Ch. 8

Attraction-Selection-Attrition

1. Employees are attracted to organizations where they will fit in. 2. ____ is when organizations look for people who are the right fit for the job. 3. ____ refers to the need to eliminate individuals that do not adequately fit within the organization.

Organizational Culture Profile

7 Distinct Values: Innovative, Aggressive, Outcome Orientated, Stable, People Oriented, Team Oriented, Detail Oriented

Formal Orientation

A ____ program indoctrinates new employees to the company culture, as well as introducing them to their new jobs and colleagues. An orientation program has a role in making new employees feel welcome in addition to imparting information that may help them be successful in their new jobs.

What is the difference between a strong vs weak culture?

A strong culture is one that is shared by organizational members—that is, a culture in which most employees in the organization show consensus regarding the values of the company. The stronger a company's culture, the more likely it is to affect the way employees think and behave. A weak culture allows for easier change and mergers. It could be a liability in that employees may not have company loyalty and may be more likely to leave the company

What is an organizational culture?

A system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs that show people what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior

Organizational Culture

A system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs that show people what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. It is related to the second facet of the P-O-L-C framework (Organizing). The culture of the organization is closely linked to organizational design. Three Levels: Assumptions, Values, Artifacts

Difference between ASA and Onboarding

ASA is the way organizations attract, hire, and eliminate individuals in their quest for organizational culture. Onboarding refers to the way new employees learn about the organizational culture

3 Levels of organizational culture

Assumptions, Values, Artifacts. Assumptions and values are unobservable. Artifacts are observable

Values

At the second level, ____ exist. ____ are shared principles, standards, and goals. Example "Developing work relationships", "Try to have fun at work"

Factors playing an important role in culture maintenance

Attraction-selection-attrition, onboarding, leadership, reward systems

Assumptions

Basic ____ lie below awareness. ____ are taken for granted, and reflect beliefs about human nature and reality. Example "Happy people are productive"

What 4 areas of reward structure set the tone for an organizational culture?

Behaviors, Results, Performance, Seniority

What are the advantages of an organizational culture?

Culture, or shared values within the organization, may be related to increased performance Organizational culture is an effective control mechanism dictating employee behavior

When can a counterculture exist in a company?

Defined as shared values and beliefs that are in direct opposition to the values of the broader organizational culture, countercultures are often shaped around a charismatic leader. For example, within a largely bureaucratic organization, an enclave of innovativeness and risk taking may emerge within a single department. A counterculture may be tolerated by the organization as long as it is bringing in results and contributing positively to the effectiveness of the organization.

Strong Culture

Difficult to change. Can be a liability during a merger as each separate culture must merge together

Important Onboarding methods

Formal orientation programs, mentoring, role modeling

Culture Creation

Founder values and preferences along with industry demands contribute and create early values, goals and assumptions

Factors playing an important role in culture creation

Founder values, industry demands

When does organizational culture generate a sustained competitive advantage?

If the culture is rare and hard to imitate

When can organizational culture be an asset or a liability?

It can be a liability when the culture doesn't allow change fast enough. It can also lead to difficult mergers. It can be an asset if it leads to competitive advantage, if it helps you control employee behavior, or if it increases performance

Where does an organizational culture fit into the POLC framework?

It fits into the organizing facet of the POLC framework and is closely linked to organizational design

What does an organizational culture influence?

It influences employee behavior and organizational performance

Visual Elements

Mission statements, rituals, rules and policies, physical layout, stories and language

Dimensions of culture

Represented by the Organizational Culture Profile

What are the visual elements of a culture?

Rituals, Mission statement, stories and language, physical layout, rules and policies

When can a subculture exist in a company?

Subcultures may arise from the personal characteristics of employees and managers, as well as the different conditions under which work is performed.

Industry Demands

The specific industry an organization operates in can have influence over the culture of the organization. Industry characteristics and demands act as a force to create similarities among organizational cultures

How do rewards influence culture?

The types of behaviors that are rewarded or ignored set the tone for the culture

Culture maintenance

The values goals and assumptions created lead to attraction-selection-attrition, new employee on boarding, leadership, and reward systems which all lead to organizational culture

Founder values

When entrepreneurs establish their own businesses, the way they want to do business determines the organization's rules, the structure set up in the company, and the people they hire to work with them.

Artifacts

____ are on the surface, or visible, tangible aspects of organizational culture. Examples: Executive 'open door' policy An office layout that includes open spaces and gathering areas Frequent company picnics

Mentoring

____ can be crucial to helping new employees adjust by teaching them the roles of their jobs and how the company really operates.

Role Modeling

____ is the process by which employees modify their own beliefs and behaviors to reflect those of the leader.

Onboarding

____ refers to the process through which new employees learn the attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behaviors required to function effectively within an organization.

Subculture

a set of values unique to a limited cross section of the organization.

Team-Oriented Culture

collaborative and emphasize cooperation among employees (e.g., Southwest Airlines)

Physical Layout

communicate important messages about a company's culture. Such as the building and layout of employee offices and other workspaces

Rules and Policies

determine acceptable and unacceptable behavior within an organization

Outcome-Oriented Culture

emphasize achievement, results, and action (e.g., Best Buy)

Detail-Oriented Culture

emphasize precision and paying attention to details (e.g., Four Seasons, Hotel industry)

Innovative culture

flexible, adaptable, and experiment with new ideas (e.g., Google)

Counterculture

is a culture with shared values and beliefs that are in direct opposition to the values of the broader organizational culture. ____ may be tolerated as long as they are adding to organizational effectiveness (e.g., innovativeness in a bureaucracy)

Stable Culture

predictable, rule-oriented, and bureaucratic (e.g., Kraft Foods)

Stories and Language

provide a way of identifying an organizations culture. Think of Apple starting inside of a garage

Mission Statement

provide tangible declarations of purpose, describing who the company is and what it does

Rituals

repetitive activities within an organization that have symbolic meaning

Aggressive Culture

value competitiveness and outperforming competitors (e.g., Microsoft)

People-Oriented Culture

value fairness, supportiveness, and respecting individual rights (e.g., Starbucks)