Schermerhorn - Chapter 91 Chapter 9 Organizational Culture and Design 4 Planning Ahead –What is organizational culture? –What are current directions in

Schermerhorn - Chapter 9 1

Chapter 9

Organizational Culture and Design

Planning Ahead– What is organizational culture?– What are current directions in organizational

cultures?– What is organizational design?– What are current directions in subsystems and

work process design?


The Nature of Organizational Culture Organizational Culture is a systems of

shared beliefs and values that develop within an organization and guides the behavior of its members


Organizational Culture

What Strong Cultures Can Do– Strong cultures are

• clear, well defined

• widely shared among members– encourage positive or negative work behaviors

– performance oriented versus hinder performance

– emphasize teamwork



Elements of Organizational Culture– Observable culture

• stories

• heroes

• rites and rituals

• symbols

• Can you name 5 more items that are observable characteristics of culture in businesses? Such as office sizes.



Core Culture– Consists of core values that influence the

behavior of organizational members– Values are publicized in formal statements of

mission and purpose

– Core values can be negative – for example, take every minute of leave time.


Directions in Organizational Cultures Leadership and Organizational Culture

– Criteria of core values• relevance

• Pervasiveness(This is called integration in org. culture literature.)

• Strength (This is called intensity in org. literature.)


Directions in Organizational Cultures Symbolic Managers

– someone who uses symbols well to establish and maintain desired organizational culture

• use language metaphors• tell key stories and encourage others to tell them• tell about organizational heroes• use symbolic rites and rituals

• There are many theories of management. People in management are unlikely to talk about Symbolic Managers.

When managing think about cultural aspects to manage your organization. Some workers may work very hard all year to get a plaque.


Directions in Organizational Cultures Characteristics of multicultural

organizations:– Pluralism– Structural integration– Information network integration– Absence of prejudice and discrimination– Minimum inter-group conflict


Directions in Organizational Culture Ethical Organizational Cultures

– Ethical Climate• shared set of understandings about what is

considered ethically correct behavior

• establish clear guidelines to employee

• management and policies stand behind expectations of ethical behavior


Organizational Design

Organization Design– Process of aligning structures and culture

to best serve mission and objectives• shift from

– vertical to horizontal structure --throw in diagonal as we are also pulling people from different levels of org. at same time.

– authority driven to task driven



Bureaucratic Designs– Bureaucracies

• based on

– logic

– order

– legitimate use of formal authority



Bureaucracies

– feature• clear-cut division of labor• strict hierarchy of authority• formal rules and procedures • promotion based on competency


THE BURNS AND STALKER MODEL Suggest that there are two ends to a structural continuum. One end is mechanistic the other organic.

Mechanistic organizations: rigid in design and have strong

bureaucratic qualities.

Organic organizations: flexible in

structure and adaptive to change.



Mechanistic Designs– highly bureaucratic– more centralized authority– many rules and procedures– precise division of labor– narrow spans of control– formal means of coordination

– Note bureaucratic is pretty synonymous with mechanistic.



Adaptive/Organic Designs– operate with minimum of

bureaucratic features

– encourage worker empowerment

– based on team and network structures

– Willing to adapt as needed organic designs


Contingencies in Organizational Design Strategy

– “structure follows strategy”• stable strategy is supported by

– bureaucratic organizations using mechanistic designs

• growth oriented strategy is supported by

– adaptive organizations using organic designs (for instance international growth requires new international branches, departments.)


Contingencies in Organizational Design Size

– Larger organizations tend to be more bureaucratic

– Most larger organizations also combine some mechanistic and organic features.

– For instance, on campus – custodial staff and payroll departments are mechanistic but teaching departments are very organic—constant change in ed needs requires it.


Each part of an organization is a subsystem which

must be designed around work processes. Subsystem

– department or work unit headed by a manager– operates as smaller part of larger organization– serves the needs of larger organization– ideally each subsystem supports other subsystems

– Problems arise as tasks get complicated, there is a tendency for departments to be highly differentiated. For example, as a marketing department grows, advertising specialists develop, then advertising specialists who become specialists in just tv or radio.

– Integrating the whole marketing department becomes necessary.


Practical Conclusions

“These findings suggest that organizational failure in the face of environmental complexity probably results from a combination of high differentiation and inadequate integration.”

Needed organizational integration (coordination) can be achieved through formal hierarchy, standard policies and rules, departmentalization, computer networks, cross-functional teams, human relations training, and liaison individuals.


Subsystems Design and Work Process

Integration– level of internal coordination

– becomes harder to achieve with increased differentiation


Work Processes

Work Process– related group of tasks that create value for the customer

Process reengineering– systematic, complete analysis of work processes and

– design of new and better processes


Work Processes

Reengineering core processes– Process value analysis

• identify core processes

• map core processes in respect to workflows

• evaluate all tasks for core processes

• search for ways to eliminate unnecessary tasks

• search for ways to eliminate delays, errors, misunderstandings

• search for efficiencies in how work is shared and transferred

Documents

Schermerhorn - Chapter 91 Chapter 9 Organizational Culture and Design 4 Planning Ahead –What is organizational culture? –What are current directions in