Organizational Culture and Change Flashcards
Organizational Culture
- the shared beliefs, values, and assumptions that exist in an organization
-determine the norms that develop and the patterns of behavour that emerge from these norms. - CULTURE → NORMS → BEHAVIOUR
- ‘way of life’
Culture is like an Icebeg
-At the surface you have behaviors, underneath are the beliefs, values, and assumptions.
- In order to change behavior, change the deeper levels (values, beliefs, assumptions underlying the behaviors).
- Fairly stable
Interpreting Culture: Artifacts
- material symbols
- rituals
- stories
- language
Material Symbols
Visible representations of values and/or beliefs
Ex - office layout, logos, clothing/uniform, decor, etc.
Rituals
- Behaviours that are engaged in repeatedly by organization members
- Ex - going out for happy hour, celebrating bdays, casual fridays, monday meetings, teasing new people, etc.
Stories
- Narritives that are shared among organization members
- Ex - stories of how the company came into being, folklore about the founder, stories about employee mistakes, etc.
Language
Shared terminology - slogans, metaphors, sayings
Why is Culture Important? What does it tell members?
Culture acts as a framework that guides the interpretation of experience and the choice of action
why is culture important - 2 primary functions
Integration
External Adaptation
Integration
Culture helps members solve problem
Culture is taught to newcomers
Culture strongly influences behavior
External adaptation
Helps guide employees to meet goals
External adaptation
Helps guide employees to meet goals
Socialization
Helps employees understand the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors that are necessary to function in the organization.
Collective versus individual
., training in groups
Formal versus informal
formal training for newcomers vs. informal socialization for both newcomers and existing employees
Sequential versus random
The degree to which the org provide clear and identifiable steps for the socialization process
Where Does Culture Come From?
- Influential leaders are often the source of the beliefs and values
Founder or CEO - Organizations often exhibit the personality, beliefs and values of the founder
Management - What management pays attention to gets repeated and reinforced
Managers serve as role models – their behaviour gets imitated
Emergent leaders
Influential people not in formal leadership roles can shape the culture
Strong versus Weak Cutures
- Strong cultures
- Beliefs, values, and assumptions are intensely held and widely shared
- Members have high agreement on what is important
- Builds cohesiveness, loyalty, commitment
- Decreases turnover
Strenghts of Strong Organizational Cultures
- coordiantion
- conflict resolution
- financial stress
Coordination
Overarching values can facilitate communication
Conflict Resolution
Sharing core values can help resolve conflict
Financial Success
When culture supports strategy and goals of organization
Can Culture be a Liability
Culture can sometimes have dysfunctional aspects
Resistance to Change
Culture may impede change
Non-adaptive cultures can encourage rigidity and stability
Culture Clash
Merging cultures of two organizations can be difficult if not impossible
pathological Cultures
Culture can be dysfunctional for reaching organization’s goals
e.g., culture that supports infighting, secrecy, unethical behaviors, etc.
Organizational Change
Things organizations can change:
- Goals and strategies, Technology, Job design, Structure, Processes, Culture, People
The change process
- unfreezing
- change
- refreezing
Unfreezing
the recognition that some current state of affairs is unnecessary
Change
the implementation of a program or plan to move the organizations of its members to a more satisfactory state
Refreezing
the condition that exists when newly developed behaviours, attitudes, or structures become an enduring part of the organization
Resistance to Change
: overt or covert failure by organizational members to support a change effort
Some causes of resistance:
Politics and self-interest (e.g., fear of losing power)
Low individual tolerance for change
Lack of trust (e.g., not trusting motives for the change)
Different assessments of the situation (e.g., assessment that advocates of change misdiagnosed the situation)
Resistant organizational culture (e.g., cultures that emphasize stability and/or tradition)
Strong emotions
Overcoming Resistance
- Address politics and self-interest
- Educate employees and managers
- Involve people in the change process
- Employ a transformational leadership style
Address politics and self-interest
Offer desirable role in change process (or special incentives)
Educate employees and managers
Why is the change happening?(what problem does it address)
How the change addresses the problem
Involve people in the change process
Be participative
Can increase commitment to the change
Employ a transformational leadership style
- Communicate a vision, and get people to adopt the vision
- Take the time to understand individual concerns/needs
Inspire trust - Constantly challenge status quo, eg, disagreements, discussions
Changing Culture (speifically)
Factors Inhibiting Change
- Culture develops over many years and becomes part of how the org thinks and feels
- Selection and promotion policies guarantee survival of culture
- Top management chooses managers likely to maintain culture
- Artifacts reinforce the culture
Factors Facilitating Change
- If org. faces a dramatic crisis
- Turnover in leadership
- If organization is young and small
- If there is a weak culture
How to Change Culture
- Have top management become positive role models, and set tone through their behavior
- Create new stories, symbols, and rituals to replace those currently being used
- Select, promote, and support employees who espouse the new values
- Redesign socialization processes to align with new values
- Change the reward system to encourage acceptance of new values
- Replace unwritten norms with formal rules and regulations that are tightly enforced
- Shake up current subcultures through transfers, job rotation, termination
- Work to get peer group consensus through utilization of employee participation and creation of a climate with high trust
