4 Evolvement, Measurement and Managment of a Corporate Culture Flashcards
How does corp. cult. develop?
Three main sources of corp. cult.
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- the society in which the company is situated
- vision, personality and style of management of the founder or an important leader
- form and characteristics of the business model and the environment
society
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- National cultures or regional cultural differences are the basis for any organizational culture to grow
- Other aspects of society may be the political or demographic setting an organization is operating in
Hofstede’s dimension of culture
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approaches to measure regional differences
Hofstede’s dimension of culture:
- Power Distance
- Individualism vs Collectivism Masculinity vs Feminity
- Long vs Short Term Orientation
- Indulgence vs Restraint
- Uncertainty Avoidance
Leaders
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-Organizations do not form accidentally or spontaneously but are initiated by individuals (often the founder) or groups –> Steve Barmer CEO of Microsoft “Monkey Boy”
-commercial organisations usually involves a vision of how a group of people can create and successfully market a new product or service
-During the early phase of an organization’s existence founders are in an extremely privileged position to determine
what mission is to be pursued and in what business context
who is recruited
what rules, systems and procedures will be instigated
what constitutes acceptable behavior in the workplace
-In building their organization founders tend to impose their beliefs and values about the nature of the world, organizations and human nature on
other organizational participants
Stakeholders
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People who have a stake or interest in organization´s success
Customers
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have proved powerful in shaping the organization’s culture,
e.g., by demanding a “quality culture”
Government
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shape culture by regulations, legal frameworks, rulings on monopoly and mergers, etc.
Public
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have proved powerful in shaping the organization’s culture,
e.g., by demanding a “quality culture”
Government: shape culture by regulations, legal frameworks, rulings on monopoly and mergers, etc.
Public: pressure to enforce “equality of opportunity”, e.g., for women and minorities; environmental campaigns
Shareholders: have surprisingly little actual influence on cultural developments of an organization; mainly only if when ownership is mainly held by an individual or a family
Professional associations
Similarly trained professionals tend to induce similar cultures
Business strategic factors
E.g., degree of risk and speed of feedback in a business context
Shareholders
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have surprisingly little actual influence on cultural developments of an organization; mainly only if when ownership is mainly held by an individual or a family
Professional associations
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Similarly trained professionals tend to induce similar cultures
Business strategic factors
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E.g., degree of risk and speed of feedback in a business context
How is culture Preserved?
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-Self-selection
Personnel with ”fitting” preferences will apply more often
-Recruiting
Companies will try to actively recruit employees with ”fitting” preferences
-Socialization
Preferences are affected by the work experience in the company
-Integration or rejection
During collaboration it becomes apparent whether preferences fit to the culture
Possible measurements
Possibilities:
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- Employee surveys with standardized questionnaires
- Interview of selected persons in the company, e.g. top management
- Direct observation of employees‘ behavior
- Managers of one firm are asked about culture of other firm and own firm, e.g. Kotter/Heskett
However:
- Very different concepts of corporate culture
- No generally agreed definition of parts of a culture
- Difficulties when comparing companies
four dimensions by Denison
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Involvement (Empowerment, Team Orientation, Capability
Development)
Consistency (Core Values, Agreement, Coordination and Integration)
Adaptability (Creating Change, Customer Focus, Organizational Learning)
Mission (Strategic Direction & Intent, Goals & Objectives, Vision)
Measurement:
Strength of Corporate measured with a questionnaire consisting of 60 items
Degree of agreement on 5 point scale, for example
“People work like they are part of a team”
“It is easy to reach consensus, even on difficult issues”
“New and improved ways to do work are continually adopted”
“Our vision creates excitement and motivation for our employees”
Schein‘s Ten Step Culture Assessment Approach
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Culture-deciphering process is based on ten steps:
1. Obtaining leadership commitment
Why do you want this?
2. Selecting groups for interviews
Groups that are representative for the culture (3 to 30 persons)
3. Selecting an appropriate setting for the group interviews
Large, comfortable room with flipcharts and breakout rooms
4. Explaining the purpose of the group meeting
Leadership explains purpose openly, process consultant is introduced
5. A short lecture on how to think about culture
Culture as the tacit assumptions in group
6. Eliciting descriptions of the artifacts
Ask newcomer, write down on flipchart, suggest categories What is going on here?
7. Identifying espoused values
Pick artifact of interest and discuss reasons Why are you doing what you are doing?
8. Identifying shared tacit assumptions
Do the explained values really explain all artifacts?
9. Identifying cultural aids and hindrances
Split into smaller breakout groups of around 10 Subgroups should explore own assumption set
10. Reporting assumptions and joint analysis
Reach consensus on important shared assumptions and the implications for the organization
