unit 2 - chapter 1 Flashcards

Question

what is involved in Weick's key ideas re: sense-making in organisations?

Answer 1

* Sensemaking is rolling hindsight. * It is a continual weaving of sense from beliefs, from implicit assumptions, from tales from the past, from unspoken premises for decision and action, and from ideas about what will happen as a result of what can be done. Once put into words it is constrained and framed by those same words because they are only approximately what they refer to. * Often words have multiple meanings, so all the time people are working with puns. Further, words are inclined to convey discrete categories: they are not equal to depicting the unbroken, complex flow of life in organizations. The sense that is made is shaped also by selective perception, that is, by noticing some things and not others. * Commitments that have been made then have to be justified retrospectively. There is a constant process of putting together reasoned arguments and arguing about them, most obviously in meetings which have a value as sensemaking occasions. * Showing up at meetings therefore produces a situation that is manageable only by those who have been showing up. The whole sensemaking process gives ostensible orderliness to what is going on, and has gone on. The development of a ‘generic sensemaking’, within which individuals differ yet sufficiently concur, maintains a sense of organization … Whatever the form of organization, it will have to work with ambiguous, uncertain, equivocal and changing information. Despite their facade of numbers and objectivity and accountability, organizations and those who manage them wade amidst guesswork, subjectivity and arbitrariness. Weick feels that language could better reflect this constant ambiguous flux by making more use of verbs and less of nouns. Indeed, he urges people to ‘stamp out nouns’: to think of managing rather than management, of organizing rather than organization …

Answer 2

* ‘Culture is the set of important understandings (often unstated) that members of a community share in common’ (Sathe, 1983, p. 6). * ‘[Culture is] a set of understandings or meanings shared by a group of people. The meanings are largely tacit among the members, are clearly relevant to a particular group, and are distinctive to the group’ (Louis, 1985, p. 74). * ‘A standard definition of culture would include the system of values, symbols, and shared meanings of a group including the embodiment of these values, symbols, and meanings into material objects and ritualized practices. … The “stuff” of culture includes customs and traditions, historical accounts be they mythical or actual, tacit understandings, habits, norms and expectations, common meanings associated with fixed objects and established rites, shared assumptions, and intersubjective meanings’ (Sergiovanni and Corbally, 1984, p. vii). * ‘[Culture is] the pattern of shared beliefs and values that give members of an institution meaning, and provide them with the rules for behavior in their organization’ (Davis, 1984, p. 1). * ‘To analyze why members behave the way they do, we often look for the values that govern behaviour … But as the values are hard to observe directly, it is often necessary to infer them by interviewing key members of the organisation or to content analyze artefacts such as documents and charters. However, in identifying such values, we usually note that they represent accurately only the manifest or espoused values of a culture. That is, they focus on what people say is the reason for their behaviour, what they ideally would like those reasons to be, and what are often their rationalizations for their behaviour. Yet, the underlying reasons for their behaviour remain concealed or unconscious. To really understand a culture and to ascertain more completely the group’s values and overt behaviour, it is imperative to delve into the underlying assumptions, which are typically unconscious but which actually determine how group members perceive, think, and feel’ (Schein, 1992, p. 3). * ‘In a particular situation the set of meanings that evolves gives a group its own ethos, or distinctive character, which is expressed in patterns of belief (ideology), activity (norms and rituals), language and other symbolic forms through which organisation members both create and sustain their view of the world and image of themselves in the world. The development of a worldview with its shared understanding of group identity, purpose, and direction are products of the unique history, personal interactions, and environmental circumstances of the group’ (Smircich, 1983, p. 56). * ‘Culture does not necessarily imply a uniformity of values. Indeed quite different values may be displayed by people of the same culture. In such an instance, what is it that holds together the members of the organisation? I suggest that we look to the existence of a common frame of reference or a shared recognition. There may not be agreement about whether these issues should be relevant or about whether they are positively or negatively valued … They may array themselves differently with respect to that issue, but whether positively or negatively, they are all oriented to it’ (Feldman, 1991, p. 154). * ‘When organisations are examined from a cultural viewpoint, attention is drawn to aspects of organisational life that historically have often been ignored or understudied, such as the stories people tell to newcomers to explain “how things are done around here”, the ways in which offices are arranged and personal items are or are not displayed, jokes people tell, the working atmosphere (hushed and luxurious or dirty and noisy), the relations among people (affectionate in some areas of an office and obviously angry and perhaps competitive in another place), and so on. Cultural observers also often attend to aspects of working life that other researchers study, such as the organisation’s official policies, the amounts of money different employees earn, reporting relationships, and so on. A cultural observer is interested in the surfaces of these cultural manifestations because details can be informative, but he or she also seeks an in-depth understanding of the patterns of meanings that link these manifestations together, sometimes in harmony, sometimes in bitter conflicts between groups, and sometimes in webs of ambiguity, paradox, and contradiction’ (Martin, 2002, p. 3).

