THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Question 1

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Ott, Steven J. (1990) Understanding of Organizational Culture

Answer 1

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Ott, Steven J. (1990) Understanding of Organizational Culture
*Understanding that there is an informal organization that exists as a subcomponent of formal organizations. There are two primary schools of thought when thinking about organizations: 1) Mainline perspective approach and 2) Organizational culture approach.

Question 2

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Ott, Steven J. (1990) Understanding of Organizational Culture

Answer 2

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Ott, Steven J. (1990) Understanding of Organizational Culture

Organizational culture theories are predicated only on assumptions and this deviates from the mainline perspectives (organizations as closed systems) which stipulates that quantitative, experimental-type, logical positivist, scientific research is useful for studying organizations. The mainline perspective also posits that organizations are institutions whose primary purpose is to accomplish goals that are set forth by people in authority. In the mainline perspective, organizational theories are concerned with how to best design organizational structures and manage to attain goals effectively and efficiently. The personal preferences of organizational members are restrained by formal rules, authority, and rational behavior.

Question 3

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Ott, Steven J. (1990) Understanding of Organizational Culture

Answer 3

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Ott, Steven J. (1990) Understanding of Organizational Culture

Organizational culture theories are predicated only on assumptions. Organizational culture is an unobservable force behind organizational activities and is comprised of such things as shared values, beliefs, assumptions, perceptions, norms, and patterns of behavior. Culture to an organization is like personality to a person. Organizational culture refers to a set of theories that attempt to explain and predict how organizations and its people act in them. Organizational culture approach assumes that organizational behaviors are predetermined by patterns of basic assumptions existing in the organization. [SIDE NOTE-Closed loop approach]. A pervasive organizational culture will become the norm and the accepted truth about how things are done within the organization. A strong culture controls organizational behavior and can block the organizational from making changes needed to adapt to the environment. Personal preferences of behavior and not controlled by formal rules and authority but are instead guided by norms, beliefs, and assumptions.

Question 4

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Ott, Steven J. (1990) Understanding of Organizational Culture

Answer 4

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Ott, Steven J. (1990) Understanding of Organizational Culture

The organizational culture perspective is beneficial for describing and explaining, and to some extent predicting behavior when organizations are facing fundamental changes. Organizational culture is still a very nebulous concept (at the time this article was written) and its utilization presents more questions than answers.

Question 5

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Morgan, Gareth. (2006). Chapter 5: Creating Social Reality: Organizations as Cultures

Answer 5

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Morgan, Gareth. (2006). Chapter 5: Creating Social Reality: Organizations as Cultures

I Culture refers to a pattern of development reflected in a society’s system of knowledge, ideology, values, laws, and daily rituals. Organizations are mini-societies that have their own mini-societies and subcultures. Corporate culture “develops an ethos (spirit of a culture or era) that is sustained by social processes, images, symbols, and rituals that are embedded in the formal structure of an organization.” (Page 128). An organization’s fundamental nature depends as much on its culture as on the formal organizational chart, codes, and procedures. Organizational leaders play a crucial role in shaping the values that direct/guide an organization.

Question 6

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Morgan, Gareth. (2006). Chapter 5: Creating Social Reality: Organizations as Cultures

Answer 6

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Morgan, Gareth. (2006). Chapter 5: Creating Social Reality: Organizations as Cultures
Leaders are symbolic of many aspects of their organizations. Leaders, through their position of power, have an advantage in that they can dictate corporate values and codes of behavior. Changing organizational culture is a daunting task that involves the reinventing of values, shared meanings, beliefs, ways of thinking, and bringing about a new way of life. Changing organizational culture means introducing a new shared meaning that must be accepted by the majority. The difficult task in cultural change is doing away with the societal values and norms that are imported into the organization.

