ch. 14-16
An organization's culture fulfils four important functions:
Establish organizational identity encourage collective commitment ensure social systems stability act as sense making device
Seven types of organizational structures:
Functional structure= A manager is responsible for the performance of each of these functions, and employees tend to identify strongly with their particular function, such as sales or engineering. Some organizations have concluded that using a functional structure divides people too much, ultimately creating silos within the organization. This detracts from the extent to which employees collaborate and share best practices across functions. Divisional structure= This divisional structure is sometimes called a product structure or profit center approach. As with functional structures, some organizations have concluded that using a divisional structure can also create silos within the organization. Matrix structure= - Organizations use matrix structures when they need stronger horizontal alignment or cooperation in order to meet their goals. Functional and divisional chains of command form a credit with two command structures, one shown vertically by function and the other shown horizontally by product line, brand, customer group, or geographic region. - A matrix structure can also provide a reasonable counter balance among important stakeholders, but applying it to an organization is not easy. Matrix organizations can be complex and confusing without an extra layer of collaboration and integration to effectively implement the structure. Matrix structures frequently failed because management fails to create complementary and reinforcing structures to the organizations IT systems, human resource procedures such as performance appraisals, rewards, and selection criteria, planning and budgeting processes, organizational culture, internal processes, and so on. Organization structures do not fail; Management's fail at implementation period this type of structure is increasingly being used by companies expanding into international markets. Horizontal structure= The horizontal approach to organizational design tends to focus on work processes. A process consists of every task and responsibility needed to me a customer need, such as developing a new product or filling a customer order. Completing a process requires input from people in different functions, typically organized into a cross functional team. Hollow structure= A hollow structure is useful when an organization is faced with strong price competition and there are enough companies to perform the required outsourced processes. The growing number of hollow structures has increased demand for freelance workers. This has created an outline industry that helps companies hire people from micro tasks or short term assignments. Modular structure= A module organization, like a hollow organization, uses outsourcing. But instead of outsourcing processes, that outsources production of parts of a product, such as components of a jet or subroutines of a software program. The module organization also is responsible for ensuring that the parts meet quality requirements, that they arrive in a timely fashion, and that the organization is capable of efficiently combining the parts into the final hole. The design is useful when a company can identify a product module and treat design interfaces that allow it to assemble parts into a working order. Virtual structure= The concept of virtual organizations originated in the 1990s as an outgrowth of the benefits of information technology. The primary benefits of virtual structures are the ability to tap into a wider talent pool, to get things done more quickly, and to reduce costs because there is less need for physical facilities and travel budgets. Today, virtual structures are classified into two types: - internal virtual structures. Internal virtual structures coordinate the work of geographically dispersed employees working for one organization. This structure primarily relies on the information have technology, but it also requires managers to consider three key issues: (do I have the right people? Not everyone is suited to work virtually, so managers must consider the personal characteristics, needs, and values of their people who might work virtually. Research about effective ritual leaders revealed that constant feedback, clear communications, reliability, and trust were key competencies required to be a successful manager of virtual teams), (How often should people get together? There is no clear answer to this question. Our recommendation is to use the contingency approach. More frequent contact is needed at the start of a project, and we suggest holding regular miles to meetings online), and (What type of technology should be used to coordinate activities? Remote workers can stay connected with a host of technologies. The choice depends on their skills and the resources at hand) - Network virtual structures. Network virtual structures established a collaborated network of independent firms or individuals to create a virtual entity. The networked individuals or companies joined forces because each possesses core competencies needed for a project or product. The structure is used in a movie or entertainment industry. Once again, for 80 information technologies coordinates the efforts of different members within the network.
Experts recommend reflecting on the experience, then acting. For instance:
Talk about it. Fail productively. Choose your audience.
Any positive OB tools can help you avoid and reduce stress such as fostering positive emotions using mindfulness, flourishing, and developing a positive organizational climate. In addition, the following five step process of cognitive restructuring can help you to stop thinking pessimistically about an event or problem. It's called the ABCDEs
A- name the event or problem B- list your beliefs about the event or problem C- identify the consequences of your beliefs D- formulate a counterargument to your initial thoughts and beliefs. Pessimistic thoughts are generally overreactions, so the first step is to correct inaccurate or distorted thoughts. E- describe how energized and empowered you feel at the moment.
Can you spell high level way to organize and think about changes in terms of its degree of complexity, cost, and uncertainty, and classify it as either adaptive, innovative, or radically innovative.
