NN5 ML170 Group 2 Organizational Culture PDF

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAININGFOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY HCMC CAMPUS---oo0oo---MIDTERM ASSIGNMENTTopic: Organization - Organizational Culture Framework and Google's ApplicationAcademic Instructor: Ms. To Thi Kim Hong Implementation group: Group 2Order Student’s name ID Email1 Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân 2...

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY HCMC CAMPUS ---oo0oo---

MIDTERM ASSIGNMENT Topic: Organization - Organizational Culture Framework and Google's Application Academic Instructor: Ms. To Thi Kim Hong Implementation group: Group 2 Order

Student’s name

ID

Email

1

Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân

2011116482 [email protected]

2

Trang Hải Long

2011116446 [email protected]

3

Đặng Kiên Bình

2011116322 [email protected]

4

Phạm Quỳnh Như

2011116523 [email protected]

5

Lê Nguyễn Hoàng Nhi

2011116506 [email protected]

6

Lê Nguyễn Phương Nhi 2011116507 lenguyenphuongnhi20111165607tu.edu.vn

7

Nguyễn Diệu Linh

2011116434 [email protected]

8

Nguyễn Tiểu Quyên

2012215502 [email protected]

Ho Chi Minh City, March 2022 1

Table of Contents 1. Introduction ..............................................................................................................3 1.1 The background of Organizational Culture ..........................................................3 1.2 The influence of Google........................................................................................3 2. Theortical Framework .............................................................................................4 2.1 Organizational Culture Definition.........................................................................4 2.2 Components and types of Organizational Culture ................................................4 2.3 Organization Culture's Role ..................................................................................6 2.4 Creating and sustaining Culture ............................................................................7 2.5 Creating Ethical and Positive Culture & Global Implications ........................... 11 3. Google’s Organizational Culture case study ...................................................... 13 3.1. Short Overview ................................................................................................. 13 3.2. Google’s Organizational Culture Type and Its Characteristics ........................ 14 3.3. Values that lead to creativity and a willingness to perform .............................. 15 3.4. Core Lessons ..................................................................................................... 17 4. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 19

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1. Introduction 1.1 The background of Organizational Culture The term “Organizational Culture” was first introduced by Dr. Elliott Jaques in his book-The Changing Culture of a Factory (1951). According to Dr. Jaques, the extent people can share common wishes, desires and aspirations and commit themselves to work together. It is a matter of being able to care about the same things, and it applies to nations as well as to associations and organizations within nations. However, after a long period of time, hundreds of books, research studies, papers, articles, etc., there appears to be very little difference in the early definition compared to the more current definition of organizational culture. The more modern definition of organizational culture, also known as corporate culture, is the values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization. It is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, and written and unwritten rules that have been developed over time and are considered valid and are viewed as the shared norms and values of individuals and groups within an organization (The Business Dictionary, 2018). Though the principles behind organization culture have changed very little, the impact of organizational cultures has increased significantly. Organizational culture is a major determining factor in the success of an organization and considered by many as one of the most powerful effects on how an organization thinks and behaves. It is found to be applicable in every business around the globe but the types of cultures will necessarily differ since your organization has its own unique culture. 1.2 The influence of Google Nowadays, the business environment can be described in two short words - fast changing. Organizations must be prepared to keep up with these changes in the business dynamics since today momentum is defined by globalization and liberalization of trade so that they can submit to the new coming demands. This is why over the last years organizational culture became more and more important. For an organization to work 3

well and to complete its objective, it must adapt to the external environment but it has to do so by having solid criteria, standings, beliefs and values as an internal structure. It is well-known that Google has a unique culture. Google is a high-energy, fast paced work environment. Google employees (called Googlers, in Google’s jargon) work hard, yet have fun at the same time. Google instills in its employees the credo that it is not about the money- rather than there is a lifestyle that breeds innovative superiority over the competition. They portray themselves as a company that works towards changing the world through teamwork and creative involvement. Googlers proudly say they work for the best company in the world and that they are a part of something important and believe the work they do is remarkably satisfying. In an effort to maintain the company’s unique culture, Google has designated a Chief Culture Officer in 2006, who also serves as the Director of Human Resources. The purpose of the Chief Culture Officer is to develop and maintain the culture and work on ways to keep true to the core values that the company was founded on in the beginning — a flat startup organization with a collaborative environment. No one can deny that when it comes to organizational culture values, one of the first ideal models in their mind is Google. Google's thriving workplace culture is much more than on-site perks and a huge silicon valley campus.

