Chap 1- culture Flashcards
what does handy say about culture? what are the four cultural stereotypes of handy?
Culture is ‘the way we do things round here’.
the four stereotypes are:
1) Power culture:
-power is concentrated in the hands of one person, ‘the boss’.
-found in small, family businesses
-danger sign
-many of the corporate governance rules are there specifically to spread power and reduce risks.
2) role culture:
-traditional culture
- Jobs are arranged by function and seniority. each employee has a distinct role.
-good for stable businesses, where employees r expected to do the same tasks all year
-creates inflexibility, slow down to change
3) task culture:
-focus is on getting the job done, and serving clients well rather than defending your role
-flexibility is encouraged
-easily adaptable
4) Person culture:
- the employee is following a personal ambition
- interacts with the organisation as little as possible
-The organisation is seen as serving the individuals within it.
-examples, barrister’s chambers, architect partnerships, consultancy firms, medical practices.
what is the difference between tall-narrow and wide-flat organisations?
Tall-Narrow Organizations: These have numerous management layers, with each manager overseeing only a few subordinates.
Wide-Flat Organizations: These have fewer management layers, but each manager is responsible for many subordinates.
what are the reasons organisations would want to move from tall-narrow to wide-flat?
1) costs can be saved by getting rid of middle management layers
2) slow,poor communication due to lots of layers. msgs will have to be passed through many managers causing delays, misunderstandings, distortion.
3) inflexibility:
Many layers of management means many grades of pay and benefits. and if the organisation needed to change to respond to environmental developments, the large number of managers can be obstructive so as to defend their positions.
these problems can be avoided by moving to flat-narrow.
The tall-narrow structure is likely to exhibit a _____ culture, whereas the wide-flat structure is more likely to have a ______ culture.
The tall-narrow structure is likely to exhibit a ROLE culture, whereas the wide-flat structure is more likely to have a TASK culture.
How can moving from Tall-narrow to wide-flat provide job enrichment?
The movement to wide-flat can provide job enrichment because if a manager has more people to look after, less time can be given to each, and employees are therefore almost inevitably given more responsibility.
what is meant by centralization and decentralization?
Centralisation means that most decision making is retained at the top of an organisation, and this implies a power culture.
Decentralisation means that decision making is passed down through the group
what are the benefits and risks of decentralization?
benefits:
-Top management can focus on the most important decisions.
-Quick decision making
-Decisions are made by technical experts and are made with an awareness of local conditions. Eg. The best person to decide about advertising in Brazil is almost certainly someone with a marketing background resident in Brazil, rather than a chief executive from an accounting background based in London.
-Motivation of staff. Giving decision-making responsibility is an excellent example of job enrichment.
risks:
there is an increased chance of dysfunctional decision-making, where one division or department makes a decision that hurts the group overall. To reduce the chance of this, management needs to keep a coordinating role.
what is the cultural web?
it is essentially a list of factors that influence culture.
it is a good tool to map and analyse the culture of a company. it helps organisation leader identify influences which should be changed to bring a change in the culture.
what are the 6 elements of the cultural web?
Symbols- Symbols include logos, offices, cars, titles and the type of language and terminology commonly used within the organisation.
For example, dress code , office layout. Visual representation of culture.
Stories- Stories are told by employees in an organisation. These often concern events from the history of the organisation and highlight significant issues and personalities.
For example, a story about when the organisation won an important client
Power relations- autocratic or participative
Organisational structure- tall-narrow or wide-flat, divisional?
Control systems- highly centralised or decentralised
Rituals and routines- ‘the way we do things around here’, long hours, social activities, gaming excluding women etc, word hard play hard
Organisation assumption (paradigm)- model, goal of organisation. example that the organisation exists to fulfil charitable objectives
what are mintzberg’s 5 organizational configurations?
Mintzberg suggested that an organisation should consist of five elements:
1) The strategic apex – the board and top management.
2) The middle line – middle managers responsible for carrying out the decisions of the strategic apex; the chain of command down through the organisation.
3) The operating core – the workers.
4) Support staff – departments such as accounting, personnel and IT.
5) The technocracy – the people responsible for devising and enforcing standards and procedures such as the personnel manual, the internal control system, the quality control system, health and safety rules.
what are mintzberg’s 3 organisational stereotype?
Simple Structure (aka Entrepreneurial Structure):
just the boss and the workers- strategic apex and operating core.
Machine Bureaucracy: Common in mass manufacturing industries, it has a tall-narrow structure with many management layers. Large technocracy is needed to regulate production, quality, safety, and finance in repetitive manufacturing processes.
Professional Bureaucracy: Typically found in professions like law or accounting, it has a wide-flat structure with good communication between top and bottom levels. The technostructure is small because unique, non-standardized tasks require direct communication between the strategic apex and the operating core.
what are cost leadership and differentiation strategies?
In business strategy, cost leadership is establishing a competitive advantage by having the lowest cost of operation in the industry.
differentiation strategy is the way in which you make your firm stand out from otherwise similar competitors in the marketplace.
