Organizational behavior & leadership styles Flashcards
Formal organization
- formal organizational structure refers to type of structured and planned structure that may be adopted by an organization
- roles are specifically defined
- detailed writing and leaving little room for interpretation
Informal organization
- is a social structure
- aggregate of norms, personal and professional connections which get work done
- relationships are built among people
- firms can react to illegality by ignore, tolerate and punish
- firms have to handle different informal political processes in their daily business
What is organizational culture?
- is a pattern of common assumptions and values which the group learned by solving the problems of external adaptation and internal integration.
- two different types of values:
• Output driven values
• Instrumental values
Organizational Culture: Definition
- Organizational Culture is the behavior of humans within an organization and the meaning that people attach to those behaviors
- 6 core elements
1. implicit phenomenon
2. practiced in the firm‘s daily routine
3. refers to common orientations, values, etc
4. is the outcome of an learning process
5. melt into a common „view of the world“ over the years
6. is mediated through a Process of Socialization, it is not an active learning process
Types of Culture
- “Tough-Guy Macho” Culture (Microsoft)
- “Work Hard, Play Hard” Culture (Google)
- “Bet Your Company” Culture (Tesla)
- “Process” Culture
Functions of Culture
- enhances stability
- conveys a sense of identity
- its boundary-defining
- shapes employees attitudes and behavior
Strong and Weak Cultures
- criteria to classify
• Conciseness
• Diffusion Rate
• Anchoring Depth
Organizational Cultures and Sub Cultures
- successful management leader creates subcultures
- without understanding the different levels of cultures that exist it may be difficult to implement a new strategy etc.
- 3 interacting levels of cultures:
1. strengthening subculture = main culture is affirmed
2. Neutral subculture = own systems exist but there is no conflict with main culture
3, Counter-culture = there is a pattern of orientation which directed against main culture
How Does an Organizational Culture Develop?
Development of an organizational culture depends on interaction of four factors:
- Ownership Structure
- Organizational Structure
- The Ethical Dimension of Culture
- Characteristics of Employees
the original culture derives from the founders philosophy; factors like characteristics of the employees, ethical dimensions, top managers actions contribute to the original culture
Culture creation (founders)
- occurs in 3 ways
1. Founder only hire/keep employees who think and feel the same way
2. Founder indoctrinates and socializes employees
3. Founders own behavior encourages employees
Convincing the Employees of the Organizational Culture
- Organizational Culture is closely connected with emotions so people feel attracted by firms because their personal values match with firm
- -> by hire a new employee is important that employees values are essentially with ones of organization
- adaption-process is called socialization (new employees learn values)
- in strong culture core values are intensely held and widely shared
–> Rituals express and reinforce key values of an organization; e.g. Transitional rituals (when individual is new) Integration ritual (to strengthen relationship e.g. barbecue parties) or improvement rituals (e.g, employee promotions/events for awards)
–> Ethnical work climate influences the way firm members feel they should behave
Ethnics in organizations
- values of a corporate culture influence the ethical standards within a corporation
- Ethics are the principles and values an individual uses to govern his activities and decisions.
- In an organization, a code of ethics is a set of principles that guide the organization in its programs, policies, and decisions for the business.
- Ethics take a long-term perspective and balance the rights of multiple stakeholders, including employees, shareholders, and the community.
- If the culture is strong and supports high ethical standards, it should also have a very powerful and positive influence on employee behavior.
What can Managers do to Create an Ethical Culture?
a. Be a visible role mode
b. Communicate ethical expectations
c. Provide ethical training
d. Visibly reward ethical acts & punish unethical ones
e. Provide protective mechanism
Corporate Social Responsibility
- can be Instrumental strategic acting - Interest-driven, targeted on success, the dominant type of coordination in a economy based on prices and competition
- or communication-oriented acting - Based on communication, this type of acting is excluded from the capitalist market economy
Strategy & Society: Link Competitive Advantage and CSR
Proponents of CSR have used four arguments to make their case: • moral obligation • sustainability • license to operate • reputation