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BU288 Final > Organizational Culture and Change > Flashcards

Organizational Culture and Change Flashcards

1
Q

Organizational Culture

A
  • 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’
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2
Q

Culture is like an Icebeg

A

-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

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3
Q

Interpreting Culture: Artifacts

A
  • material symbols
  • rituals
  • stories
  • language
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4
Q

Material Symbols

A

Visible representations of values and/or beliefs
Ex - office layout, logos, clothing/uniform, decor, etc.

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5
Q

Rituals

A
  • 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.
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6
Q

Stories

A
  • 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.
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7
Q

Language

A

Shared terminology - slogans, metaphors, sayings

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8
Q

Why is Culture Important? What does it tell members?

A

Culture acts as a framework that guides the interpretation of experience and the choice of action

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9
Q

why is culture important - 2 primary functions

A

Integration
External Adaptation

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10
Q

Integration

A

Culture helps members solve problem
Culture is taught to newcomers
Culture strongly influences behavior

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11
Q

External adaptation

A

Helps guide employees to meet goals

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12
Q

External adaptation

A

Helps guide employees to meet goals

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13
Q

Socialization

A

Helps employees understand the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors that are necessary to function in the organization.

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14
Q

Collective versus individual

A

., training in groups

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15
Q

Formal versus informal

A

formal training for newcomers vs. informal socialization for both newcomers and existing employees

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16
Q

Sequential versus random

A

The degree to which the org provide clear and identifiable steps for the socialization process

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17
Q

Where Does Culture Come From?

A
  • 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

18
Q

Strong versus Weak Cutures

A
  • 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
19
Q

Strenghts of Strong Organizational Cultures

A
  • coordiantion
  • conflict resolution
  • financial stress
20
Q

Coordination

A

Overarching values can facilitate communication

21
Q

Conflict Resolution

A

Sharing core values can help resolve conflict

22
Q

Financial Success

A

When culture supports strategy and goals of organization

23
Q

Can Culture be a Liability

A

Culture can sometimes have dysfunctional aspects

24
Q

Resistance to Change

A

Culture may impede change
Non-adaptive cultures can encourage rigidity and stability

25
Q

Culture Clash

A

Merging cultures of two organizations can be difficult if not impossible

26
Q

pathological Cultures

A

Culture can be dysfunctional for reaching organization’s goals
e.g., culture that supports infighting, secrecy, unethical behaviors, etc.

27
Q

Organizational Change

A

Things organizations can change:

  • Goals and strategies, Technology, Job design, Structure, Processes, Culture, People
28
Q

The change process

A
  • unfreezing
  • change
  • refreezing
29
Q

Unfreezing

A

the recognition that some current state of affairs is unnecessary

30
Q

Change

A

the implementation of a program or plan to move the organizations of its members to a more satisfactory state

31
Q

Refreezing

A

the condition that exists when newly developed behaviours, attitudes, or structures become an enduring part of the organization

32
Q

Resistance to Change

A

: overt or covert failure by organizational members to support a change effort

33
Q

Some causes of resistance:

A

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

34
Q

Overcoming Resistance

A
  • Address politics and self-interest
  • Educate employees and managers
  • Involve people in the change process
  • Employ a transformational leadership style
35
Q

Address politics and self-interest

A

Offer desirable role in change process (or special incentives)

36
Q

Educate employees and managers

A

Why is the change happening?(what problem does it address)
How the change addresses the problem

37
Q

Involve people in the change process

A

Be participative
Can increase commitment to the change

38
Q

Employ a transformational leadership style

A
  • 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
39
Q

Changing Culture (speifically)
Factors Inhibiting Change

A
  • 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
40
Q

Factors Facilitating Change

A
  • If org. faces a dramatic crisis
  • Turnover in leadership
  • If organization is young and small
  • If there is a weak culture
41
Q

How to Change Culture

A
  • 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

BU288 Final (6 decks)

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