JENICE JOY SUMAWAY HAFEZ H.

ABURASHIDEH

University of the Philippines - Manila

OUTLINE
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Institutionalization: A forerunner of Culture What is Organizational Culture? 7 orientations of organizations culture What do cultures do? Creating and Sustaining Culture Keeping a Culture Alive Cultural diversity Social Culture values Characteristics of organizations culture Measuring organizational culture Communicating and changing culture

What is Organizational Culture?

CULTURE
the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations

Refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. is an idea in the field of organizational studies and management which describes the psychology, attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values (personal and cultural values) of an organization the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization."

the set of shared attitudes, values,

goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization

Refers to a system of shared meaning

held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations.

Institutionalization: A forerunner of Culture

Institutionalization operates to produce common understanding among members about what is appropriate and, fundamentally, meaningful behavior. When an organization becomes institutionalized It takes on a life of its own part from its founders or any of its members. It becomes valued for itself, not merely for the goods or services it produces. It acquires immortality. It redefines itself.

Strong vs Weak Culture

STRONG CULTURE The organizations core values are both intensely and widely shared. Strong culture is said to exist where staff respond to stimulus because of their alignment to organizational values. In such environments, strong cultures help firms operate like well-oiled machines, cruising along with outstanding execution and perhaps minor tweaking of existing procedures here and there. WEAK CULTURE there is little alignment with organizational values and control must be exercised through extensive procedures and bureaucracy.

Training meeting about sustainable design. The photo shows a training meeting with factory workers in a stainless steel ecodesign company from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. These type of meetings are important in order to establish a strong culture in the corporation

7 Orientations of organizations culture

Innovation & risk taking Attention to detail Stability

Characteristics

Aggresiveness

Outcome orientation

Team orientation

People orientation

What do cultures do?

1. Its boundary defining role creates distinctions between one organization and others.

2. It conveys sense of identity for organization members. 3. Culture facilitates the generation of commitment to something larger than ones individual selfinterest.

4. Enhances the stability of the social system.

Culture as a Liability
To Change

Barriers
To Acquisition & Mergers To Diversity

Creating and Sustaining Culture

Culture creation occurs in 3 ways:
1. 2. 3.

Founders hire and keep only employees who think and feel the same way they do. They indoctrinate and socialize these employees to their way of thinking and feeling. The founders own behavior acts a role model that encourages employees to identify with them and thereby internalize beliefs, values and assumptions.

Keeping a Culture Alive

3 forces that play important part in maintaining culture:
Ensure a proper match, results in hiring of people who have values essentially consistent with those of organization.

Selection Top Management Socialization

Through what they say and how they behave, senior executives establish norms that filter down through organization as to whether risk taking is desirable.

Adaptation process, wherein employees adapt to its culture.

Organizational culture case

IBM Overconfident Bureaucratic Focus on internal numbers and goals MICROSOFT "had no business competing with IBM had an outstanding organizational culture based on customers' needs Focus on getting things done

Cultural diversity
Employees in any organization are divided into subgroups of

various Kinds. Formation of groups is determined by two broad sets of conditions. similarities, such as type of work, rank in the organization, and physical proximity to one another, sometimes cause people to align themselves into groups. socioeconomics, sex, and race) arise primarily from an individuals personal background, these conditions are highly important for legal, moral, and economical reasons.

Job-related (organizationally created) differences and

Non-job related conditions (those related to culture, ethnicity,

 This cultural diversity, or rich variety of differences among

people at work, raises the issues of fair treatment for workers who are not in positions of authority.

Problems my persist because of a key difference in this context

between discrimination and prejudice.

Discrimination is generally exhibited in an action, whereas

prejudice is an attitude. Either may exist without the other. The law focuses on an employers action, not feelings. Any action lead to what is legally determined to be discriminatory results, this action is considered unlawful regardless of the intentions.

 Programs aimed at managing and valuing diversity build

from a key premise: prejudicial stereotypes develop from unfounded assumptions about others and from their overlooked qualities.
Differences need to be recognized, acknowledged,

appreciated, and used to collective advantage.

Social Culture values

over many years different cultures emphasized work as a

desirable and fulfilling activity. The result of this emphasis is a work ethic for many people, meaning that they view work as very important and a desirable goal of life. They usually have a stronger commitment to the organization and to its goals than do other employees.

The available research indicates two conclusions can be safely

reached. First, the proportion of employees with a strong work ethic varies sharply among sample groups. The differences depends on factors such as personal background, type of work performed, and geographical location.

 Second, the general level of work ethic has declined

gradually over many decades. The decline is most evident in the different attitudes between younger and older workers. Not only the younger employees are not as supportive of the work ethics, but the level of support that young people once exhibited has dropped substantially.

Why has the work ethics declined?

