SESSION 3.

LEARNING AND CULTURE

LEARNING

Ask 3 questions:• Name something you’re good at • How you learned it • How you know you’re good at it

What is Learning?

“Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge through experience which leads to an enduring

change in behaviour.” (Huczynski & Buchanan, 2007)

Behaviourist and Cognitive Approaches

• Behaviourist • Studies only observable

behaviour• Problem solving occurs

by trial and error

• Cognitive• Studies also mental

process• Problem solving also

involves insight and understanding

Experiential Learning (Kolb, 1984)

Learning Styles

Honey & Mumford (1986)

• Activist

• Reflector

• Theorist

• Pragmatist

(Rollinson, 2008:185-8)

6

Reflection

• Learning is the creation of meaning from past or current events that serves as a guide for future behaviour

• Reflection is the process of stepping back from an experience to ponder, carefully and persistently, its meaning to the self through the development of inferences

• Reflection, then, is the process that turns experience into learning

References Honey, P. and Mumford, A. (1992) The Manual of Learning

Styles, Honey, Maidenhead.Huczynski, A.A. & Buchanan, D.A. (2007) Organisational

Behaviour, (6th Edn.) Harlow, Prentice Hall.Martin, J. (2005) Organisational Behaviour (3rd Edn.), London,

Thomson.Mullins, L.J.(2007) Management and Organisational Behaviour

(8th Edn.), Harlow, Prentice Hall.Rollinson, D. (2008) Organisational Behaviour and Analysis, An

Integrated Approach (4th Edn.), Harlow, Prentice Hall.

KEY AREAS OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

• Intelligence• Personality• Perception• Management of stress• Motivation

PERSONALITY

• “Personality is the relatively enduring combination of traits which make an individual unique and at the same time produce consistencies in his or her thought and behaviour”. Fincham & Rhodes (1999)

• “Those fundamental traits or characteristics of a person (or people more generally) that endure over time and account for consistent patterns of responses to everyday situations”. Furnham (2005).

PSYCHOMETRICS TESTS

• A psychological test is an instrument designed to produce a quantitative assessment of some psychological attribute (s) (BPS).

• Examples: –Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ).–16PF (Cattell)–Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ)

(Saville and Holdsworth)–Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

PERCEPTION

• We do not perceive objective reality, but we believe that whatever we see is real.

• Our perceptions are our personal reality, and they influence our behaviour.

» Source: Wendy Bloisi (2003).

PERCPETUAL DISTORTIONS

Sources of perceptual errors:

–Selective perception–Stereotyping–Halo Effect – a cognitive bias that influences feelings and thoughts

–Projection

THE 4 TEMPERAMENTS

Humour Personality

Sanguineamorous, happy,

generous, optimistic, irresponsible

Cholericviolent, vengeful, short-tempered,

ambitious

Phlegmatic Sluggish, pallid, cowardly

Melancholic Introspective, sentimental, gluttonous

CATTELL’S 16PF TRAITS

Warmth

Reasoning

Emotional Stability

Dominance

Liveliness

Rule-Consciousness

Social Boldness

Sensitivity

Vigilance

Abstractedness

Privateness

Apprehensiveness

Openness to Change

Self-Reliance

Perfectionism

Tension

THE BIG 5 FACTOR MODEL

1. Openness to experience

2. Conscientiousness

3. Extraversion

4. Agreeableness

5. Neuroticism

•Openness to experience - Appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, and unusual ideas; imaginative and curious•Extraversion - Energy, surgency, and the tendency to seek stimulation and the company of others. •Agreeableness - A tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others•Neuroticism - A tendency to easily experience unpleasant emotions such as anxiety, anger, or depression. •Conscientiousness - A tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement.

THE BIG 5 FACTORS

EYSENCK 1965 EXTRAVERSION-INTRAVERSION

Extravert Introvert

Activity ExpressivenessImpulsivenessIrresponsibilityPracticalityRisk takingSociability

Inactivity InhibitionControlResponsibilityReflectivenessCarefulnessUnsociability

Learning OutcomesTo be able to:

• Understand what is meant by Organizational Culture

• Recognise why Culture is important in organizations

• Identify the ways Culture manifests itself in an organization

• Recognise different models to explain culture

Learning Outcomes

To critically analyse:• The meaning of organizational culture• The impact of organizational culture on

success and failure• The roles played by functional,

dysfunctional cultures and subcultures• The link between organizational culture

and national culture

Impacts of Organizational Cultures

• How decisions are made

• Who makes decisions

• How rewards are distributed

• Who is promoted

• How people are treated

• How organization responds to environment

Questions…

• What is culture?

• Is culture easy or hard to change?

• How might you try and change culture?

What is Organizational Culture? • Organizational culture may be defined in a number of

different ways

• Culture is present in a number of aspects of the organization

• There are a number of different types of organizational

culture

• “The way we do things round here” (Deal & Kennedy, 1982)

• Difficult to define!

• Boozing with the boss (New Scientist, 26 January, 2002)

Make up your own mind!