Adaptive changes are the least complex, costly, and uncertain period allowing the market research group to operate on flex time after allowing the sales group to do so is an example of adopting the scheduling practices in one group based on those and another period adaptive changes are not particularly threatening to employees because they are at least somewhat familiar. Innovative change is midway on the continuum of complexity, cost, and uncertainty. If competitors in your industry utilizes shared office space, but your company has not, then doing so qualifies as innovative change. Innovative changes bring more uncertainty and cause more concern than adaptive changes. Radically innovative change is at the high end of the continuum of complexity, cost, and uncertainty. The introduction of the sharing economy has been a radical change for many industries such as transportation.
Long-term implications
Decisions about organizational design generally I made by senior leaders and consultants in medium and large firms. We have participated in this process and it can get quite complicated. Assuming you want to move up the managerial hierarchy, the day will come when you have to provide input on organizational designs can help your employer meets its strategic goals.
Internal forces for change come from both human resource problems and managerial behavior and decisions.
Human resource challenges stem from employee perceptions regarding the way they are treated at work and the match between individual and organization needs and desires. Dissatisfaction is a symptom of unmet needs for mistreatment and most often requires attention from company leadership and may signal a need for change period similarly, unusual levels of absenteeism, work slowdowns, strikes, and turnover can be powerful internal forces for change. To help combat these challenges, leaders and managers have changed should encourage employee participation early and throughout the change process. Excessive interpersonal conflict between managers and their subordinates or the board of directors can be a sign that changes needed, as can misconduct. 2018 alarms on numerous CEOs ousted or resign due to alleged or actual misconduct.
Too much work and a lack of sleep contribute to both. Americans now work in average of 48 hours per week compared to only 38 in 1976. Research estimates that 43% of workers are sleep deprived don't get the recommended 7 to 9 hours per night and it is worse for those who work nights or long and or irregular shifts. The associated problems are numerous and not limited to your performance and health such as depression, obesity, and cardiovascular disease but also affect your economic well being and safety.
Lost productivity of $1,200 to $3,100 per employee per year. Multiply this times the approximately 50% of your company's employees and the numbers become very large - 1,000 employees X $3,100 per employee= $3,100,000 in lost productivity in one company. Three times more likely to have an auto accident, and 5,000 people died due to drowsy driving in 2014.
Categories and eras of organizational design: Horizontal design
Organizations defined by a horizontal approach work hard to flatten hierarchy and organize people around specific segments of the workflow. A horizontal structure, sometimes called a team or process structure, relies on a horizontal workflow and attempts to dissolve departmental boundaries and reporting relationships as much as possible. - Historical forces: increased complexity and increasingly rapid development cycles for new products. 1980s. - Rationale: the traditional approach of dividing at work according to functions, products, and customers frustrates managers who want to focus on bringing people together, without internal boundaries keeping them apart. If you want people to share knowledge, collaborate, and continually improve the way things are done, a horizontal design is a good option.
Categories and eras of organizational design: Open design
Organizations defined by an open approach tend to have hollow, module, or virtual structures. Each of these structures relies on leveraging technology and structural flexibility to maximize potential values for outsourcing and external collaboration. - Historical forces: rapid technological improvements including the Internet and mobile phones, and the rise of emerging economies such as China and India, with pools of skilled workers willing to work for less than those in developed economies period since mid 1990s. - Rationale: open designs help organizations respond more rapidly to customer and market changes. They also potentially reduce costs and increased innovation. The rationale of open systems lead Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, to coin the term a boundaryless organization. This type of structure is fluid and flexible and relies on telecommuting between geographically dispersed people using various technological tools such as texting, email, social media, and other virtual methods of communication. It is most appropriate for businesses in fast changing industries or environments.
Finally, a team of experts suggested that organizations can foster innovation by focusing on four agility techniques:
Place more emphasis on people than on processes and tools. Innovation initiatives or projects should be built around motivated individuals who are empowered to get the job done and have the resources to do it. Be responsive to change rather than following a detailed plan. It helps to create project plans, but do not spend a large amount of time trying to identify each and every task to be completed. Tasks frequently change as situations evolve. Teams thus need the freedom to diverge from project plans if this situation or customer requires it. Develop and test prototypes rather than focusing on documentation. People learn more and are happier when they observe their ideas being applied in real market conditions. Team should experiment with products and services on a small scale to see whether customers like them. If they do, keep the new ideas; Otherwise, it's back to the drawing board. Collaborate with customers rather than adhering to rigid contracts. Customers often do not know what they want. Adhering to fixed contracts and deliverables rather than adjusting to customer preferences can reduce innovation when employees get too focused on budgets and specifications. Constant collaboration with customers will keep work focused on what they ultimately value.
