1. Culture, Creativity, Innovation
Ch 14
April 13 & 15

2. Org Culture
Framework of attitudes, values, norms, expectations shared among org members
Difference between espoused and enacted cultures
Common dimensions:
Customer service sensitivity
Employee creativity
Risk-taking
Communication
Possible to have several cultures, called subcultures

3. Functions of Org Culture
Provides sense of identity
Strong cultures increase org commitment
Clarify norms, rules to newcomers

4. Deciphering Culture Use artifacts – observable symbols
way visitors greeted, physical layout, how ees are rewarded, websites
Survey employees
but may get espoused culture, not enacted
Observation
Best approach is combination

5. Identifying Culture Goffee & Jones (98) – Double S Cube
2 dimensions of culture –
Sociability (friendliness of members)
Can promote creativity or can promote ingroup/outgroup distinctions
Solidarity (share understanding of tasks)
Can increase coordination or can promote ingroup/outgroup distinctions

6. Double S Cube
Combination of 2 dimensions results in 4 types of cultures:
Possibility of different subcultures; changes over time; no data on which is best
Low Solidarity
High Solidarity
Low Sociability
Fragmented
Mercenary
High Sociability
Networked
Communal

7. Formation of Culture Impact of org founder’s personality
Adaptation to marketplace/environment
How is culture learned?
Symbols – buildings, slogans
Stories about org history
Use of org-specific acronyms
Rituals/ceremonies
Mission statements

8. Culture and Performance
Impact on performance? Subtle..
Form of social control influencing ee decisions
Helps coworkers bond together (cohesive teams)
May improve communication if shared values

9. Changing Cultures What affects change in cultures?
Shift in workplace demographics
Mergers and Acquisitions (combine cultures)
Strategies for merging cultures:
Assimilation (acquired ees embrace culture of acquiring org)
Deculturation (acquiring org imposes culture)
Integration (combine 2 cultures into new one)
Separation (leave 2 existing culture ‘as is’)

10. Strengthening Cultures
Actions of leaders
Introduce culturally consistent rewards
Maintain stable workforce
Selection process (screen for culture fit)
Socialization process (mold new ees)

11. Creativity Production of novel, useful ideas
Can be trained; can use group methods (Delphi)
3 components of creativity
Must have basic relevant skills in area
Creativity skills needed
Tolerate ambiguity, withhold early judgment
Productive forgetting (give up old ideas)
Creativity heuristics (ways to approach tasks)
Intrinsic motivation – must want to do task
Multiplicative relationship betw 3 components (creativity = 0 if any one is 0)

12. Innovation
Orgs have to innovate to survive, but innovation may be resisted & become political
Implement creative ideas within org
Org must have culture that values innovation
Must have resources (financial, people)
Management linked w/innovation
Linked with goals, rewards, balances time pressures

13. Most Innovative Orgs (based on patents)
1 – General Electric = 50,837 patents
2 – IBM = 32,498 patents
3 – Westinghouse Electric = 28,005
4 – AT&T = 23,948
5 – General Motors = 23,559
6- Du Pont
7 – Hitachi
8 – Eastman Kodak
9 – Canon
10 – U.S. Navy = 17,805

14. Innovation
Case studies of innovative orgs reveal presence of 1 or more ‘idea champions’
People who guide innovative idea through development & implementation process
Howell & Higgens (90) study comparing champions v non-champions who worked on same project:
Champions exhibited more risk-taking, transformational leadership, charisma
Usually an informal role

15. Innovation Communication – w/external environment
“Gatekeepers” – span boundary betw org and environment, translate info for local use, disseminate info to project members
Ex) “Competitive Intelligence” unit at State Farm – scan market info, competitor’s ideas
Or…get info from customers themselves (focus groups with policyholders at SF)
Internal communication best with culture of decentralization, informality

16. Innovation Resources – not only money, but time
Cultures that value freedom and autonomy most cited org factors leading to innovation
3M dictates scientists reserve 15% of time for personal projects
IDEO – product design firm
Not experts in any product area, but experts in process of innovation
See website for shopping cart prototype

17. Best Practices in Innovation
Set challenging goals
Produce more innovative ideas than if only given modest goal (more brainstorming)
Introducing diversity/new ideas
Some orgs bring in execs from outside their industry to get new perspective
Create opportunities for talented ees
Allow ees to move around internally w/o having to give up job title (GE)
Reward innovation – w/share of profits (GE)