Question 7

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Morgan, Gareth. (2006). Chapter 5: Creating Social Reality: Organizations as Cultures

Answer 7

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Morgan, Gareth. (2006). Chapter 5: Creating Social Reality: Organizations as Cultures

Corporate culture is not imposed on a social setting. Instead, it emerges from social interaction. Different groups within the organization (accounting, production, sales, marketing, etc) may have differing view of the organization’s business. Groups may have their own languages and sets of favored concepts. These differing norms and functions of groups can combine to produce inefficiencies and contradictions. Subcultural divisions can also emerge when different groups have different loyalties. Individuals may develop subcultures within the organization that have certain practices, values, and norms that are in opposition to organization values. This results in a struggle (between organization and groups) to shape culture and claim control.

Question 8

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Schein.(1993)

Answer 8

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Schein.(1993). Defining Organizational Culture
Organizational culture has come to be symbolized by the espoused values, artifacts, and underlying assumptions. The concept of culture helps to explain some of the more seemingly irrational aspects of groups and organizations. [SIDE NOTE-In other words those relationships and interactions that are not outlined on the organizational chart]. Commonly used definitions of culture emphasize critical aspects such as group norms, espoused values, rules of the game, embedded skills, habits of thinking, shared meanings, artifacts, underlying assumptions etc. All of these critical aspects denote something that group members have in common. Culture also denotes that something that is inherent to the group is stable.

Question 9

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Schein.(1993)

Answer 9

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Schein.(1993)

Leadership is tasked with the role of having to create and manage the culture of organizations. “The only thing of important leaders to is change and manage culture” (Schein, 1985). Thus, leadership and cultures are intertwined. Schein (1993, Page 361) proposes that leaders “create and manage culture” and “managers and administrators live within them.” However, culture is only partly created by leadership, as organizational groups also have influence in forming cultures.

Question 10

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Schein.(1993)

Answer 10

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Schein.(1993)

**If culture becomes dysfunctional it is the job of leadership to perceive the functional and dysfunctional elements of the existing culture and to manage cultural evolution and change in such a way that the group can survive in a changing environment. It is imperative that leaders become conscious of the cultures in which they are embedded or those cultures will manage them. Cultural understanding is essential for leaders if they are to lead.

Question 11

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Cook and Yannow. (1993). Culture and Organizational Learning

Answer 11

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Cook and Yannow. (1993). Culture and Organizational Learning
*Organizational learning takes place at the group level and not at the individual level. Organization learning can be one way that culture is changed.

Question 12

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Cook and Yannow. (1993). Culture and Organizational Learning

Answer 12

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Cook and Yannow. (1993). Culture and Organizational Learning

Cook and Yannow suggest that organizations are capable of learning. Yet organizational learning does not imply observable change. For instance, an organization can learn something in order not to change. Lastly, all organization know-how is unique to each organization and no two organizations perform the same task identically. Lastly, organizational learning is not like individual learning because organizations do not possess the cognitive wherewithal of individuals (which is very complex). Organizational culture is defined “as a set of clause, beliefs, and feelings, together with the artifacts of their expression transmission, that are created inherited, shared, and transmitted within one group of people and that, in part, distinguish the group from others.” (Page 372). Organizational culture is formed by individuals acting in groups over time to create a set of meanings that are expressed in artifacts. Therefore organizational learning is associated with a category of activity that can only be done by a group. When a group acquires the know-how associated with its ability to carry out its collective activities, organizational learning has taken place.

Question 13

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Cook and Yannow. (1993). Culture and Organizational Learning

Answer 13

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Cook and Yannow. (1993). Culture and Organizational Learning

Learning is related to knowing something and entails acquiring knowledge. Organizational learning denotes an activity that is done by a group and that holistic organizational functions cannot be carried out by one individual. Thus, organizational learning is reflective of group learning or acquiring knowledge.

Question 14

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Cook and Yannow. (1993). Culture and Organizational Learning

Answer 14

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Cook and Yannow. (1993). Culture and Organizational Learning

It becomes important for new members to absorb and conform to the culture of the organization. Organizations are therefore able to continually reconstitute themselves and ensure that their cultural practices and beliefs are sustained. Individuals become socialized into the cultural fabric of the organization therefore reconstituting the culture of the organization i.e. preserving the current culture. It is important for organizations to know how to make the actions of a new individual compatible with the other members of the organization thereby fostering the continuity of its culture.