2. Theortical Framework 2.1 Organizational Culture Definition Organizational Culture is a system of shared values, norms and assumptions that guides members’ attitudes and behaviors and influences how they perceive and react to their environment.These assumptions are usually taken for granted by organizational members and are taught to new members as they are socialized into the group. 2.2 Components and types of Organizational Culture 2.2.1 Components of Organizational Culture Organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. Seven primary characteristics seem to capture the essence of an organization’s culture:

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1.Innovation and risk taking: The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risks. 2.Attention to detail: The degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision, analysis, and attention to detail. 3.Outcome orientation: The degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve them. 4.People orientation: The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the organization. 5.Team orientation: The degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals. 6.Aggressiveness: The degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easygoing. 7.Stability: The degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth. 2.2.2 Types of Organizational Culture a. Contrasting Organizational Cultures With regards to a manufacturing firm, there are 2 types of organizational cultures: Organization A: Managers are expected to fully document all decisions, and “good managers” are those who can provide detailed data to support their recommendations. Creative decisions that incur significant change or risk are not encouraged. Organization B: Here, however, management encourages and rewards risk taking and change. Decisions based on intuition are valued as much as those that are well rationalized. b. Strong versus Weak Cultures It’s possible to differentiate between strong and weak cultures. If most employees have the same opinions about the organization’s mission and values, the culture is strong; if opinions vary widely, the culture is weak. 5

In a strong culture, the organization’s core values are both intensely held and widely shared. The more members who accept the core values and the greater their commitment, the stronger the culture and the greater its influence on member behavior. A strong culture should reduce employee turnover because it demonstrates high agreement about what the organization represents. Such unanimity of purpose builds cohesiveness, loyalty, and organizational commitment. 2.3 Organization Culture's Role 2.3.1 Organization Culture's Function First, culture has a boundary-defining role: it creates distinctions between one organization and others. Second, it conveys a sense of identity for organization members. Third, culture facilitates commitment to something larger than individual selfinterest. Fourth, it enhances the stability of the social system. Culture is the social glue that helps hold the organization together by providing standards for what employees should say and do. Finally, it is a sense-making and control mechanism that guides and shapes employees’ attitudes and behavior. This last function is of particular interest to us. Culture defines the rules of the game. Today’s trend toward decentralized organizations makes culture more important than ever, but ironically it also makes establishing a strong culture more difficult. When formal authority and control systems are reduced, culture’s shared meaning can point everyone in the same direction. However, employees organized in teams may show greater allegiance to their team and its values than to the organization as a whole. In virtual organizations, the lack of frequent face-to-face contact makes establishing a common set of norms very difficult. Strong leadership that communicates frequently about common goals and priorities is especially important in innovative organizations. 2.3.2 Organization Culture's Dysfunction Culture can enhance organizational commitment and increase the consistency of employee behavior, clearly benefiting an organization. Culture is valuable to 6

employees too, because it spells out how things are done and what’s important. But we shouldn’t ignore the potentially dysfunctional aspects of culture, especially a strong one, on an organization’s effectiveness. Barriers to Change Culture is a liability when the shared values don’t agree with those that further the organization’s effectiveness. This is most likely when an organization’s environment is undergoing rapid change, and its entrenched culture may no longer be appropriate. Consistency of behavior, an asset in a stable environment, may then burden the organization and make it difficult to respond to changes. Barriers to Diversity Hiring new employees who differ from the majority in race, age, gender, disability, or other characteristics creates a paradox: management wants to demonstrate support for the differences these employees bring to the workplace, but newcomers who wish to fit in must accept the organization’s core cultural values. Because diverse behaviors and unique strengths are likely to diminish as people attempt to assimilate, strong cultures can become liabilities when they effectively eliminate these advantages. A strong culture that condones prejudice, supports bias, or becomes insensitive to people who are different can even undermine formal corporate diversity policies. Barriers to Acquisitions and Mergers Historically, when management looked at acquisition or merger decisions, the key factors were financial advantage and product synergy. In recent years, cultural compatibility has become the primary concern. All things being equal, whether the acquisition actually works seems to have more to do with how well the two organizations’ cultures match up. As one expert commented, “Mergers have an unusually high failure rate, and it’s always because of people issues”—in other words, conflicting organizational cultures. 2.4 Creating and sustaining Culture 2.4.1 How a Culture Begins Culture creation occurs in three ways. First, founders hire and keep only employees who think and feel the same way they do. Second, they indoctrinate and 7

