Chapter 8
Why is a "strong culture an asset" for an organization?
-if a companies culture does match the organizational environment and people behave ethically ex: Culture: strong outcome orientated, if value system matches the organizational environment the company may outperform others
What is "manage your first impression"
so that u can dress properly, be on ur best behaviour
Whats a mission statement?
statement of purpose, describing who the company is and what it does.
Whats role modeling
the process where employees modify their own beliefs and behaviours to reflect those of the leaders
What is "invest in relationship development "
the relationships u develop with ur manager and ur coworkers are really important
Why are leaders so important
there is a correspondence between the leaders style and org's culture -leadership influence in culture is through role models -Leadership also shape culture by their reactions to the actions of others around them
Whats "show success early on"
to gain the trust of your new manager u must show that u are capable of completing certain tasks well
Describe people orientated cultures
value fairness, supportiveness and respecting individual rights -emphasizes and have great expectations on treating people with respect and dignity
Whats training
well crafted training programs may be instrumental in bringing about culture change by teaching employees the new norms and behavioural styles
What are some issues with unethical behaviour ?
when performance pressures leads to a culture with unethical behaviour become their norm, individuals see their peers as rivals and short term results are rewarded--> unhealthy work environment
Whats counterculture?
when subculture are directly opposite to values of broader organizational culture
Descrive detail orientated cultures
within OCP framework are characterized as emphasizing precision and paying attention to details -has comp advantage to companies b/c helps them differentiate from others
Where does Organizational culture fit in the POLC framework?
It fits into organization and closely linked to organizational design
Important thing to remember about corporate culture
It's not what u say it is, or what u want to be it is the sum of all the organizing actions
Example of a company that has team orientated cultures
Southwest airlines:they don't hire anyone who isn't a team player
Whats creating new symbols and stories
Success of the culture change effort maybe increased by developing new rituals, symbols and stories
What is Organizational Culture?
System of shared assumptions, values and beliefs that indicate appropriate and inappropriate behaviours in an organization
Whats changing the reward system?
The criteria with which employees are rewarded and punished have a powerful role in determining cultural values in an org -switching from commission based --> straight salary may be more instrumental in bringing about customer focus among sales
How does the reward system influence culture?
Types of behaviours that are rewarded or ignored set the tone for the culture, -rewards go a lot farther than money
What's "change leaders and other key players"
after there is culture change there is often followed by highest levels of organization changes -> this is to implement the change effort quickly and efficiently
Whats "seek feedback"
ask ur coworkers and boss how u are doing and whether or not u are doing okay
Describe Team orientated cultures
emphasizes cooperation among employees
define a mentor
helps new employees adjust by teaching them the ropes to the jobs and how the company operates
What happens in "create a sense of urgency"
in order for a change to be successful, it is important to emphasize the need for change
Why is a formal orientation program good?
indoctrinates new employees to the company culture, and introduces them to new jobs and employees
What are rituals?
its the repetitive activities within an organization that have symbolic meaning -ex: how does the manager react to you, how u praise
What is stories and languages
most colourful and effective way in which organizations communicate their culture to new employees and org members.
Why is using supervisors and coworkers good for orientation
new employees understand the culture better when interacting face to face rather than just doing it over the computer
Describe Stable Cultures
predictable, rule orientated, and bureaucratic -cultures prevent quick action as a result may be a misfit to a changing dynamic culture
What is new employee on boarding ?
process where new employees learn the attitudes, knowledge, skills and behaviours required to function effectively within an organization
What is values?
shared principles, standards and goals
What is a founder values?
- company's culture, particularly during its early years, tied to the personality, background and values of its founders and vision for the future of the organization -apart of corporate culture to the degree to which they help the company be successful
Why is feedback important?
- employees can found out sooner rather than later what they can change, and gain a better understanding of whether their behaviour fits with the company culture and expectation
Example of companies with innovative cultures?
-Apple, Samsung,
Give example of Assumption, Values and Artifacts
-Assumption: happy employee's means good organization -Values:ur org's values will revolve around that (i.e.: company about having fun ) -Artifacts: the layout of ur office ( open space)
How is culture maintained?
-Attraction- Selection- attrition (ASA framework) -New Employee Onboarding -leadership -reward system
What can employees do during onboarding?
-Feedback -Networking
What can organization do during on boarding?
