Organizational Culture and Control

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Organizational Culture and Control
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Organizational culture and the control of
behavior in organizations

• What is organizational culture?
• What is its relationship to organizational design
  and decision making?
• How is culture a mechanism of control?
• Can we manage and change culture?

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What is organizational culture?

• Way of life in an organization (Hatch)
• Collective phenomena that reflect peoples
  responses to uncertainties and chaos (Trice
  Beyer)
• Pattern of basic assumptions that group uses to
  cope with problems of internal integration and
  external adaptation (Schein)

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Scheins Three Levels of Organizational Culture
Set of assumptions, values, norms, and
expectations that are shared among organizational
members
Visible, but difficult to decipher
Artifacts and behaviors
Values
Some awareness
Assumptions
Taken for granted
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Sources of Organizational Culture

• National ideology differences in cultural
  values
• Industrial ideology banking vs. advertising
• Occupational ideology scientists vs. artists
• Regional and community values north vs. south
  urban vs. rural
• Values of leaders and founders McWane
  Industries vs. American Cast Iron Company

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National Cultural Differences

• Different value orientations across cultures
• General values Kluckhohn Strodbecks work
• Work values Hofstedes and Bonds work

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Kluckholm Strodbecks Value Orientations
 
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Work Values Across Cultures(Hofstede)
Individualism vs. Collectivism Uncertainty
Avoidance Power Distance Career Success vs.
Quality of Life Confucian Dynamism
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Other Values that Affect Work Behavior

• Universalism vs. particularism principles vs.
  relationships guide decisions/actions
• Monochronicity vs. polychronicity sense of
  time linearity vs. multi-tasking
• High vs. low context context gives meaning or
  not

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Limitations of Reliance on Cultural Values

• These are generalizations---inaccurate and
  sometimes dangerous to apply to any one
  individual
• They are first best guesses prior to learning
  more about the culture
• They should be consciously held to allow for
  learning and modification to occur
• Despite globalization, differences between
  cultures are not disappearing quickly

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Cultural Artifacts Deciphering the Meanings
Embedded in the Organizational Culture

• Physical Manifestations
• Behavioral Manifestations
• Verbal Manifestations

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Physical Manifestations

• Physical layout of office buildings and plants
  (e.g., office design use of space)
• Décor/art/logos (e.g., ceiling and wall hangings,
  use of color and form, lighting)
• Dress and appearance (casual vs. formal
  uniforms)
• Material objects (e.g., furniture, equipment,
  tools)

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Behavioral Manifestations

• Ceremonies and rituals
• Communication patterns
• Traditions and customs
• Rewards and punishments

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Verbal Manifestations

• Anecdotes and jokes
• Jargon, nicknames, and acronyms
• Stories, myths, historical narratives
• Heroes and villains
• Metaphors and proverbs
• Explanations of how things work around here

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How Do We Measure Culture?

• Clinical Approach observation, interviews,
  ethnographical methods of observation and
  descriptive feedback
• Survey approaches questionnaires
• Q-sorts 54 characteristics are sorted into
  piles that are most characteristic/least
  characteristic of organization

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Relationship of Culture to Organizational Design

• Organizational design affects and is affected by
  organizational culture
• Mutual reinforcement of desired behaviors
• Fit between design elements and cultural values
• Culture as an alternative control system

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Relationship of Culture to Organizational Design

• Hierarchy
• Many vs. few levels
• Authority and responsibility centers
• Strategy formulation processes
• Top-down vs. emergent from below
• Work flow processes and technology
• Interdependence vs. independence
• Departmentalization
• Functional vs. self-contained units
• Creation of subcultures

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Human Resource Systems and Culture

• Socialization practices
• Communication practices
• Selecting the right people
• Weeding out the wrong people
• Training
• Promotion and Reward systems
• Succession leadership

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Culture and Organizational Control

• What is organizational control?
• How do we get individuals with divergent
  interests to pull together to focus on
  organizational goals?

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Behavioral Methods of Control

• Use of hierarchy
• Rules, procedures, documentation, and supervisory
  surveillance
• Individual performance appraisal
• Unit level budgeting processes
• Organizational level statistical and accounting
  reports

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Market Methods of Control

• Output control
• Competition is the mechanism by which control is
  exercised
• Prices and profits are used to evaluate
  performance (e.g., stock price, market share,
  market ratings, etc.)

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Clan Methods of Control

• Shared cultural values, norms, and expectations
  guide behavior
• Used when neither outputs nor behaviors can be
  measured easily
• Organization has highly developed social system

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Can we control culture?

• Can managers actually exercise much control over
  the organizations culture or does organizational
  culture control managers?
• Can we change it in directions that we want?
• Should we consider the culture as a limiting
  constraint in making other organizational
  changes?
• Are there ethical questions involved in trying to
  change cultural assumptions?

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Cultural Change Issues

• Pervasive, high magnitude changes (revolutionary)
  vs. cumulative reshaping (evolutionary)
• Political and technical changes
  (re-organizations) usually affect culture
• Top leadership changes usually bring about
  opportunities for culture change

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Cultural Change Issues

• Mergers and acquisitions usually require focus on
  cultural issues
• Discontinuous events (e.g., crises, major
  technological, legal, or market changes) might
  require cultural changes
• Culture changes usually require changing human
  resource systems, such as socialization,
  training, selection, reward systems
• Identify and support culture change champions