Lecture 1 - organizational culture, inclusive and ethical culture Flashcards
What is OD?
Organizational Development (OD) is a planned effort to improve an organization’s culture, structures, and problem-solving abilities by applying insights from behavioral science, research, and past experiences.
You are doing OD if you…
… bringing planned change
… applying behavioral science
… analyzing the effectiveness of an organization
… supporting the increase of an organizational effectiveness on all levels
… developing sustainable change
Reasons for continous development
Globalization
Technological changes
Changing markets and consumer demands
Competitors
Climate change
What is general and task environment?
General environment: global, sociocultural, political, etc.
Task environment: customers, suppliers, competitors (things directly affecting the organization)
Important trends in the general enviroment
- Economic: globalization
- Demographic: diversification of the labour force
- Technological: IT revolution, AI
- Political: gov. changes
- Sociocultural: focus on CSR
Examples of companies that failed to adapt
Toys R us, Kodak
Types of change
- Magnitude of change:
- Incremental: small adjustments
- Fundamental: major adjustments - Organization:
- Underorganized: needs more structure
- Overorganized: needs to loosen up - Setting of change
- Local: easier to manage
- Global: harder due to cultural differences
Lewin’s planned change model
As a professional, you analyze the organization, study groups, and provide feedback
Unfreezing: Prepare the organization for change by breaking existing norms and behaviors.
Movement: Implement the changes and transition to new practices.
Refreezing: Solidify and stabilize the new changes into the organization.
Action research model
The whole participative element comes into play.
Focus is on solving the problem
Positive model
Rather than fixing problems, think of best practices
Focus is diagnosing an organizational culture
Commonalities vs differences in the models
Commonalities:
Planned change follows phases (diagnose, action, close).
Uses behavioral science.
Organization’s involvement is essential.
Differences:
Lewin: Holistic/simple; focuses on fixing problems.
Action: Focuses on diagnosing and fixing problems.
Positive: Focuses on leveraging strengths; consultant and organization co-learn.
Lewin & Action: Consultant mainly involved in diagnosis/evaluation, less in the change process.
Open systems model
Process of understanding how an organization is currently functioning
Takes a holistic approach by examining inputs, processes, and outputs.
Emphasizes interconnectedness within the organization.
Onion model
The Onion Model describes organizational culture in four layers:
- Artifacts: Visible behaviors and objects (e.g., dress code, language).
- Norms: Unwritten rules about behavior, often learned through observation.
- Values: Belief systems that guide decisions and actions (e.g., teamwork, innovation).
- Basic Assumptions: Deep, unconscious beliefs that influence behavior (e.g., dressing formally to be taken seriously).
Study culture preditcs…
Financial products
Employee well-being
Organizational effectiveness
Innovation
Ethical culture
Shared belief that one should behave morally sound
Ethics = moral principles, norms, and values governing the behaviors of individuals
Unethical vs illegal behavior at work
Unethical behavior: an organizational member action that violates widely accepted societal moral norms
Illegal behavior: determined by law as breaking rules, prohibited
Examples of unethical behavior within organizations
Deceiving customers or investors
Explioting employees
Putting customers at risk
Poisoning the environment
Predictors of unethical behavior
- Individual characteristics: cognitive moral development, idealism, relativism
- Moral issue characteristics: concentration of effect, magnitude of consequence, proxmity
- Organizational environment: egoistic ethical climate, code of conduct, code of enforcement
5 types of ethical culture
Instrumental: Driven by self-interest, negatively impacts commitment and satisfaction.
Caring: Focuses on others’ well-being,
Independence: Decisions based on moral convictions
Law and Code: Decisions based on formal external codes (e.g., law, professional conduct).
Rules: Decisions guided by a strong set of rules.
Benefits of corporate social responsibility
Happier and more productive workers
People are attracted by morality (more than competence)
People need to identify with the organization and derive pride from it
Challenges in creating ethical culture relevant to OD
- Lack of multi-level approaches to ethics: trying to stop a problem that exists in the entire organization (bullying)
- Formal ethics don’t work without strong social norms
- People unknowingly follow unwritten social norms on what’s “right” or “wrong”: doing something cause everyone else is doing it
Inclusive culture
The shared belief that everyone should be included irrespective of their commonalites or differences
Benefits of inclusion
Increases prosocial behavior
Decreases aggression
Improves self-regulation
Reduces pain
Common themes
Psychological and physical safety
Involvement in work groups
Feeling respected and valued
Influence on decision making
Theroetical roots for inclusive culture
The need to belong
Social identity theory
Optimal distinctiveness theory
Difference between diversity and inclusion
Diversity = composition of social grouping involving all the characteristics based on which people differ from each other
Inclusion = a culture that connects each employee to the organization
- Different, but overlapping: if you want to have an inclusive culture acting ethically is also important
Importance of an inclusive culture in organizations
More satisfied and productive employees
Increased interpersonal trust
Full use of the potential of employees
Struggles of creating and sustaining an inclusive culture
Similarity Attracts: People prefer those similar to them, which eases communication and reinforces shared views.
Diverse Employees: Differences can lead to lower satisfaction and performance.
Homogeneous Groups: Similar groups often work more harmoniously.
Challenges to creating an inclusive culture relevant to OD
Motivational Basis: Employees may follow rules to avoid mistakes but don’t always see diversity as an opportunity to grow.
Equal Representation ≠ Equal Opportunity: Having diverse people doesn’t guarantee fair treatment or opportunities for everyone.
Laws and Policies: Anti-discrimination rules may not fully support an inclusive culture.
HR’s Role: HR must shift from just managing diversity to ensuring all employees feel included.
