Chapter 9

Organizational Culture

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Organizational Culture
Questions for Consideration Questions for Consideration

What is organizational culture? When is organizational culture functional? Dysfunctional? How do employees learn about the culture of their organization?

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Henry Mintzberg on Culture

Culture is the soul of the organization the beliefs and values, and how they are manifested. I think of the structure as the skeleton, and as the flesh and blood. And culture is the soul that holds the thing together and gives it life force.
Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Organizational Culture
The pattern of shared values, beliefs and assumptions considered to be the appropriate way to think and act within an organization.
Culture is shared Culture helps members solve problems Culture is taught to newcomers Culture strongly influences behaviour

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 9-1 Layers of Culture

Material Symbols Language Rituals Stories

Artifacts of Organizational Culture

Organizational Culture

Beliefs Values Assumptions

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Characteristics of Organizational Culture

Innovation and risk-taking
The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risks.

Attention to detail
The degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision, analysis, and attention to detail.

Outcome orientation
The degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on technique and process.

People orientation
The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the organization.

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Characteristics of Organizational Culture

Team orientation
The degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals.

Aggressiveness
The degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easygoing.

Stability
The degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth.

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Cultural Artifacts
Stories Rituals Material Symbols Language

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Do Organizations Have Uniform Cultures?

Organizational culture represents a common perception held by the organization members. Core values or dominant (primary) values are accepted throughout the organization.
Dominant culture
Expresses the core values that are shared by a majority of the organizations members.

Subcultures
Tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences.
Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 9-3 How Organizational Culture Forms

Top management Selection criteria Socialization Organization's culture

Philosophy of organization's founders

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Keeping a Culture Alive

Selection
Identify and hire individuals who will fit in with the culture

Top Management
Senior executives establish and communicate the norms of the organization

Socialization
Organizations need to teach the culture to new employees
Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 9-5 A Socialization Model

Socialization Process Outcomes
Productivity

Prearrival

Encounter

Metamorphosis

Commitment

Turnover

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 9-6 Entry Socialization Options

Formal vs. Informal Individual vs. Collective Fixed vs. Variable Serial vs. Random Investiture vs. Divestiture
Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 9-7 Culture Typology

High Networked Communal

Sociability

Low

Fragmented Low

Mercenary High

Solidarity
Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Cultures Functions
Social glue that helps hold an organization together
Provides appropriate standards for what employees should say or do

Boundary-defining Conveys a sense of identity for organization members

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Cultures Functions
Facilitates commitment to something larger than ones individual self-interest Enhances social system stability Serves as a sense-making and control mechanism
Guides and shapes the attitudes and behaviour of employees
Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Culture as a Liability
Culture can have dysfunctional aspects in some instances
Culture as a Barrier to Change
When organization is undergoing change, culture may impede change

Culture as a Barrier to Diversity

Strong cultures put considerable pressure on employees to conform

Culture as a Barrier to Mergers and Acquisitions

Merging the cultures of two organizations can be difficult, if not impossible

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

How to Change Culture

Have top-management people become positive role models, setting the tone through their behaviour. Create new stories, symbols, and rituals to replace those currently in vogue. Select, promote, and support employees who espouse the new values that are sought. Redesign socialization processes to align with the new values.
Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

How to Change Culture

Change the reward system to encourage acceptance of a new set of values. Replace unwritten norms with formal rules and regulations that are tightly enforced. Shake up current subcultures through transfers, job rotation, and/or terminations. Work to get peer group consensus through utilization of employee participation and creation of a climate with a high level of trust.
Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Summary and Implications

Employees form an overall subjective perception of the organization based on such factors as degree of risk tolerance, team emphasis, and support of people.
This overall perception becomes, in effect, the organizations culture or personality. These favourable or unfavourable perceptions then affect employee performance and satisfaction, with the impact being greater for stronger cultures.

Just as peoples personalities tend to be stable over time, so too do strong cultures.
This makes strong cultures difficult for managers to change.
Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Summary and Implications

One of the more important managerial implications of organizational culture relates to selection decisions.
Hiring individuals whose values don't align with those of the organization is not good.

An employee's performance depends to a considerable degree on knowing what he should or should not do.

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Point-CounterPoint
Why Culture Doesnt Change
v Culture develops over many years, and becomes part of how the organization thinks and feels v Selection and promotion policies guarantee survival of culture v Top management chooses managers likely to maintain culture

When Culture Can Change

v There is a dramatic crisis v There is a turnover in leadership v The organization is young and small v There is a weak culture

Chapter 9, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition. Copyright 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.