Organizational Culture and Change Flashcards
Organizational culture:
The shared social knowledge within an organization regarding the rules, norms, and values that shape the attitudes and behaviours of its employees.
what are the 3 cultural components
Observable artifacts
Espoused values
Basic underlying assumptions
what are the 6 observable artifacts?
symbols physical structure ceremonies rituals language stories
Symbols: (observable artifacts)
The images that organizations use that convey messages
- Apple’s logo
- Nike swoosh
Physical structures: (observable artifacts)
The organization’s building and internal office designs
- Open concept vs closed concept office spaces.
Language: (observable artifacts)
Jargon, slang, and slogans used within an organization
Language: (observable artifacts)
Jargon, slang, and slogans used within an organization
Stories: (observable artifacts)
Anecdotes, legends, and myths passed down within an organization.
- The story of Walt Disney walking around Disneyland to observe his guests.
Rituals: (observable artifacts)
Daily or weekly planned routines that occurs in an organization
- Purple Fridays at western
Ceremonies: (observable artifacts)
Formal events, generally, performed in front of an audience of organizational members.
- Organization wide ceremony for a vehicle launch at an automotive manufacturer.
Espoused values:
The beliefs, philosophies, and norms that a company explicitly states
- Ex. a company values integrity and respect.
There is a difference between espoused values and enacted values.
Basic underlying assumptions:
Ingrained beliefs and philosophies of employees
- Ex. one should act in the best interest of the patient in the medical profession.
The deepest and last observable part of a culture.
what is meant by solidarity?
degree to which group members think alike
what is meant by sociability?
represents how friendly employees are to one another
Fragmented culture:
An organizational culture type in which employees are distant and disconnected from one another.
Low on solidarity
Low on sociability
Mercenary culture:
An organizational culture type in which employees think alike but are not friendly to one another
High on solidarity
Low on sociability
Very political, “what’s in it for me?” environments.
Networked culture:
An organizational culture type in which employees are friendly to one another, but everyone thinks differently and does his or her own thing.
Low on solidarity
High on sociability.
Many highly creative organizations have such a culture.
Communal culture:
An organizational culture type in which employees are friendly to one another and all think alike.
High on solidarity
High on sociability.
Culture strength:
The degree to which employees agree about how things should happen within the organization and behave accordingly.
subcultures
Cultures created within small subsets of the organization’s employees.
May be created because there is a strong leader in one area of the company that engenders different norms and values, or because different divisions in a company act interdependently and create their own cultures.
Countercultures
Subcultures whose values do not match those of the organization.
ASA framework:
A theory (attraction–selection–attrition) that states that employees will be drawn to organizations with cultures that match their personality, organizations will select employees that match, and employees will leave or be forced out when they are not a good fit.
*Attrition: voluntary or involuntary turnover.
Socialization
The primary process by which employees learn the social knowledge that enables them to understand and adapt to the organization’s culture
Anticipatory stage of socialization
Ex. what it must be like to work for a certain company
Encounter stage of socialization
First day on the job
New employees compare their experience to what they expected.
Reality shock happens when reality does not match their expectation.
Understanding and adaptation.
When an employee embraces the culture and becomes part of it.
Never truly ends
how can socialization process be sped up?
realistic job previews
newcomer orientation
mentoring
the unfreezing change freezing process:
Unfreezing:
Recognition that the current state is not satisfactory
- Ex. increase in customer complaints, low employee morale
Change:
Implementation of a program to move the organization to a more satisfactory state
- Ex. skills training, empower workforce.
Refreezing:
Condition when new behavior or attributes become part of the organization
- Ex. new attitudes exist in the organization.
The day to day change process:
A more recent approach to change emphasizes 4 activities:
- Analysis and diagnosis
- Understanding and managing resistance
- Change interventions
- Evaluating the change process.
Analysis and diagnosis: (the day to day change process)
- Is there a need to change?
- Consider the current state of the culture and where the culture should be
- 3 methods to gather information from the organization: interviews, focus groups, structured approaches.
Understanding and managing resistance: (the day to day change process)
- Involve members in the panning process
- Encourage participation
- Answer questions
- Provide information to reduce feelings of uncertainty
- Explain why change is important
Change interventions: (the day to day change process)
Selection
Training
Performance management