For us, the question is whether the move to open office designs is leading to positive individual, group, and organizational outcomes. Here are some findings from OB research:
Privacy, defined as the ability to control incoming stimulation and interpersonal contact and to limit outgoing information, is reduced in an open-plan office. Few office cubicle dividers are tall enough to block the noise and distractions that limit people's ability to focus at work period the resulting overstimulation is stressful for many people. Spatially dense work environments in which employees are crowded, have been found to promote cooperative behavior and productivity, but they can also be detrimental to individual, group, and organizational performance. Attitudes about personal space or culturally bound around the world. Germans allocate an average of 320 square feet per employee. Americans an average of 190. For workers in India and China, the figures are 70 and 50 square feet respectively. Both Indian and Chinese workers rated their work environments highly in terms of their ability to concentrate and work without disruption, but this is not true in the United states.
Ways to reduce stress:
Provide and encourage employees to utilize stress management and Wellness resources such as meditation and yoga. Take regular breaks, we all need them, and volumes of research show productivity increases. Exercise, socialize, do hobbies, and play. Get employees to regularly do other things.
How to overcome resistance to change:
Respond to employee characteristics= employees are more likely to resist change when they perceive its personal costs outweigh the benefits. If this is the case, managers are advised to: - Provide employees with as much information as possible about the change. - Inform employees about the reasons for the change. - Conduct meetings to address employees questions about the change. - Provide employees the opportunity to discuss how the proposed change might affect them. The four recommendations described will also improve the age recipient relationship by enhancing the love with trust between the parties.
Four psychological functions were:
Role modeling Acceptance and confirmation Counseling Friendship
Five career functions that enhanced career development work were:
Sponsorship Exposure and visibility Coaching Protection Challenging assignments
What can you and your employer do?
Staffing. Maintain adequate staffing to cover the workload. This is especially necessary for companies that have downsized, because they are likely to simply spread the same amount of work across the smaller number of employees scheduling. Consider overtime and commuting time when scheduling workers, to help ensure they have enough time between shifts to obtain sufficient rest and sleep period be wary of disrupting people's circadian rhythms with crazy shift work schedules which is nice, days, and back again Environment. Light, sound, temperature, and other workplace elements can have subtle yet meaningful effects on worker fatigue. For too long these elements were taken for granted, but many managers and employers have found employees greatly appreciate the ability to make their spaces their own education period educate workers to better manage their sleep and the factors that can affect it. Governing sleep disorder screening under employer provided insurance may also help, since many people have underlying clinical and health problems that reduce the quantity and quality of sleep.
There is no one best form of structure for an organization. The choice of structure is instead based on considering a host of contingency factors and internal organizational characteristics. The demands of the situation consists of five contingency factors:
Strategy and goals= An organization strategy is the cornerstone of his decision about the most appropriate design. Because setting a corporate strategy requires an organization to decide how it will compete given both internal and external considerations, organizational design must be developed in tandem with establishing strategy. In general, more complex organizational designs are needed as companies pursue strategies to add products, services, markets, or geographic expansion. Market uncertainty= The level of market uncertainty the organization faces helps determine the level of formalization it needs. Organisations such as Intel and Facebook that operate in dynamic markets need less formalized structures. Horizontal or open structures are more appropriate in this case because they allow quicker responses to marketplace threats and opportunities. Organizations may need to change their structure due to marketplace changes such as new competitors, alternate products, or customer preferences. Decision-making processes= - Decision-making processes span a continuum from centralized to decentralized. A mechanistic organization generally would have one of the traditional organizational designs described in the preceding section and a hierarchal culture. This orderliness of this structure is expected to produce reliability and consistency and internal processes, resulting in higher efficiency, quality, and timeliness. Organic organizations are more likely to use decentralized decision-making and horizontal or open designs. - Burns and Stalker discovered that one type was not superior to the other period each type had its appropriate place, depending on the environment. When the environment was relatively stable and certain, he successful organizations tended to be mechanistic. When the environment was unstable and uncertain, the successful ones tended to be organic. Technology= Technology consists of the information technology, equipment, tools, and processes needed to transform inputs to outputs. It allows products and services to be created and distributed and lets companies use big data in making decisions. Experts suggest that the use of big data will change organizational structures as organizations pursue the opportunities presented. This implies that the technology a company uses is a key consideration in deciding the best way to organize and pursue a strategic goals. Size= Size is measured by the number of employees, volume of sales, amount of assets, and geographical locations. Larger size generally requires more complex organizational designs. Internal alignment= - The choice of best organizational form requires more than address considering the five contingency factors. Organisations perform more effectively when various internal organizational level characteristics are aligned and mutually reinforcing. For example, if a company wants to grow through innovative product offerings , a strategy, then it probably needs a less hierarchal structure coupled with an adhocracy and market culture. It also would help to have rewards tide to innovation and to employ people with high amounts of human and social capital. - In contrast, if a company wants to reduce costs by improving internal processes, strategy, it would benefit from a more horizontal structure coupled with a hierarchal and clan culture. This combination would be enhanced if rewards were linked to cost reduction or efficiency, and if employees were knowledgeable about internal process control period again, you can see that alignment is needed across internal characteristics for organizations to achieve higher performance. Although academics and consultants do not completely agree on the list of internal characteristics that need to be aligned, it is safe to recommend the following for inclusion: Strategy, Structure, Organizational culture, Internal processes, Human resource practices, policies, and procedures, and Employees' human and social capital
Short-term implications
Structure affects your behavior and performance. This structure muscle stops instructors from walking into the audience and interacting with students is in a talk show. The point is that structure effects behavior. The value of understanding the various types of organization design is that you can work around their strengths and limitations. You may want to start your own company. You need to know about various organizational designs if you ever start your own company. Person-organization (P-O) fit matters. P-O fit as the extent to which your personality and values match the climate and culture in an organization. You also learned that P-O fit is related to a host of important outcomes such as job satisfaction, engagement, commitment, performance, and turnover. You will be happier, healthier, and more productive when you fit. You would be much happier with an organic type of structure. Knowledge about organization design can help you find a work environment that fits.
