Principles of Management

Session. 4
Organizational Culture
and Environment

USMAN SADIQ (Ph.D. Scholar)

Our expectations?
 Hard work
 Honesty
 Responsible attitude
AFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER, YOU SHOULD BE
ABLE TO:

• Define, What is Organizational Culture.

• Recognize the characteristics and importance of organizational
culture.
• Asses how Culture effects a manager's performance.
• Describe current issues in organizational culture.
• Understand external environment of an organization.
• Articulate the differences between the functioning of Groups and
Team
• Asses how Teams are an essential part of modern organisational life
and their impact on organizational culture.
 The Manager:
Omnipotent or Symbolic

?
Parameters of Managerial Discretion
 Organizational Culture

A system of shared meanings and

common beliefs held by organizational
members that determines, in a large
degree, how they act towards each other.
 The Organization’s Culture

– “The way we do things around here.”

– Values, symbols, rituals, myths, and practices

– Implications:
– Culture is a perception.
– Culture is descriptive.
– Culture is shared.
Dimensions of Organizational Culture
How an Organization’s Culture Is Established and
Maintained
 Strong versus Weak Cultures

• Strong Cultures
• Are cultures in which key values are deeply and widely held.
• Have a strong influence on organizational members.
• Factors Influencing the Strength of Culture
– Size of the organization
– Age of the organization
– Rate of employee turnover
– Strength of the original culture
– Clarity of cultural values and beliefs
 Benefits of a Strong Culture

• Creates a stronger employee commitment to the

organization.
• Aids in the recruitment and socialization of new
employees.
• Fosters higher organizational
performance by instilling and
promoting employee initiative.
Strong versus Weak
Organizational Cultures
 How Employees Learn Culture

• Stories
Narratives of significant events or actions of people that convey the spirit of
the organization
• Rituals
Repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the values of the
organization
• Material Symbols
Physical assets distinguishing the organization
• Language
Acronyms and jargon of terms, phrases, and word meanings specific to an
organization
 How Culture Affects Managers

• Cultural Constraints on Managers

– Whatever managerial actions the organization recognizes as
proper or improper on its behalf
– Whatever organizational activities the organization values and
encourages
– The overall strength or weakness of the organizational culture

Simple rule for getting ahead in an organization:

Find out what the organization rewards and do those things.
 External Environment

Those factors and forces outside the

organization that affect the organization’s
performance.
 Components of the
External Environment

– Specific environment:
• External forces that have a direct and immediate impact on the
organization.

– General environment:
• Broad economic, socio-cultural, political/legal, demographic, technological,
and global conditions that may affect the organization.
Specific environment

Customer Supplier Pressure Group Competitors

How the Environment Affects Managers

• Environmental Uncertainty
– The extent to which managers have knowledge of
and are able to predict change their organization’s
external environment is affected by:
• Complexity of the environment: the number of
components in an organization’s external environment.
• Degree of change in environmental components: how
dynamic or stable the external environment is.
 Stakeholder Relationships

• Stakeholders
– Any constituencies in the organization’s environment that are
affected by the organization’s decisions and actions
• Why Manage Stakeholder Relationships?
– It can lead to improved organizational performance.
– It’s the “right” thing to do given the interdependence of the
organization and its external stakeholders.
Organizational Stakeholders
CURRENT Organization
Cultural Issues

Creatin Spiritu Attitu

Creatin ga ality Team de
Creatin
g an Custom and
g an Work toward
Innovat er- Organi
Ethical Cultur s
ive Respon zationa
Culture e chang
Culture sive l
Culture Culture e
 Developing
Group Vs Team Culture
 GROUPS
GROUPS

Two or more interacting and interdependent

individuals who come together to achieve particular

GOAL
WHY
WHY PEOPLE
PEOPLE JOIN
JOIN GROUPS:
GROUPS:

 Security
 Status
 Self-esteem
 Affiliation Power
 Goal achievement
TYPES
TYPES OF
OF WORK
WORK GROUP
GROUP

COMMAND
FORMAL
GROUP TEMPORARY
WORK TASK TASK GROUP
GROUP GROUP
PERMANENT
INTREST
INFORMAL TASK GROUP
GROUP
GROUP
FRIENDSHIP
GROUP
STAGES
STAGES OF
OF WORK
WORK GROUP
GROUP

Stage # 1 Stage # 2 Stage # 3

Forming Storming Norming

Stage # 4 Stage # 5 Stage # 6

Performing Adjourning Mourning/Grieving
Basic Work Group Concept

 Role
 Norms
 Conformity
 Group Status
 Group Size
 social loafing
 Cohesiveness
 GROUP DECISION MAKING
 CONFLICT MANAGEMENT (STYLES)
WHY GROUPS SOMETIMES FAIL

• Lack of trust among group members.

• Lack of cooperation/Cohesion.
• Authoritative behavior of leader.
• Conflicts and disputes among group members.
• Diverging objectives.
Turning Groups into
Effective Team
 Team

A smaller number of people with

complementary skills who are committed to a
common purpose, set of performance goals,
and approaches for which they hold
themselves mutually accountable.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
GROUPS AND TEAMS

• Shared Vision.
• Team Spirit.
• Sharing and caring Attitude.
• Setting performance goals.

• Mutually accountable for results.

 Why move to team working?

Teamwork can increase competitiveness by:

• Improving productivity

• Improving quality and encouraging innovation

• Taking advantage of the opportunities provided by technological
advances
• Improving employee motivation and commitment
 Interpersonal Skills Required by a Leader
in Managing and developing
Trust among Teams

Appropriate questioning.
Group discussions.
Friendly climate.
Use of consensus method.
Involvement of team members in setting goals.
Implement meeting guidelines.
Encourage self respect
Identify and deal with dysfunctional behaviors
Celebrating teams achievement and accomplishments
Use different techniques to motivate team members
 How Teams can have a good fight

• Work more rather than less.

• Information develop multiple alternatives to enrich debate.

• Establish common goals.

• Inject humor into workplace.

• Maintain a balance of power.

• Resolve issues with MUTUAL consensus.

THANK YOU