Ch. 3 & 5
What kind of culture do Deal & Kennedy value?
A strong culture
What is Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid?
A tool for training managers in leadership styles
What are the characteristics of an exploitive authoritative organization?
All of the worst features of classical/scientific management
What is a dispersed-network organization?
An emerging organizational form in which an organization includes both office personnel and field personnel at several different geographical locations.
What kind of culture do Peters & Waterman value?
An excellent culture.
What is the approach to culture used by both Deal & Kennedy and Peters & Waterman?
An integration approach aka prescriptive.
What is the cultural approach metaphor?
An organization is like a culture.
How are cultural performances interactional?
They require the participation of multiple organizational members.
What are values?
Values are the beliefs and visions that members hold for an organization.
What are the four key components of a strong culture?
Values, heroes, rites and rituals, and the cultural network.
What is cultural penetration?
Various subcultures within an organization may represent important differences in power and in interests.
What approach does a Theory X manager follow?
the most negative aspects of classical management theories.
What are Maslow's five types of needs?
1) Physiological 2) Safety 3) Affiliation 4) Esteem 5) Self-actualization
What are the three levels of Schein's Model of Organizational Culture?
1. Artifacts 2. Espoused Values 3. Basic Assumptions
What do these books signal in terms of organizing?
A shift away from strictly rational models of organizing.
When were the Hawthorne studies conducted?
1924-1933
What are the themes of an excellent culture?
A bias for action; Close relations to the customer; Autonomy and entrepreneurship; Productivity through people; Hands-on, value driven; Stick to the knitting; Simple form, lean staff; Simultaneous loose-tight properties
What is culture?
A complicated patchwork of values, symbols and behaviors that define a nation in various ways for various people.
What is knowledge management?
A concept that sees the organization as embodying a cycle of knowledge creation, development, and application.
What does Schin's "onion" model represent?
A consistent cultural pattern with interconnected levels.
What are the two types of cultural patterns that can develop, according to Schein's model?
A consistent pattern or an inconsistent pattern.
What is the principle of simple form, lean staff?
Avoid complex structures and divisions of labor.
What is the main difference between an exploitive and benevolent authoritative organization?
Benevolent doesn't have the explicit goal of exploiting workers.
How does one investigate organizational culture?
By discovering an organization's ways of doing and ways of talking.
How does a cultural theorist analyze an organization?
By looking at the qualities that make an organization "what it is."
How is organizational culture complex?
By the wide variety of "markers" that scholars use to investigate it.
What were the Hawthorne studies originally about?
Classical approach to management; time and motion studies
Why is this idea central to a communication focus on culture?
Communication is "constitutive of culture."
What are the two concerns leaders need to have to be most effective, according to Blake and Mouton's Grid?
Concern for people and concern for production
How do individuals communicate in a classical approach?
Content=task, direction=downward, channel=written, style=formal
What is the second critical issue raised by Schein's definition of culture?
Culture is a pattern of basic assumptions, suggesting that the core of culture is its basic assumptions and that values, behaviors, and so on are better seen as reflections of that culture.
What are the four issues that highlight the distinction between prescriptive approaches to culture and how most cultural researchers study it today?
Culture is complicated; culture is emergent; culture is not unitary; and culture is often ambiguous.
What are the two different ways of thinking about culture?
Culture is something an organization has; culture is something an organization is.
How is organizational culture emergent?
Cultures are socially created through the interaction of organizational members.
What are some of the problems with the human relations approach?
Curvilinear relationship b/t satisfaction & productivity. Potential for abuse-beliefs don't have to match behaviors
What two books influenced this popularity?
Deal & Kennedy's Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life Peters & Waterman's In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies
What is Edgar Schein known for?
Developing a model of culture that conceptualizes culture as the assumptions, values, behaviors, and artifacts that an organization exhibits as it attempts to adapt to internal and external contingencies.
When did the concept of organizational culture become popular?
During the last part of the twentieth century.
What is the principle of simultaneous loose-tight properties?
