Define organizational culture and discuss its three layers. Organizational culture represents the shared assumptions that a group holds. It influences employees' perceptions and behavior at work. The three layers of organizational culture include observable artifacts, espoused values, and basic assumptions. Artifacts are the physical manifestations of an organization's culture. Espoused values represent the explicitly stated values and norms that are preferred by an organization. Basic underlying assumptions are unobservable and represent the core of organizational culture.
Discuss the difference between espoused and enacted values. Espoused values represent the explicitly stated values and norms that are preferred by an organization. Enacted values, in contrast, reflect the values and norms that actually are exhibited or converted into employee behavior. Employees become cynical when management espouses one set of values and norms and then behaves in an inconsistent fashion.
Describe the four functions of organizational culture. Four functions of organizational culture are organizational identity, collective commitment, social system stability, and sense-making device.
Discuss the four types of organizational culture associated with the competing values framework. The competing values framework identifies four different types of organizational culture. A clan culture has an internal focus and values flexibility rather than stability and control. An adhocracy culture has an external focus and values flexibility. A market culture has a strong external focus and values stability and control. A hierarchy culture has an internal focus and values stability and control over flexibility.
Summarize the three key conclusions derived from research about the outcomes associated with organizational culture. Employees prefer to work in organizations that value flexibility and discretion over stability and control and those that are more concerned with satisfying employees' needs than customer or shareholder desires. Second, the congruence between an individual's values and the organization's values is significantly associated with organizational commitment, job satisfaction, intention to quit, and turnover. Third, there is not a clear pattern of relationships between organizational culture and outcomes such as service quality, customer satisfaction, and an organization's financial performance. These results in turn suggest that it is important for managers to effectively accommodate the potential conflict between cultures that have both an internal and external focus.
Review the three caveats about culture change. First, it is possible to change an organization's culture, and the process essentially begins with targeting one of the three layers of culture for change. Second, it is important to consider the extent to which the current culture is aligned with the organization's vision and strategic plans before attempting to change any aspect of organizational culture. Finally, it is important to use a structured approach when implementing culture change.
Summarize the methods used by organizations to change organizational culture. Changing culture amounts to teaching employees about the organization's preferred values, beliefs, expectations, and behaviors. This is accomplished by using one or more of the following 11 mechanisms: (a) formal statements of organizational philosophy, mission, vision, values, and materials used for recruiting, selection, and socialization; (b) the design of physical space, work environments, and buildings; (c) slogans, language, acronyms, and sayings; (d) deliberate role modeling, training programs, teaching, and coaching by managers and supervisors; (e ) explicit rewards, status symbols, and promotion criteria; (f) stories, legends, and myths about key people and events; (g) the organizational activities, processes, or outcomes that leaders pay attention to, measure, and control; (h) leader reactions to critical incidents and organizational crises; (i) the workflow and organizational structure; (j) organizational systems and procedures; and (k) organizational goals and associated criteria used for recruitment, selection, development, promotion, layoffs, and retirement of people.
Describe the three phases in Feldman's model of organizational socialization. The three phases of Feldman's model are anticipatory socialization, encounter, and change and acquisition. Anticipatory socialization begins before an individual actually joins the organization. The encounter phase begins when the employment contract has been signed. Phase 3 involves the period in which employees master important tasks and resolve any role conflicts.
Discuss the various socialization tactics used to socialize employees. There are six key socialization tactics. They are collective versus individual, formal versus informal, sequential versus random, fixed versus variable, serial versus disjunctive, and investiture versus divestiture (see Table 3–1). Each tactic provides organizations with two opposing options for socializing employees.
Explain the four developmental networks associated with mentoring. The four developmental networks are based on integrating the diversity and strength of an individual's developmental relationships. The four resulting developmental networks are receptive, traditional, entrepreneurial, and opportunistic. A receptive network is composed of a few weak ties from one social system. Having a few strong ties with developers from one social system is referred to as a traditional network. An entrepreneurial network is made up of strong ties among several developers; and an opportunistic network is associated with having weak ties from different social systems.
