Organizational culture
The shared social knowledge within an organization regarding the rules, norms, and values that shape the attitudes and behaviours of its employees;
employees learn about most important aspects of culture through other employees;
transfer of knowledge migh
Culture components
observable artifacts, espoused values, basic underlying assumption
Observable artifacts
Aspects of an organization's culture that employees and outsiders can easily see or talk about;
Supply the signals that employees interpret to gauge how they should act during the workday;
primary means of transmitting an organization's culture to its wor
Symbols
The images an organization uses, which generally convey messages;
corporate logo, images on website, uniforms employees wear,
Physical structures
The organization's buildings and internal office designs;
is the workplace open,
does top management work in a separate section of the building,
is the setting devoid of anything unique or
can employees express their personalities,
physical layout of offi
Language
The jargon, slang, and slogans used within an organization
Stories
Anecdotes, accounts, legends, and myths passed down from cohort to cohort within an organization;
telling stories can be a major mechanism through which leaders and employees describe what the company values or finds important --> provides an accepted acc
Rituals
The daily or weekly planned routines that occur in an organization;
casual Fridays
Ceremonies
Formal events, generally performed in front of an audience of organizational members;
convocation;
Organizations frequently use public reward ceremonies to recognize individuals and teams who best exemplify what the culture values;
Ceremonies can also be
Espoused values
The beliefs, philosophies, and norms that a company explicitly states;
Can range from published documents (vision or mission statement) to verbal statements made to employees by executives and managers;
Difference between espoused values and enacted value
Basic underlying assumptions
The ingrained beliefs and philosophies of employees; taken-for-granted beliefs and philosophies that employees simply act on them rather than questioning the validity of their behaviour in a given situation;
represent the deepest and least observable part
General culture types
One popular general typology divides organizational culture along two dimension:
- solidarity (degree to which group members think and act alike)
- sociability ( how friendly employees are to one another);
fragmented (low on both dimensions),
mercenary (l
Fragmented culture
An organizational culture type in which employees are distant and disconnected from one another
Mercenary culture
An organizational culture type in which employees think alike but are not friendly to one another;
these types are likely to be very political, "what's in it for me" environments
Networked culture
An organizational culture type in which employees are friendly to one another, but everyone thinks differently and does his or her own thing;
many highly creative organizations;
Communal culture
An organizational culture type in which employees are friendly to another and all think alike;
Specific Culture Types
Many organizations attempt to manipulate observable artifacts and espoused values to create specific cultures that help them achieve their organizational goals;
Some of these specific cultures are more relevant in some industries than in others;
Customer
Customer service Culture
A specific culture type focused on service quality;
organizations that have successfully created a service culture have ben shown to change employee attitudes and behaviours toward customers --> changes in attitudes and behaviours manifest themselves in h
The Service Culture Process
Service-Oriented Leadership Behaviour --> Service Culture --> Service-oriented Employee Behaviours --> Customer Satisfaction --> Unit sales
Safety culture
A specific culture type focused on the safety of employees;
companies require that their employees work in environments where the risk of accidents or injuries is very high;
payoff --> increased level of safety-related awareness and behaviours and lower a
Diversity Culture
A specific culture type focused on fostering or taking advantage of a diverse group of employees;
Differences in people are seen as valuable and potential assets;
Strategy include hiring people who have the technical, behavioural, and diversity requiremen
Creativity Culture
A specific culture type focused on fostering a creative atmosphere; importance of new ideas and innovation in many industries;
Creativity cultures affect both the quantity and quality of creative ideas within an organization
Culture strength
The degree to which employees agree about how things should happen within the organization and behave accordingly;
Strong culture - culture that creates a sense of definite norms and appropriate behaviours for their employees --> Employees definitively ag
Pros and Cons of a Strong Culture
Advantages:
- Differentiates the organization from others;
- Allows employees to identify themselves with the organization;
- Facilitates desired behaviours among employees;
- Creates stability within the organization;
Disadvantages:
- Makes merging with
Subcultures
A culture created within a small subset of the organization's employees;
may be created because there is a strong leader in one area of the company that engenders different norms and values or because different divisions in a company act independently and
Counterculture
A subculture whose values do not match those of the organization;
can sometimes serve as a useful purpose by challenging the values of the overall organization or signifying the need for change;
OR can split the organization's culture right down the middl
Maintaining an Organizational Culture
Attraction-Selection-Attrition, and Socialization
ASA framework
A theory (attraction-selection-Attrition) that states that employees will be drawn to organizations with cultures that math their personality,
organizations will select employees that match,
and employees that leave or be forced out when they are nota goo
Socialization
The primary process by which employees learn the social knowledge that enables them to understand and adapt to the organization's culture;
Three relatively distinct stages:
- Anticipatory stage,
- Encounter stage,
- Understanding and Adaptation;
Process t
What is it that an employee needs to learn and adapt in order to be socialized into his or her new role within an organization?