Most models of organizational change originated from the landmark work of social psychologist Kurt Lewin. He developed a three stage model of planned change that explained how to initiate, managed, and stabilizer change process. The three stages are:
Unfreezing= the focus of this stage is creating motivation to change period the most common but not necessarily the most effective way of communicating a convincing reason to change is to demonstrate current practices or less than ideal. Data related to employee or customer satisfaction, or showing market share gains made by competitors, is often used. The driverless car example above will require unfreezing for, among others, consumers. Changing= - Because change calls for learning and doing things differently, this stage entails providing employees with new information, new behavioral models, new processes or procedures, new equipment, new technology, or new ways of getting the job done. - How does management know what to change? There is no simple answer to this question. Organizational change can be aimed at improvement or growth, or it can focus on solving a problem such as poor customer service or low productivity. Change also can be targeted at different levels in an organization. The point to keep in mind is that change should be targeted at some type of desired end result. Freezing= The goal of refreezing is to support and reinforce the change. Manager support change by helping employees integrate the new behavior or attitude into their accustomed way of doing things. They can first give employees a chance to exhibit the new behaviors or attitudes. What's this happens, positive reinforcement can encourage the desire to change period more specifically, continuous reinforcement with extrinsic rewards such as recognition, feedback, and bonuses, is useful early in the change process. This helps establish clear links between the desired new behaviors and they reinforcing reward or recognition. And don't forget role modeling. Walking the talk of change is arguably the most powerful way to get others to follow.
Mentoring leads to more positive outcomes for the protégé or protogee when several conditions are present, some of which the protégé cannot control:
both mentor and protégé or protogee possess emotional intelligence the mentoring relationship is formal rather than informal the mentor is skilled at coaching, is a good role model, and possesses social capital the protégé or protogee possesses high levels of human and social capital
While the complexity of culture makes agreement on a set of types difficult to reach, academics have proposed and scientifically tested three different frameworks. The competing values framework is the most widely used. It also was named one of the 40 most important frameworks in the study of organizations and has been shown to be a valid approach for classifying organizational culture. It identifies four fundamental types of organizational culture:
clan - A company with a clan culture resembles a family type organization that achieves effectiveness by encouraging collaboration, trust, and support among employees. This type of culture is very employee focused and a strives to instill cohesion through consensus and job satisfaction, and commitment through employee involvement and development. Clan organizations devote considerable resources to hiring and developing their employees, and they view customers as partners. Collaborating is this culture strategy. adhocracy - The term adhocracy reflects an organization with less structure and bureaucracy. It also reflects a management team focused on responding to problems rather than avoiding them. Creation of new products and services is their strategy, which they accomplish by being adaptable, creative, and fast to respond to changes in the marketplace. Adhocracy cultures do not rely on the centralized power and authority relationships that are part of market and hierarchal cultures. They encourage and empower employees to take risks, think outside the box, and experiment with new ways of getting things done. An article in the Wall Street Journal noted that adhocracy cultures are decreasing in the United states as many companies are becoming risk averse. The downside of this trend is that a certain amount of reasonable risk taking is necessary to create new businesses, products, and ultimately jobs. On the positive side however, risk taking is still occurring in industries such as technology and energy, and in coastal cities such as San Francisco and Boston and college towns like Boulder, Colorado, and Austin, Texas. hierarchy - Control is the strategy within a hierarchy culture. This orientation leads to the development of reliable internal processes, the extensive use of measurement, and the implementation of a variety of control mechanisms. Effectiveness is likely to be measured in terms of efficiency, timeliness, quality, safety, and reliability in producing and delivering products and services. market - Companies with a market culture have competition as their strategic thrust. They have a strong desire to deliver results and accomplish goals, and because they are focused on the external environment, customers and profits take precedence over employee development and satisfaction. Managers major goal is to improve productivity, profits, and customer satisfaction.
