Chapter 16OrganizationalCulture

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Learning Goals What is organizational culture, and what are its

components? What general and specific types can be used to describe

an organization’s culture? What is a strong culture, and what makes a culture

strong? Is a strong culture necessarily good? How do organizations maintain their culture? How do they

change it? What is person–organization fit? How does fitting with an

organization’s culture affect job performance and organizational commitment?

What steps can organizations take to make sure that newcomers will fit with their culture?

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Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is the shared social knowledge within an organization regarding the rules, norms, and values that shape the attitudes and behaviors of its employees.Culture is social knowledge among members of the

organization.Culture tells employees what the rules, norms, and

values are within the organization.Organizational culture shapes and reinforces certain

employee attitudes and behaviors by creating a system of control over employees.

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Culture Components

Observable artifacts are the manifestations of an organization’s culture that employees can easily see or talk about.Symbols can be found throughout an organization, from

its corporate logo to the images it places on its Web site to the uniforms its employees wear.

Physical structures are the organization’s buildings and internal office designs.

Language reflects the jargon, slang, and slogans used within the walls of an organization.

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Culture Components, Cont’d

Observable artifacts, continuedStories consist of anecdotes, accounts, legends, and

myths that are passed down from cohort to cohort within an organization.

Rituals are the daily or weekly planned routines that occur in an organization.

Ceremonies are formal events, generally performed in front of an audience of organizational members.

Espoused values are the beliefs, philosophies, and norms that a company explicitly states.Published documents, verbal statements made to

employees by managers.

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The Espoused Values of UPSA

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Culture Components, Cont’d

Basic underlying assumptions are taken-for-granted beliefs and philosophies that are so ingrained that employees simply act on them rather than questioning the validity of their behavior in a given situation.

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The Three Components of Organizational Culture

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General Culture Types

Fragmented culture is an organizational culture type in which employees are distant and disconnected from one another.

Mercenary culture is an organizational culture type in which employees think alike but are not friendly to one another.

Communal culture is an organizational culture type in which employees are friendly to one another, but everyone thinks differently and does his or her own thing.

Networked culture is an organizational culture type in which employees are friendly to one another and all think alike.

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A Typology of Organizational Culture

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Specific Culture Types

Customer service culture is a specific culture type focused on service quality.

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Specific Culture Types, Cont’d

Safety culture is a specific culture type focused on the safety of employees.A positive safety culture has been shown to reduce

accidents and increase safety-based citizenship behaviors.

Diversity culture is a specific culture type focused on fostering or taking advantage of a diverse group of employees.

Creativity culture is a specific culture type focused on fostering a creative atmosphere.

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Discussion Questions

Have you or a family member worked for an organization that you would consider to have a strong culture?

If so, what made the culture strong? Did you or they enjoy working there? What do you think led to that conclusion?

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Culture Strength

Culture strength exists when employees definitively agree about the way things are supposed to happen within the organization (high consensus) and when their subsequent behaviors are consistent with those expectations (high intensity).

Subcultures unite a smaller subset of the organization’s employees. Created because there is a strong leader in one area of the

company that engenders different norms and values Created because different divisions in a company act

independently and create their own cultures. Countercultures exist when a subcultures’ values do

not match those of the organization.

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Pros and Cons of a Strong CultureT

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Culture Strength and Subcultures

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Maintaining an Organizational Culture

Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) framework holds that potential employees will be attracted to organizations whose cultures match their own personality.Some potential job applicants won’t apply due to a

perceived lack of fit.Organizations will select candidates based on

whether their personalities fit the culture, further weeding out potential “misfits.”

Those people who still don’t fit will either be unhappy or ineffective when working in the organization.

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Discussion Question

When you think of the U.S. Postal Service’s culture, what kinds of words come to mind? Where do these impressions come from? Do

you think your impressions are accurate? What has the potential to make them inaccurate?

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Maintaining an Organizational Culture, Cont’d

Socialization is the primary process by which employees learn the social knowledge that enables them to understand and adapt to the organization’s culture.Anticipatory stage happens prior to an employee

spending even one second on the job.Encounter stage begins the day an employee starts

work.Reality shock is a mismatch of information that occurs when

an employee finds that aspects of working at a company are not what the employee expected it to be.

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Maintaining an Organizational Culture, Cont’d

Socialization, continuedUnderstanding and adaptation is the final

stage of socialization, during which newcomers come to learn the content areas of socialization and internalize the norms and expected behaviors of the organization.

The more quickly and effectively an employee is socialized, the sooner that employee becomes a productive worker within the organization.

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Dimensions Addressed in Most Socialization Efforts

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Changing an Organizational Culture

Changes in leadershipNew leaders bring their own ideas and values,

and leaders are expected to be a driving force for change.

Mergers and AcquisitionsTwo companies with distinct cultures are

merged to form a new culture. OB on Screen

In Good Company

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Why Do Some Organizations Have Different Cultures than

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How Important Is Organizational Culture?

Person–organization fit is the degree to which a person’s personality and values match the culture of an organization.Employees judge fit by thinking about the values they

prioritize the most, then judging whether the organization shares those values.

When employees feel that their values and personality match those of the organization, they experience higher levels of job satisfaction and feel less stress about their day-to-day tasks.

Employees also feel higher levels of trust toward their managers.

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Values Used to Judge Fit with an Organizational Culture

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Effects of Person–Organization Fit on Performance and Commitment

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Managing Socialization

Realistic job preview (RJP) is the process of ensuring that a potential employee understands both the positive and negative aspects of the potential job.One of the most inexpensive and effective

ways of reducing early turnover among new employees.

Occurs during the anticipatory stage of socialization during the recruitment process.

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Managing Socialization, Cont’d

Newcomer orientation session is a common form of training during which new hires to learn more about the organization.Effective way to start the socialization process.Effective transmitters of socialization content.

Employees who complete orientation have higher levels of satisfaction, commitment, and performance than those who don’t.

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Managing Socialization, Cont’d

Mentoring is a process by which a junior-level employee (protégé) develops a deep and long-lasting relationship with a more senior-level employee (mentor) within the organization.Can provide social knowledge, resources, and

psychological support to the protégé both at the beginning of employment and as the protégé continues his or her career with the company.

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Tactics Organizations Use to Socialize New Employees

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Takeaways

Organizational culture is the shared social knowledge within an organization regarding the rules, norms, and values that shape the attitudes and behaviors of its employees. There are three components of organizational culture: observable artifacts, espoused values, and basic underlying assumptions. Observable artifacts include symbols, physical structures, language, stories, rituals, and ceremonies.

An organization’s culture can be described on dimensions such as solidarity and sociability to create four general culture types: networked, communal, fragmented, and mercenary. Organizations often strive to create a more specific cultural emphasis, as in customer service cultures, safety cultures, diversity cultures, and creativity cultures.

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Takeaways, Cont’d

Strong cultures have the ability to influence employee behaviors and attitudes. Strong cultures exist when employees agree on the way things are supposed to happen and their behaviors are consistent with those expectations. Strong cultures are not necessarily good or bad. Generally, a culture’s effectiveness depends on how well it matches the company’s outside environment. To this degree, adaptive cultures can be very useful.

Organizations maintain their cultures through attraction, selection, and attrition processes and socialization practices. Organizations change their cultures by changing their leadership or through mergers and acquisitions.

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Takeaways, Cont’d

Person–organization fit is the degree to which a person’s values and personality match the culture of the organization. Person–organization fit has a weak positive effect on job performance and a strong positive effect on organizational commitment.

There are a number of practices organizations can utilize to improve the socialization of new employees, including realistic job previews, orientation programs, and mentoring.