ORGAnizational

Culture
Lecture 10
 LEarning outcomes

1. Identify the three levels of culture and the roles they play
Learning Outcomes

in an organization.
2. Evaluate the four functions of culture within an
organization.
3. Explain the relationship between organizational culture
and performance.
4. Describe five ways leaders reinforce organizational
culture.
5. Describe the three stages of organizational socialization
and the ways culture is communicated in each step.
6. Discuss how managers assess their organization’s
culture.
7. Explain actions managers can take to change
organizational culture.
8. Identify the challenges organizations face developing
positive, cohesive cultures.

© 2013 Cengage Learning

Organizational (Corporate) Culture

a pattern of basic assumptions that are

considered valid and that are taught to new

members as the way to perceive, think, and

feel in the organization.

 Organizational Culture
Visible, often not
Artifacts decipherable

Espoused Values Greater level

of awareness
Enacted Values

Taken for granted,

Assumptions Invisible, Preconscious

© 2013 Cengage Learning

 Artifacts
Artifacts : symbols of culture in the physical and social work
environments Examples of the artifacts of culture include
personal enactment, ceremonies and rites, stories, rituals,and
symbols.
• Personal Enactment
- Culture can be understood, in part through an examination
of the behavior of organization members.
- Personal enactment by the top managers provides insight
into the organization’s values.
• Ceremonies and Rites
- Relatively elaborate sets of activities that are repeatedly
enacted on important occasions
- These occasions provide opportunities to reward and
recognize employees whose behavior is congruent with the
values of the company.
• Stories
– About the boss, getting fired,relocating,
promotions, crisis situations, status considerations
– stories give meaning and identity to organizations
and are especially helpful in orienting new
employees.
– Effective stories are not only motivational; they can
also reinforce culture and create renewed energy.
• Rituals Everyday, repetitive, organizational practices
• Symbols communicate organizational culture through
unspoken messages.

Personal enactment, rites and ceremonies, stories,

rituals, and symbols serve to reinforce the values that
are the next level of culture.
VALUeS
● Reflect a person’s inherent beliefs of what should
or should not be.
● Values are often consciously articulated, both in
conversation and in a company’s mission
statement or annual report.
● There may be a difference between a company’s
espoused values (what the members say they value)
and its enacted values (values reflected in the way
the members actually behave)
ASSUMPTIONS
● Assumptions are the deeply held beliefs that guide behavior
and tell members of an organization how to perceive
situations and people.
● Assumptions are so strongly held that a member behaving in a
fashion that would violate them is unthinkable. Another
characteristic of assumptions is that they are often
unconscious.
● Organization members may not be aware of their assumptions
and may be reluctant or unable to discuss them or change
them.
Functions of Organizational Culture
• Culture provides a sense of identity to
members and increases their
commitment to the organization
• Culture is a sense-making device
for organization members
• Culture reinforces the values
of the organization
• Culture serves as a control
mechanism for shaping
behavior
The RelAtionship of Culture to PErformance
1. Strong Culture Perspective
2. Fit Perspective
3. Adaptive Perspective
 THE Strong Culture Perspective
● The strong-culture perspective states that organizations
with strong cultures perform better than other
organizations.
● A strong culture is a organizational culture with a
consensus on the values that drive the company and with
an intensity that is recognizable even to outsiders.
● A strong culture is deeply held,widely shared and highly
resistant to change
●
 Strong Cultures Facilitate Performance

BECAUSE

• They are characterized by goal

alignment
• They create a high level of
motivation
because of shared values by the
members
• They provide control without the
oppressive effects of
bureaucracy

© 2013 Cengage Learning

what if the strong
culture leads the firm
down the wrong path?
 Fit Perspective
a culture is good only if it fits the
industry or the firm’s strategy

© 2013 Cengage Learning

 Fit Perspective

Three particular industry characteristics

affect culture:

1. Competitive environment
2. Customer requirements
3. Societal expectations
 Adaptive Culture
● An organizational culture that encourages
confidence and risk taking among employees, has
leadership that produces change, and focuses on
the changing needs of customers
● Adaptive cultures facilitate change to meet the
needs of three groups of constituents: stockholders,
customers, and employees.
● Nonadaptive cultures are characterized by cautious
management that tries to protect its own interests.
● Adaptive firms showed significantly better long-term
economic performance
Adaptive vs. Nonadaptive Cultures
 Most Important Elements
in Managing Culture
• What leaders pay attention to
Leaders in an organization communicate their priorities, values, and beliefs through
the themes that consistently emerge from their focus.
• How leaders react to crises
Difficult economic times present crises for many companies and illustrate their
different values.
• How leaders behave
Employees often emulate leaders’ behavior and look to the leaders for cues to
appropriate behavior.
• How leaders allocate rewards
To ensure that values are accepted, leaders should reward behavior that is consistent
with the values.
• How leaders hire and fire individuals
Organizational Socialization
the process by which newcomers

are transformed from outsiders to

participating, effective members

of the organization
Organizational Socialization Process
 Socialization Process
Anticipatory Socialization – the first socialization
stage, which encompasses all of the learning that
takes place prior to the newcomer’s first day on the
job. The two key concerns at this stage are realism
and congruence.
Encounter – the second socialization stage in which
newcomers learn the tasks associated with the job,
clarified their roles, and establish new relationships
at work.Newcomers face task demands, role
demands, and interpersonal demands during this
period
Change and Acquisition – the third socialization stage,
in which the newcomer begins to master the
demands of the job
 Outcomes of Socialization
Newcomers who are successfully
socialized should exhibit:
– Good performance
– High job satisfaction
– Intention to stay with organization
– Low levels of distress symptoms
– High level of organizational
commitment
ASSESSING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
1. Organizational Culture Inventory
2. Kilmann-Saxton Culture - Gap Survey
3. Triangulation
 Organizational Culture Inventory
Focuses on behaviors that help employees fit into the
organization and meet coworker expectations.
Uses Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to measure twelve
cultural styles.

© 2013 Cengage Learning

Kilmann-Saxton Culture-Gap Survey
Focuses on what actually happens in the
organization and the expectations of
others
Two underlying dimensions –
technical/human and time.

© 2013 Cengage Learning

 Triangulation
the use of multiple methods to measure organizational culture

(1) obtrusive observations by eight trained observers, which

provided an outsider perspective;

(2) self-administered questionnaires, which provided

quantitative insider information;

(3) personal interviews with the center’s staff, which

provided qualitative contextual information

 Cultural Changes
With rapid environmental changes such
as globalization, workforce diversity and
technological innovation, the
fundamental assumptions and basic
values that drive the organization may
need to be altered.

© 2013 Cengage Learning

 Why is Change Difficult?
• Assumptions are often
unconscious
• Culture is deeply
ingrained and behavioral
norms and rewards are
well learned
Interventions for Changing
Organizational Culture
Challenges to Developing Positive, Cohesive
Culture

• Merger or Acquisition
• Developing a global organizational
culture
• Developing an ethical organizational
culture
• Developing a culture of empowerment
and quality
 Levels of Organizational Culture
Artifacts – symbols of culture in the physical and
social work environment

Espoused Values – what members of an

organization say they value

Enacted Values – reflected in the way individuals

actually behave

Assumptions – deeply held beliefs that guide

behavior and tell members of an organization how
to perceive and think about things