Imported in the conscious coordination aspect of this definition are four common denominators of all organizations:
coordination of effort is achieved through formulation and enforcement of policies, rules, and regulations aligned goals start with the development have a companywide strategic plan. These strategic goals are then cascaded down through the organization so employees are aligned in their pursuit of common goals division of Labor occurs when the common goals are pursued by individuals performing separate but related tasks hierarchy of authority, also called the chain of command, is it control mechanism dedicated to making sure the right people do the right things at the right time. Historically, managers have maintained the integrity of the hierarchy of authority by adhering to the unity of command principle. Otherwise, the argument goes, any efficiency would prevail because of conflicting orders and lack of personal accountability
Stress as psychological, attitudinal, behavioral, cognitive, and physical health outcomes. Besides your own personal experiences, a large body of research supports the negative effects of perceived stress on many aspects of our lives. Workplace stress is associated with undesirable effects on many outcomes in the organizing framework for understanding and applying OB:
decreases in job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, positive emotions, and performance. Increases in emotional exhaustion, burnout, absenteeism, and turnover.
External forces can either present new opportunities for the organization to realize and grow, or they can cause its ultimate demise. The advent of smartphones created an opportunity that Apple seized and converted into a market dominating platform with the iPhone. Four key external forces for change are:
demographic characteristics - Asians are now the fastest growing immigrant group in the United states, surpassing Latin Americans including those from Mexico. Millennials or those born between 1981 and 1996 should pass baby boomers as the largest generation in the US population by 2019, and they are already the largest generation in the workforce with 35% of the total. Another interesting statistic, 20% of U.S. citizens live in multi generational households, a trend that exists across racial groups and is nearly as high as it was in 1950. Demographic factors like these are motivating organizations to change benefits and aspects of the work environment in order to attract, motivate, and retain diverse employees. This has caused organizations to change many aspects of their business, from the products and services they offer, how they are delivered, to how they attract, higher, and retain employees. - Persistently high unemployment levels among young people around the world are creating a strong force for change felt by governments and organizations alike. Many believe much of the unrest in the Middle East and Europe is filled by a younger population that cannot find meaningful employment opportunities. technological advancements - Technology continues to be a common means for improving productivity, competitiveness, and customer service. The effect of social media, for instance, cannot be overstated as it has changed every dimension of our lives. Virtual reality or VR has already begun to revolutionize medicine, for example, by enabling physicians to see a 3D images of tumors and organs without cutting the patient open. The scalability of such applications is impactful too, hence the growing global population will require far more clinicians to be trained, and more and sometimes remote places in VR may be part of the answer. - Drones are doing much more than delivering packages and taking aerial videos of your favorite hike or beach. They are also delivering blood and other emergency supplies. - Each of these may present job and career opportunities for you. OB will certainly play a central role in the level of success individuals and organizations will have with each trend. Put another way, it is people who design and use such technological tools, interpret the data, formulate a plan, and then apply it effectively. shareholder, customer, and market changes= Increased shareholder activism is one of the most significant forces for change public companies have faced in the past several years period shareholders have pressed organizations to be more efficient, respond to legal lapses, address privacy issues and hacks, and justify executive compensation packages. social, political, and regulatory= Buber continues to battle regulators, governments, unions, and others regarding business practices, infringement on taxi services and licensees, an employee versus contractor status of its drivers. These challenges are routinely in the news, including its especially consequential conflict with the London Transit Authority. Cross cultural and cross border differences can also drive change. Tech companies often faced tougher regulations and big fines in Europe, such as the billions of dollars European Union regulators have levied against Google, and the Indian government's potentially severe restrictions on what Amazon and Walmart cancel on their sites in the country.