Answer 3

* Schein’s iceberg model (1992) is useful in that it illustrates that there are visible cultural aspects of an organisation but that there are also elements of culture that are hidden and difficult to interpret. * What is visible, for example, are things such as written documents – strategic plans, job descriptions and disciplinary procedures. * But if organisational culture, as we have indicated so far, consists of values, beliefs and norms, Schein argues that these exist in people’s heads, which raises the challenge of how actually to identify and interpret them. * The key to Schein’s idea is that these three levels of analysis can create a better understanding of the different components of culture in organisations.

Answer 4

* **The organisation’s relation to its environment** Does the organisation perceive itself to be dominant, submissive, harmonising, searching out a niche? * **The nature of human activity** Is the ‘correct’ way for humans to behave to be dominant/pro-active, harmonising, or passive/fatalistic? * **The nature of reality/truth** How do we define what is true and what is not true, and how is truth ultimately determined both in the physical and social world? By pragmatic test, reliance on wisdom or social consensus? * **The nature of time** What is our basic orientation in terms of past, present and future, and what kinds of time units are most relevant for the conduct of daily affairs? * **The nature of human nature** Are human beings basically good, neutral or evil, and is human nature perfectible or fixed? * **The nature of human relationships** What is the ‘correct’ way for people to relate to each other, to distribute power and affection? Is life competitive or cooperative? Is the best way to organise society on the basis of individualism or groupism? Is the best authority system autocratic/ paternalistic or collegial/participative? * **Homogeneity versus diversity** Is the group better off if it is highly diverse or if it is highly homogeneous, and should individuals in a group be encouraged to innovate or conform?

Answer 5

four categories: 1. practices, 2. communications, 3. physical forms 4. common language.

Answer 6

* Practices – these are the rites, rituals and ceremonies of the organisation, and they take many forms – * rituals for making tea or coffee; department or work group outings for meals or drinks; * the annual office party; * the doctor’s ‘rounds’ in a hospital ward; * the award night for ‘salesperson of the year’; * the visit of the director to a regional office; * long-service award ceremonies, etc.

Answer 7

* Communications – these are the stories, myths, sagas, legends, folk tales, symbols and slogans that are circulated in organisations. * These stories are told and retold by members of the organisation and come to influence behaviour. * These myths and legends illustrate the preferred way of performing and become goals to aim for. .

Answer 8

* Physical forms – low-profile symbols of an organisation’s culture manifest themselves in many physical ways. * Examples include * the appearance and location of the building; * open plan or individual offices; * posters or art work on walls; * a single restaurant or an office canteen for most employees, with a separate dining room for managers; * suits or casual attire; provision and distribution of flipcharts or whiteboards; * the furniture (and again whether the type/luxuriousness of the furniture depends on a person’s grade).