What is culture…

• History of organisational culture– Japanese miracle

• How did culture come to be and how did it persist?– Cultural evolution– Cultural replication

• Culture and Performance– Excellence– Strong culture

What is culture…

An organisation has culture

An organisation is culture

I swear as an employee

Recommended reading: Buchanan & Huczynski, 2004; Knights & Wilmott, 2007

Definitions• The pattern of values, norms, beliefs, attitudes,

assumptions, signs & symbols that may or may not have been articulated but which shape the ways in which people behave and get things done [Handry, 1995]

• A pattern of shared assumptions invented, discovered or developed within an organization as it learns to cope with problems or external adaptation and internal integration. [Schein, 1992]

Definition• “The way we do things around here

[Deal & Kennedy 1982, p 4]

• “A pattern of basic assumptions – invented, discovered or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration – that has worked well enough to be considered valuable and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, thing and feel in relation to those problems.” [Schein, 1992, p9]

Metaphors of Organizational Culture

• “Social Glue”

• Onion

• Umbrella

• Iceberg (example Schein, 1985)

(Morgan, 1989)

The Organizational Iceberg

FormalStrategy, structure, systems, management, products

InformalLeadership, behaviour, attitudes, values norms, beliefs, power, politics, conflict

Perspective 1 Schein (1990) layered Conceptualisation of culture

Basic Assumptions

Values & Beliefs

Artifacts & Creations

Schein’s iceberg model of org. culture

Recommended reading: Rollinson et al, 2002

Values and beliefs

Basic assumptions

artefacts

valuesartifacts

How can I recognize a culture?

Levels of Culture:

• Practices– rites, rituals, ceremonies

• Communications– stories, myths, sagas, legends, heroes

• Physical forms– layout of building, canteens, location of building, dress

code, technology

• Common language– jargon, acronyms

(Trice & Beyer, 1984)

Sources of Organizational Culture

Internal Factors

External factors

Experiences of employees

Core Beliefs

Values

Norms

Attitudes

Assumptions

Signs & Symbols

Behaviour

Characteristics of Cultures 2

• Dominant culture

• Sub-cultures according to structure:– geographical, functions

• Sub-cultures co-exist in over-arching dominant organizational culture

Can give rise to conflict!!

Recommended reading: Rollinson, 2005

Question…

What type of culture is present at CUB?

Activity

• Reflect on the university. Using • Schein’s layered concept of culture…..try to

answer the following.• What artefacts and creations are there?• Are there any norms of behaviour, particular

language, symbols, ceremonies, myths, stories or taboos?

• What basic values can you identify?• What are the basic assumptions underpinning

the values?

Characteristics of culture 1

• Integrationist Perspective – top• Fragmentationist perspective – middle • Differentiationist perspective – bottom

These can exist side by side in the same organisation

Characteristics of Culture 2

• Strength of culture• How did culture come to be and how did it

persist?– Cultural evolution– Cultural replication

• Culture and Organisational Performance• Direction, pervasiveness, strength

Perspectives 5 Deal & Kennedy’s 4 elements of organizational culture

Values

Culture

Culturalnetworks

Organizationalheros

Rites &rituals

Type • Tough-guy, macho

• Work-hard/play-hard

• Bet-your-company

• Process Culture

Risk Feedback

high quick

few quick

high slow

low risk slow

Types of Organizational Culture

Deal & Kennedy, 1982

Different DebatesGendered Cultures• Discrimination

– Overt or covert• Which gender

(normally) dominates?

• Occupational segregation by gender – horizontal and vertical

National Cultures• Power Distance• Uncertainty

avoidance• Individualism• Masculinity/femininity • Long term/short

term orientation[Clegg, 2005; Hofstede, 2001]

Culture and gender• Women in a male culture

• The way women and men communicate(Deborah Tannen, mentioned in Linstead et al, 2004)

Recommended reading: Lindstead et al, 2004

Differences between feminine and masculine cultures:

Feminine Masculine

Management by intuition and consensus

is decisive and aggressive

Resolution of conflicts

by compromise and negotiation

by letting the strongest win

Rewards are based on equality

are based on equity

Preference More leisure time is preferred over more money

More money is preferred over more leisure time

Recommended reading: Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005

Culture change and management

• Change – modification of an existing culture

• Management – maintaining or making slight modifications to fine tuning an existing culture

• Methodology – analyse, experience, installation, evaluation

• Techniques – use current culture, socialisation, symbols, rewards, new members, culture shock, top people, involve members

Summary of culture

• Organizational culture may be defined in a number of different ways

• Culture is present in a number of aspects of the organization

• There are a number of different types of organizational culture

Summary

• All organizations have cultures, often more than one

• Cultures are influenced by gender and nationality

• Strong cultures influence progress but do they add to success?

References Buchanan, D. & Huczynski, A. (2004) Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory

Text (5th Edn.), Harlow, Prentice Hall

Drummond, H. (2000) Organizational Behaviour Suffolk, Oxford University Press

Knights, D. & Willmott, H. (2007) Introducing Organizational Behaviour & Management London, Thomson Learning

Linstead, S., Fulop, L. & Lilley, S. (2004) Management and Organization: A Critical Text. Suffolk, Palgrave

McKenna, E. (2001) Business Psychology and Organisational Behaviour – A Student’s Handbook (3rd Edition), Hove, Psychology Press

Rollinson D. (2005) Organisational Behaviour and Analysis (3rd Edn.) Harlow,Pearson

Trice, H.M. & Beyer, J.M. (1984) “Studying Organisational Cultures through Rites and Rituals”, Academy of Management Review, 9, pp. 653-669 cited in McKenna, 2001, pp. 473-4