HL Flashcards
1
Q
What is Organizational culture?
A
- The shared values, attitudes, and beliefs of the people in a group or in a business
- Influences the way employees interact and make decisions
- The way we do things around here or what is normal
2
Q
What might influence organizational culture?
A
What type of business is it?
- Mission and vision statements
- NGO vs investment bank
Organizational structure
- Vertical vs horizontal
Location
- Country, city, etc
Management
- Centralized or decentralized
- Autocratic or democratic
Other
- Personalities, Age of firms, etc…
- Coffee room behavior
3
Q
What is Culture clash?
A
- Conflict between two or more cultures within an organization
- Often when businesses go through change
4
Q
When do culture clash happen?
A
Growth
- E.g. traditional, family business go public
- Traditional values vs shareholder profit
Mergers
- E.g. from different countries
- E.g. Daimler (German) and Chrysler (US) merger in 1998
Leadership styles change
- E.g. autocratic leadership takes over from a lassez-faire one
- E.g. new leader encourages teamwork when previous employees worked on their own
5
Q
Types of organizational culture
A
- Charles Handy’s “Gods of Management”
- Schneider Culture Model
- Quinn & Cameron’s Competing Values Framework
- Deal & Kennedy’s Cultural Model
6
Q
Zeus
(Charles Handy’s “Gods of Management”)
A
- All decision-making authority and control are held by the leader or board of directors in the organization
- Autocratic leadership
- Centralized decision making
- E.g. private car park, management rooms
7
Q
Apollo
(Charles Handy’s “Gods of Management”)
A
- Employees have well-defined roles and responsibilities
- Cultures with formal chains of authority, command, and responsibility
- Traditional and lack of creativity
- E.g. military, bureaucratic organizations, government departments, businesses with traditional values
8
Q
Athena
(Charles Handy’s “Gods of Management”)
A
- Teams are formed and empowered to solve problems
- Focus on teamwork and getting things done
- Authority is given to groups and creativity is encouraged
- Teams are provided with clear goals, with their performance being measured by the results achieved
9
Q
Dionysus
(Charles Handy’s “Gods of Management”)
A
- No emphasis on teamwork
- The interest of individuals within the organization is placed above that of the organization itself
- Dominated by individuals who strive to achieve their personal goals
- The success of the organization depends on the skills, talents, creativity, and drive of individuals rather than teams or the management
- E.g. firms of lawyers
10
Q
Sources of Conflict in the Workplace
A
- Lack of job security
- Salary and benefits
- Working hours
- Poor communication
- Inequity
- Personality clash
- Leadership style
- Expectations - e.g. overtime
- Values
- Redundancies - make people leave the business (lay off)
- Organizational change, e.g. new offices
- Resistance to change
11
Q
Approaches to conflict in the workplace by employees
A
Industrial Action
- Actions to put pressure on the other side to solve conflict
Collective bargaining (Unions)
- EEs negotiate with the employed together, usually using chosen EE representatives
- EEs should have more power when working together
- EEs can also form/join a Trade Union
Work-to-rule
- Only do work that is outlined in the contract and refuse to do any additional work
- E.g. stop working at exactly 5 pm (overtime ban, no work during lunch break)
Strike action
- Stop working for a period of time and refuse to work
12
Q
Approaches to conflict in the workplace by employers
A
Collective bargain with ERs
- Saves the business time and makes EEs feel listened to
Threats of redundancies
- Make them redundant if they don’t agree to terms
Changes of contract
- Increased working hours or job requirements when renewing contracts
Lock-outs
- Temporarily close the factory so workers do not get paid
Closure
- Completely close the factory - leading to redundancies
13
Q
Approaches to conflict resolution
A
- Employee participation and industrial democracy
- No-strike agreement
- Single-union agreement
- Conciliation and arbitration
14
Q
No-strike agreement
A
- Union members agree to not strike
- Usually in return for an agreement - e.g. pay will always increase in line with inflation
- Reduce EEs power in the future
- But will hopefully increase the image of the Union, leading to more members
15
Q
Employee participation and industrial democracy
A
- Achieve a closer working relationship between EE and ER. Give EEs more say in the running of the business
- E.g. Employee on the Board of Directors, Employee share ownership, Democratic Leadership style
- Increased motivation EE should hopefully reduce the likelihood of conflicts in the future