Exhibit both unity of purpose and the diversity necessary for innovation?
Who conducted the Hawthorne studies?
Elton Mayo and his research team from Harvard University
What is the principle of hands-on, value-driven?
Employees and managers share the same core value of productivity and performance.
What are Pfeffer's seven practices of successful human resources organizations?
Employment security, selective hiring, self-managed teams & decentralization, high & contingent compensation, extensive training, reduction of status differences, and sharing information.
What are autonomy and entrepreneurship?
Encourage employees to take risks in the development of new ideas.
What is the principle of productivity through people?
Encourage positive and respectful relationships among management and employees.
What is a close relation to the customer?
Excellent orgs gear decisions & actions to the needs of customers.
What is a bias for action?
Excellent orgs react quickly and do not spend excess time planning & analyzing.
A metaphor for human relations thinking is "an organization is like a _______."
Family
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory is a ________ theory of human motivation.
General
How does the human relations approach influence organizations today?
General attitude of management toward employees. Job design.
What is the human relations approach?
Happy worker = productive worker
What are heroes?
Heroes are the individuals who come to exemplify an organization's values.
Maslow's theory is arranged in a __________________.
Hierarchy of pre-potency
What approach does a Theory Y manager follow?
Human relations
What approach characterizes a consultative organization?
Human relations approach
What approach characterizes a participative organization?
Human resources approach
Why is it critical to look at the correspondence between Level 1 and Level 2 in Schein's model?
If there is a strong match between these two levels, it is likely that both the behaviors and values are indicators of underlying cultural assumptions. However, if the two don't match, it is possible that the values are really either rationalizations or only aspirations for the future.
What are the five prototypical management styles?
Impoverished Management (1,1)-low both Country Club Management (1,9)-low prod/high people Authority Compliance (9,1)-high prod/low people Team Management (9,9)-high both Managerialism (5,5)-avg both
What is Martin's differentiation approach?
Inconsistencies among cultural vies are expected and often seen as desirable in an organization.
What is included in the second level of Schein's model?
Individual and group values; preferences or what "ought" to happen
What are the four types of cultural performances?
Interactional, contextual, episodic, and improvisational.
How is organizational culture not unitary?
It is impossible to characterize an organization as having a single culture; organizations are characterized by a multitude of subcultures that may co-exist in harmony, conflict, or indifference to each other.
What are the two main problems with a prescriptive approach to culture?
It is naive to assume that there is a single cultural "formula" for achieving organizational success. Prescriptive approaches treat culture as a "thing" that an organization "has."
What was the impact of the Hawthorne studies on organizational theorists?
It moved organizational theorists from classical theories to human relations approaches
What is one of the problems with Schein's model of org culture?
It oversimplifies the nature of organizational culture and the role of communication in creating and sustaining that culture.
What are some issues that need to be addressed when implementing a human resource program?
Know when team-based management is appropriate. Consider the attitudes of top management. Deal with cynicism about change. Facilitate the translation process.
How does the human resources approach influence organizations today?
Learning organizations & knowledge management
Which of the five styles is the opposite of the ideal?
Managerialism
What is the Hawthorne effect?
Mere attention to individuals causes changes in behavior
Why did the concept of "culture" become so popular?
Metaphor clearly resonated w/academics and practitioners. The cultural metaphor opened up new and fruitful areas of research. Culture quickly became a part of everyday talk.
What does Likert use to differentiate between his four system types?
Motivational factors, communication, decision making, goal setting, control, influence structure, and performance.
What are the six areas around which basic assumptions typically revolve?
Nature of reality and truth; nature of time; nature of space; nature of human nature; nature of human activity; nature of human relationships.
Do human resources programs usually work?
No
What were the results of Rosenfeld et al.'s study?
Office personnel and field workers reported different needs for information and different patterns of job satisfaction.
What are some of the points raised about the second level of Schein's model?
Organizations don't have values, individuals do. Not all values will hold equal "weight" in an organization. Sometimes individuals say they hold a particular value but their behavior belies that statement.