socialize these employees to their way of thinking and feeling. And finally, the founders’ own behavior encourages employees to identify with them and internalize their beliefs, values, and assumptions. When the organization succeeds, the founders’ personality becomes embedded in the culture. 2.4.2. Keeping a Culture Alive Once a culture is in place, practices within the organization maintain it by giving employees a set of similar experiences. The selection process, performance evaluation criteria, training and development activities, and promotion procedures ensure those hired fit in with the culture, reward those who support it, and penalize (or even expel) those who challenge it. Three forces play a particularly important part in sustaining a culture: selection practices, the actions of top management, and socialization methods. Let’s look at each. • Selection: The explicit goal of the selection process is to identify and hire individuals with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully. The final decision, because it’s significantly influenced by the decision maker’s judgment of how well the candidates will fit into the organization, identifies people whose values are essentially consistent with at least a good portion of the organization’s. Selection also provides information to applicants. Those who perceive a conflict between their values and those of the organization can remove themselves from the applicant pool. Selection thus becomes a two-way street, allowing employer or applicant to avoid a mismatch and sustaining an organization’s culture by selecting out those who might attack or undermine its core values. • Top Management: The actions of top management also have a major impact on the organization’s culture. Through words and behavior, senior executives establish norms that filter through the organization about, for instance, whether risk-taking is desirable, how much freedom managers give employees, what is appropriate dress, and what actions earn pay raises, promotions, and other rewards. • Socialization: No matter how good a job the organization does in recruiting and selection, new employees need help adapting to the prevailing culture. That help is socialization. We can think of socialization as a process with three stages: pre-arrival, encounter, and metamorphosis. 8

This process, shown above, has an impact on the new employee’s work productivity, commitment to the organization’s objectives, and eventual decision to stay with the organization. The pre-arrival stage recognizes that each individual arrives with a set of values, attitudes, and expectations about both the work and the organization. Newcomers to highprofile organizations with a strong market position will make their own assumptions about what it must be like to work there. No matter how well managers think they can socialize newcomers, however, the most important predictor of future behavior is past behavior. What people know before they join the organization, and how proactive their personality is, are critical predictors of how well they adjust to a new culture. The success depends on the degree to which the aspiring member has correctly anticipated the expectations and desires of those in the organization in charge of selection. On entry into the organization, the new member enters the encounter stage and confronts the possibility that expectations—about the job, co-workers, the boss, and the organization in general—may differ from reality. If expectations were fairly accurate, the encounter stage merely cements earlier perceptions. At the extreme, a new member may become disillusioned enough to resign. Proper recruiting and selection should significantly reduce that outcome, along with encouraging friendship ties in the organization. Finally, to work out any problems discovered during the encounter stage, the new member changes or goes through the metamorphosis stage. Most research suggests there are two major “bundles” socialization practices. The more management relies on formal, fixed, and serial socialization programs, the more likely newcomers’ behaviors 9

are predictable. These institutional practices are common in police departments, fire departments, and other organizations that value rule-following and order. Programs that are informal, individual, random, variable, and disjunctive are more likely to give newcomers an innovative sense of their role and methods of working. Creative fields, such as research and development, advertising, and filmmaking, rely on these individual practices. Most research suggests high levels of institutional practices encourage personorganization fit and high levels of commitment, whereas individual practices produce more role innovation. The three-part entry socialization process is complete when new members have internalized and accepted the norms of the organization and their workgroup, are confident in their competence, and feel trusted and valued by their peers. They understand the system—not only their own tasks but the rules, procedures, and informally accepted practices as well. Finally, they know what is expected of them and what criteria will be used to measure and evaluate their work. The period of initial adjustment is often marked by decreases in job satisfaction as their idealized hopes come into contact with the reality of organizational life. It may be that the initial adjustment period for newcomers presents increasing demands and difficulties, at least in the short term. Other research suggests that role conflict and role overload for newcomers rise over time. Workers with the largest increases in these problems experience the largest decreases in commitment and satisfaction. Summary: How Cultures Form

The original culture derives from the founder’s philosophy and strongly influences hiring criteria as the firm grows. Top managers’ actions set the general climate, including what is acceptable behavior and what is not. The way employees are socialized will depend both on the degree of success achieved in matching new 10

employees’ values to those of the organization in the selection process, and on top management’s preference for socialization methods. 2.5 Creating Ethical and Positive Culture & Global Implications 2.5.1 Create an Ethical Organizational Culture The organizational culture most likely to shape high ethical standards among its members takes a long-term perspective and balances the rights of multiple stakeholders, including employees, stockholders, and the community. Managers are supported for taking risks and innovating, discouraged from engaging in unbridled competition, and guided to heed not just to what goals are achieved but also how. If the culture is strong and supports high ethical standards, it should have a very powerful and positive influence on employee behavior. Examples of organizations that have failed to establish proper codes of ethical conduct can be found in the media nearly every day. Some actively deceive customers or clients. Others produce products that harm consumers or the environment, or they harass or discriminate against certain groups of employees. Others are more subtle and cover up or fail to report wrongdoing. The...