Recipient characteristics include perceptions and a variety of individual differences that help explain actions such as engaging and new behaviors, and in actions such as failing to engage in new behaviors. 6 the most common recipient characteristics are:
dispositional resistance to change period individuals with high dispositional resistance to change a stable personality trait, are less likely to voluntarily initiate changes and more likely to form negative attitudes towards the changes they encounter surprise and fear of the unknown. When innovative or radically different changes are introduced without warning, affected employees often become fearful of the implications. The same is true when managers announced new goals without explaining specifically how the goals will be achieved. Unrealistic or unclear goals commonly contribute to resistance fear of failure. Many changes caused employees to doubt their capabilities. Self-doubt erodes self confidence and performance, and it also impedes personal growth and development loss of status and or job security. Changes that threaten to alter power bases or eliminate jobs can trigger strong resistance. Empowerment programs, when done well, will often shift responsibilities from managers to others, which can result in some feeling threatened and resisting. Restructurings can include downsizing, and employees rarely if ever support changes costing their jobs peer pressure. Someone who is not directly affected by a change may actively resisted to protect the interests of friends and coworkers past success. Success can breed complacency. It also can foster a stubbornness to change because people come to believe what has worked in the past will work in the future
The process of creating a balanced scorecard requires managers to establish goals and measures for all four perspectives:
financial perspective: how do we look to shareholders? Corporate financial strategies and goals generally fall into two buckets: revenue growth and productivity growth period revenue growth goals might focus on increasing revenue from new and existing customers. Productivity metrics such as revenue per employee or total output produced divided by number of employees are common organization level goals. We can also measure productivity in terms of costs. Customer perspective: how do customers see us? Many companies view customers as one of their most important constituents. The balanced scorecard translates this belief into measures such as market share, customer acquisition, customer retention, customer satisfaction and loyalty, product or service quality, response time which is the time between order and delivery, and percentage of bids one. The general idea behind the customer perspective is that companies will acquire and retain more customers, thereby growing market share, when they provide high quality products and services people want, and in a timely manner. Internal business process perspective: what must we Excel at? The internal business perspective focuses on what the organization must Excel at to effectively meet its financial objectives and customers expectations. A team of researchers has identified four critical high level internal processes that managers are encouraged to measure and manage: innovation, customer service and satisfaction, operational excellence, which includes safety and quality, and good corporate citizenship these processes influence productivity, efficiency, quality, safety, and a host of other internal metrics. Companies tend to adopt continuous improvement programs and pursuit of upgrades to their internal processes. Learning and growth perspective: can we continue to an create value? The learning and growth perspective focuses on providing employees with the capabilities, resources, and work environment they need to achieve customer, internal business processes, and financial goals. It's the foundation of all other goals than a scorecard. Typical metrics in this perspective and employee satisfaction or engagement, employee retention, employee productivity, training budget for employee, technology utilization, and organizational climate and culture. Many are tracked with employee surveys to gauge attitudes and opinions.
The model begins with for potential types of stressors. The four types are:
individual level. Job demands are the most common individual level stressors, but work overload, unclear or conflicting expectations, everyday hassles, perceived lack of control over events occurring in the work environment, add job characteristics can also be problematic. One of the heaviest stressors is job loss, which negatively affects every aspect of people's lives, financial, professional, health, and interpersonal relationships. If you lack opportunities for advancement, fear being laid off, or work at a job that is not in your desired career path, you two are likely to be stressed. Group level. As noted above, bad managers create stress for employees by exhibiting inconsistent behaviors, failing to provide support, showing lack of concern, giving inadequate direction, creating a high productivity environment, and focusing on negatives while ignoring good performance. Sexual harassment experiences and bullying represent other group level stressors. And let's not forget annoying coworkers, one of the most common and problematic sources of group level stress. Organizational level. Organizational culture can also be a stressor. For instance, a high pressure environment that feels employee fear about performing up to standard can increase the stress response. Jobs on Wall Street have long been known for such pressure and the long hours expected from employees generate their own version of stress inducing organizational cultures and many tech companies. Extra-organizational. Extra organizational stressors originate outside the organization. For instance, conflicts associated with balancing school with career or family life or stressful period social economic status, a combination of relative income, education, and occupation is another extra organizational stressor. Stress is higher for people with lower socioeconomic status.
You are more likely to be successful if you follow the six strategies:
inspire. Do the best you can to describe a vivid and compelling vision of what the changed organization will look like and equally important, what will you see those who report to you playing and the value they can provide. Recognize progress, not just outcomes. Many if not most organizational changes occur over long periods of time, which means changes will include multiple steps along the way. Observe and recognize people for their efforts, and don't wait for ultimate performance outcomes. This is similar to Kotter's second advice from earlier to create an celebrate small wins. Don't simply wait for performance metrics at the end of the quarter, the year, or until the measure is close and the cultures are systems integrated. Expect mistakes. Expect them, tell your people you expect them, and do not panic when they happen. Treat them as learning opportunities, which means you need to analyze and identify what to do and what not to do in the future. Model, measure, and reward collaboration. A common sign of resistance is a lack of collaboration, and one way to overcome this is to apply what you learned to make collaboration part of the performance expectations. Communicate, model, measure, and reward collaboration. Positivity. We tend to pay attention to negative events, experiences, and emotions more than positive ones, and this is especially common in the context of organizational change period it therefore can be an excellent and productive opportunity to exercise mindfulness, and for you and employees to identify and reflect on the positive elements of the change. Goals and time period setting smart goals and being sure to include a time element will help focus people's efforts and actually change period it is better to set a deadline and need to change it, rather than not setting one at all.
