Chapter 16 Organizational Culture McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 16-2 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?

Slide 16-3 Organizational Culture  Organizational culture  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.

Slide 16-4 Culture Components  Observable artifacts  Symbols  Physical structures  Language

Slide 16-5 Culture Components, Cont’d  Observable artifacts, continued  Stories  Rituals  Ceremonies  Espoused values  Published documents, verbal statements made to employees by managers.

Slide 16-6 The Espoused Values of UPS Adapted from Table 16-1

Slide 16-7 Culture Components, Cont’d  Basic underlying assumptions

Slide 16-8 The Three Components of Organizational Culture Figure 16-1

Slide 16-9 General Culture Types  Fragmented culture  Mercenary culture  Communal culture  Networked culture

Slide A Typology of Organizational Culture Figure 16-2

Slide Specific Culture Types  Customer service culture Figure 16-3

Slide Specific Culture Types, Cont’d  Safety culture  A positive safety culture has been shown to reduce accidents and increase safety-based citizenship behaviors.  Diversity culture  Creativity culture

Slide 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?

Slide Culture Strength  Culture strength  Subcultures  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

Slide Pros and Cons of a Strong Culture Table 16-2

Slide Culture Strength and Subcultures Figure 16-4

Slide Maintaining an Organizational Culture  Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) framework  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.

Slide 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?

Slide Maintaining an Organizational Culture, Cont’d  Socialization  Anticipatory stage  Encounter stage  Reality shock

Slide Maintaining an Organizational Culture, Cont’d  Socialization, continued  Understanding and adaptation  The more quickly and effectively an employee is socialized, the sooner that employee becomes a productive worker within the organization.

Slide Dimensions Addressed in Most Socialization Efforts Figure 16-5

Slide Changing an Organizational Culture  Changes in leadership  New leaders bring their own ideas and values, and leaders are expected to be a driving force for change.  Mergers and Acquisitions  OB on Screen  In Good Company

Slide Why Do Some Organizations Have Different Cultures than Others? Figure 16-6

Slide How Important Is Organizational Culture?  Person–organization fit  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.

Slide Values Used to Judge Fit with an Organizational Culture Adapted from Table 16-3

Slide Effects of Person–Organization Fit on Performance and Commitment Figure 16-7

Slide Managing Socialization  Realistic job preview  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.

Slide Managing Socialization, Cont’d  Newcomer orientation  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.

Slide Managing Socialization, Cont’d  Mentoring  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.

Slide Tactics Organizations Use to Socialize New Employees Table 16-4

Slide 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.

Slide 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.

Slide 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.