What are learning organizations?
Organizations that emphasize mental flexibility, team learning, a shared vision, complex thinking, and personal mastery.
What is the human resources approach?
Productive worker = happy worker
What are rites and rituals?
Rites and rituals are the ceremonies through which an organization celebrates its values.
Name some of the markers used to investigate organizational culture.
Rites, ceremonies, values, belief systems, metaphors, stories, communication rules, and hallway talk.
What is the first critical issue raised by Schein's definition of culture?
Schein defines culture as a group phenomenon, and cultural formation is always striving toward patterning and integration.
What is the third critical issue raised by Schein's definition of culture?
Schein sees culture as an emergent and developmental process; cultures are learned or invented as a group meets internal and external challenges.
What is the fourth critical issue raised by Schein's definition of culture?
Schein's definition highlights the socializing aspect of organizational culture; a major part of "learning the ropes" consists of developing an understanding of the assumptions and values that make up that organization's culture.
What is the principle of stick to the knitting?
Stay focused on what the org does best and avoid radical diversification.
A metaphor for human resources thinking is "an organization is like a ________."
Team
Which of the five styles is the ideal?
Team Management
What is practiced today in organizations emphasizing human resource principles?
Team management and employee involvement
What is included in the first level of Schein's model?
Technology, art, and visible and audible behavior patterns; the physical and social environment that org members have created.
What were the four major phases of the Hawthorne studies?
The Illumination Studies The Relay Assembly Test Room Studies The Interview Program The Bank Wiring Room Studies
What is included in the third level of Schein's model?
The core assumptions that individuals in a group hold about the world and how it works; these are uniformly held by cultural or subcultural members
What is the cultural network?
The cultural network is the communication system through which cultural values are instituted and reinforced.
What might an inconsistent cultural pattern indicate?
The existence of fragmented subcultures or a culture in transition from one set of assumptions and values to another. Underlying assumptions can lead to dysfunctional behaviors or can fail to shift as the contingencies of the organizational environment change.
Where is the cultural metaphor derived from?
The field of anthropology.
What is this approach to culture called?
The fragmentation approach.
What is pre-potency?
The idea that lower-level needs must be satisfied before an individual can move on to higher-level needs.
What do both of these books emphasize?
The importance of organizational intangibles.
What do the themes of an excellent culture emphasize?
The importance of people and downplay bureaucratic structure and values.
According to Louis, what are sites of culture in an organization?
There are a number of sites where culture might develop in an organization, including a vertical slice, a horizontal slice, or a specific work group.
How are cultural performances improvisational?
There are no scripts that guide organizational members.
How are organizational cultures ambiguous?
There is not always a clear picture of the organization's culture--or even of its various subcultures.
How are cultural performances contextual?
They are embedded in organizational situations and organizational history.
How are cultural performances episodic?
They are nameable as distinctive events.
What is the problem with these books?
They are prescriptive, not descriptive.
What approach do cultural researchers take when studying organizations?
They seek to describe and understand the complex ways in which organizational culture is developed and maintained.
How can an organization become a learning organization?
Through participation and dialogue in the workplace
What were the findings of the Hawthorne studies?
Worker output increased as a direct result of the attention paid to workers by the researchers. Worker output was increased through the working of informal social factors. Management style could account for some of the changes in productivity.
What is the focus of Likert's System IV?
Works to specify the details of the organizational form that will incorporate the ideals of the human resource movement.
How do individuals communicate in a human relations approach?
content=task & social, direction=vertical & horizontal, channel=face-to-face, style=informal
How do individuals communicate in a human resources approach?
content=task, social, & innovation, direction=all directions, team-based, channel=all channels, style= both, but esp. informal
Why would a human relations manager use PDM?
happy worker = productive worker
The final two types of needs are called ____________ needs.
higher-order
The first three types of needs are called ___________ needs.
lower-order
Why would a human resources manager use PDM?
productive worker = happy worker