Problem 3 – McKenna & article
Organizational or corporate culture: consideration of organization values and norms, with the
focus on assumptions and beliefs. Consists of the behaviors, actions and values that people in an
enterprise are expected to follow.
Schein, 1990: a pattern of basic assumptions developed by a given group, as it learns to cope with
its problems of external adaptation and integral integration well enough to be valid, and to be
taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel.
Adaptation: helps the organization adapt to its external environment, meeting of organizational
goals and dealing with outside influences (costumers and competition). There will only be
appropriate adaptation if all the members care deeply about company’s competitive performance.
Integration: members develop a collective identity and work well together, concerned with day-to-
day working relationships and communication within the organization
Organization culture exerts the greatest influence on individual behavior and actions when it is
taken for granted. Organization culture is such a powerful influence on employees because it is not
explicit, instead it’s an implicit part of the employees’ values ad beliefs.
TYPES OF CULTURE
Culture vs Climate
- Culture is based on the history and traditions of the organization with the emphasis of
values and norms, whereas, climate is concerned with the current atmosphere within the
organization.
- Climate looks at the current connections and incorporates communication networks,
rewards systems and leadership styles.
- Climate is more easily changed by management but culture is about the historical context
so it’s harder to change in short term.
- Most descriptions of climate ignore values and norms.
- Climate is not as subtle as culture and is more connected to morale.
- Both related to social context. Culture is taught, climate is not.
Dominant vs Sub-cultures
- Many big companies have a dominant culture and many cells of sub-cultures which are
attached to different roles, functions and levels.
- A dominant culture reflects core values that are shared by the majority of the employees.
- Sub-cultures are found in departments or divisions and reflect the common problems or
experiences of employees in those areas.
- A sub-culture can also consist of core values of dominant culture as well as unique values.
- There could be differences between one sub-culture and another.
- Sub-cultures can be beneficial if they adopt a common sense of purpose but problems may
arise where they have different priorities.
Strong vs Weak cultures
- A strong culture will have a significant influence on the behavior of employees because of
the intensity with which people are attached and share the core values.
, - The stronger the culture of an organization, the less management need to be concerned
with developing formal rules and regulations to guide employee behavior.
- Strong cultures make a greater impact on the cohesiveness, loyalty & commitment and
encourage people to stay rather than leave.
- Organizations with stronger cultures perform better than those who don’t have a culture.
- A strong culture is also a liability because it might not accommodate the diverse behaviors
and strengths that people of different background can bring to the organization.
- A strong culture can also be a barrier when change is needed.
o Inertia: clinging to beliefs
o Inattention: bias against feedback
o Immoderation: foolish risk taking
o Insularity: failure to adapt to environment
- Sometimes strong cultures can become barriers to change when the old days are not valid
anymore.
- If there is little agreement among members about the core values, the culture is said to be
weak.
BENEFITS OF CULTURE – vision, direction, effectiveness, attracting staff
Effective control:
- Organization culture acts as a control mechanism in regulating behavior, people register
what should and shouldn’t do with culture.
Normative order:
- The use of norms to guide behavior is connected with effective control.
- Norms in strong cultures they attract wide support and promote agreement.
- In weak cultures agreement may be there but support is weak.
- The problem with strong cultures is the difficulty in changing the strategies and behaviors
when business conditions demand different directions.
- The company performance is reinforced when strong cultures support the right strategy
and norms are supportive of change.
Promotion of innovation
- Innovation can be seen as an activity connected with the generation of new processes,
products or services.
- The culture can encourage creative thinking by the development of norms that support
promotion of innovation.
- Certain norms: encouraging risk-taking, tolerance of failure, intrinsic/extrinsic rewards for
accepting change, emphasis on results & achievement, open communication, autonomy,
teamwork useful to support process of innovation
Employee commitment
- Interaction of people and culture has reinforcing qualities, resulting in commitment.
- Commitment goes through 3 stages:
Compliance: to obtain material benefit.
Identification: when demands of the culture are accepted for good relationships at work
Internalization: adoption to culture produces intrinsic satisfaction because they fall in line
with their personal values.
- Widespread internalization is indicative of a strong culture.
