Organizational Culture

Question 1

Organizational Culture

Answer 1

Innovation/risk taking, attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation

Question 2

Attention to detail

Answer 2

Degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision

Question 3

Outcome orientation

Answer 3

Degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on technique and process

Question 4

People orientation

Answer 4

Degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the organization

Question 5

Team orientation

Answer 5

Degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals

Question 6

Aggressiveness

Answer 6

Degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easygoing

Question 7

Stability

Answer 7

Degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth

Question 8

Layers of the organizational culture onion

Answer 8

Basic underlying assumptions - espoused values - observable artifacts

Question 9

Observable artifacts

Answer 9

Stories, metaphors, rituals, heroes, symbols (manifestations of culture that people can easily see and talk about)

Question 10

Espoused values

Answer 10

Beliefs, philosophies, norms that a company explicitly states

Question 11

Basic underlying assumptions

Answer 11

Taken-for-granted beliefs and philosophies that are so ingrained that employees simply act on them rather than questioning the validity of their behavior in a given situation

Question 12

Culture’s functions

Answer 12

Boundary defining, sense of identity, commitment to something larger than one’s individual self-interest, social glue, “sense-making”

Question 13

General Culture

Answer 13

Varies on continuum of sociability and solidarity

Question 14

High sociability and high solidarity

Answer 14

Communal (sense of belonging, task-driven, leaders are inspirational but may have too much influence)

Question 15

High sociability and low solidarity

Answer 15

Networked (Members are willing to help each other and share information, but are so close to each other that they may refuse to criticize poor performance)

Question 16

Low sociability and high stability

Answer 16

Mercenary (focus on strict goals, those with poor performance can be treated inhumanely)

Question 17

Low sociability and low stability

Answer 17

Fragmented (Sense of belonging to and identification with the organization is usually very weak. Individualists constitute the organizations, commitment is given first to individual members and task work, but lack of cooperation)

Question 18

Culture strength

Answer 18

High consensus (employees agree about the way that things are supposed to happen within the organization)
High intensity (subsequent behaviors are consistent with those expectations)

Question 19

Specific culture types

Answer 19

Customer service, safety, diversity, creativity

Question 20

Attraction - selection - attrition

Answer 20

Socialization has three stages of anticipatory, encounter, and understanding/adaptation

Question 21

Organization socialization

Answer 21

Process by which newcomers are transformed from outsiders to participating, effective members of the organization

Question 22

Anticipatory socialization

Answer 22

All of the learning about the organization that occurs before a newcomer’s first day on the job

Question 23

Realism

Answer 23

Degree to which the new person holds accurate expectations about the job and organization

Question 24

Congruence

Answer 24

Refers both to extent to which a newcomer’s abilities match the demands of the job, and the extent to which the newcomer’s values match the values of the organization

Question 25

Encounter

Answer 25

Newcomer learns the organizational tasks associated with the job, calrifies roles, establishes relationships. May clash with realities of job during this stage

Question 26

Change and acquisition

Answer 26

Newcomers begin to master the demands of the job, time span of the last stage varies greatly, but is complete when the newcomer and others consider the newcomer an org. insider

Question 27

Socialization as cultural communication

Answer 27

Socialization process centers on the transmission of the organization’s core values to newcomers

Question 28

Changing a culture

Answer 28

Occurs through change in leadership, merger and acquisition, major change in processes, big changes in market, strategy change

Question 29

3 Step Change model

Answer 29

unfreezing, moving, refreezing

Question 30

Unfreezing

Answer 30

Arouse dissatisfaction with current state, activate and strengthen top mgt support, use participation in decision making, build in rewards

Question 31

Moving

Answer 31

Establish goals, institute smaller, acceptable changes that reinforce and support change, develop mgt. structure for change

Question 32

Refreezing

Answer 32

Build success experiences, reward desired behaviors, develop structures to institutionalize change