10.2 Managing organisational culture (includes Handy's model & Hofstede model)

Question 1

What does the culture of an organisation refer to?

Answer 1

The values, attitudes & beliefs of employees.

This determines what employees prioritise, what they think is important, how they react in different situations & how they respond to change.

Question 2

How will the culture of a business be demonstrated?

Answer 2

The stories (e.g. great employees in past/ present- reveals organisations values.)

Rituals (Certain events/ certain ways of doing things.)

The rewards system (how are employees rewarded for their achievements?)

The physical environment (Decorations, facilities, layout, where investment goes etc.)

Question 3

What are different types of business culture?

Answer 3

• The focus on profit- is it seen as the most important objective?
• The focus on safety- Is it a priority? How much are they willing to invest in safety?
• Task Vs People- (links to blake mouton grid)

Question 4

What are the 4 types of culture in Handys model of culture?

Answer 4

Role

Task

Power

Person

Question 5

What are the features of Power culture?

Answer 5

• Few people at centre of organisation.
• They make all decisions.
• Other employees refer issues to the centre to get a decision made.
• It is common in small businesses- especially where the founder is heavily involved & wants to keep close control over decisons made.
• Positive- can lead to quick decision making & a consistent approach- however as business expands, puts greater pressure on those at centre.
• An overload on key managers can lead to slow decision making & stress.
• The culture may only be effective in relatively small departments & organisations.

Question 6

Role culture

What are the features of this?

Answer 6

• Individuals have a clear role within the organisation.
• They know who to report to and who they are responsible for.
• They understand which part of the business they belong to & identify with a particular function or department of the business.
• This culture is commonly adopted as the business moves from being a power culture & starts to formalise processes & procedures more & adopt a functional organisational structure.
• It creates order, structure & certainty in a business.

Question 7

What are the features of task culture?

Answer 7

• In this type of culture, individuals identify with the task they are working on.
• The importance of an individual depends on their ability to contribute to a particular project, regardless of their age, seniority or length of service.
• The culture is common in a business where there are many projects, e.g. advertsing agencies, design businesses or consultancies.

Question 8

What features are within Person culture?

Answer 8

• Individuals have their own space, given there own parts of the business to make decisions on & control.
• It respects the individuals expertise but means there is not necessarily consistency in approach, and the senior managers are placing a high level of trust in others within their organisation.

Question 9

Hofstede’s national cultures

In his original study, what was his research based on & what did he want to find?

Answer 9

Based on his research of emloyees of IBM to see how cultures may differ around the world within the same organisation.

His studies identified a number of areas in which national cultures appeared to differ.

Question 10

Hofstede’s national cultures

What areas did he discover appeared to be different where national cultures differed?

Answer 10

• Individualism vs collectivism
• Power distance
• Short-terminism vs Long terminism.
• Masculinity vs femininity
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Indulgence vs restraint

Question 11

Individualism vs collectivism

Answer 11

• Some societies value the individual others value the team player
• If individuals are praised for what they are doing even to the detriment of others this will become the culture
• If the team is valued more than the individual and is praised for this practice then the culture will be created

Question 12

Short terminism vs long terminism

Answer 12

• Some countires- individuals only plan for a few years ahead.
• Other countries-plan for many years ahead.
• Impacts upon investment decisions, profitability, Processes & procedures

Question 13

Masculinity vs femininity

Answer 13

Masculine traits - focus on self, work, being competitive, winning and material rewards

Feminine traits - relationship centred, consultative, caring and involving and focused on a work life balance

These approaches can conflict !

Question 14

Uncertainty avoidance

Answer 14

Comfort levels with undertainty.

How well can confront new situations.

100 = high comfort level for uncertainty.

0= low comfort level for uncertainty.

Question 15

What influences the culture of an organisation?

Answer 15

History of the business - what the founders thought was important

Current leadership - vision lead from their beliefs

Society in general - what different stakeholders want- employees, customers, owners etc

Experience and performance of the business - if doing well culture will continue if not changes will be made

Ownership - family run, government, PLC etc will all have different objectives

Employees- The age, sex, & attitudes of employeescan impact, older employees may be more suited to role culture whereas younger employees may be flexible & adaptable to change-so more suited to power culture.

Question 16

Why are cultures changed?

Answer 16

• New leadership
• If society’s values have changed
• Performance of the business suffers
• If their are new owners- may have different objectives.
• Change of leadership
• Changing market conditions
• Toxic culture.

Question 17

What are the issues with changing culture?

Answer 17

Challenging how things are currently done & what matters- employees may resist changes.

Changing people’s beliefs can be a difficult task.

May involve training & education - investment.

Will be difficult if there are large numbers of people in different locations.

Difficult if the values questioned are ingrained in the business.

Question 18

Why is the culture of an organisation important for a business?

Answer 18

Identity: Defines an organisations identity & the way its perceived- not only by employees but also by stakeholders.

Direction: Culture provides a set of guidelines, roles & responsibilities that keep employees on task & provide sense of direction.

Loyalty: If employees feel part of & involved in an organisation & contribute towards its success- they are likely to feel more engaged & loyal to the organisation.

Competition: A healthy competiton between employees may exist to achieve targets & goals, increasing performance & quality of work.

Attitude to change: Culture can be important in determining an organisations attiude to change.

Question 19

Indulgence vs restraint?

Answer 19

This relates to a societies attitude to gratification. Does it supress gratification through strict social norms or does it allow free gratification related to enjoying life & having fun?

Question 20

What are the possible problems with changing culture?

Answer 20

• May be difficult due to change of tradition & attitude of employees. They may not accept the need for change, preferring existing arrangements & remaining in their comfort zone.
• Could be sense of fear of the unknown, a loss of power and skills, break-up of work groups and loss of income.
• The scale of change may be a problem, e.g. if there are large numbers of people involved & in different locations. This may result in high costs, to restructure the organisation & to educate and train the workforce in the new policies & practicies.