Organizational or corporate culture: consideration of organization values and norms, with the
focus on assumptions and beliefs. Consists of the behaviors, actions and values that people in an
enterprise are expected to follow.
Schein, 1990: a pattern of basic assumptions developed by a given group, as it learns to cope with
its problems of external adaptation and integral integration well enough to be valid, and to be
taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel.
Adaptation: helps the organization adapt to its external environment, meeting of organizational
goals and dealing with outside influences (costumers and competition). There will only be
appropriate adaptation if all the members care deeply about company’s competitive performance.
Integration: members develop a collective identity and work well together, concerned with day-to-
day working relationships and communication within the organization
Organization culture exerts the greatest influence on individual behavior and actions when it is
taken for granted. Organization culture is such a powerful influence on employees because it is not
explicit, instead it’s an implicit part of the employees’ values ad beliefs.
TYPES OF CULTURE
Culture vs Climate
- Culture is based on the history and traditions of the organization with the emphasis of
values and norms, whereas, climate is concerned with the current atmosphere within the
organization.
- Climate looks at the current connections and incorporates communication networks,
rewards systems and leadership styles.
- Climate is more easily changed by management but culture is about the historical context
so it’s harder to change in short term.
- Most descriptions of climate ignore values and norms.
- Climate is not as subtle as culture and is more connected to morale.
- Both related to social context. Culture is taught, climate is not.
Dominant vs Sub-cultures
- Many big companies have a dominant culture and many cells of sub-cultures which are
attached to different roles, functions and levels.
- A dominant culture reflects core values that are shared by the majority of the employees.
- Sub-cultures are found in departments or divisions and reflect the common problems or
experiences of employees in those areas.
- A sub-culture can also consist of core values of dominant culture as well as unique values.
- There could be differences between one sub-culture and another.
- Sub-cultures can be beneficial if they adopt a common sense of purpose but problems may
arise where they have different priorities.
Strong vs Weak cultures
- A strong culture will have a significant influence on the behavior of employees because of
the intensity with which people are attached and share the core values.
, - The stronger the culture of an organization, the less management need to be concerned
with developing formal rules and regulations to guide employee behavior.
- Strong cultures make a greater impact on the cohesiveness, loyalty & commitment and
encourage people to stay rather than leave.
- Organizations with stronger cultures perform better than those who don’t have a culture.
- A strong culture is also a liability because it might not accommodate the diverse behaviors
and strengths that people of different background can bring to the organization.
- A strong culture can also be a barrier when change is needed.
o Inertia: clinging to beliefs
o Inattention: bias against feedback
o Immoderation: foolish risk taking
o Insularity: failure to adapt to environment
- Sometimes strong cultures can become barriers to change when the old days are not valid
anymore.
- If there is little agreement among members about the core values, the culture is said to be
weak.
BENEFITS OF CULTURE – vision, direction, effectiveness, attracting staff
Effective control:
- Organization culture acts as a control mechanism in regulating behavior, people register
what should and shouldn’t do with culture.
Normative order:
- The use of norms to guide behavior is connected with effective control.
- Norms in strong cultures they attract wide support and promote agreement.
- In weak cultures agreement may be there but support is weak.
- The problem with strong cultures is the difficulty in changing the strategies and behaviors
when business conditions demand different directions.
- The company performance is reinforced when strong cultures support the right strategy
and norms are supportive of change.
Promotion of innovation
- Innovation can be seen as an activity connected with the generation of new processes,
products or services.
- The culture can encourage creative thinking by the development of norms that support
promotion of innovation.
- Certain norms: encouraging risk-taking, tolerance of failure, intrinsic/extrinsic rewards for
accepting change, emphasis on results & achievement, open communication, autonomy,
teamwork useful to support process of innovation
Employee commitment
- Interaction of people and culture has reinforcing qualities, resulting in commitment.
- Commitment goes through 3 stages:
Compliance: to obtain material benefit.
Identification: when demands of the culture are accepted for good relationships at work
Internalization: adoption to culture produces intrinsic satisfaction because they fall in line
with their personal values.
- Widespread internalization is indicative of a strong culture.