Dramatic social changes have brought about the work

ethics deterioration. Competing social values have emerged, such as a leisure ethic ( a high priority is placed on personal gratification), desire for intimacy (an emphasis on close personal relationships), and entitlement (a belief that people should receive benefits without the need to work). In addition, changes in social policy and tax laws have reduced incentives to work and occasionally even penalized hard work and success.

 Finally, the instant wealth phenomenon has blossomed

in the recent years. This occur when thousands of peopleeither as employees in high-tech start-up companies or as fortunate investors in real estate or the stock marketbecome millionaires after just a few years of work.
Social responsibility: it is the recognition that

organizations have significant influence on the social system and that this influence must be properly considered and balanced in all organizational actions.

 One bit of evidence that organizations are increasingly

concerned about social responsibility is provided by the criteria used to publicly judge their overall performance.
fortune magazine annually assesses Americas Most

Admired Companies and does so by evaluating over 300 organizations. One of the criteria used is social responsibility. Firms such as GE, Microsoft, Dell, Cisco, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Southwest Airlines have received high overall ratings.

Characteristics of organizational cultures

Organizations are unique. Each has its own history, patterns of

communications, systems and procedures, mission statements and visions, stories and myths which, in their totality, constitute its distinctive culture. Cultures are relatively stable in nature, usually changing only slowly over time. However, an exception occur when a major crisis threats a firm or when two organizations merge with each other (requiring a careful blending of the two so as to avoid culture clash). than explicit, however, recently organizations have begun to speak about their intended cultures and many top leaders are willing to tell about what environment they would like to create within their firms.

most organizational cultures are historically implicit rather

 Another characteristic of organizational culture is that it has

symbolic representation of its underlying beliefs and values. Rarely we read a description of a firm culture, rather, usually we make inferences from the stories told about the way things are done, from reading slogans that portray corporate ideals, from observing key artifacts, or from watching ceremonies in which certain type of employees are honored.

Another dimension of culture is that there is no best culture

for all firms; culture clearly depends on the organizations goals, industry, nature of competition, and other factors in its environment.

 Cultures are better recognized when their elements usually

integrated and consistent with each others. Most members must at least accept, if not embrace the assumptions and values of the culture.

Most cultures evolve directly from the top management,

who can have a powerful influence on their employees by what they say. However, managements actions are even more important to watchful employees, who can quickly detect when management truly support certain ideals.

 A culture may exist across an entire organization, or may

be made up of various subcultures in different divisions, branches, or departments.

Finally, cultures have varying strengths; they can be

classified as relatively strong or weak depending on the degree of their impact on employees behavior and how widely the underlying beliefs and values are held.

10 characteristics
Unique Stable Implicit Symbolic representation Evolves from the top management

No best culture for all firms

Integrated

Accepted

Made of subcultures

Of varying strengths

Measuring organizational culture:

Systemic measurement and comparison of cultures is difficult

at best. Most early attempts by researchers relied on examination of stories, symbols, rituals, and ceremonies to obtain clues and construct a composite portrait, while others have used interviews and open-ended questionnaires in an attempt to assess employee values and beliefs.

In other cases, examination of corporate philosophy statements

has provided insight to espoused culture (stated publicly). One of the more interesting methods is to become a member of the organization and engage in participant observation. This approach allows direct sensing from the perspective of a member who is experiencing the culture.

 Organizational cultures are in the process of changing and

need to be monitored regularly and by a variety of methods to gain a better picture, so attempts to capture a snapshot of the culture at a point can be only imperfect assessment.

Communicating and changing culture:

People are generally more willing to adapt and learn when they

want to please others, gain approval, and learn about their new work environment. Similarly, organizations are eager to have the new employees fit in , therefore an intentional approach that helps make this happen is used by many firms. organizational culture include executive visions of the firms future, corporate philosophy statements, and code of ethical conduct.

Examples of formal communication ways of transmitting

Informal means involve publicly recognizing heroes, retelling

historical success stories, and even allowing myths to become exaggerated without popping the hot-air balloon.

 Elements of organizations culture might be as well

unintentionally communicated to employees in a variety of ways, such as when news of a managers error and an executives forgiveness of it are accidentally leaked throughout the firm.
Collectively, these cultural communication acts may be lumped

under the umbrella of organizational socialization, which can be defined as the continuous process of transmitting key elements of an organizations culture to its employees. It consists of both formal and informal methods.

 All the approaches of communication help shape the

attitude, thoughts, and behavior of the employees. Viewed from organizations perspective, organizational socialization is like placing an organizations fingerprints on people or stamping its own genetic code on them, while from the employees viewpoint, it is the essential process of learning the ropes to survive and prosper within the firm.