Four truths about culture change:
leaders are the architects and developers of organizational culture. This suggests that culture is not determined by fate. It is formed and shaped by the ongoing behavior of everyone who works at a company changing culture starts with targeting one of the three levels of organizational culture, observable artifacts, espoused values, for basic underlying assumptions. The fastest way to start a culture change project is through the use of observable artifacts. Culture will not change in a significant way unless managers are able to change basic underlying assumptions. It takes time to alter this deep seated component of culture the current culture probably closely aligns with the organization's vision and strategic plan. Remember the quote culture eats strategy for breakfast whenever you pursue culture change period an organization's culture must be consistent with its vision and strategic goals in structured approach works best when implementing culture change. Our experiences consultants tell us that culture change frequently meets with resistance. People become accustomed to the culture they know and prefer to leave things as they are
Research suggests for practical guidelines for managers:
manager should avoid a haphazard, sink or swim approach to organizational socialization, because formalized and proactive socialization tactics positively affect new hires more organizations today use socialization tactics to reinforce a culture that promotes ethical behavior. Managers should consider how they might best set expectations for ethical behavior during all three phases the socialization process support for stage models is mixed. Although there are different stages of socialization, they are not identical in order, length, or content for all people or jobs. Managers should use a contingency approach to organizational socialization. In other words, keep in mind that different techniques are appropriate for different people at different times research finds that expatriates, workers who take an assignment in a foreign country, experienced different socialization activities than other newcomers. Intern, these different experiences affected their long term success and job satisfaction
Two types of appraisals influence whether you experience a particular stressor as stress, and the degree to which it is stressful:
negative primary appraisals are the most relevant to our current discussion because they imply we perceive a situation or stressful as harmful, threatening, or challenging. During secondary appraisals we consider which coping strategies are available and most likely to help resolve this stressful situation
Organizational culture operates on 3 levels:
observable artifacts - at the most visible level, culture consists of observable artifacts. They include: acronyms, manner of dress, Awards, myths and stories told about the organization, published lists of values, observable rituals and ceremonies, special parking spaces, and pictures and images handing on walls - at Facebook, the word hack is pasted all around offices. It symbolizes the hacker way of pursuing continuous improvement and challenging the status quo. Zappos and its parent company Amazon have a different take on artifacts: offering a quit bonus to employees who no longer want to work for the online giant. espoused values - They are generally established by the founder of a new or small company and by the top management team in a larger organization. Most companies have a short list. Because these values are explicitly communicated to employees, managers hope they will directly influence employee behavior. But people do not always automatically walk the talk. - Enacted values are values employees described to an Organization based on their observations of what occurs on a daily basis. - A survey from the ethics Resource Center showed that employees were more likely to behave ethically when management set a good behavioral example and kept its promises and commitments. This finding was underscored by another 129 mergers. Employees were more productive and post-merger performance was higher when employees believed that behavior was consistent with the newly formed firm's espoused values. basic underlying assumptions - Underlying assumptions are employees deep seated beliefs about their company and are the core of organizational culture. As you might expect, they are highly resistant to change. - Achieving sustainability is sometimes called being green and has become a priority for many companies in recent years. In addition to helping reduce a company's global footprint, sustainability can also provide organizations with a competitive advantage when it comes to overall business strategies and financial success.
Spans of Control= Spans of control can range from narrow to wide. Narrow spans of control attentive create taller or more hierarchical organizations. In contrast, a wide span of control leads to a flat organization. Although there is no consensus regarding the optimal span of control, managers should consider four factors when establishing spans of control:
organizational size. Larger organizations tend to have narrower spans of control and more organizational layers, whereas smaller ones have a wider span of control period costs tend to be higher in organizations with narrow spans due to the increased expense of having more managers. Communication also tends to be slower in narrow spans because information must travel throughout multiple organizational layers skill level. Complex tasks require more managerial input, thereby suggesting a narrow span of control. Conversely, routine tasks do not require much supervision, leading to the use of a wider span of control organizational culture. Narrow spans of control are more likely in companies with a hierarchal culture because they focus on internal integration and stability and control period in contrast, wider spans of control are more likely to be found in companies that desire flexibility and discretion, culture is characterized as clan or adhocracy. Wider spans also compliment cultures that desire greater worker autonomy and participation managerial responsibilities. The most senior level executives tend to have narrower spans of control than middle managers because their responsibilities are broader in scope and more complex. It is important to consider the breadth of a person's responsibilities when deciding his or her span of control.
