Culture and/or Climate in the Workplace—Do They Matter?
Using this week’s content and resources as a start, locate three research studies that support the premise that better managers are those who pursue an understanding of the culture and/or climate of their organization. Why does it matter to gain insight about the culture and/or climate in the workplace? Use online, peer-reviewed journal research (case study research is preferred) to inform your writing. Summarize the takeaways from the articles that can support greater skill in managing people.
*Post must be a minumum of 250 words
Understanding
Organizational Culture
What is Culture:
The way we do it.
We do it this way.
! “Culture is the sum total of all the
shared, taken-for-granted assumption
s
that a group has learned throughout its
history” (Schein, 1999)
! “The qualities of any specific human
group that are passed from one
generation to the next” (Kotter and
Heskett, 1992)
! “The way we do things around
here” (Bower, 1999)
Defining Culture
What does culture do for group
members?
! Trice and Beyer (1993) believe that
cultures in organizations arise to solve the
problems of uncertainty and ambiguity in
social order. “Cultures provide
organizational members with more or less
articulated sets of ideas that help them
individually and collectively to cope with all
of these uncertainties and
ambiguities” (pp. 1-2).
What does Culture do for
Members?
! These ideas are the substance of cultures.
! They are not rationally based belief systems.
Rather, they are implicit sets of taken-for-granted
beliefs, values, and norms more emotionally
charged and resistant to change than rational
beliefs.
! Cultures are made up of both ideological
substance and of cultural forms—“observable
entities, including actions, through which
members of a culture express, affirm, and
communicate the substance of their culture to
one another” (p. 2).
Assumptions
Expressed
Values
Visible
Culture
Levels of
Organizational
Culture
Schein’s Three-Layer
Organizational Model
Examples of Cultural
Attributes
– Documents
– Physical layouts
– Furnishings
– Language
– Jargon
– Work ethic and practice
– Loyalty
– Commitment
– Helping others
I
Artifacts and
Creations
“What we do /
create”
II
Values
“What we
believe”
III
Basic
Assumptions
“What is true”
Visible but often not
decipherable
Greater level of
awareness
Taken for granted
invisible preconscious
Another view: 2 Levels of
Organizational Culture
Observable Symbols
Ceremonies, Stories, Slogans,
Behaviors, Dress,
Physical Settings
Underlying
Values,
Assumptions,
Beliefs, Attitudes,
Feelings
Different Types of Cultures
! Cameron & Quinn (1999) developed the
“Competing Values Framework” to
describe different types of organizational
cultures. This framework is based on two
dimensions:
! Flexibility versus stability
! Internal focus versus external focus.
! Four culture types represent opposite or
competing values
Different Types of Culture
(Cameron & Quinn, 1999)
Flexibility
F
o
c
u
s
Adhocracy
Culture
Clan
Culture
Bureaucratic
Culture
Mission
Culture
Flexible
External
Internal
Stable
Adhocracy Culture
! A dynamic, entrepreneurial, and creative place
to work. People stick their necks out and take
risks.
! The leaders are considered 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
and growth.
! Success means gaining unique and new
products or services.
! Encourages individual initiative and freedom.
Bureaucratic Culture
! A very formalized and structured place to work.
Procedures govern what people do.
! The leaders pride 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.
! Success is defined in terms of dependable
delivery, smooth scheduling, and low cost.
! The long-term concern is on stability and
performance with efficient, smooth operations.
Clan Culture
! A very friendly place to work where people share
a lot of themselves. It is like an extended family.
! The leaders, or heads of the organization, are
considered mentors and perhaps even parent
figures.
! The organization is held together by loyalty or
tradition. Commitment is high.
! Attaches great importance to cohesion and
morale.
! Success is defined in terms of sensitivity to
customers and concern for people.
! Places a premium on teamwork, participation,
and consensus.
Market Culture
! A results-oriented organization whose major
concern is with getting the job done. People are
competitive and goal-oriented.
! The leaders are hard drivers, producers, and
competitors. They are tough and demanding.
! The glue that holds the organization together is
an emphasis on winning.
! 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.
! The organizational style is hard-driving
competitiveness.
QUESTION:
! Out of these four culture types, which do
you think best describes your
organization?
! Do we, in general, over-emphasize one
culture type over others, and is this a good
thing?