 One means to forge a culture and build organizational identity

is storytelling. Good stories tap into the emotions of an audience and have proven to be powerful ways to create shared meaning and purpose. Stories convey a sense of tradition, explain how past problems have been solved, and enhance cohesion around key values. The most memorable stories entertain as well as inform and uplift as well as teach. direction; employees can also have an active impact on the nature of organizations culture and operations. Individualization occurs when employees successfully exert influence on the social system around them at work by challenging the culture or deviating from it.

A reciprocal process emerges when changes occur in the other

High

Conformity

Creative individualism

Socialization

Isolation

Rebellion

Low Low Individualization High

Effectiveness of methods for changing organizational culture

Communicate top management support

Train employees

Formulate value statements

Reward behaviors

Use stories and myths Publicly recognize heroes Use slogans Appoint a manager of culture

Case study
Delbert little is an engineer who works for a major American

electronics firm. A highly creative, energetic, and talented worker, he prides himself on giving 110 percent effort to his job. Although he is totally accept his employers values regarding the needs to create new and improved products through technological breakthroughs, he also flaunts his rejection of some corporate norms regarding personal behavior (modes of dress and deference of authority). He communicates to his workers with great passion, regularly imploring them to exercise similar direction, he writes passionate memos to top executives detailing his reasoning and trying to persuade them to change their minds.

 Delbert can be described as exercising creative

individualism (but bordering on rebellion). He accepts some norms and values but reject others (and therefore is moderately socialized). He fights fiercely for what he thinks is right and attempts to change others thinking, too. Consequently, he has a relatively high impact on his portion of the organization (individualism). the company tolerates my behavior he laughed one day, only because I have produce d over 100 patents while working here .

Google Culture
Though Google has grown a lot since it opened in 1998, Google still maintain a small company feel.
Google commitment to innovation depends on everyone being comfortable

sharing ideas and opinions.

Every employee is a hands-on contributor, and everyone wears several hats. Because we believe that each Googler is an equally important part of our success. Google are aggressively inclusive in our hiring, and we favor ability over experience. Google is a team that reflects the global audience Google serves Google always look for those who share a commitment to creating search perfection and having a great time doing it.

Google offices

Local expressions of each location, from a mural in Buenos Aires to ski gondolas in Zurich, showcasing each offices region and personality. Bicycles or scooters for efficient travel between meetings; dogs; lava lamps; massage chairs; large inflatable balls. Googlers sharing cubes, yurts and huddle rooms and very few solo offices. Laptops everywhere standard issue for mobile coding, email on the go and note-taking. Foosball, pool tables, volleyball courts, assorted video games, pianos, ping pong tables, and gyms that offer yoga and dance classes. Grassroots employee groups for all interests, like meditation, film, wine tasting and salsa dancing. Healthy lunches and dinners for all staff at a variety of cafs.

Break rooms packed with a variety of snacks and drinks to keep Googlers going.

Experiential exercise
Consider yourself as the subordinate in this class, with the

instructor as your manager: In the student-instructor relationship in this class, identify: A. Your perception of your student roles B. Your perception of the instructors roles C. Your perception of the instructors perception of your roles as a student.

Experiential Exercise
5 I feel comfortable challenging statements made by my instructor My instructor heavily penalizes assignments that are not turned in on time My instructor believes that it finals result that counts A large portion of my grade depends on how well I work with others My instructor is sensitive to my personal needs I often feel nervous and tense when come to class My instructor seems to prefer stability over change My instructor encourages me to develop new & different ideas My instructor has a tolerance for sloppy thinking My instructor is more concerned of how I came to conclusion than with the conclusion itself My instructor treats all students alike My instructor frowns on class members helping each other with assignments Aggressive & competitive people have a distinct advantage in this class My instructor encourages me to see the world differently 4 3 2 1

Experiential Exercise
5 I feel comfortable challenging statements made by my instructor My instructor heavily penalizes assignments that are not turned in on time My instructor believes that it finals result that counts A large portion of my grade depends on how well I work with others My instructor is sensitive to my personal needs I often feel nervous and tense when come to class My instructor seems to prefer stability over change My instructor encourages me to develop new & different ideas My instructor has a tolerance for sloppy thinking My instructor is more concerned of how I came to conclusion than with the conclusion itself My instructor treats all students alike My instructor frowns on class members helping each other with assignments Aggressive & competitive people have a distinct advantage in this class My instructor encourages me to see the world differently 4 3 2 1

Experiential Exercise
49 ABOVE 35 OR BELOW

Open Risk-taking Supportive Humanistic Team-oriented Easy-going Growth-oriented

Closed Structured Task-oriented Individualistic Tense Stability-oriented

REFERENCES
1. John W. Newstrom: Organizational Behavior: human

behavior at work, 12th edition, 2007.

2. Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge: Organizational

Behavior, 9th edition, 2009. 3. www.wikipedia.com