Question 15

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Trice and Beyer. (1993). Changing Organizational Cultures

Answer 15

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Trice and Beyer. (1993). Changing Organizational Cultures
Managers who want to change existing cultures need to find ways to incorporate new elements into prevalent ideologies and cultural norms. Changing or creating cultures requires replacing existing ideologies, symbols, and customs with new ones. Culture change involves breaking with the past and breaking with current cultural continuity. Cultural change is not an easy process. It is a difficult, complicated, and demanding effort that may not succeed.

Question 16

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Trice and Beyer. (1993). Changing Organizational Cultures

Answer 16

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE
Trice and Beyer. (1993). Changing Organizational Cultures
Cultural change is a slow and drawn out process-takes several years to accomplish. Types of change can be revolutionary or comprehensive efforts to change an organization’s entire culture, efforts to change specific subunits of subcultures within the organization, and gradual and incremental changes that aggregate to comprehensive reshaping. The amount of change can be measured along four distinct dimensions-pervasiveness magnitude, innovativeness, and duration of change.

Question 17

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Trice and Beyer. (1993). Changing Organizational Cultures

Answer 17

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE
Trice and Beyer. (1993). Changing Organizational Cultures

Leaders must be able to identify those periods where change is warranted and justify those reasons for change to organization members (e.g. performance is poor). Managers must be able to create an optimistic outlook on what the change effort will bring and effectively communicate and convince organization members to follow their vision. One strategy is to discredit and destroy the old culture by perhaps removing prominent persons representing aspects of the old culture-this will have practical and symbolic consequences and communicated to members that old values are no longer acceptable. Lastly, leaders must realize that there will be resistance to change both on the group and individual level. All culture change is partial and it cannot be reasonably expected to achieve total eradication of a prior culture.

Question 18

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Perry et al. (2006). Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited

Answer 18

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Perry et al. (2006). Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited
An analysis of the body of work regarding human motivation (through financial incentives, job design, employee participation, and goal setting) in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors was undertaken to decipher the lessons that could be applied to the new governance era. The researchers defined a conceptual model that exclusively includes motivational factors that lead to specified behavioral outcomes.

Question 19

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Perry et al. (2006). Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited

Answer 19

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Perry et al. (2006). Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited

 The use of financial incentives is engrossed in what is known as reinforcement theory.  The first proposition indicated that financial incentives improve employee performance. However, performance is improved to a greater extent when combined with feedback and social recognition. Findings of the literature review also reveal that improved employee performance varies across organization types when incentives are given in the form of financial, nonfinancial, and social incentives. Findings also found that individual incentives improve performance under different pay arrangement conditions. Also noted was that financial incentives improved employee performance independently of goal-setting. While findings indicate that merit pay consistently produces positive sentiment in the private sector, findings indicate that this consistency does not apply to the federal government. Additionally, pay is not linked to improved performance as a whole.

Question 20

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Perry et al. (2006). Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited

Answer 20

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Perry et al. (2006). Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited

Proposition 2 states that merit pay as a whole has been unsuccessful in the public sector, serve as little motivation for employees, and have little impact on public organizations. Proposition 3 finds that group incentive systems have been shown to have positive impacts but these findings have been seldom tested in the public sector. Additionally, it is hard to decipher the precise conditions in which group incentives systems are effective because experiments have mostly been conducted in a controlled lab setting with college students (as opposed to real world employees) serving as the unit of analysis.

Question 21

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Perry et al. (2006). Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited

Answer 21

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Perry et al. (2006). Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited

It is posited that a task’s significance can cause employees to feel a sense of meaningfulness which in turn improves performance.  Proposition 4 notes that job design leads to improved employee performance, reduce turnover, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, etc.  Proposition 5 notes that “job design interventions influence affective outcomes more strongly that behavioral outcomes. Proposition 6 states that individual moderators can affect employee behavioral outcomes and hence  affect the efficacy of job design.