-Formal orientation program -Mentoring by supervisors and and coworkers
What are the two things that are part of culture creation and what do they lead to? ?
-Founder values and preferences -Industry Demands --> Early values, goals, assumptions
Companies that have detail orientated cultures
-Four seasons, Ritz Carlton and Walt Disney
Example of a company that has a stable culture
-IBM:conservative, at a certain point made everyone wear blue suits -GM: made slow decisions as a company, kept working on hummer long after they realized this would fail -Uni's: mostly things don't change
Example of companies with aggressive culture
-Microsoft ( they use aggressive language.. i.e: kill our competition) -Nike
What is a strong culture?
-One that is shared by organizational members: where most employees show consensus regarding the values of a company
Example of a company that has people orientated culture
-Starbucks: offers above min wage and health care and tuition reimbursment--> lower turnover rate
What are subcultures?
-cultures that emerge from diff departments, branches or geographic locations
what are industry demands?
-diff companies will have diff cultures but the industry demands and characteristics act as a force to create similarities among organizational culture. -shows it may not be possible to imitate the culture of a company in a diff industry, even though some outsiders might wanna
Whats a limitation of a strong culture?
-difficulty of changing established organizational behaviours: may get criticized a lot for it
Describe outcome orientated cultures
-emphasizes achievement results and action as important values -reward performance, not loyalty or seniority -can have issues with unethical behaviour
Examples of companies with outcome orientated cultures
-enron -Bestbuy -any place where they hold employees as well as managers accountable for success and use systems that reward employee's and group output
What does gather info consists of?
-find as much about the company and the job as u can before you start working to be a good observer -learn as much about the company as possible
Describe Innovative cultures
-flexible, adaptable, and experiment with new ideas (openess) - flat hierarchy
Why is a "strong culture a libility" for an organization
-if companies cultures doesn't match with the organizational environment(ppl behave unethically) -ex: strong outcome orientated culture and unethical behaviour could be detrimental to organizations effectivess -ex: mergers: 2 companies with really diff cultures
Why is networking important/
-if company has no proper on boarding very important for employees to facilitate their own on boarding and create relationships
Why is organizational culture important?
-it may be its strongest asset or biggest liability - effective control mechanism to dictate employee behaviour -culture or shared values may be related to increase performance -companies with a rare and hard to imitate culture may enjoy competitive advantage
What is physical layout about?
-layout of the workspaces communicates an important message about the company culture. i.e.open layout office that means work environment is not like a hierarchy its more like egalitarian
What are artifacts?
-surface level - visibile, tangible aspects of organizational culture
Describe Aggressive culture
-values competitiveness and outperforming competitors
What are the levels of organizational culture ? (smallest to biggest)
1. Assumptions 2. Values 3.Artifacts
What are the 7 dimensions of organizational culture?
1. Innovative 2. Agressive 3. Outcome 4.Stable 5. People- Orientated 6. Team- Orientated 7.Detail- Orientated
What are the 5 visual elements of culture?
1. Mission statement 2.Rituals 3.Rules and Policies 4.Physical layout 5.Stores and Language
What attributes in org culture leads to success (4)
1. decisive 2. customer orientated 3. empowering 4. people orientated
Steps to take, to learn to fit in
1. do ur research 2. observe the physical environment 3.read between the lines 4.reflect on how you are treated 5. ask questions? 6.listen to your gut
What are the 6 steps of cultural change?
1.Create a sense of urgency 2.Change leaders and other key players 3.Role Model 4.Train 5.Change the reward system 6.Create new stories and symbols
What are the 5 steps to managing workplace impressions?
1.Gather info 2. Manage your first impression 3. invest in relationship development 4.seek feedback 5.Show success early on
What percentage of new managers start a new job and fail by voluntarily leaving or fired within one year
35%
Of the percentage before, what % say they don't form effective relationships with colleagues
60%
Whats the ASA framework?
A(ttraction)employees are attracted to orgs where they will fit in -if u a big company this will be easy S(election) companies try to find people that will fit in best with their current corporate cultures A(ttrition) eliminate individuals who do not fit within the organization (very expensive:to train new employees)
What is assumption?
Below awareness taken for granted, and reflect beliefs about human nature and reality.
What are rules and policies?
Companies create rules to determine acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and the rules that a company has signals the types of values that it has.