cultural approaches: organizations as cultures

organizational culture
Click the card to flip 👆
1 / 28
Terms in this set (28)
organizational culture
a system of shared values, behavior patterns, norms, symbols, and attitudes that creates and maintains a certain way of life
properties of organizational culture
learned product of group experience, expressed through various forms such as symbols rituals stories and heroes, socially constructed
cultures "have"
just another variable or property of an organization. prescriptive.
cultures "are"
culture makes the organization what it is. descriptive.
prescriptive view of culture
all organizations have cultures in addition to other properties such as structure size and complexity, culture influences member behavior and organizational effectiveness, organizations can shape and define their cultures, the organization should cultivate a culture that makes it more effective.
strong cultures
clear set of values, consistently communicated, permeates organization, all employees buy into the culture
feedback and reward
how long it takes to get feedback knowing how one is performing and the rewards connected to good performance
risk and uncertainty
how much risk is there in the job and what is the level of uncertainty
work hard play hard
stress comes from the quantity of work rather than uncertainty, high speed action leading to high speed reaction. ex: restaurants, software companies
tough guy macho cultures
stress comes from high risk and potential loss/gain of reward, focus on the present rather than the longer term future. ex: police, surgeons, sports, stock brokers
process cultureslow stress, steady work, comfort and security. stress may come from internal politics and stupidity of the system. development of bureaucracies and other ways of maintaining the status quo. focus on security of past and future. ex: banks, insurance companies, school teachersbet the company culturesstress coming from high risk and delay before knowing if actions have paid off, the long view is taken but much work is put into making sure things happen as planned. ex: aircraft manufacturers, oil companieslimitations of the prescriptive vieworganizations should consciously develop rights and rituals to create the kind of culture that companies wantemergent view of culture basic assumptionscultures are complex, cultures are emergent, cultures grow slowly and organically, there may be multiple cultures and subcultures in an organization, cultures may be ambiguousartifactthings we see in the culture (picture, arrangement of room, mission statement)valuesit is important to take initiative to set ambitious goals "customer is always right"basic assumptionsthe organization should control its environment. action is better than reflection. people want to excel. eagle doesn't sit back and analyze it, they go do it.cultures are performedcreated through acting it out- dramatism, manifesting of formcharacteristics of performancethey are interactive, they are embedded context, they are improvisational (keeps the culture alive and is part of the way it is socially constructred)ritualsrepetitive sequences of behaviors and communicative acts that have meaning for the members of the organization. Structure life in the organization (eagle army oath-manufacturing company who takes this oath to live by the values and fly above the crowd). Maintain social fabric. Rituals help create and sustain cultures.storiesinformation about the organization, provides a "map" of how things happen, humanizes the organization (stories makes things human in a way facts/ reasoning don't).metaphorportrays organization or some part of it as like another familiar phenomenon, theme underlying multiple performances, gives the person a sense of familiarity. Example- Disneyland: close relationships with co workers, walt Disney seen as father figure.mission statementdefines organizational fundamental purpose, sets it apart from other organizations, states organization's business approach.cultures change slowlyfounder's influence(new managers effect the company), cultures tend to be embedded in multiple elements and therefore firmly anchored (embedded in stories, mission statements, rituals which all reinforce each other). subcultures complicate cultural change, must enlist most members of the organization(cannot be from the top down)how do researchers study organizational culturetrying to find out understanding is done by ethnography. qualitative/interpretive methods usedstrengths of organizational culture perspectivefocuses on meaning of the organization to its members, recognizes the importance of symbolic and affective side of the organization, recognizes the role of all members in creating and sustaining a viable organizationchallenges for prescriptive viewtaken to the extreme each cultural type may lead to counterproductive behavior, trying to create a strong culture can foster a repressed and conformist organizationchallenges for descriptive viewchanging cultures is difficult and risky, may divert our attention from the role of power in organizations