Organizational Culture Excavating Your Organization for
Improved Performance
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Leadership: Culture Changers (to better fit with the external
environment Management: Changed by culture regardless of
organizational impact Organizational Culture is the basic pattern
of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs, considered the correct
way of thinking about and acting on problems and opportunities
facing the organization. Organizational culture defines what is
important and unimportant in the company. You might think of it as
the organizations DNA-invisible to the naked eye, yet a powerful
template that shapes what happens in the workplace. -McShane and
Von Glinow What is Organizational Culture?
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Organizational culture cannot exist independently from
organizational members. Shapes members and is shaped by members
Dynamic, not static Competing Values and Assumptions Cultures have
sub-cultures Emotionally ChargedComplexity Counter-Cultures:
Employees who are part of the counter-culture serve a role as
creative thinkers and question askers regarding the dominant
cultures relationship to its environment.
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1. Strong Cultures: When most employees across all sub-units
hold dominant assumptions and enacted values 2. Environmental fit
Culture is not good or bad by itself. Neither is it effective or
ineffective. Cultures utility depends on an ever fluid dynamic
between the organizational culture and the organizations external
environment. 3. Adaptive Cultures: External Focus Pay attention to
improvement of internal processes Strong Sense of Ownership
Proactive and quick Organizational Culture and Performance
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Cultural Levels Artifacts: Material Symbols, Language, Rituals,
Stories Espoused Values: Strategies, Goals, Public Statements,
other meetings Underlying Assumptions: DNA, invisible, not up for
debate, enacted values
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Artifacts Actual physical items that collectively communicate
culture. Material symbols: Actual physical items that collectively
communicate culture. Language: How organizational members address
each other, describe customers, express frustration, etc., are all
symbols and perpetuators of organizational values. Organizational
leaders use phrases, metaphors, and other vocabularies to
communicate shared values and community. Rituals and Ceremonies:
These are the routines of daily organizational life that indicate
an organizations culture and values. Traditions usually begin with
a purpose but soon to serve an identity affirming purpose. Stories
and Legends: Communicates culture when they describe real people,
are true, and are well known. Also, stories teach us what to do or
not to do.
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Espoused and Enacted Values Espoused Values do not represent an
organizations culture. Rather, they establish the public image
(internal and external) that leaders want to display. Often
articulated when you ask an organizational member about an artifact
Often articulated when you ask an organizational member about an
artifact Often these lists of values are ambiguous and even
contradictory Often these lists of values are ambiguous and even
contradictory Espoused Values, if effective and actualized, become
enacted values and can eventually get deeply rooted enough to
become assumptions. Espoused Values, if effective and actualized,
become enacted values and can eventually get deeply rooted enough
to become assumptions. The Most Central Issue for leaders,
therefore, is how to get at the deeper levels of culture, how to
assess the functionality of the assumptions made at that level, and
how to deal with the anxiety that is unleased when those levels are
challenged. Schein, 2004
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Underlying Assumptions Basic assumptions have become so taken
for granted that one finds little variation within a social unit.
In fact, if an enacted value becomes an assumption organizational
members will find based on any other assumption practically
inconceivable Human Nature Human Activity Time and Space Reality
and Truth The power of culture comes about through the fact that
assumptions are shared and, therefore, mutually reinforced. If one
does not decipher the pattern of basic assumptions that may be
operating, one will not know how to interpret the artifacts
correctly or how much credence to give to the articulated values.
Schein, 2004
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Underlying Assumptions 1. Innovation and risk taking. The
degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take
risks. 2. Attention to detail. The degree to which employees are
expected to exhibit precision, analysis, and attention to detail.
3. Outcome orientation. The degree to which management focuses on
results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and processes
used to achieve them. 4. People orientation. The degree to which
management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes
on people within the organization. 5. Team orientation. The degree
to which work activities are organized around teams rather than
individuals. 6. Aggressiveness. The degree to which people are
aggressive and competitive rather than easygoing. 7. Stability. The
degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the
status quo in contrast to growth. 8. Theory X/Theory Y. How are
people viewed and perceived 9. Work Accomplishment. How should work
get done?
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Cultural Levels Artifacts: Material Symbols, Language, Rituals,
Stories Espoused Values: Strategies, Goals, Public Statements,
other meetings Underlying Assumptions: DNA, invisible, not up for
debate, enacted values
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Assumptions and the Public Paradox The Paradox In the public
sector, culture, or sources of organizational behavior, can be
traced to the paradox which includes both a philosophical
expression of high ideals and aspirations (a positive force) and a
distrusting statement of constraints and limited powers (a negative
force). -Whorton and Worthley, 1981 Positive Force: Public Service
Motivation, Common Good, Organizational Purposes Negative Force:
Legislative Constraint, Bureaucracy, Public Perceptions of
Government work (and workers).
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Assumptions and the Public Paradox 3 Implications of the
Paradox 1. Leading in the Public Sector is more complicated than in
less paradoxical environments 2. Public Managers tend to underplay
or disclaim their accomplishments 3. Improving public management
will benefit from understanding Org Culture and the Paradox.