Most of the important information can be grouped into six dimensions (each is an important area in the process of socialization and each has a unique contributions to job performance, organizational commitment, and person-organization fit):
- Goals and Va
Anticipatory stage
A stage of socialization that begins as soon as a potential employee develops an image of what it would be lie to work for a company;
Bulk of the information acquired during this stage occurs during the recruitment and selection processes that employees g
Encounter stage
A stage of socialization beginning the day an employee starts work, during which the employee compares the information as an outsider to the information learned as an insider;
To the degree that the information in the two stages is similar, employees will
Reality shock
A mismatch of information that occurs when an employee finds that aspects of working at a company are not what the employee expected it to be
Understanding and Adaptation
The final stage of socialization, during which newcomers come to learn the content areas of socialization and internalize the norms and expected behaviours of the organization;
important part of this stage is change on the part of the employee;
Some would
The Change Process
Unfreezing - occurs when the organization comes to the realization that the status quo is unacceptable --> a need for change has been recognized;
Change initiative - plan and implement the change initiative --> in the case of culture change, this may invo
Changes in leadership
There is perhaps no bigger driver of culture than the leaders and top executives of organizations;
Founders and originators of organizations set the tone and develop the culture of a new company, subsequent CEOs and presidents leave their mark on the cult
Mergers and Acquisitions
Merging two companies with two distinct cultures is a sure-fire way to change the culture in an organization;
problem = no way to know what culture will look like after the merger --> what new culture resembles is a function both of the strength of the tw
Why do some organization have different cultures than others
ASA processes, socialization, changes in leadership, mergers and acquisitions --> some ways in which the three components of organizational culture are influenced --> specific combinations of those culture components give rise to both general and specific
Person-Organization fit
The degree to which a person's values and personality match the culture of the organization;
Effects of Person-Organization Fit on Performance
Person-organization fit has a weak positive effect on Performance.
Employees who fit with their organization tend to have slightly higher levels of Task performance, with effects on Citizenship Behaviour slightly stronger.
Not much is known about the impa
Effects of Person-Organization Fit on Commitment
Person-organization fit has a strong positive effect on Commitment.
Employees who fit with their organization tend to have higher levels of Affective Commitment.
Not much is known about the impact of fit on Continuance or Normative Commitment;
Employees j
Tactics Organizations Use to Socialize New Employees
Tactic Designed to Encourage Adaptation to the Organization's Culture:
- Orient new employees along with a group of other new employees;
- Put newcomers through orientation apart from current organizational members;
- Provide hurdles that are required to
Three other major ways in which organizations routinely and effectively help speed up the socialization process of newcomers
realistic job previews, Orientation programs, and Mentoring
Realistic job previews
The process of ensuring that a prospective employee understands both the positive and the negative aspects of the job;
one of the most inexpensive and effective ways of reducing early turnover among new employees;
occur during the anticipatory stage of so
Newcomer Orientation
A common form of training during which new hires learn more about the organization;
an effective way to start the socialization process --> effective transmitters of socialization content --> employees who complete orientation have higher levels of satisf
Mentoring
The process by which a junior-level employee develops a deep and long-lasting relationship with a more senior-level employee within the organization;
Mentor can provide social knowledge, resources, and psychological support to prot�g� both at the beginnin