Theories - Organizational Culture PDF

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Summary

Notes and a summary to all relevant theories for Organizational Culture....

Description

Organizational Culture Indhold The Onion-model.................................................................................................................................2 Sathe’s guide to action for a manager..................................................................................................2 Handy’s cultural types..........................................................................................................................4

“Organizational culture is a basic pattern of shared assumptions, values and beliefs governing the way employees in an organization think about and act on problems and opportunities.” (Bratton, p. 452)

The Onion-model Artefacts -

Physical manifestations of culture

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Logo, dress code, uniforms, titles, list of values, decorations, use of language, social behavior (rituals and ceremonies)…

Norms and Values -

Shared by members – not visible, but recognized as influencing observable behavior at work

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Moral/ethical beliefs

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Acceptable behavior

Basic assumptions -

Taken-for-granted, unconscious, highly resistant to change

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Implicit and unspoken assumptions that underpin everyday choices and shape how members perceive, think and react to events.

Sathe – Cultural nonconformity model

This model is a matrix with two axes: belief in the culture (ranging from culture conformity to culture nonconformity) and behavior (ranging from behavior conformity to behavior nonconformity). The model includes for employee archetypes: Good soldier (behavior and culture conformity), Maverick (culture conformity, behavior nonconformity), adapter (culture nonconformity, behavior conformity) and rebel (culture and behavior nonconformity).

Sathe’s guide to action for a manager Sathe describes the continuous evolvement of culture as a loop: Important shared understandings (culture) generate shared things, sayings, doings and feelings, which are in turn received and interpreted, after which they influence the important shared understandings of the culture.

Important Shared Understandings: -

Shared Doings:

Provide highly responsive, quality

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Participate in lots of meetings

customer service

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Make sure organization is detail-

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Get things done well and quickly

oriented to provide quality customer

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Operate informally

service

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Perceive company as part of the

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family -

Encourage constructive disagreement

communications -

Shirt sleeves

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One-company town

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Open offices

Rally to meet customer needs in a crisis

Shared Things: -

Engage in personal relationships and

Expedite jobs to deliver highly responsive service

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Maintain close relationship with union

Shared Feelings:

Shared Sayings: -

The company is good to me

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“We don’t stand on rank”

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We like this place.

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“We cannot rely on systems” to meet

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We care about the company because it

customer service (highly responsive customer service

cares about us as individuals.

Handy’s cultural types

Role Culture Power Culture Idea: Has central leader, good for startups/growth companies

Idea: Focused on developement of functional expertise - bureaucracy/... Focus: Logic, rationality, functional, specialization, procedures and rules For: Scale, Risk, Quality, Cost.

Focus: Results. Loyalty, empathy, individualism For: Strategy, Crisis Limits: Loses influence with scale Limits: Demand and supply flexibility Authority: Centralized Task Culture 4 types of organizational erarchical Person Culture cultures Idea: Team focus, with job or pro Idea: Minimal organization necessary to orientation, useful where flexibility or support practitioners sensitivity is essential Focus: Creativity, Skill Focus: Adaptability. Open communication, individual empowerment For: Unknowns, Customization For: Innovation, Speed Limits: Difficult to manage, Not scalable Limits: Organizational control. Resource needs Authority: Networked

Authority: Shared based on need and experience. (Architects/Consultants...)...