Answer 9

* . A common language – jargon is common to many organisations. * It is a convenient shorthand form of communication, but it also affects behaviour. * McDonald’s refers to its restaurant staff as ‘crew members’ and Disney employees are ‘cast members’. * These terms give added meaning to working at these places. * The emphasis is on being part of a team – recruits may feel ‘outsiders’ until they have learned the language. However, this language is intended to affect the way the people respond to their work.

Answer 10

* Deal and Kennedy’s model (1982), based on two dimensions, suggested that the biggest single influence on a company’s culture was the business environment in which it operated. * They called this ‘corporate culture’, which they asserted embodied what was required to succeed in that environment. * The two key dimensions were * the degree of risk associated with the company’s activities, * the speed at which companies – and their employees – get feedback on whether decisions or strategies are successful. * By ‘feedback’ Deal and Kennedy do not mean just bonuses, promotions and pats on the back. They use the term much more broadly to refer to knowledge of results. * a goalkeeper gets instant feedback from making a great save, but a surgeon may not know for several days whether an operation is successful, and it may take months or even years to discover whether a decision about a new product is correct. * Deal and Kennedy distinguish between quick and slow feedback.

Answer 11

* **The tough guy, macho culture** * A world of individualists who regularly take high risks and get quick feedback on whether their actions were right or wrong. (Deal and Kennedy, 1982, p. 107) * This type of culture is commonly thought to be prevalent in organisations in which feedback comes in the form of financial rewards. * commodity brokers and sales-orientated organisations, such as those that sell water purifiers or financial services. * Police officers, sports people and entertainers all receive rapid feedback on the effectiveness of their work, and they could all be classified as belonging to a ‘tough guy’ culture, even though their feedback is not simply financial. * Similarly, all these occupations have a degree of inherent risk, and the line between success and failure can be very fine indeed. * For example, a football manager’s career could rest on one refereeing decision, and a comedian’s success depends on the mixture of people in the audience. * Managers in this type of culture need to be able to make decisions quickly and to accept risk. To survive when things go wrong, they need to be resilient. * These cultures are characterised by aggressive internal competition. * Employees in such organisations believe that to get on they must be as tough as the ‘movers and shakers’ at the top. These activities tend to produce a lot of internal politics and conflict. * In addition, these cultures tend to nurture short-term views, and here you might recall some of the reasons that are believed to have led to the fall of organisations such as Enron (auditing failures in picking up billions in debt from failed deals and projects) and Lehman Brothers Bank (bad debts led to its eventual collapse).

Answer 12

* **The work hard/play hard culture** * Fun and action are the rule here, and employees take few risks, all with quick feedback; to succeed, the culture encourages them to maintain a high level of relatively low-risk activity. (Deal and Kennedy, 1982, p. 108) * This type of culture is characterised by high levels of activity, and each employee has to take few risks. * Instead, success is measured by persistence. Typically, the primary cultural value is to supply customers with a quality product or service. * These cultures spawn meetings, conventions, teamworking, office parties, jargon, buzzwords, and so on. * They are typical of large organisations such as the motor industry, IT and telecoms because in smaller organisations there are often increased levels of risk as ‘every decision is a big one’. * The high levels of energy create two main problems for a manager: ensuring that the energy is being directed at the right tasks, and ensuring that quality accompanies the high levels of activity.

Answer 13

* **The bet-your-company culture** * Cultures with big-stakes decisions, where years pass before employees know whether decisions have paid off. A high-risk, slow-feedback environment. (Deal and Kennedy, 1982, p. 108) * This type of culture is found in organisations involved in projects that consume large amounts of resources and take a long time to be realised. * Examples include an aerospace organisation deciding to develop a new aircraft, such as Airbus, which has spent many years developing its new A380. * Other examples would include a construction company building a skyscraper or an oil company that starts drilling in a new region. Each of these projects is very risky and the organisation does everything it can ensure it makes the right decisions initially. Meetings become very important and experts are drawn in to give their opinions.

