Chapter 9: Organizational Culture and Ethics

Question 1

Organizational Culture

Answer 1

Every organization has a set of implicit or explicit values that characterizes how people behave and how the organization carries out everyday business

Question 2

Social capital

Answer 2

• the quality of interactions among people, affected by whether they share a common perspective
• Social capital = goodwil

Question 3

Culture

Answer 3

set of values, norms, guiding beliefs, and understanding that is shared by members of an organization and is taught to new members

• The strengths of the culture = the degree of alignment of values
• The culture and the values that underlie the culture, must fit the organizations environment, its strategic focus and its structure

Question 4

Emergence and Purpose of Culture:

Answer 4

culture provides members with a sense of organizational identity

Question 5

Internal integration

Answer 5

• a state in which organization members develop a collective identity and know how to work together effectively
• Culture that guides day-to-day working relationships and determine how people communicate within the organization, what behaviour is acceptable and how power and status are allocated

Question 6

External adaptation

Answer 6

• the manner in which an organization meets goals and deals with outsiders
• Help the organization respond rapidly to customer needs of the moves of a competitor

Question 7

Interpreting Culture

Answer 7

people are able to make inferences based on observable artifacts

Question 8

Rites and ceremonies

Answer 8

the elaborate, planned activities that make up a special event and often are conducted for the benefit of an audience.

Question 9

Types of Rite:

Answer 9

• Passage, enhancement, renewal, intergration

Question 10

Passage

Answer 10

facilitate transition of persons into social roles and statuses that are new for them

Question 11

Enhancement

Answer 11

enhance social identities and increase status of employees

Question 12

Renewal

Answer 12

refurbish social structure and improve organization functioning

Question 13

Integration

Answer 13

encourage and revive common feelings that bind members together and commit them to the organization

Question 14

Cultures and org designs

Answer 14

• adaptability culture
• mission culture
• clan culture
• bureaucratic culture

Question 15

Adaptability culture

Answer 15

• a culture characterized by strategic focus on the external environment through flexibility and change to meet customer needs
• Encourages entrepreneurial values, norms, and beliefs that support the capacity of the organization to detect, interpret, and translate signals from the environment
• Innovation, creativity, and risk taking are valued and rewarded
  Ex - Pixar

Question 16

Mission Culture

Answer 16

• Culture that places emphasis on a clear vision of the organization’s purpose and on the achievement of specific goals
• Ex - sustainability

Question 17

Clan Culture

Answer 17

• a culture that focuses primarily on the involvement and participation of the organization’s members and on rapidly changing expectations from the external environment
• Focuses on the needs of employees as the route to high performance
  Ex - Westjet

Question 18

Bureaucratic Culture

Answer 18

• a culture that has an internal focus and a consistency orientation for a stable environment
• Supports methodical approach to operating
  Ex- Corrections Canada

Question 19

Characteristics that define great companies

Answer 19

• level 5 leadership
• right values
• right people in the right jobs
• knowing where to go

Question 20

Level 5 leadership

Answer 20

top leadership - level 5 characterized by an almost complete lack of personal ego, coupled with a strong will and ambition for the success of the organization

Question 21

Right values -

Answer 21

build a culture based on values of individual freedom and responsibility

Question 22

Right people in the right jobs

Answer 22

look for self disciplined people who embody values that fit the culture

Question 23

Knowing where to go

Answer 23

• (1) what they can be the best in the world at, (2) what they are deeply passionate about, (3) what makes economic sense for the organization

Question 24

Culture strength

Answer 24

• The degree of agreement among members of an organization about the importance of specific values
  Frequent use of ceremonies, symbols, stories, heroes, and slogans

Question 25

Subcultures

Answer 25

cultures that develop within an organization to reflect the common problems, goals, and experiences that members of a team, department, or other unit share

Question 26

Strong adaptive cultures often incorporate the following values

Answer 26

• The whole is more important than the parts, and boundaries between parts are minimized
• Equality and trust are primary values
• The culture encourages risk taking, change, and improvement