E. Riggio, Ronald. 2007. Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Fifth Edition.

University of California: Pearson Prentice Hall

Hal 421 Organizational culture develops from many sources. For example, organizations develop certain assumptions and norms governing behavior through a history of experience concerning what seems to work and what doesnt work for the organization. Shared norm, values, and goals contribute greatly to an organizations culture (OReilly & Chatman, 1996). The technology used in the organization, the markets it sells its products and/or services to, and the organizations competition all influence organizational culture. Organizational culture can also be affected by the sucietal culture in which the organization is located and the makeup of its workers. Finally, the organizational culture can be shaped by the personalities of the companies founders and their most dominant early leaders. It has been suggested that organizations vary in terms of the strength and influence of their organizational cultures, with some organizations having strong, dominant cultures, and other companies having weaker cultures (Oreiily, 1989). It has also been suggested that having a strong organizational culture can be beneficial to companies that provide services because it is crucial that representatives of service organizations provide a strong sense of company identity to customers (Chatman & Jehn, 1994). In other words, It is important that customers of service organizations understand what the company stands for. In one study, it was found that companies that have a stronge commitment to good human resources practices foster a climate that involves mutual trust, cooperation, and a greater sharing of information among organizational members. This very positive organizational culture led to greater company performance (Collins & Smith, 2006).

Hal. 423 SOCIETAL INFLUENCE ON ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE The larger culture of a nation, society, or ethnic group can have important influences on the development of the organizational culture of a work organization. The most influential work on societal culture is by Hofstede (1980, 1997). According to Hofstede, there are five key dimensions on which sociatal cultures differ, such us whether the culture has an individualistic base, where values are centered on the individual and individual achievements, or a collectivistic base, where values are focused on the group or collective. The United States, for example, is very individualistic in its societal/national orientation, whereas Mexico and Japan are more collectivistic (see table 14.2 for a description of these five cultural dimensions).

One large study by Housse and his colleagues (1999; House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004), called the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness project (GLOBE), is looking at crossnational differences in work organizations, in their cultures, and in their leadership. Although societal culture can have a direct influence on a work organizations culture, these cultural influences are also important in organizations whose workers are made up of members from diverse cultural backgrounds. By understanding systematic differences in the society in which a work organization is embedded, and cultural differences in workers from different nations and societies, it will help to improve our general understanding of work behavior.

Hal. 424 Another measure is Hofstede et al.s (1990) Organizational Practices Scale. This instrument, designed specifically to measure organizational culture (as opposed to societal culture) assesses the companys culture in terms of dimensions such as wheateher the organization is process versus results oriented, employee versus job oriented, or has loose or tight control over employees behavior, as well as other dimensions. A revised version includes scales of wheather an organization is self-interested versus socially responsible and market versus internally oriented (Verbeke, 2000). Other measures of organizational culture are more specific, such as one measure that assesses an organizations culture for quality (Johnson, 2000). The study of organizational culture is an increasingly popular approach for I/O psychologists studying organizations at a global level. Organizational culture is intertwined with the topics of job satisfaction (Chapter 8) and group processes (Chapter 11) covered earlier.