Organizational Culture

Culture is the soul of the organization – the beliefs and values, and how they are manifested. Structure
is a skeleton, and as the flesh and blood. And culture is the soul that holds the thing together and gives
it life force.

Organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the
organization from other organizations. Primary characteristics that capture the essence of an
organization’s culture:

 Innovation and risk-taking. The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative
and take risks.
 Attention to details. The degree to which employees are expected to work with precision,
analysis and attention to detail.
 Outcome orientation. To which management focuses on results, or outcomes, rather than on
the techniques and processes used to achieve these outcomes.
 People orientation. To which decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on
people within organization.
 Team orientation. To which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals.
 Aggressiveness. To which people are competitive rather than easygoing and supportive.
 Stability. To which org activities emphasize the status quo in contrast to growth.

artifacts Aspects of an organization’s culture that you see, hear, and feel.

beliefs the understandings of how objects and ideas relate to each other.

values the stable, long-lasting beliefs about what is important.

assumptions the taken-for-granted notions of how something should be.

the lack of frequent face-to-face contact makes establishing a common set of norms very difficult.
Strong leadership that communicates frequently about common goals and priorities is especially
important in innovative organizations.

organizational climate the shared perceptions organizational members have about their organization
and work environment. A positive overall workplace climate has been linked to higher customer
satisfaction and financial performance as well. Climates can interact with one another to produce
behaviour as well as influences the habits people adopt.

How to ensure climate to be maintained and supported?

Create events for employees to support and reinforce its culture

Acknowledge excellence when you see it

Have extra committee to amuse guests on flights. (Might feel frivolous to spend time and money on this
but can be also viewed as a crucial component of cultural maintenance.)

”If you embrace people’s personalities rather than turn them into robots, and give them the guidelines
and the working environment to blossom, it creates something that’s very hard to reckon with.”

There’s a direct link between maintaining fun, upbeat culture and high customer satisfaction.

Top management also has major impact through words and behavoiur, establishment of norms,
whether risk-taking is desirable, how much freedom managers give their employees, what is appropriate
to dress, and what actions will pay off in terms of pay raises, promotions etc.

Good socialization (mentorship, orientation, trainings) will develop a new employee’s self-efficacy,
engagement, hope, optimism, and resilience. Consists of: prearrival, encounter, metamorphosis.

prearrival stage The period of learning in the socialization process that occurs before a new employee
joins the organization.

encounter stage The stage in the socialization process in which a new employee sees what the
organization is really like and confronts the possibility that expectations and reality may diverge.

metamorphosis stage The stage in the socialization process in which a new employee adjusts to the
values and norms of the job, work group, and organization.

Ethical climate theory

ethical work climate (EWC) The shared concept of right and wrong behaviour in the workplace that
reflects the true values of the organization and shapes the ethical decision-making of its members.

Of the nine identified climate categories, five have been found to be most prevalent in organizations:
instrumental, caring, independence, law and code, and rules.

most large organizations have a dominant culture and numerous subcultures. A dominant culture
expresses the core values a majority of members share and that give an organization its distinct
personality. Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations,
or experiences faced by groups of members in the same department or location.

strong culture - a culture in which the core values are intensely held and widely shared. A strong culture
builds cohesiveness, loyalty, and organizational commitment. These qualities, in turn, lessen employees’
tendency to leave the organization. the more employees agreed on customer orientation in a service
organization, the higher the profitability of the business unit. Another study found that when team
managers and team members disagreed about perceptions of organizational support, team members
experienced more negative moods, and the performance of teams was lower.

rituals Repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the key values of the organization;
what goals are most important; and which people are important, and which are expendable.

Strategies for Merging Cultures

 Assimilation. The new org is determined to take on the culture of one of the merging
organizations. Works best when one of them has a relatively weak culture.
 Separation. Orgs remain separated and keep their individual cultures. When orgs have little
overlap in the industries in which they operate.
 Integration. A new culture is formed by merging parts of each of the organizations. When
aspects of both orgs need to be improved.

Can culture be changed?

If the following conditions exist:

A dramatic crisis. A shock that undermines the status quo calls into question the relevance of the
current culture. Financial setback, loss of a major customer, dramatic technological breakthrough by a
competitor etc.

Turnover in leadership. New top executives can provide an alternative set of values, more capable of
responding to the crisis.

Young and small organizations. The younger the org, the less entrenched its culture will be/ easier to
communicate values.

Weak culture. Weak cultures are more open to change than strong ones.

--- two specific kinds of org. cultural change

Ethical Organizational Culture

Long-term perspective
Balances the rights of multiple stakeholders and the community

Managers are supported for taking risks and innovations; are discouraged from unbridled competition

Are guided to pay attention to how goals are achieved.

How to more ethical culture:

 Be a visible role model.

 Communicate ethical expectations
 Provide ethics training
 Visibly reward ethical acts and punish unethical ones
 Provide protective mechanisms
 Has to start from the top of the hierarchy; from the bottom as well

Positive Structure Organizational

emphasizes building on employee strengths, rewards more often than it punishes, and emphasizes
individual vitality and growth.

• reward systems generally signal the parts of the organizational culture that are valued.

• Culture can have both positive and negative effects on organizations.

• Organizational culture can make change diff cult, if not impossible.

rags-to-riches – из грязи в князи

Frivolous – легкомысленный, несерьезный

Penny-pinching - скупость

in times of austerity - времена жесткой экономии, строгость

Innocuous (silliness) – безобидный, безвредный, безопасный