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Deciphering Culture Risks of Internal Analysis: Blinded by the
obvious The organization might not be ready to receive feedback
Outsider Risks: Only able to observe artifacts. Hawthorne
Studies/Heisenberg Principle
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Conditions for Culture Change A dramatic crisis This is a shock
that undermines the status quo and calls into question the
relevance of the current culture. Examples are a surprising
financial setback, the loss of a major customer, and a dramatic
technological breakthrough by a competitor. Turnover in leadership
New top leadership, which can provide an alternative set of key
values, may be perceived as more capable of responding to the
crisis Young and small organizations The younger the organization
the less entrenched its culture will be. Its also easier for
management to communicate new values when the organization is
small. Weak culture The more widely held a culture is and the
higher the agreement among members on its values, the more
difficult it will be to change. Weak cultures are more amenable to
change than strong ones. When the cultures are our own, they often
go unnoticed-until we try to implement a new strategy or program
which is incompatible with their central norms and values. Then we
observe, first hand, the power of culture. Kotter and Heskett
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How Leaders Embed and Transmit Culture Primary Embedding
Mechanisms : What leaders pay attention to, measure, and control
regularly How leaders react to critical incidents and
organizational crises How leaders allocate resources Deliberate
role modeling, teaching, and coaching How leaders allocate rewards
and status How leaders recruit, select, promote, and excommunicate
Secondary Articulation and Reinforcement Mechanisms Organizational
Design and Structure Organizational Systems and procedures Rites
and rituals of the organizations Design of physical space, facades,
and buildings Stories about important events and people Formal
statements of organizational philosophy, creeds, and charters
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Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument
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The Clan Culture A very friendly place to work where people
share a lot of themselves. It is like an extended family. The
leaders, or head of the organization, are considered to be mentors
and, maybe even parent figures. The organization is held together
by loyalty or tradition. Commitment is high. The organization
emphasizes the long-term benefit of human resource development and
attaches great importance to cohesion and morale. Success is
defined in terms of sensitivity to customers and concern for
people. The organization places a premium on teamwork,
participation, and consensus.
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Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument The Adhocracy
Culture A dynamic, entrepreneurial, and creative place to work.
People stick their necks out and take risks. The leaders are
considered to be innovators and risk takers. The glue that holds
the organization together is commitment to experimentation and
innovation. The emphasis is on being on the leading edge. The
organizations long term emphasis is on growth and acquiring new
resources. Success means gaining unique and new products or
services. Being a product or service leader is important. The
organization encourages individual initiative and freedom.
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Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument The Hierarchy
Culture A very formalized and structured place to work. Procedures
govern what people do. The leaders ride themselves on being good
coordinators and organizers, who are efficiency minded. Maintaining
a smooth-running organization is most critical. Formal rules and
policies hold the organization together. The long-term concern is
on stability and performance with efficient, smooth, operations.
Success is defined in terms of dependable delivery, smooth
scheduling, and low cost. The management of employees is concerned
with secure employment and predictability.
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Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument The Market Culture
A results oriented organization. The major concern is getting the
job done. People are competitive and goal-oriented. The leaders are
hard drivers, producers, and competitors. The are tough and
demanding. The glue that holds the organization together is an
emphasis on winning. Reputation and success are common concerns.
The long-term focus is on competitive actions and achievement of
measurable goals and targets. Success is defined in terms of market
share and penetration. Competitive pricing and market leadership
are important. The organizational style is hard-driving
competitiveness.
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Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument
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O.C.A.I. - Leaders Research respected since the 1940s suggest
that frontline supervisors are critical to the success of any
change effort HBR, 1996
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O.C.A.I. - HR The Effective HR manager must ensure, according
to Ulrichs research, that some elements of each of the four
cultures is represented in the organization It provides a way to
make the HR function more strategic, more inclusive, and more
rational. -Cameron and Quinn
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O.C.A.I. - TQM One review of the TQM literature pointed out
that a large percentage of total quality initiatives fail. Either
quality does not improve, or the initiatives are abandoned after a
short time. Two of the major reasons for this are partial
deployment and failure to integrate TQM and culture change.
-Cameron and Quinn
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Reach Consensus on the Current Culture Reach Consensus on the
Desired Culture Determine What Changes will Mean and not Mean
Identify Illustrative Stories Develop a Strategic Action Plan
Develop an Implementation Plan A Brief Formula for Culture Change A
change in culture, in the end, depends on the implementation of
behaviors by individuals in the organization that reinforce the new
cultural values and are consistent with them. It is possible to
identify a desired culture and to specify the strategies and
activities designed to produce change, but without the change
process becoming personalized, without individuals being willing to
engage in new behaviors, without an alteration in the managerial
competencies demonstrated in the organization, the organizations
fundamental culture WILL NOT change. -Cameron and Quinn
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Effective cultures are universally applicable Only top
management is responsible for organizational culture Talking about
changes to the culture will change the culture Organizational
culture is easy to change Organizational culture does not matter.
Pay is all that matters Organizational culture is easy to see and
to comprehend Organizational Culture Myths
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Organizational Culture Excavating Your Organization for
Improved Performance