Understanding Organizational Culture

What is Culture:

The way we do it.

We do it this way.

! “Culture is the sum total of all the shared, taken-for-granted assumptions that a group has learned throughout its history” (Schein, 1999)

! “The qualities of any specific human group that are passed from one generation to the next” (Kotter and Heskett, 1992)

! “The way we do things around here” (Bower, 1999)

Defining Culture

What does culture do for group members?

! Trice and Beyer (1993) believe that cultures in organizations arise to solve the problems of uncertainty and ambiguity in social order. “Cultures provide organizational members with more or less articulated sets of ideas that help them individually and collectively to cope with all of these uncertainties and ambiguities” (pp. 1-2).

What does Culture do for Members?

! These ideas are the substance of cultures. ! They are not rationally based belief systems.

Rather, they are implicit sets of taken-for-granted beliefs, values, and norms more emotionally charged and resistant to change than rational beliefs.

! Cultures are made up of both ideological substance and of cultural forms—“observable entities, including actions, through which members of a culture express, affirm, and communicate the substance of their culture to one another” (p. 2).

Assumptions

Expressed Values

Visible Culture

Levels of Organizational Culture

Schein’s Three-Layer Organizational Model

Examples of Cultural

Attributes

– Documents – Physical layouts – Furnishings – Language – Jargon – Work ethic and practice – Loyalty – Commitment – Helping others

I Artifacts and

Creations “What we do /

create”

II Values “What we believe”

III Basic

Assumptions “What is true”

Visible but often not decipherable

Greater level of awareness

Taken for granted invisible preconscious

Another view: 2 Levels of Organizational Culture

Observable Symbols Ceremonies, Stories, Slogans,

Behaviors, Dress, Physical Settings

Underlying Values,

Assumptions, Beliefs, Attitudes,

Feelings

Different Types of Cultures

! Cameron & Quinn (1999) developed the “Competing Values Framework” to describe different types of organizational cultures. This framework is based on two dimensions: !  Flexibility versus stability !  Internal focus versus external focus.

! Four culture types represent opposite or competing values

Different Types of Culture (Cameron & Quinn, 1999)

Flexibility F o

c u

s

Adhocracy Culture

Clan

Culture

Bureaucratic

Culture

Mission Culture

Flexible External

Internal

Stable

Adhocracy Culture ! A dynamic, entrepreneurial, and creative place

to work. People stick their necks out and take risks.

! The leaders are considered innovators and risk takers.

! The glue that holds the organization together is commitment to experimentation and innovation.

! The emphasis is on being on the leading edge and growth.

! Success means gaining unique and new products or services.

! Encourages individual initiative and freedom.

Bureaucratic Culture ! A very formalized and structured place to work.

Procedures govern what people do. ! The leaders pride themselves on being good

coordinators and organizers who are efficiency- minded.

! Maintaining a smooth running organization is most critical.

! Formal rules and policies hold the organization together.

! Success is defined in terms of dependable delivery, smooth scheduling, and low cost.

! The long-term concern is on stability and performance with efficient, smooth operations.

Clan Culture ! A very friendly place to work where people share

a lot of themselves. It is like an extended family. ! The leaders, or heads of the organization, are

considered mentors and perhaps even parent figures.

! The organization is held together by loyalty or tradition. Commitment is high.

! Attaches great importance to cohesion and morale.

! Success is defined in terms of sensitivity to customers and concern for people.

! Places a premium on teamwork, participation, and consensus.

Market Culture ! A results-oriented organization whose major

concern is with getting the job done. People are competitive and goal-oriented.

! The leaders are hard drivers, producers, and competitors. They are tough and demanding.

! The glue that holds the organization together is an emphasis on winning.

! The long-term focus is on competitive actions and achievement of measurable goals and targets.

! Success is defined in terms of market share and penetration.

! The organizational style is hard-driving competitiveness.

QUESTION: ! Out of these four culture types, which do

you think best describes your organization?

! Do we, in general, over-emphasize one culture type over others, and is this a good thing?

