centered,
professional, practical,
cross-disciplinary
Process oriented,
creative, an hoc,
inspirational
Attitudes towards
people
Family members
Human resources
Specialists and experts
Co-creators
Ways of changing
“Father” changes
course
Change rules and
procedures
Shift aim as target
moves
Improvise and attune
Ways of motivating
and rewarding
Intrinsic satisfaction in
being loved and
respected
Promote to greater
position, larger role
Pay or credit for
performance and
problems solved
Participating in the
process of creating
new realities
Management style
Management by
subjectives
Management by job
description
Management by
objectives
Management by
enthusiasm
Criticism and
conflict resolution
Turn other cheeks,
save others’ faces, do
not lose power game
Criticism is accusation
of irrationalism unless
there are procedures
to arbitrate conflict
Constructive taskrelated only, then admit
error fast and correct
Must improve creative
idea, not negate it
Managing and Changing
Organizational Culture
Leadership and organizational culture
Elements of culture leaders can change
Employee selection criteria
Socialization of new members
Meaning of work
Artifacts/surface manifestations of culture
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Convergence or Divergence?
Industrialization
Emphasis on
standardization
Organizational strategies
for managing culture
globally
Emphasis on consistency
across borders
Use of organizational
culture as a competitive
tool
Impact of diverse
national cultures on
organizational culture
Benefits in specific and
culturally sensitive ways
MNCs
Global institutions
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Seniority
Job security
Group versus individual
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Implications for Managers
For managerial effectiveness, it is helpful to
analyze organizational cultures in order to
coordinate activities or change them;
Understand what levels of culture can be
influenced and how;
Know how national culture and organizational
culture can interact to influence management
philosophy and employee behaviors.
Person-culture fit for individual career success
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