Question 22

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Perry et al. (2006). Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited

Answer 22

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Perry et al. (2006). Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited

Participation has been found to have positive impact on employees reaction to organizations. Employees who participate more tend to me more satisfied with work, more motivated, and develop a stronger commitment to the organization. Proposition 7 states that employee participation positively affects how employees feel about the organization. Proposition 8 asserts that participation has positive but limited impact on employee performance. This is due in part to the fact that individual moderating factors ( ) can negatively impact participation. Some of these factors include low employee support for participation and low employee knowledge of job duties. Participation measures are also introduced in conjunction with other measures thus making it difficult to ascertain the true impact of participation. Proposition 9 asserts that the promise of participation can result in improved decision-making by way of improving knowledge-sharing.

Question 23

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Perry et al. (2006). Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited

Answer 23

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Perry et al. (2006). Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited

 Research indicated that goal-setting as a motivational factor does indeed have a positive impact on employee performance. Goal-setting nets positive results during complex tasks when employees are permitted to explore strategies for attacking the task or when do your best goals are laid forth.  Employee performance is enhanced when goals are set is employees are committed to those goals are incentives are provided to employees in the form of money, feedback, and garnering their input. Applying goal-setting in the public sector may be complex because employees perceive a weak link between performance and financial rewards. Limited research has been conducted regarding goal setting and employee performance in the public sector.

Question 24

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Answer 24

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Martin. (2002). Organizational Culture: Pieces of the Puzzle
D

Ouchi. (1981).The Z Organization

Question 25

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Dehart-Davis et al. (2006). Gender Dimensions of Public Service-

Answer 25

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Dehart-Davis et al. (2006). Gender Dimensions of Public Service-
The purpose of this paper is to conduct an in-depth assessment of three motivational factors (mentioned later) that are suggested to vary by gender among public organization managers. The reason for conducting this in-depth analysis to allow us to heed caution in accepting these motivational factors as the gold standard because of the implications that they have with regards to public organization outcomes and the manner with which public organization managers are revered. Traditional public administration literature, as critiqued by feminist, have long communicated a traditionally male-dominated imagery of public organization where qualities such as expertise, leadership, virtue are viewed as being culturally masculine traits that subject women.

Question 26

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Dehart-Davis et al. (2006). Gender Dimensions of Public Service-

Answer 26

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Dehart-Davis et al. (2006). Gender Dimensions of Public Service-

  Contemporary public administration literature has become more cognizant of genders role within public organization and has emphasized public service motivation--defined as “an individual’s predisposition to respond to motives grounded primarily or uniquely in public institutions and organizations.” (Page 873).

Question 27

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Houston and Cartwright. (2007). Spirituality and Public Service

Answer 27

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Houston and Cartwright. (2007). Spirituality and Public Service
Spirituality denotes one’s personal relationship with the sacred and manifests a personal state of mind. This paper seeks to examine the spiritual connection between individual spirituality and serving in the public sector. The paper hypothesizes that those who serve in public service are more spiritual than individuals in other types of professions.

Question 28

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Houston and Cartwright. (2007). Spirituality and Public Service

Answer 28

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Houston and Cartwright. (2007). Spirituality and Public Service

 The origins of PA is grounded id grounded in spiritual concerns yet the field has yet to incorporate spirituality into its research. The public servant is thought to possess spiritual qualities such as benevolent, a commitment to a cause, and devotion to a greater good.  The notion of spirituality has been discarded by PA’s pursuit of effectiveness, efficiency, rationality, economy, and technology. The theory of public service seeks to understand the motives of those who serve as public servants. Rational choice theory and principal-agent theory do little to explain the reasons with which public servants “strive, support, and sacrifice on the job.” (Page 90).

Question 29

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Houston and Cartwright. (2007). Spirituality and Public Service

Answer 29

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Houston and Cartwright. (2007). Spirituality and Public Service

 Findings of this study indicate that public servants are more likely to offer a spiritual response than others. Public service employees also have stronger beliefs in a transcendent being. Spirituality is found to be a characteristic that distinguishes those in public service from individuals in private and non-profit fields. Spirituality holds a greater prominence in the lives of public servants than those in other fields. Public servants also feel a sense of love and compassion for others.