Answer 14

* A world of little or no feedback where employees find it hard to measure what they do; instead they concentrate on how it’s done. * We have another name for this culture when the processes get out of control – bureaucracy! (Deal and Kennedy, 1982, p. 108) * Process cultures get a bad press from nearly all quarters. They are the bureaucracies, awash with red tape and memos. * Their low-risk, slowfeedback environment means that employees become more concerned with how work is done – the process – than with what the work is. * There is a danger that artificial environments develop, detached from the real world. * Employees in these cultures may be very defensive. They fear and assume that they will be attacked when they have done things incorrectly. * To protect themselves they engage in behaviour such as circulating emails copied to everyone remotely concerned with the issue.

Answer 15

* the power culture, * the role culture, * the task culture * the person or support culture.

Answer 16

* Handy illustrates the power culture as a spider’s web with the all-important spider sitting in the centre ‘because the key to the whole organisation sits in the centre, surrounded by ever-widening circles of intimates and influence. The closer you are to the spider, the more influence you have’ (1999, p. 86). * Organisations with this type of culture can respond quickly to events, but they are heavily dependent for their continued success on the abilities of the people at the centre; succession is a critical issue. * They will tend to attract people who are power orientated and politically minded, who take risks and do not rate security highly. * Control of resources is the main power base in this culture, with some elements of personal power at the centre. * Size is a problem for power cultures. They find it difficult to link too many activities and retain control; they tend to succeed when they create new organisations with a lot of independence, although they usually retain central financial control. * This type of culture relies heavily on individuals rather than on committees. In organisations with this culture, performance is judged on results, and such organisations tend to be tolerant of means. * They can appear tough and abrasive and their successes can be accompanied by low morale and high turnover as individuals fail or opt out of the competitive atmosphere. * Working in such organisations requires that employees correctly anticipate what is expected of them from the powerholders and perform accordingly. * If managers get this culture right, it can result in a happy, satisfied organisation that in turn can breed quite intense commitment to corporate goals. * Anticipating wrongly can lead to intense dissatisfaction and sometimes lead to a high labour turnover as well as a general lack of effort and enthusiasm. * In extreme cases, a power culture is a dictatorship, but it does not have to be.

Answer 17

* The role culture can be illustrated as a building supported by columns and beams: each column and beam has a specific role to play in keeping up the building; individuals are role occupants but the role continues even if the individual leaves. * This culture shares a number of factors in common with Weber’s (1952) description of the ‘ideal-type’ bureaucracy. * This type of organisation is characterised by strong functional or specialised areas coordinated by a narrow band of senior management at the top and a high degree of formalisation and standardisation; the work of the functional areas and the interactions between them are controlled by rules and procedures defining the job, the authority that goes with it, the mode of communication and the settlement of disputes. * Position is the main power source in the role culture. * People are selected to perform roles satisfactorily; personal power is frowned upon and expert power is tolerated only in its proper place. * Rules and procedures are the chief methods of influence. The efficiency of this culture depends on the rationality of the allocation of work and responsibility rather than on individual personalities. * This type of organisation is likely to be successful in a stable environment, where the market is steady, predictable or controllable, or where the product’s life cycle is long, as used to be the case with many UK public sector bodies. * Conversely, the role culture finds it difficult to adapt to change; it is usually slow to perceive the need for it and to respond appropriately. Such an organisation will be found where economies of scale are more important than flexibility or where technical expertise and depth of specialisation are more important than product innovation or service cost – for example, in many public service organisations. For employees, the role culture offers security and the opportunity to acquire specialist expertise; performance up to a required standard is rewarded on the appropriate pay scale, and possibly by promotion within the functional area. * However, this culture is frustrating for ambitious people who are power orientated, want control over their work or are more interested in results than method. Such people will be content in this culture only as senior managers. The importance of Handy’s role culture is that it suggests that bureaucracy itself is not culture-free.