! Which type of culture would be best for:
! Your overall organization
! Your department
! A community group
Aspects of Organizational
Culture – Values &
Assumption Level
• Individual initiative
• Risk tolerance
•
Direction
•
Integration
•
Management support
•
Control
•
Identity
•
Reward system
•
Conflict tolerance
• Communication
patterns
Individual Initiative
✦ The degree of responsibility, freedom,
and independence that individuals have
(Robbins, S. P., 1994)
Risk Tolerance
✦ The degree to which members are
encouraged to be aggressive,
innovative, and risk taking
(Robbins, S. P., 1994)
Direction
✦ The degree to which the organization
creates clear objectives and
performance expectations
(Robbins, S. P., 1994)
Integration
✦ The degree to which units within the
organization are encouraged to operate
in a coordinated manner
(Robbins, S. P., 1994)
Management support
✦ The degree to which managers provide
clear communication, assistance, and
support to their subordinates
(Robbins, S. P., 1994)
Control
✦ The number of rules and regulations,
and the amount of direct supervision
that is used to oversee and control
employee behavior
(Robbins, S. P., 1994)
Identity
✦ The degree to which members identify
with the organization as a whole rather
than with their particular work group or
field of professional expertise
(Robbins, S. P., 1994)
Reward system
✦ The degree to which reward allocation
are based on members performance
criteria in contrast to seniority,
favoritism, and so on
(Robbins, S. P., 1994)
Conflict tolerance
✦ The degree to which members are
encouraged to air conflicts and
criticisms openly
(Robbins, S. P., 1994)
Communication patterns
✦ The degree to which organizational
communications are restricted to the
formal hierarchy of authority
(Robbins, S. P., 1994)
The Socialization (enculturation)
process
! Socialization refers to the process by
which people become “us” and join our
shared culture.
3 Stages of the Socialization Process
Pre-arrival
Encounter
Metamorphosis
Stages of Socialization
! Anticipatory Socialization (pre-arrival)
! Involves all those activities the individual
undertakes prior to entering the
organization or to taking a different role in
the same organization.
! Accommodation (encounter /
metamorphisis)
! Occurs after the individual becomes a
member of the organization. During this
stage, the individual sees the organization
and the job for what they actually are.
Question
! What is the enculturation process for your
church?
! Are you intentional about how people join /
become acculturated?
Different Levels of Cultures
in the Organization
! Dominant Culture
! Sub
culture
! Strong culture
! Weak culture
A Dominant Culture
! Expresses the core values that
shared by a majority of the
organization’s members.
(Schein, 1992, p. 247)
Subcultures
! Subcultures tend to develop in
large organizations to reflect
common problems, situations, or
experiences that members face.
(Schein, 1992, p. 247)
Strong versus Weak Cultures
! Strong cultures have a great impact
on employee behavior
! A strong culture is characterized by
the organization’s core values being
both intensely held and widely
shared.
(Schein, 1992, p. 247)
The Evolution of a Positive
Culture
Methods
– Elaborate on history
– Communicate about and by
“heroes” and others
– Leadership and role making
– Communicating norms and
values
– Reward systems
– Recruiting and staffing
– Training and development
– Member contact
– Participative decision making
– Intergroup coordination
H
O
M
E
Develop a sense
of History
Create a sense of
Oneness
Promote a sense
of Membership
Increase Exchange
among members
Cohesive
organizational
culture
Intervening Conditions Outcome
REMEMBER:
People do not change their values, for
example, by simply being told that they
should. Rather, norms, beliefs, values
and assumptions are usually the
product of repeated experiences
extended over a lengthy period of time
in combination with implicit or explicit
reflections on both the nature of those
experiences and the extent to which
they were personally satisfying.
Leithwood, et al. (1999)
Leaders must understand
! The only thing of real importance that
leaders do is to create and manage
culture
! The unique talent of leaders is their
ability to work with culture.
! The right kind of culture will influence
how effective organizations are
Schein (1985)
Leaders should develop:
! The right kind of culture to match their
mission and vision
! A culture of quality (Schein, 1992)
! A culture rooted in biblical values,
honoring their denominational
heritage, values all members, and is
relevant to today’s culture (Markow)
The Bottom Line for Leaders
! If they do not become conscious
of the cultures in which they are
embedded, those cultures will
manage them.
(Schein, 1992)