W3 - Cummings & Worley18.4 Cultural change

Question 1

Limitation to diagnosing organization culture for collecting partinent information

Answer 1

1. Shared Assumptions: Culture is based on unspoken assumptions, making it difficult to observe and understand.
2. Values:
   * Espoused Values: Beliefs organizations state are important.
   * Values-in-use: Beliefs that actually guide behavior.
3. Subcultures: Large or global organizations often have subcultures, including countercultures

Question 2

Artifcats

Answer 2

Visible symbols of the deeper levels of culture, such as nature, values and basic assumptions
Interpretation is more difficult: an outsider has no way of knowing what the artifact represents

Question 3

Competing value approach to culture

Answer 3

• Value dilemma happens when two values contradict each other, sitting at opposite ends of a spectrum.

1. Internal focus and integration vs. external focus and differentiation: One value focuses on working well within the organization, while the other focuses on adapting to the outside world.
2. Flexibility and discretion vs. stability and control: One value emphasizes freedom and change, while the other emphasizes structure and consistency.

Question 4

Deep assumptions of culture

Answer 4

The deepest level of cultural awareness are the taken-for-granted assumptions about how
organizational problems should be solved.

These basic assumptions tell members how to
perceive, think and feel about things.

Question 5

Difficulties implementing culture change

Answer 5

• Deeper cultural elements are unspoken beliefs about how the organization works, and members rarely question them or imagine alternatives.
• Members may resist changing these beliefs.
• The culture acts as a defense against outside challenges and threats.
• Members have a strong interest in keeping the culture as it is.
• Cultures that give organizations a competitive edge are hard for others to copy.

Question 6

Advice to bring cultural change

Answer 6

• Formulate a clear strategic vision
• Display top-management commitment
• Model culture change at the highest level
• Modify the organization to support organizational change
• Select and socialize newcomers and terminate deviants