Answer 18

* Task culture Task culture is job- or project-oriented, and its accompanying structure can be best represented as a net * Some of the strands of the net are thicker or stronger than others, and much of the power and influence is located at the interstices of the net, at the knots. * Task cultures are often associated with organisations that adopt matrix or project-based structural designs. * The emphasis is on getting the job done, and the culture seeks to bring together the appropriate resources and the right people at the right level in order to assemble the relevant resources for the completion of a particular project. * A task culture depends on the unifying power of the group to improve efficiency and to help the individual identify with the objectives of the organisation. * it is a team culture, where the outcome of the team’s work takes precedence over individual objectives and most status and style differences. Influence is based more on expert power than on position or personal power, and influence is more widely dispersed than in other cultures. * Task culture depends on team work to produce results. Groups, project teams or task forces are formed for a specific purpose and can be re-formed, abandoned or continued. The organisation can respond rapidly since each group ideally contains all the decision-making powers required. One example of a task culture is NASA, the US space agency, which in the 1960s had the specific task of putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade and bringing him back safely. Individuals find that this culture offers a high degree of autonomy, judgement by results, easy working relationships within groups and mutual respect based on ability rather than on age or status. The task culture is therefore appropriate when flexibility and sensitivity to the market or environment are important, where the market is competitive, where the life of a product is short and/or where the speed of reaction is critical. Against this must be set the difficulty of managing a large organisation as a flexible group, and of producing economies of scale or great depth of expertise. Control in these organisations can be difficult. Essential control is retained by senior managers, who concentrate on the allocation of projects, people and resources, but they exert little day-to-day control over methods of working or procedures, without violating the norms of the culture. This works well in favourable circumstances and when resources are available for those who can justify using them. However, when resources are not freely available, senior managers begin to feel the need to control methods as well as results, and team leaders may begin to compete for resources, using political influence. Morale in the work groups tends to decline and the job becomes less satisfying in itself, so that employees begin to reveal their own objectives. This necessitates the introduction of rules and procedures, the use of position or the control of resources by managers to get the work done. So the task culture has a tendency to change to a role or power culture when resources are limited or when the whole organisation is unsuccessful. Most managers, certainly at the middle and junior levels, prefer to work in the task culture, with its emphasis on groups, expert power, rewards for results and a merging of individual and group objectives. It is most in tune with the current trends of change and adaptation, individual freedom and low status differentials – but it may not be an appropriate culture for all circumstances.

Answer 19

Person culture is an unusual culture. It is not found in many organisations, yet many people espouse some of its values. This type of culture is illustrated by a loose cluster or a constellation of stars (see Figure 1.9). In this culture the individual is the focal point; if there is a structure or an organisation, it exists only to serve and assist the individuals within it, to further their own interests without any overriding objective. Clearly, not many organisations can exist with this sort of culture, or produce it, since organisations tend to have some form of corporate objective over and above the personal objectives of those who comprise them. 51 (52,1) Managing people and organisations Furthermore, control mechanisms, and even management hierarchies, are impossible in these cultures except by mutual consent. An individual can leave the organisation, but the organisation seldom has the power to evict an individual. Influence is shared and the power base, if needed, is usually expert; that is, people do what they are good at and are listened to for their expertise. Consultants – both within organisations and freelance workers – and architects’ partnerships often have this person-orientation. So do some universities. A cooperative may strive for the person culture in organisational form, but as it develops it often becomes, at best, a task culture, or often a power or role culture. Although it would be rare to find an organisation in which the person culture predominated, you will often encounter people whose personal preferences are for this type of culture, but who find themselves operating in more orthodox organisations. Specialists in organisations, such as computer people in a business organisation, consultants in a hospital, architects in local government and university teachers benefit from the power of their professions. Such people are not easy to manage. Being specialists, alternative employment is often easy to obtain, and they may not acknowledge anyone as being in a position to exercise expert power greater than their own. Position power not backed up by resource power means nothing to such people, and coercive power is not usually available. They may not be influenced by group norms or relationships with colleagues, which might be expected to moderate their personal preferences. This leaves only personal power – and such people are often not easily impressed by personality.

