Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A system of meaning shared by the organizations members Cultural values are collective beliefs, assumptions, and feelings about what things are good, normal, rational, valuable, etc.
Aspects of culture
Values Symbols
Customs
Language
Cultural Diversity
Coca-Colas name in China was first read as Kekoukela, meaning Bite the wax tadpole or female horse stuffed with wax, depending on the dialect.
Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent kokou kole, translating into happiness in the mouth.
Geert Hofstede sampled 100,000 IBM employees 1963-1973 Compared employee attitudes and values across 40 countries
Isolated 4 dimensions summarizing culture: 1. 2. 3. 4. Power distance Individualism vs. collectivism Uncertainty avoidance Masculinity vs. feminity
Managerial Implications
Ethnocentrism vs Polycentrism Must a company adapt to local cultures or can corporate -- often home-country dominated -- culture prevail? Cross-cultural literacy essential Do some cultures offer a national competitive advantage over others?
Stories
Rituals
Language
Oakley, Inc.s headquarters symbolizes a corporate culture in which employees believe they are at war with competitors.
Oakleys combat-ready headquarters symbolizes a corporate culture that attacks such rivals as Nike with gladiator glee. The lobby of the two-year-old, $40million building looks like a bomb shelter. Its huge, echoing vault is straight out of Star Wars. Sleek pipes, watertight doors, and towering metallic walls studded with oversize bolts suggest a place that is routinely subjected to laser fire and floods. Ejection seats from a B-52 bomber furnish the waiting area. Oakleys culture is also apparent in its annual report, which reads more like the Art of War than a financial report. Weve always had a fortress mentality, says Colin Baden, Oakleys vice president of design. What we make is gold, and people will do anything to get it, so we protect it.
Innovation and risk taking (3M) Outcome orientation (Bausch & Lomb) Aggressiveness (Microsoft)
A philosophy that is set forth in the MNCs beliefs regarding how employees and customers should be treated. Rules that dictate the dos and donts of employee behavior relating to areas such as productivity, customer relations, and intergroup cooperation. Organizational climate, or the overall atmosphere of the enterprise as reflected by the way that participants interact with each other, conduct themselves with customers, and feel about the way they are treated by higher-level management
Indias second largest bank exudes a performance-oriented culture. Its organizational practices place a premium on training, career development, goal setting, and pay-forperformance, all with the intent of maximizing employee performance and customer service. We believe in defining clear performance for employees and empowering them to achieve their goals -MD ICICI BANK
Wal-Mart, Inc.
Wal-Marts headquarters almost screams out frugality and efficiency. The worlds largest retailer has a Spartan waiting room for suppliers, rather like a government office waiting areas. Visitors pay for their own soft drinks and coffee. In each of the buildings inexpensive cubicles, employees sit at inexpensive desk finding ways to squeeze more efficiencies and lower costs out of suppliers as well as their own work processes.
Organisational culture can vary in a number of ways. It is these variances that differentiate one organisation from the others. Some of the bases of the differentiation are presented here:
Types of Cultures
The Clan Culture
A very friendly place to work where people share a lot of themselves. It is like an extended family.
Example
Hewlett Packard (HP) is a global organization with a corporate culture that is spread to employees around the world. Whether at HPs Far East distribution center in Singapore or at research labs in California, employees live by five well-established values known as The HP Way: These values include trust and respect for individuals, a focus on achievement and contribution, the conduct of business with uncompromising integrity, achievement of common objectives through teamwork, and encouragement of flexibility and innovation.
Each year Fortune magazine releases its list of indias Top Employers. Visit the site and do a keyword search on best companies to work for. Who are some of the top companies to work for according to Fortune? What might employees find appealing about the organizational culture of those companies?
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 in the organization Culture serves as a control mechanism for shaping behavior
Adaptive Perspective
Fit Perspective
Argument that a culture is good only if it fits the industrys or the firms strategy.
Fit Perspective
Organizational characteristics that may affect culture Customer requirements Competitive environment Societal expectations
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 Most managers care about customers, stockholders, and employees Managers pay close attention to all their constituencies, esp. customers
Adaptive Perspective
Nonadaptive Most managers care about themselves, their work group, or an associated product Managers tend to behave somewhat politically, and bureaucratically
Core Values
Common Behavior
Selection
Explicit goals- Identifying and hiring individuals having knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the jobs successfully Individuals having values consistent with those of the organization are selected as per the decision makers guidelines
TOP MANAGEMENT
The action of top management establishes the norms so as to: Whether risk taking is desirable How much freedom should be given to their subordinates What actions will pay off in terms of pay rise, promotions and other rewards, etc
SOCIALISATION
New employees are not familiar with the organisational culture and are potentially likely to disturb the existing culture The process through which the employees are proselytized about the customs and traditions of the organization is known as socialization It is the process of adaption by which new employees are to understand the basic values and the norms for becoming accepted member of the organization
SOCIALISATION PROCESS
Pre arrival:
Newcomers form expectations regarding particular occupations and what it would be like to be a member of a particular organization
Encounter
Newcomer confronts the reality of his or her organizational role Not yet an insider (uncertainty vs. information seeking) Not socialized by the organization Not individualized role requirements - affect organizational situation
Metamorphosis
When new employees begin to change some of his behaviors and expectations in order to meet the standards of the new environment Create an individual identity A time of ethical dilemmas
Unfreezing
Moving
Refreezing
Unfreezing
Arouse dissatisfaction with the current state Activate and strengthen top management support Use participation in decision making Build in rewards
Murlidhar Puthran
Moving
Establish goals Institute smaller, acceptable changes that reinforce and support change Develop management structures for change Maintain open, two-way communication
Murlidhar Puthran
Refreezing
Build success experiences Reward desired behaviour Develop structures to institutionalize the change Make change work
Murlidhar Puthran
Live Example
Facts
ICICI Bank Ltd ICICI was established by the Government of India in 1955 3 times the size of BoM Staff strength was only 1,400 departments into individual profit centers Bank of Madura (BoM) Established in 1943 at Madurai, Tamil Nadu. By 2000, it was number one bank in Tamil Nadu One third the size of ICICI Staff strength was 2,500 management concentrated on the overall profitability of the Bank
Immediate Impact
There were large differences in profiles, grades, designations and salaries of personnel there was uneasiness among the staff of BoM as they felt that ICICI would push up the productivity per employee, to match the levels of ICICI BoM employees feared that their positions would come in for a closer scrutiny. They were not sure whether the rural branches would continue or not as ICICI's business was largely urban-oriented.
By June 2001, the process of integration between ICICI and BoM was started
ICICI transferred around 450 BoM employees to ICICI Bank, while 300 ICICI employees were shifted to BoM branches. Promotion schemes for BoM employees were initiated and around 800 BoM officers were found to be eligible for the promotions. End of the year, ICICI seemed to have successfully handled the HR aspects of the BoM merger. The win-win situation created
We do put people under stress by raising the bar constantly. That is the only way to ensure that performers lead the change process. K. V. Kamath, MD & CEO, ICICI Noticing Small Changes EarlyHelps You Adapt To The Bigger Changes That Are To Come Change Happens, Anticipate Change, Monitor Change, Adapt To Change Quickly. Enjoy Change! Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again