Organizational Culture,

Creativity, and
Innovation

Chapter 14
 Organizational Culture
 A cognitive framework consisting of attitudes,
values, behavioral norms, and expectations
shared by organization members.
 Subcultures:
Subcultures Cultures existing within parts of
organizations rather than entirely throughout
them.
 Dominant Culture:
Culture The distinctive, overarching
“personality” of an organization.
 Toxic Organizational Cultures:
Cultures Organizational
cultures in which people feel that they are not
valued.
 Healthy Organizational Cultures:
Cultures Organizational
cultures in which people feel they are valued.
Creating Organizational
Culture
 Company
founders
 Experience
with the
environment
 Contact with
others
 Keeping Culture Alive
 Selection
 Concerned with how well the candidates will

fit into the organization.

 Provides information to candidates about

the organization.
 Top Management
 Senior executives help establish behavioral

norms that are adopted by the organization.

 Socialization
 The process that helps new employees

adapt to the organization’s culture.

 Transmitting Culture
 Symbols:
Symbols Objects that say more than
meets the eye
 Slogans:
Slogans Phrases that capture
organizational culture
 Stories:
Stories “In the old days, we used to . . .”
 Jargon:
Jargon The special language that defines
a culture
 Ceremonies:
Ceremonies Special events that
commemorate corporate values
 Statements of Principle:
Principle Defining culture in
writing
Famous Slogans
 What Do Cultures Do?
Culture’s Functions:
2. Defines the boundary
between one organization Culture as a
and others. Liability:
2. Barrier to change
3. Conveys a sense of
identity for its members. 3. Barrier to
diversity
4. Facilitates the generation
of commitment to 4. Barrier to
something larger than acquisitions and
mergers
self-interest.
5. Enhances the stability of
the social system.
 Creativity
Components of Creativity

The process by
which
individuals or
teams produce
novel and useful
ideas.
Examples of Creativity
Examples of Creativity
 Developing Creative
Environments
Provide autonomy
Allow ideas to cross-pollinate
Make jobs intrinsically interesting
Set your own creative goals
Support creativity at high
organizational levels
Have fun!
Promote diversity
 Google’s Birth
 1995
 – Ph.D. candidates

Sergey Brin and

Larry Page meet at
Stanford University
and discuss ideas
about new search
technology
 1998
 Sergey and Larry

raise one million

dollars in funding
and create Google
 Google’s Growth

 1998.12
 10,000 search queries/day
 1999.12
 3,000,000 search queries/day
 2000.12
 60,000,000 search queries/day
 2001.12
 First Profit! Hired Eric Schmidt as its CEO
 2005.12
 Market worth $132 Billion, larger than IBM
 Google’s Achievements
 Webpage Search
 Image search
 Merchandise/Stock Price search
 Map search
 Video search
 Book and academic article search
(digit library)
 Business search
 Desktop search
 Gmail, G-talk, Internet phone, Mobile
map,
Secrets of Google’s
Success
 Mission –
 Structure –
 Culture –
 Talents –
Idea Factory