Social System & Org Culture-mallika a n

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    A social system is a complex set of human relationships interacting in manyways. Possible interactions are as limitless as the stars in the universe. Each smallgroup is a subsystem within larger groups that are subsystems of even larger groups,and so on, until all the worlds population is included. Within a single organization,the social system includes all the people in it and their relationships to one anotherand to the outside world. Two points stand out in the complex interactions among

    people in a social system.First, the behavior of any one member can have an impact, directly orindirectly, on the behavior of ant other. Although these impacts may be large orsmall, all parts of the system are mutually interdependent. Simply stated, a change inone part of a system affects all other parts, even though its impact may be slight.

    A second important point revolves around a systems boundaries. Any socialsystem engages in exchanges with its environment , receiving input from it and

    providing output to it (which then becomes inputs for its adjacent systems) Socialsystems are , therefore , open systems that interact with their surroundings.Consequently, members of a system should be aware of the nature of theirenvironments and their impact on other members both within and outside their ownsocial system.

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    Consequently, members of a system should be aware of the

    nature of their environments and their impact on other members both within and outside their own social system.

    This social system awareness is increasingly important in thetwenty-first century, as global trade and international marketplaces

    for a firms products and services vastly expand the need fororganizations and their employees to anticipate and react to changesin their competitive environments.

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    A system is said to be in social equilibrium when there is a dynamicworking balance among its interdependent parts. Equilibrium is a dynamicconcept not a static one. Despite constant change and movement in everyorganization, the systems working balance can still be retained. The system islike a sea: There is a continuous motion and even substantial disruption fromstorms, but over time the seas basic character changes very little.

    When minor changes occur in a social system, they are soon absorbed byadjustments within the system and equilibrium is regained. On the other hand,a single significant change (a shock, such as the resignation of a keyexecutive) or a series of smaller but rapid changes may throw an organizationout of balance, seriously reducing its forward progress until it can reach a newequilibrium. In a sense, when it is in disequilibrium, its parts are workingagainst one another instead of in harmony.

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    Here is an example:American automobile manufacturers have faced a significant

    challenge in responding to the design, quality, and cost advantages ofinternational automakers such as Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda. In

    particular the U.S companies sometimes found that it took them muchlonger to bring a new car to market (total time from its conception to early

    production)Among many reasons offered is the internal struggle among

    seemingly competing units of an auto firm, such as product, design, factory

    engineering, and sales and marketing .An unfortunate and unproductive,disequilibrium sometimes exists. To combat this problem, Ford MotorCompany creates cross-functional teams of line managers charged with thetask of speeding product development. These teams are housed in the samework area, which makes communication much easier. They also share acommon goal reduction of product development costs by 20 percent. In

    this way, Ford maintains a more productive equilibrium within its systemand keeps the functional subgroups working together.

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    Social (natural) culture creates the wide ranging context inwhich organizations operate. It provides the complex social systemof laws values and customs in which organizational behavior occurs.

    Inside the organization lies another powerful force fordetermining individual and group behavior. Organizational Cultureis the set of assumptions, beliefs, values and norms that are shared

    by an organizations members. This culture may be have beenconsciously created by its key members or it may have simplyevolved across time. It represent a key element of the workenvironment in which employees perform their jobs. This idea oforganizational culture is somewhat intangible, so we can not see itor touch it, but it is present and pervasive. Like the air in a room, itsurrounds and affects everything that happens in an organization.Because it is a dynamic systems concept, culture is also affected byalmost everything that occurs within an organization.

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    Organizational cultures are important to a firm success forseveral reasons. They give an organizational identity toemployees a defining vision of what the organizationrepresents. They are also an important source of stability andcontinuity to the organization, which provides a sense ofsecurity to its members. At the same time, knowledge of theorganizational culture helps newer employees interpret whatgoes on inside the organization by providing an important

    context for events that would otherwise seem confusing.

    More than anything else , perhaps, cultures help stimulateemployee enthusiasm for their tasks. Cultures attract attention,convey a vision and typically honor high producing and

    creative individuals as heroes. By recognizing and rewardingthese people organizational cultures are identifying them asrole models emulate.

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    Organizations like fingerprints and snowflakesare unique. Each has its own history patterns ofcommunication systems and procedures missionstatements and visions stories and myths which in

    their totality constitute its distinctive culture. Culturesare relatively stable in nature, usually changing onlyslowly over time. Expectations to this condition mayoccur when a major crisis threatens a firm or when

    two organizations merge with each other (requiring acareful blending of the two so as to avoid cultureclash)

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    Systematic measurement and comparison of cultures is difficultat best. Most early attempts by researchers relied on examination ofstories, symbols, rituals and ceremonies to obtain clues and construct acomposite portrait.

    DistinctiveStableImplicitNo one type is bestIntegratedAccepted

    A reflection of top managementSubculturesOf varying strength

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    If organizations are consciously create and manage their cultures,they must be able to communicate them to employees, especially the newlyhired ones. People are generally more willing to adapt when they wnat to

    please others, gain approval and learn about their new work environment.Similarly organizations are anxious to have the new employees fit in andtherefore an intentional approach that helps make this happen is used by

    many firms.Examples of formal communication wehicles for transmittingorganizational cultures include executive visions of the firmsfuture,corporate philosophy statements and codes of ethical conduct.Informal means involvepublicly recognizing heroes and heroines retellinghistorical success storiesand even allowing myths to become exaggeratedwithout popping the hot- air ballon.Of course elements of organizationsculture are also unintentionally communicated to employees in varietyofways, such as when news of a managers error and an executivesforgiveness of it are accidentally leaked throughout the firm.

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    Collectively, these cultural communication acts may be lumpedunder the umbrella of organizational socialization, which isthe continuous process of transmitting key elements of an

    organizations culture to its employees.It consists of both formalmethods (such as military indoctrination at boot camp orcorporate orientation training for new employees)and informalmeans.

    All these approaches help shape the attitudes thoughts and behavior of employees.Viewed from the organizationS perspective, organizational socialization is like placing anorganizations fingerprints on people or stamping its owngenetic code on them.From the employees viewpoint, it is theessential process of learning the ropes to survive and prosperwithin the firm.The important point is that socialization can befunctional for both workers and their employers.

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    Managers are encouraged to engage in storytelling a way to forgeculture and build organizational identity.Good stories tap into theemotions of an audience and have proven to be powerful ways tocreate shared meaning and purpose.Storytelling then is a key meansfor achieving socialization of employees.

    At the same time a reciprocal process emerges when changes occurin the other direction.Employees can also have an active impact onthe nature of organizations culture and operations.

    Individualization occurs when employees successfully exertinfluence on the social system around them at work by challengingthe culture or deviating from it.The interaction betweensocialization and individualization, which shows the types ofemployees who accept or reject an organizations norms and valueswhile exerting various degrees of influence.

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    High

    Low

    Low High

    Socialization

    (Impact oforganizational

    culture onemployee;

    acceptance ofnorms)

    Conformity Creative

    Individualism

    Isolation Rebellion

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    Individualization is when employees successfully exert influence on the socialsystem by challenging the culture

    The chart shows how Individualization affects different organization

    too little socialization and too little Individualization creates isolation

    too high socialization and too little Individualization creates conformity

    too little socialization and too high Individualization creates rebellion

    While the match that org wants to create is high socialization and highindividualization for a creative environment . This is what it takes to survive in a verycompetitive environment

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