Answer 20

* Hofstede’s cultural difference model has typically formed the basis for identifying differences in national cultures in university management courses. * His research looking at well over 100,000 IBM employees in 53 subsidiaries covering 50 countries provides an insightful look at the similarities and differences in cultural values. * The essence of national culture for Hofstede is what he terms ‘national mental programming’, which is that part of our collective learning ‘that we share with other members of our nation, region, or group but not with members of other nations, regions, or groups’ (Hofstede, 1983, p. 76). * He suggests that four dimensions discriminate between national cultures in the workplace.

Answer 21

* Power distance – this is the extent to which a society expects a high degree of power difference between levels in an organisation. A high score reflects a belief in an established hierarchy, while a low score reflects a belief in equal rights. * Uncertainty avoidance – this is the extent to which society willingly accepts ambiguity and risk. High score societies are risk averse. * Individualism (as opposed to collectivism) – societies high on this emphasise the role of the individual and expect people to take care of themselves and their immediate family. Low score societies are more concerned with the greater good of the group. * Masculinity – a high score here reflects a society that holds values that in the West were traditionally male – competitiveness, assertiveness, ambition and concern for material possessions. A low score society would reflect a more nurturing orientation, emphasising consideration of others.

Answer 22

four major clusters within Europe: * 1 A Germanic group (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) tending towards high masculinity and low power distance. * 2 A mainly Scandinavian group (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark but also the Netherlands) tending towards high individualism, low masculinity and low power distance. * 3 An Anglo-Saxon group (Britain and Ireland) with high individualism and masculinity and low power distance and uncertainty avoidance. * 4 A mainly Latin group (France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, but also Belgium) with high uncertainty avoidance and high power distance.

Answer 23

Hofstede later added a fifth dimension 'Long term orientation' when Chinese researchers found differences between time orientations that differentiated between long-term orientations (e.g., 'perseverance' and 'thrift') and shortterm orientations (e.g., 'respect for tradition' and 'protecting one's face') (Hofstede and Bond, 1988; Franke et al., 1991)

Answer 24

* For instance, McSweeney (2002) and Smith (2002) have expressed concern about the generalisability of the samples, the levels of analysis, the comparison of political boundaries (countries) to culture and the validity of the instruments of measurement. * The links between the dimensions as measured and actual behaviour to be found in organisations are also not made explicit. * Hofstede’s assumptions of the homogeneity of each studied culture have also been challenged by Sivakumar and Nakata (2001). * Hofstede’s use of masculinity/femininity as the label for his fourth dimension was unfortunate as this is an outdated way of describing what are really just two distinct approaches to interpersonal relationships at work. * However, Hofstede’s model, despite the criticism, has represented the most popular approach to cultural assessment (Rarick and Nickerson, 2008).

Answer 25

Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner suggest that national cultures vary in how their members solve problems by identifying three major types: * 1 The relationships with people – five major cultural differences were identified (see below). * 2 Attitudes toward time – suggests that societies view time differently, as well as how the past, present and future interrelate. * 3 Attitude towards the environment – relates to whether individuals are considered either a part of nature or separate from it; also how much individuals are a master of their fate.

Answer 26

* **Universalism versus the particular** A culture’s application of principles. Universal: emphasis is on rules and regulations regardless of individual circumstances. Particular: emphasis on relationships and flexibility. * **Individual versus collective** A culture’s focus on either the group or the individual. An individual focus is on the needs of the individual, freedom and responsibility. A collective focus relates to group emphasis and consensus. * **Neutral versus affective** Neutral: emphasises objectivity and detachment. Affective: emphasises displays of emotion. * **Specific versus diffuse** A culture’s blending of work and personal life. Specific: emphasises separation of the two. Diffuse: blends them. * **Achievement versus prescription** A culture’s way of assigning status. Achievement: emphasises performance. Prescription: emphasises that status comes from age, education, gender and personal characteristics.

