Week 10| Culture Flashcards
What is the definition of organisational culture and what is the shared definition of OC?
Culture is the customary and traditional way of thinking and doing thing which is shared to a greater of lesser degree by all members and which new members must learn… in order to be accepted into the services of the firm
Culture as shared meaning:
- Shared understanding about the culture, its culture, members, the way in which they behave
- Related to values, beliefs, attitudes which are reflected in patterns in physical artefacts, language uses, symbols, rituals, practices that have evolved overtime
What parts of an organisation are easy to spot and what parts aren’t?
Artefacts of organisation: (visible)
- physical structures
- language
- rituals and ceremonies
- stories and legends
Organisational culture (lower part of iceberg):
shared values:
- conscious beliefs
- shared knowledge of what is right or wrong
Shared assumptions: (invisible hard to observe)
- non conscious taken for granted beliefs
- implicit mental models, ideal prototypes of behaviours
How do we observe a culture?
Observable symbol: logos, uniforms, rituals, ceremonies etc
Physical layout: dress codes, furniture, offices etc
Communication patterns: jargon, metaphors, nicknames
Stories: legends, myth, anecdotes, jokes etc
Practices & behaviours: formal vs informal meetings, working LATE vs office hours
Values, attitudes and beliefs collectively held but difficult to ‘see’; they underpin more ‘visible’ manifestations of culture (all of the above)
What is the integrationist view on organisation?
- Organisations have uniform values
- A single uniform strong culture is better
- An organisations culture influences its effectiveness
- Provides a common set of values to enable members to work together; reduces needs for formal rules
- Culture is reproduced; organization is stable
- Culture enables the organization to survive in the environment in which it operates
Integrationist theory: one dominant culture
- widely shared understandings
- consensus throughout the organization
- clear organisational boundaries between whos inside and whats outside
- top down control of culture by leaders
this culture is seen as helping organization t function to be profitable
How is an integrationist view managed?
Managers engineer the right type of culture via:
- founders
- selections
- leaderships
- socialization
- rewards and punishment allocation
This helps to improve organizational effectiveness
What are the ‘buts’ to integrationist view?
- No theoretical or empirical based evidence for a relationship between culture and performance
- Failure of many excellent companies, especially when market conditions change- strong culture may not change easily
Successful companies do not always share strong, integrationist cultures
When strong integrationist cultures are found, they can be dysfunctional
What is the differentiationist view on organization? How is differentiationist view managed?
- Organization is a cluster of subcultures related to particular challenge, task responsibility or management
- Consensus s found not at organizational level but in sub-cultures
- Relations among subcultures can be complementary, conflicting or independent
- Boundary between inside and outside is permeable
example: a uni
Managing differentiationist views:
middle manager should manage culture e.g. in a uni case
- deans and department heads rather than VC
- Leaders of research team
Boundary between middle and outside is permeable:
- Research funders, practitioners, professional associations, researcher sin other universities
still sees management of culture as desirable and possible; still functionalist
What is the critical view on organizations?
- Both integrationist and differentiationist theories are functionalist i.e look at culture from management’s point of view
- Critical theory takes a diff approach- looks at how employees are affected
- Focuses on the way in which power is embedded in culture
- Especially interested in how strong culture is a way to control employees
What are the different theories of culture?
Integrationist theory: There can and should be one unified culture, which should be managed centrally
Differentiationist theory:
- We can expect multiple sub-cultures each of which should be managed differently
Critical theory:
Exercising control over employees; it should be resisted
What are the strengths and weaknesses of an integrationist culture?
Strength:
- Patterns ae easy to look for
- Convergence may lead to commitment
- Some successful companies have strong cultures
- Can be managed top-down
Weaknesses:
- Patterns may not tell the whole story
- Convergence can be dysfunctional
- A strong culture may not bring success
- Not all orgnaisations are appropriate for a single uniform culture
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the differentiationist theory?
Differentiationist
Strengths:
- Emphasizes commitment to the work group
- It may be more meaningful for individual experience
- It allows for adaptation
- Allows more scope for middle managers to manage culture
Weaknesses:
- Not clear how different sub-cultures are supposed to fit together
- There ay be conflicts among sub-cultures
- movement between sub-units may become diffcultlu
- Balkanization; sub-cultures work for self interest rather than common interest
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the critical view on organisations?
Comparing theories, Critical:
Strengths:
- Considers negative effects
- Shows the hidden ways in which culture affects individuals
- Bot having a culture or sub-culture is not necessarily “bad”
Weaknesses:
- Not everyone perceives the same culture negatively
- Some control is inevitable
- Cultural control may be less oppressive than other controls
