Social Influence, Socialization, & Organizational Culture Flashcards
Information Dependence
Reliance on others for info on how to think, feel, act
Gives others the opportunity to influence our thoughts, feelings, and actions via the signals they send us
Social Information Processing Theory
Use info from others to interpret events and develop expectations about appropriate and acceptable attitudes and behaviours
Look to others for info and cues about how to behave
Effects of social info can be strong (exert as much or more influence as objective reality)
Effect Dependence
Reliance on others due to their capacity to provide rewards and punishment
Group frequently has vested interest in how individual members think and act, because it can affect the goal attainment of a group
Members desire approval of the group
Compliance
Conformity to social norm prompted by desire to acquire rewards or avoid punishment (effect dependence)
Adjust behaviour to the norm
Do not subscribe to the beliefs, values, attitudes that underlie the norm
Identification
Conformity to norm prompted by perceptions that those who promote the norm are attractive or similar to oneself
Imitation process: established members serve as models for the behaviour of others
Information dependence especially important (if someone is similar to you, you are motivated to rely on that person for info about how to think/act)
Internalization
Conformity to a social norm prompted by true acceptance of the beliefs, values, and attitudes that underlie the norm
Conformity occurring because it is seen as right
Conformity due to internal forces
Socialization
Process by which people learn attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours necessary to function in a group
Members acquire info/knowledge, change attitudes, perform new behaviours
Socialization Domains
Tasks: acquire knowledge and skills required to perform job duties/tasks
Roles: learn appropriate behaviours and expectations
Work group: learn norms and values
Organization: about the organization (culture, history, traditions, language, politics, mission)
Uncertainty Reduction Theory
Newcomers are motivated to reduce their uncertainty so that the work environment becomes predictable and understandable
Socialization process reduces uncertainty and facilitates adjustment
Person-Job Fit
Match between an employee’s knowledge, skills, and abilities and the requirements of a job
Person-Organization Fit
Match between an employee’s personal values and the values of an organization
Person-Group Fit
Match or compatibility between an employee’s values and beliefs and the values and beliefs of the work group
Organizational Identification
Reflects an individual’s learning and acceptance of an organization’s culture
Anticipatory Socialization
Socialization before becoming a member of organization
Formal process of skill and attitude acquisition
Informal (acquired through summer jobs or watching organizational life on TV)
Encounter
Newcomer encounters day to day life with organization
Formal aspects: Orientation programs, rotation through parts of the organization
Informal aspects: getting to know/understand style and personality of boss and coworkers
Organization: look for acceptable degree of conformity
Employee: meet personal needs/expectations
Role Management
Fine tuning and actively managing new role
Form connections outside immediate work group
Balancing role with non work and family roles
Stages of Socialization
Anticipatory
Encounter
Role management
Reality Shock
When reality of new job and organization is inconsistent with and does need meet one’s expectations
Psychological Contract
Beliefs held by employees regarding reciprocal obligations and promises between them and their organization
E.g. expect to receive bonuses for hard work and loyalty
Psychological Contract Breach
Common
When employees perceive that their organization has failed to fulfill one or more of its promises or obligations in the psychological contract
Negative effect on work attitudes and behaviour
Socialization Resources Theory
Providing newcomers with resources will facilitate their adjustment and successful socialization
Resources: information, feedback, orientation, supervisor support, recognition, socialization agents, training, challenging assignments, developing relationships with organizational members
Realistic Job Previews
Balanced, realistic picture of the positive and negative aspects of the job to applicants
Provide corrective action to expectations at anticipatory socialization stage
Obtain views of experienced employees and HR staff about positives and negatives
Employee Orientation Programs
Designed to introduce new employees to their job, the people, and the organization
Health and safety, terms and conditions, info about the organization
Mentor
Experienced/senior person who provides junior with guidance and special attention
Career Functions of Mentoring
Sponsorship: nominate newcomer for transfers and promotions
Exposure and visibility: provide opportunities for newcomer to work with key people and see other parts of the organization
Coaching and feedback: suggest work strategies and identify strengths and weaknesses in newcomer’s performance
Developmental assignments: provide challenging work assignments that help newcomer develop key skills and knowledge crucial to career progress
Psychological Functions of Mentoring
Role modeling: set of attitudes, values, and behaviours for newcomer to imitate
Providing acceptance and confirmation: encouragement and support and helps newcomer gain self confidence
Counselling: opportunity to discuss personal concerns and anxieties concerning career prospects, work family conflicts, etc
Formal Mentoring Programs
Seasoned employees recruited as mentors and matched with newcomers as part of organization sponsored program
Increasing in popularity
Developmental Networks
Groups of people who take active interest in a protege’s career and take actions toward advancing it by providing developmental assistance
Multiple developers from inside and outside of the organization
People from different levels of organizations
Proactive Socialization
Newcomers play an active role in their socialization through proactive behaviours
Feedback Seeking
Request feedback about work and job performance
Information Seeking
Seek information about work tasks, roles, work group, and organization
Organizational Culture
Set of shared beliefs, values, and assumptions that exist in an organization
“Our way of life” or “how we do things around here”
Relatively stable and persistent
Determine the norms that develop the patterns of behaviour that emerge from the norms
Culture
Shared meaning system that carries symbolic representations such as norms, values, symbols, and behavioural scripts that are shared by individuals within a given ecology
Subcultures
Smaller cultures that develop within a larger organizational culture and are based on differences in training, occupation, or department goals
Levels of Organizational Culture
High visibility: artifacts and physical characteristics
Beliefs and values
Low visibility: basic assumptions
Attraction-Selection-Attrition
Potential employees will be attracted to organizations whose cultures match their own personality
Organizations will select candidates based on whether their personalities fit the culture, further weeding out potential misfits
Those people who still don’t fit will either be unhappy or ineffective when working in the organization and may finally quit
Strong Culture
Beliefs, values, and assumptions that make up culture are intense and pervasive
Supported by majority of members
High consensus concerning what the organization is about
Pros of Strong Culture
Ease of coordination
Ease of conflict resolution
Contribute to financial success
Cons of Strong Culture
Resistance to change
Culture clash during growth and mergers
Pathology
Weak Culture
Beliefs, values, and assumption are loosely shared
Fragmented
Low impact on members
Contributors to Culture
Founder’s philosophy
Selection criteria
Top management & Socialization
Organizational Culture
Founder’s Role
Cultures reflect values of organization founder
Symbols
Consciously using symbols to reinforce cultural values
E.g. all employees have to walk through HR to get to lockers demonstrates importance of HR and facilitates communication
Rituals
Rites, rituals, and ceremonies convey essence of a culture
Stories
Communicate culture through the use of stories
Folklore of organizations is common aspect of culture
