Chapter 14 Human Behavior

Realistic Job Preview (RJP)

A method of improving organizational socialization in which job applicants are given a balance of positive and negative information about the job and work context.

Bicultural Audit

A process of diagnosing cultural relations between companies and determining the extent to which cultural clashes will likely occur.

Psychological Contract

The individual's beliefs about the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between that person and another party (typically an employer).

Artifacts

The observable symbols and signs of an organization's culture.

Organizational Socialization

The process by which individuals learn the values, expected behaviors, and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles in the organization.

Rituals

The programmed routines of daily organizational life that dramatize the organization's culture.

Reality Shock

The stress that results when employees perceive discrepancies between their pre-employment expectations and on-the-job reality.

Organizational Culture

The values and assumptions shared within an organization

attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) theory

A theory which states that organizations have a natural tendency to attract, select, and retain people with values and personality characteristics that are consistent with the organization's character, resulting in a more homogeneous organization and a stronger culture.

Assimilation

Acquired company embraces acquiring firm's culture.

Deculturation

Acquiring firm imposes its culture on unwilling acquired firm.

Adaptive Culture

An organizational culture in which employees are receptive to change, including the ongoing alignment of the organization to its environment and continuous improvement of internal processes.

Selection

How well the person "fits" in with the company's culture is often a factor in deciding which job applicants to hire. Companies with strong cultures often put ap- plicants through several interviews and other selection tests, in part to better gauge the applicant's values and their congruence with the company's values. At Strange- loop Networks, for example, job applicants are assessed by several employees, not just by the founders. "It is a good feeling to be involved in the hiring process," says a software developer at the company in Vancouver, Canada. "I think I feel about the culture the same way the CEO of the company does. It will grow the same way everyone here feels and wants it to."

Attraction

Job applicants engage in self-selection by avoiding employment in companies whose values seem incompatible with their own values. They look for subtle artifacts during interviews and through public information that commu- nicate the company's culture. Some organizations encourage this self-selection by actively describing their cultures. At Reckitt Benckiser, for instance, applicants can complete an online simulation that estimates their fit with the British household products company's hard-driving culture. Participants indicate how they would respond to a series of business scenarios. The exercise then calculates their cultural fit score and asks them to decide whether to continue pursuing employment with the company.

Integration

Merging companies combine the two or more cultures into a new composite culture.

Separation

Merging companies remain distinct entities with minimal exchange of culture or organizational practices.

Sense making

Organizational culture helps employees make sense of what goes on and why things happen in the company.40 Corporate culture also makes it easier for them to understand what is expected of them. For instance, research has found that sales employees in companies with stronger organizational cultures have clearer role perceptions and less role-related stress.

Control system

Organizational culture is a deeply embedded form of social control that influences employee decisions and behavior. Culture is pervasive and operates nonconsciously. Think of it as an automatic pilot, nonconsciously directing employees so their behavior is consistent with organizational expectations. For this reason, some writers describe organizational culture as a compass that points everyone in the same direction.

Social Glue

Organizational culture is the social glue that bonds people together and makes them feel part of the organizational experience. Employees are motivated to internalize the organization's dominant culture because it fulfills their need for social identity. This social glue attracts new staff and retains top performers. It also be- comes the common thread that holds employees together in global organizations. "The values of the company are really the bedrock—the glue which holds the firm together," says Nandan Nilekani, the head of the government of India's technology committee and former CEO of Infosys.

Attrition

People are motivated to seek environments that are sufficiently congruent with their personal values and to leave environments that are a poor fit. This occurs because person-organization values congruence supports their social identity and minimizes internal role conflict. Even if employees aren't forced out, many quit when values incongruence is sufficiently high.

Ceremonies

Planned displays of organizational culture, conducted specifically for the benefit of an audience.