! Which type of culture would be best for: !  Your overall organization !  Your department !  A community group

Aspects of Organizational Culture – Values & Assumption Level

• Individual initiative • Risk tolerance • Direction • Integration • Management support

• Control • Identity • Reward system • Conflict tolerance • Communication patterns

Individual Initiative

✦ The degree of responsibility, freedom, and independence that individuals have

(Robbins, S. P., 1994)

Risk Tolerance

✦ The degree to which members are encouraged to be aggressive, innovative, and risk taking

(Robbins, S. P., 1994)

Direction

✦ The degree to which the organization creates clear objectives and performance expectations

(Robbins, S. P., 1994)

Integration

✦ The degree to which units within the organization are encouraged to operate in a coordinated manner

(Robbins, S. P., 1994)

Management support

✦ The degree to which managers provide clear communication, assistance, and support to their subordinates

(Robbins, S. P., 1994)

Control

✦ The number of rules and regulations, and the amount of direct supervision that is used to oversee and control employee behavior

(Robbins, S. P., 1994)

Identity

✦ The degree to which members identify with the organization as a whole rather than with their particular work group or field of professional expertise

(Robbins, S. P., 1994)

Reward system

✦ The degree to which reward allocation are based on members performance criteria in contrast to seniority, favoritism, and so on

(Robbins, S. P., 1994)

Conflict tolerance

✦ The degree to which members are encouraged to air conflicts and criticisms openly

(Robbins, S. P., 1994)

Communication patterns

✦ The degree to which organizational communications are restricted to the formal hierarchy of authority

(Robbins, S. P., 1994)

The Socialization (enculturation) process

! Socialization refers to the process by which people become “us” and join our shared culture.

3 Stages of the Socialization Process

Pre-arrival

Encounter

Metamorphosis

Stages of Socialization

! Anticipatory Socialization (pre-arrival) !  Involves all those activities the individual

undertakes prior to entering the organization or to taking a different role in the same organization.

! Accommodation (encounter / metamorphisis) !  Occurs after the individual becomes a

member of the organization. During this stage, the individual sees the organization and the job for what they actually are.

Question

! What is the enculturation process for your church?

! Are you intentional about how people join / become acculturated?

Different Levels of Cultures in the Organization

! Dominant Culture ! Subculture ! Strong culture ! Weak culture

A Dominant Culture

! Expresses the core values that shared by a majority of the organization’s members.

(Schein, 1992, p. 247)

Subcultures

! Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences that members face.

(Schein, 1992, p. 247)

Strong versus Weak Cultures

! Strong cultures have a great impact on employee behavior

! A strong culture is characterized by the organization’s core values being both intensely held and widely shared.

(Schein, 1992, p. 247)

The Evolution of a Positive Culture

Methods

– Elaborate on history – Communicate about and by “heroes” and others

– Leadership and role making – Communicating norms and values

– Reward systems – Recruiting and staffing – Training and development

– Member contact – Participative decision making – Intergroup coordination

H

O

M

E

Develop a sense of History

Create a sense of Oneness

Promote a sense of Membership

Increase Exchange among members

Cohesive organizational

culture

Intervening Conditions Outcome

REMEMBER: People do not change their values, for

example, by simply being told that they should. Rather, norms, beliefs, values and assumptions are usually the product of repeated experiences extended over a lengthy period of time in combination with implicit or explicit reflections on both the nature of those experiences and the extent to which they were personally satisfying.

Leithwood, et al. (1999)

Leaders must understand

! The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture

! The unique talent of leaders is their ability to work with culture.

! The right kind of culture will influence how effective organizations are

Schein (1985)

Leaders should develop:

! The right kind of culture to match their mission and vision

! A culture of quality (Schein, 1992) ! A culture rooted in biblical values,

honoring their denominational heritage, values all members, and is relevant to today’s culture (Markow)

The Bottom Line for Leaders

! If they do not become conscious of the cultures in which they are embedded, those cultures will manage them.

(Schein, 1992)

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