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Organizational CultureChapter 15

Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 9/e

Stephen P. Robbins/Timothy A. Judge

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After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Define the common characteristics making up organizational culture

2. Contrast strong and weak cultures3. Identify the functional and dysfunctional effects of

organizational culture on people4. List the factors that maintain an organization’s culture5. Identify and describe the phases of organizational

socialization6. Clarify how employees learn an organization’s culture7. Explain how an ethical culture can be established8. Characterize a customer-responsive culture

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Organizational culture

• Set of key characteristics that the organization values that distinguishes the organization from other organizations

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Characteristics of Organizational Culture

1. Innovation and risk taking2. Attention to detail3. Outcome orientation4. People orientation5. Team orientation6. Aggressiveness7. Stability

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Culture is a Descriptive Term

Organizational culture is concerned with how employees perceive the seven characteristics of an organization’s culture, not whether or not they like them

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Do Organizations Have Uniform Cultures?

• A dominant culture expresses the core values that are shared by a majority of the organization’s members

• Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences that members face

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Strong vs. Weak Cultures

• In a strong culture, the organization’s core values are both intensely held and widely shared

• Strong cultures will: Have great influence on the

behavior of its members Result in lower employee

turnover

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Organizational Culture vs. National Culture

• National culture has a greater impact on employees than does their organization’s culture

• Expect that organizations hire employees who are a good fit with the organization’s dominant culture even though they may not fit the national culture

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Culture’s Functions

• Boundary-defining role• Conveys a sense of identity • Facilitates the generation of commitment • Enhances social system stability• Sense-making and control mechanism

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Culture as a Liability

• Shared values do not agree with organization’s effectiveness

• Dilemma of hiring a diverse workforce but wanting people to fit into a single culture

• Cultural incompatibility in mergers and acquisitions

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How a Culture Begins

• Ultimate source of an organization’s culture is its founders

• Culture is created in three ways: Founders hire and keep those who think and

feel the same way they do They indoctrinate and socialize these

employees to their way of thinking and feeling Their behavior acts as a role model

encouraging employees to identify with them

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Keeping a Culture Alive

• Selection – seek out those who would fit in• Top Management – Senior executives

establish norms of behavior through what they say and do

• Socialization – help new employees adapt to the culture

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A Socialization Model

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How Organization Cultures Form

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How Employees Learn Culture

• Stories• Rituals• Material Symbols• Language

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Managing Cultural Change

• Cultural change is most likely to take when the following conditions exist: Dramatic crisis exists or is created Turnover in leadership Young and small organization Weak culture

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Creating an EthicalOrganizational Culture

• Be a visible role model• Communicate ethical expectations• Provide ethical training• Visibly reward ethical acts and punish

unethical ones• Provide protective mechanisms

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Creating a Customer Responsive Culture

• Companies recognize this is the path to customer loyalty and long-term profitability

• Variables that are routinely evident: Type of employees Low formalization Widespread use of empowerment Good listening skills Role clarity Organizational citizenship behavior

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Managerial Action to Make Culture More Customer Responsive

• Selection • Training• Structural design • Empowerment • Leadership • Performance evaluation • Reward systems

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Implications for Managers

• Create the culture you want when the organization is small

• If established culture needs to be changed, expect it to take years

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Summary

1. Defined the common characteristics making up organizational culture

2. Contrasted strong and weak cultures3. Identified the functional and dysfunctional effects of

organizational culture on people4. Listed the factors that maintain an organization’s culture5. Identified and described the phases of organizational

socialization6. Clarified how employees learn an organization’s culture7. Explained how an ethical culture can be established8. Characterized a customer-responsive culture