SOCIAL SYSTEM IN ORGANIZATIONAL

CULTURE
Prepared by:
Dr. Mohd. Shahadt Hossain Mahmud
Director (Joint Secretary)
Bangladesh Institute of Management (BIM)
Email: mahmud5212@yahoo.com

Key Concepts of Discussion

2

Society, System, Social system

Organization, Culture, Orgnl culture
Organization culture profile
Types of Organizational culture
Elements of Organizational Culture
Creating organizational culture
Organizational values
Organizational structures & analysis

Society, System, Social

system

Society is a grouping of individuals which

are united by a network of social relations,
traditions and may have distinctive culture
and institutions.
System is a set of interacting or
interdependent components forming an
integrated whole.
Social system is the patterned series of
interrelationships existing between
individuals, groups, and institutions and
forming a coherent whole.

SOCIETY: A BONDAGE

CHARACTERISTICS OF
SOCIETY

came from Latin word societas means comrade/

friend/ally
used to describe interaction between parties that
are friendly or at least civil
refer to the entirety of humanity (those who are
unfriendly or uncivil are deemed as antisocial)
feelings of belongingness
(rights/ownership/possession)
sharing of peace and sorrow
(cooperation/sympathy)
norms, values, cohesion (ethics, morals, unity )

SYSTEM

CHARACTERISTICS OF
SYSTEM
means "something to look at
refer to a set of rules
governs structure and/or behavior
complex context
common characteristics in
structure, behavior,
interconnectivity.

SOCIAL SYSTEM

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL
SYSTEM
complex set of human relationships
group is a subsystem within larger
groups
system includes people and their interrelationships
inter-relationships between individuals,
groups, institutions
theory formulated by Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons was an American
sociologist

10

Organization, Culture, Orgl.

culture

Organization is an entity, such as an

institution or an association, that has a
collective goal and is linked to an external
environment.
Culture is defined as the characteristics
and knowledge of a particular group of
people, defined by everything from
language, religion, cuisine, social habits,
music and arts
Organizational culture is the behavior of
humans within an organization and the
meaning that people attach to those
behaviors.

ORGANIZATION

derived from organon means "organ

entity, such as an institution or an association
has collective goal & linked to external
environment
ingredients are people, process, culture, structure
classified as formal and informal
variety of types, viz. corporations, govt, NGOs,
international organizations , armed forces, charities
, not-for-profit corporations, cooperatives,
universities, political organizations.

CULTURE
.

CULTURE
.

CULTURE
.

CULTURE

derived from "colere" means cultivation &

nurture
defined as the characteristics and knowledge
of a particular group of people
defined by everything from language,
religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts
includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law,
custom, and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by man as a member of society."

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
.

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

behavior of humans within an organization

represents the collective values, beliefs
and principles of organizational members
includes the organization's vision, values,
norms, systems, symbols, language,
assumptions, beliefs, and habits
is a set of shared assumptions that guide
what happens in organizations by defining
appropriate behavior for various situations

ORGANIZATION CULTURE
PROFILE
.

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
PROFILE
Organizational culture is values and norms shared by
people and groups in an organization & it controls the
ways to interact with each other & stakeholders outside
the organization. Organizational culture profile includes:
Innovation / Risk Taking
Detail Oriented/ Attention to Detail
Team Orientation
People Orientation/Individual Autonomy
Stable/ Stability
Outcome Orientation
Aggressive/ Aggressiveness

25

Types of Organizational
culture

Gerard Hendrik Hofstede 5 dimensions

OReilly al & Denison 4 dimensions
Deal and Kennedy 4 Types
Edgar Schein 3 levels
Gerry Johnson 7 elements
Schein 5 factors
Stanley G. Harris 5 categories
Charles Handy 4 types
Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn 4 types
Robert A. Cooke 2 types

26

Types of Organizational
culture contd..
6 types apart from the 10 schools
Bullying culture
Culture of fear
Personal culture
Corporate culture
National culture
Tribal culture

CREATING STRONG
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
(contd.)
Rituals

Openness, Communication, and

Supervision
Market and Customer Orientation
Excitement, Pride, and esprit de corps
Commitment

Process of Organizational
Culture

Building Blocks of
Organizational Culture

Characteristics of people within the

organization

Organizational ethics

Employment relationship

Organizational structure

National culture

What are Organizational

Values?

Guiding principles

behaviors, events, situations, and

outcomes are desirable or undesirable

Types

Terminal

Instrumental

Terminal Values vs.

Instrumental Values

Terminal Values signify the objectives

of the life of a person the ultimate
things the person wants to achieve
through his or her behaviour (the
destination he wants to reach in life)
whereas Instrumental Values indicate
the methods an individual would like to
adopt for achieving his lifes aim (the
path he would like to take to reach his
destination).

Terminal and Instrumental

Values
Terminal
Quality
Responsibility
Innovativeness
Excellence
Economy
Morality
Profitability

Instrumental
Working hard
Respecting traditions
Respecting authority

Being conservative

Being frugal

Being creative

Being honest

Terminal and Instrumental Values

Organizational Values

Terminal
Values

Instrumental
Values

Specific norms,
rules, and SOPs

Ways of Transmitting Organizational

Culture
Formal socialization
practices

Ceremonial
Rites
and
Ceremonies

Employees
learn
through:

Signs, symbols, stories

The
organizational
language

Organizational structures
41

It defines how activities such as task

allocation, coordination and
supervision are directed towards the
achievement of organizational aims.
4 types according to management
science:
Committees or juries
Ecologies
Matrix organizations
Pyramids or hierarchies

Organizational analysis
42

Referred as organizational
structure/studies/behaviour. Influential theories
are:

Activity theory
Actornetwork theory
Complexity theory and organizations
Contingency theory
Critical management studies
Economic sociology
Enterprise architecture
Garbage Can Model
Principalagent problem
Scientific management
Social entrepreneurship
Transaction cost theory
Weber's Ideal of Bureaucracy