Definitions of Culture cont’d..

1. ‘The culture that commonly exists in Australian workplaces presents a major handicap for the international competitiveness of our industry. Typically it results in work that falls short of international standards of quality and productivity.’ Report commissioned by the Australian Manufacturing Council - ‘Australian Manufacturing in the 1990s’.

2. Definitions of Culture cont’d.. • ‘..the basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of the organisation, that operate unconsciously and define in a basic ‘taken for granted’ fashion an organisation's view of itself and its environment. ...They come to be taken for granted because they solve those problems repeatedly and reliably.’ (Schein, 1985)

3. Characteristics of Organisational Culture(Lundberg, 1990) • a shared common frame of reference • acquired and governs • a common psychology that denotes the organisation’s uniqueness • enduring over time • symbolic • modifiable but not easily so

4. The link between Culture and Performance • relationship between culture and performance is complex • certain cultural attributes - eg. personal fulfilment, listening, entrepreneurship, related to growth • Some studies have found positive relationships between culture and profitability. Others have not • Profitability depends on more than having an effective workforce. • Strong culture will only lead to performance if culture ‘fits’ with strategy and the environment

5. VISIBLE ARTEFACTS GREATER LEVEL OF AWARENESS VALUES BASIC ASSUMPTIONS (Beliefs) INVISIBLE PRECONSCIOUS Schein, 1980

6. Levels of Corporate Culture Observable Symbols Rituals, Stories, Ceremonies, Symbols, Behaviours etc. Underlying Values, Assumptions, Beliefs, Attitudes, Feelings Underlying Values, Assumptions, Beliefs, Attitudes, Feelings

7. Artefacts • Rituals • Stories • Ceremonies • Symbols • Language • Heroes/Heroines

8. Important Aspects of Organisational Culture • Direction: • Degree to which a culture supports rather than interferes with organisational goals. • Pervasiveness: • Addresses extent to which a culture is widespread among members as opposed to being unevenly distributed. • Strength: • Degree to which members accept the values and other aspects of the culture

9. Corporate Culture TOP EXECUTIVES Beliefs/Values/Philosophy Upper Management Practices Middle Management Practices Employee Behaviours/Performance

10. Organisational Subcultures A subset of an organisation’s members who: • interact regularly with one another • identify themselves as a distinct group within an organisation • share a set of problems commonly defined to the problems of all • who routinely take actions on the basis of collective understandings unique to the group.

11. Strength of a culture determined by: • Homogeneity of membership • Stability of membership • Length of shared experiences • Intensity of shared experiences

12. Primary Mechanisms of how culture is maintained and taught • Deliberate role modelling, coaching by leaders • What leaders pay attention to and measure and control • Observed criteria by which leaders allocate scarce resources • Criteria for selection and promotion • Criteria for rewards • Leader’s reactions to crises

13. Secondary Mechanisms of how culture is maintained and taught • Organisational structure and design • Formal statements of organisational philosophy • Organisational systems and procedures • Rites and rituals • Stories, legends, myths etc. about key people • Design of physical spaces

14. How culture perpetuates itself Removal of members who deviate from the culture Hiring and socialisation of members who ‘fit in’ with the culture Culture Cultural Communications Behaviour Reinforce Beliefs and Values Managers seeking to create culture changes must intervene at these points

15. Can Culture be Managed? • Culture is an independent variable versus • Culture is a ‘Management Tool’

16. Culture change is possible but it.. • Requires an enormous commitment from the CEO and senior management team • Takes a lot of time unless it is a real crisis situation • Depends also on the strength of the culture being changed • ‘It costs a fortune and takes forever’

17. Cultural Evolution breakdown of pattern maintenance system CRISIS new leadership with new assumptions new pattern maintenance system if new leadership succeeds, new pattern of culture

18. When cultural change is necessary • Persistent org. performance and/or morale problems • A fundamental change in the organisation’s mission • Deregulation and fierce international competition • Major technological changes

19. When cultural change is necessary • Major market changes • Acquisitions and mergers • Organisational growth • A family business moving to professional management • A domestic organisation expanding overseas

20. General considerations in managing cultures • Not a simple tool • Difficult to create a homogeneous culture • Not necessarily positive • Inevitably dynamic and fuzzy

21. Functions of culture in organisations • Facilitates learning, sense making device for the individual on how to behave • Provides wider meaning to an individual’s work, facilitates commitment and identity • Serves organisational ends of stability, operates as informal control system

22. Dysfunctions of Culture • Groupthink • Intolerance of dissenters • Strategic Myopia – or tunnel vision • Yesterday’s solutions for tomorrow’s problems