Chapter 12: Organizational

Culture

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is the shared social
knowledge within an organization regarding the
rules, norms, and values that shape the attitudes
and behaviors of its employees.
Culture is social knowledge among members of the
organization.
Culture tells employees what the rules, norms, and
values are within the organization.
Organizational culture shapes and reinforces certain
employee attitudes and behaviors by creating a
system of control over employees.
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 Culture Components

Observable artifacts are the manifestations of an

organizations culture that employees can easily
see or talk about.
Symbols can be found throughout an organization, from
its corporate logo to the images it places on its Web site
to the uniforms its employees wear.
Physical structures are the organizations buildings
and internal office designs.
Language reflects the jargon, slang, and slogans used
within the walls of an organization.

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 Culture Components, Contd
Observable artifacts, continued
Stories consist of anecdotes, accounts, legends, and
myths that are passed down from cohort to cohort
within an organization.
Rituals are the daily or weekly planned routines that
occur in an organization.
Ceremonies are formal events, generally performed
in front of an audience of organizational members.
Espoused values are the beliefs, philosophies,
and norms that a company explicitly states.
Published documents, verbal statements made to
employees by managers.

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 Culture Components, Contd
Basic underlying assumptions are taken-for-
granted beliefs and philosophies that are so
ingrained that employees simply act on them
rather than questioning the validity of their
behavior in a given situation.
Represent the deepest and least observable part of a
culture and may not be consciously apparent, even to
organizational veterans.
Its hidden beliefs are those that are the most likely to
dictate employee behavior and affect employee
attitudes.

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 General Culture Types
Fragmented culture is an organizational culture type in
which employees are distant and disconnected from one
another.
Mercenary culture is an organizational culture type in
which employees think alike but are not friendly to one
another.
Communal culture is an organizational culture type in
which employees are friendly to one another, but
everyone thinks differently and does his or her own
thing.
Networked culture is an organizational culture type in
which employees are friendly to one another and all think
alike.
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 Specific Culture Types
Figure 12-3

Customer service culture is a specific

culture type focused on service quality.
Shown to change employee attitudes and
behaviors toward customers.

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 Specific Culture Types, Contd

Diversity culture is a specific culture type

focused on fostering or taking advantage of a
diverse group of employees.
Creativity culture is a specific culture type
focused on fostering a creative atmosphere.
Affects both the quantity and quality of creative ideas
within an organization.

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 Culture Strength
Culture strength exists when employees definitively
agree about the way things are supposed to happen
within the organization (high consensus) and when their
subsequent behaviors are consistent with those
expectations (high intensity).
Subcultures unite a smaller subset of the organizations
employees.
Created because there is a strong leader in one area of the
company that engenders different norms and values
Created because different divisions in a company act
independently and create their own cultures.
Countercultures exist when a subcultures values do
not match those of the organization.
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 Maintaining an Organizational
Culture
Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA)
framework holds that potential employees will
be attracted to organizations whose cultures
match their own personality.
Some potential job applicants wont apply due to a
perceived lack of fit.
Organizations will select candidates based on
whether their personalities fit the culture, further
weeding out potential misfits.
Those people who still dont fit will either be unhappy
or ineffective when working in the organization.
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 Maintaining an Organizational
Culture, Contd
Socialization is the primary process by which
employees learn the social knowledge that enables them
to understand and adapt to the organizations culture.
It is a process that begins before an employee starts work and
doesnt end until an employee leaves the organization.
Realistic job preview (RJP) is the process of ensuring that a
potential employee understands both the positive and negative
aspects of the potential job.
One of the most inexpensive and effective ways of reducing early
turnover among new employees.
Mentoring is a process by which a junior-level employee
(protg) develops a deep and long-lasting relationship with a
more senior-level employee (mentor) within the organization.
Can provide social knowledge, resources, and psychological
support to the protg both at the beginning of employment and as
the protg continues his or her career with the company.
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 Changing an Organizational
Culture
Changes in leadership
New leaders bring their own ideas and values,
and leaders are expected to be a driving force
for change.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Two companies with distinct cultures are
merged to form a new culture.

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 How Important Is Organizational
Culture?
Personorganization fit is the degree to which
a persons personality and values match the
culture of an organization.
Employees judge fit by thinking about the values they
prioritize the most, then judging whether the
organization shares those values.
When employees feel that their values and
personality match those of the organization, they
experience higher levels of job satisfaction and feel
less stress about their day-to-day tasks.
Employees also feel higher levels of trust toward their
managers.
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