This definition of organizational culture highlights for important characteristics of organizational culture:
shared concept. Organizational culture consists of beliefs and values shared among a group of people learned overtime. Culture is passed to new employees through the processes of socialization and mentoring influences behavior at work period its influence on behavior is the reason culture eats strategy for breakfast affects outcomes at multiple levels. Culture affects outcomes at the individual, group or team, and organizational levels
Five elements drive organizational culture:
the founders values the industry and business environment the national culture the organization's vision and strategies the behavior of leaders
Anybody's first year in a complex organization can be confusing. There is a constant swirl of new faces, strange jargon, conflicting expectations, and apparently unrelated events. Many organizations treat new members in a rather haphazard, sink or swim manner. Organizational behavior researcher Daniel Feldman has proposed A3 phase model of organizational socialization that promotes deeper understanding of this important process:
anticipatory socialization - During this phase people acquire information about different careers, occupations, professions, and organizations that can come from many sources. An organization's current employees are a powerful source of information. So are the Internet, social media, internships, and job fairs. - Unrealistic expectations about the nature of the work, pay, and promotions are often formulated during phase one. Because employees with unrealistic expectations are more likely to quit their jobs in the future, organizations should offer realistic job preview's. - Research revealed that realistic job previews where related to higher performance and lower attrition from the recruitment process. RJP's also lowered job applicants initial expectations and a lead to lower turnover among those who were hired. encounter - The next phase begins when the unemployment contract has been signed. During this phase it is time for reconciling unmet expectations and making sense of a new work environment. Many companies use a combination of orientation and training programs to socialize employees during the encounter phase. Onboarding is one such technique. One corporate survey revealed that nearly 66% of organizations say onboarding practices have been underutilized and only 40% say onboarding is effective at retaining new hires. - There is no set way to onboard a new employee. change and acquisition - Mastery will occur only when employees have a clear understanding about their roles and are effectively integrated within the work unit. Being successful in phase three also requires employees to have a clear understanding of the use of social media. It is easy for you to create problems for yourself by not being aware of expectations regarding surfing, texting during meetings, and use of company equipment for personal messages. Experts suggest setting ground rules on the first day of employment, coaching employees on norms, and discussing how guidelines have changed.
Two OB scholars describe organizational subcultures as consisting of distinct clusters of ideologies, cultural forms such as clan, adhocracy, markets, an hierarchy, and other practices that identify groups of people in an organization exhibit. They tend to vary from a company's overall culture, either intensifying its understandings and practices or diverging from them. Subcultures tend to form along the following lines, often leading to noticeably different cultures:
functional or occupational groups geographical areas products, markets, or technology divisions or Department levels of management such as senior management versus supervisors work role such as firefighter versus salesperson
Culture is positively associated with a variety of outcomes. Most relationships or of moderate strength, meaning they are important to today's managers. Six conclusions are:
organizational culture is related to organizational effectiveness. This means an organization's culture can be a source of competitive advantage employees have more positive work attitudes when working in organizations with clan cultures. Employees clearly prefer to work in organizations that value flexibility over stability and control, and those that are more concerned with satisfying employees needs than with customer or shareholder desires clan and market cultures are more likely to deliver higher customer satisfaction and a market share. We suspect this result holds because the positive employee attitudes associated with clan culture motivate employees to provide better customer service operational outcomes, quality, and innovation are more strongly related to clan, adhocracy and market cultures than to hierarchal ones In organizations financial performance such as profit and revenue growth, is not strongly related to organizational culture. Only market and hierarchy cultures were associated with financial outcomes. Managers should not expect to immediately increase financial performance when they try to change their organization's culture. This underscores the conclusion that culture change needs time to take hold companies with market cultures tend to have more positive organizational outcomes. Managers should make their cultures more market oriented
Categories and eras of organizational design: Traditional design
Organizations defined by a traditional approach tend to have functional, divisional, and or matrix structures. Each of these structures relies on a protocol hierarchy and attempts to define clear departmentally boundaries and reporting relationships. - Historical forces: industrialization, mass production, and related capitalization. Mid 1800s through 1970s. - Rationale: with industrialization and mass production, organizations were able to achieve great economies of scale by specializing the application of Labor to specific and standardized functions.
We have three recommendations for improving organizational learning:
improve on the five steps just discussed. You might begin by using a survey to assess the extent to which your organization is already following these steps. You can use the results to target organizational changes aimed at improving learning. Realize that leader behavior, organizational climate, and organizational culture drive organizational learning. If leaders do not support a vision and culture that promote the value of learning, it will not happen. We can all be role models of learning from failure. Unfortunately, failure or mistakes are generally feared and penalized, which makes an environment of risk aversion. How a company deals with mistakes suggests how well it will bring out the best ideas and talents of its people, and how effectively it will respond to change.