1

Chapter 15Organizational

Culture

2

What Is Organizational Culture?

Sample Culture Bases:1. Innovative and risk-taking

2. Attentive to detail

3. Outcome orientated

4. People orientated

5. Team orientated

6. Aggressive, competitive

7. Stable, predictable

Organizational CultureThe norms, values, beliefs, assumptions, shared mental models, etc., held by the organization’s members; a system of shared meaning.

3

Culture and Performance

Culture impacts performance via:• Social control, generates commitment to

something larger than “self”• Social glue and stability, sense of identity• Sense-making:

- Reduces confusion (especially with diversity)

4

Artifacts ofCulture

Core ofCulture

Espoused Culturevs.

Enacted Culture?Stories (Heroes)

Language/Usage

Rules & Policies

Physical Structures

Rituals/Ceremonies

NormsBeliefsValues

AssumptionsMental Models

Elements of Org. Culture

5

How Employees Learn Culture?

• Stories• Rituals• Material Symbols• Language

6

• Founding leaders, legends, histories• Subsequent leadership influence:

- What’s rewarded and punished?- Where are budgets allocated?- Who’s hired, how are they socialized?

• Member exchanges and interactions• Stability of workforce

How are organizational cultures created and maintained?

7

Keeping Culture Alive

• Top Management:- Managers establish norms that permeate the

company; this happens as they reward and/or punish different behaviors, establish rules and policies, emphasize stories and rituals, set company budgets and priorities, and so on.

• Selection (when hiring):- Hiring candidates who “fit” into the company.- Provides information to candidates about the

company (and candidates also choose).

• Socialization:- Helps new employees adapt to the culture.

8

What else can cultures do?

Cultures as liability:• Barriers to change• Barriers to mergers and acquisitions• Barriers to diversity

9

Creating an Ethical Culture

• Strong culture• High risk tolerance• Low-to-moderate aggressiveness• Focus on means as well as outcomes• Managers must:

- be visible role models- communicate ethical expectations- provide ethics training- visibly reward ethical and punish unethical acts - provide protective mechanisms

10

Positive cultures emphasize:• Building on employee strengths• Rewarding more than punishing• Clear and unambiguous reinforced (and

consistently lived) community values• Emphasizing vitality and growth of the

employee:– Clear and unambiguous trust

Creating a Positive Culture