Week 8

Work- Place Culture

What is Organization Culture ?

...a set of people with a common “goal”

...a government with “power” and hierarchy
...a “structure” of rules and policies
...a “culture” of unspoken norms

A system of shared values, norms, and assumptions that

guide members’ attitudes and behaviors

Cultural artefacts- symbols, stories, heroes, ceremonies,

slogans, myths, rituals, dress code ……..
The Nature of Organization Culture
 Espoused Values and Norms
– The preferred values and norms explicitly stated by the
organization

 Enacted Values and Norms

– The values and norms employees exhibit based on
observations of what actually goes on
– Override espoused values and norms

 Assumptions
– Organizational values that have become so taken for
granted over time that they become the core of the
company’s culture
The 4 Levels of Culture

Preferred visible
Actual obeserved
 Key Dimensions of Culture

1. Strong vs weak
2. Positive vs negative
3. Conflict Culture- shared norms for managing conflict
 Active or passive
 Agreeable or disagreeable
 Stonewalling (The Silent Treatment)
4. Culture of Inclusion – the extent to which majority
members value efforts to increase minority
representation and whether the qualifications and abilities
of minorities are questioned
Managing Conflict of Cultures

competitive collaborative

Open, heated Open cooperative

resolve

avoid
Passive resistance accommodate
E.g. stonewalling
 Mechanistic vs Organic Continuum
• Mechanistic Structure
– Rigid, traditional
bureaucracy
– Hierarchical
communication
– Uniform job descriptions
– May minimize costs
– Slow to capitalize on new
opportunities
• Organic Structure
– Flexible, decentralized
– Open communication
channels
– Focus on adaptability
– Faster response to
market and competitive
changes
– May increase job
satisfaction and
commitment
Mechanistic vs Organic Continuum
 Innovation & Culture

Innovation
The process of creating and doing new things that are introduced
into the marketplace as products, processes, or services

Types of Innovation

Systems Incremental
Radical Innovation
Innovation Innovation
Disruptive
Discontinuous Dynamically continuous Subconscious behaviour
Requires behavior changes Continuously adapt 变革 = norm
 Managing Organizational Culture

Elements of Managing
Organization Culture
Glasnost - media
Perestroika – econ
Too radical, what bene
may not benefit USSR

Teaching Changing
Taking advantage
organization organization
of existing culture
culture culture

Meritocracy Repositioning
Employees adopt to Substituting new stories/slogans/
company’s value system Values – create identity
 What can we do?

 The need for Rules in organizations

1. If you represent the organization- implement and enforce these

rules to keep it alive
2. If you are an employee- think of ways to create social influence
through group’s culture
3. If you are manager- take stock of whether you are at fault or not,
and watch what you say and do