Answer 27

* The term ‘culture’ has been used in two different ways in reference to organisations. * Smircich (1983) If culture is something an organisation has, it can be treated as another variable to be manipulated or another contingency that affects structures and processes. As such, it could be seen to be ‘owned’ by management who disseminate it downwards throughout the organisation. With this perspective, culture can therefore be changed to improve efficiency or effectiveness in what has been referred to as ‘cultural engineering’ (Jackson and Carter, 2000, pp. 27–8) – creating the ‘right’ kind of organisational culture such that management-imposed values rule out particular courses of action or narrow the range of options for a decision. * However, if culture is something an organisation is, it describes the negotiated and shared meanings that emerge from social interactions. Culture in this sense is created and re-created by its participants in a continuous process, which senior managers are part of and can influence but which they cannot determine or control. Clearly, used in this sense, those aspects of an organisation’s culture that senior managers can shape and control are less than the whole of the culture. The distinction between the approaches to culture by management and practitioners was captured by Linstead and Grafton-Small (1992) who in their research contrasted ‘corporate culture’ and ‘organisational culture’. They suggested that corporate culture was * 1: Understanding organisations ‘devised by management and transmitted, marketed, sold or imposed on the rest of the organisation … the rites, rituals, stories and values which are offered to organisational members … gaining their commitment’ (p. 333). In contrast, ‘organisational culture’, they asserted ‘grows or emerges within the organisation and emphasises the creativity of organisational members as culture makers’, which appears to be a lot more realistic as it seems to acknowledge the presence of sub-cultures within the organisation.

Answer 28

* how would the new NSN function? Attending that meeting was Bosco Novak, who would become the head of human resources for the new joint venture. * The president of Nokia Networks and future CEO of NSN, Simon Beresford-Wylie, had asked Novak to take over the role in July, two days before the merger agreement was publicly announced. * At the time, Novak headed Nokia’s global services division and supervised a huge multinational organization – and also had an inherent cultural asset: He was a German who had worked for Nokia since 2000. But Novak had not a lick of HR experience and was puzzled by his boss’s choice. But BeresfordWylie explained that his role wouldn’t be that of an ordinary HR manager. * Novak would be responsible for crafting and implementing an entirely new culture at NSN. Novak accepted and five months later he and 249 other executives, managers and engineers were trying to figure out what exactly that new NSN culture would be. * The group managed to find several fundamentals that the two companies had in common: They both were Western European; they both had an ingrained engineering culture; and their employees also had a deep pride in being on technology’s cutting edge and a feeling of making a difference in the world. * But those cram sessions also revealed some profound differences, not just in their surface organizations but in how their employees related to one another and management and in their approach to problems. Most striking of those differences was a sense of formality and structure in Siemens’ culture, as opposed to a looser set of relationships and emphasis on flexibility at Nokia

Answer 29

* The NSN case illustrates how senior managers begin to promote the adoption of a new corporate culture. * Managing the differences that arise, whatever their origins, can present considerable challenges for a manager. * You can see that managers from these two organisations coming together from different cultures may perceive requirements for meeting their commitment to customer service, for example, in different ways. * These influences can and do lead to differences in preferred methods of pursuing goals, as illustrated by NSN. National cultural influences may colour perceptions of what is important as well, as informed by the works of Hofstede and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner. * The NSN case illustrates the distinction between organisational and corporate culture and shows how proponents of a strong culture argue for promoting a homogeneous and consistent corporate culture (which is realistic and important) rather than a homogeneous and consistent organisational culture (which they accept is unrealistic and unnecessary). * So, for example, a company such as NSN can and should share a distinctive corporate culture across Europe, even though its managers will represent many different culture areas and have different functional backgrounds. * Managers and staff can behave and respond similarly in some respects, yet differ (perhaps considerably) in many other respects