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Organizational Culture

16. C H A P T E R. S I X T E E N. Organizational Culture. Van City’s Corporate Culture. Courtesy of VanCity.

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Organizational Culture

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  1. 16 . C H A P T E R S I X T E E N OrganizationalCulture

  2. Van City’s Corporate Culture Courtesy of VanCity Vancouver City Savings Credit Union has applied a values based business model to improve customer service and employee relations and make it one of Canada’s best companies to work for.

  3. Organizational Culture Defined Courtesy of VanCity The basic pattern of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs considered to be the correct way of thinking about and acting on problems and opportunities facing the organization.

  4. Physical Structures Language Rituals and Ceremonies Stories and Legends Beliefs Values Assumptions Elements of Organizational Culture Artifacts of Organizational Culture Organizational Culture

  5. RIM’s Cultural Content Research in Motion (RIM), the Waterloo, Ontario pioneer in wireless digital assistants, has a strong organizational culture. Founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie (shown) describe the content of RIM’s culture as intense, creative, fun, inclusive, and collegial. Kitchener-Waterloo Record

  6. Meaning of Cultural Content • Cultural content refers to the relative ordering of beliefs, values, and assumptions. • Example: RIM values intensity whereas Q-Media values thrift. • An organization emphasizes only a handful of the hundreds of cultural values. Kitchener-Waterloo Record

  7. Organizational Subcultures • Located throughout the organization • Can enhance or oppose (countercultures) firm’s dominant culture • Two functions of countercultures: • provide surveillance and critique, ethics • source of emerging values Kitchener-Waterloo Record

  8. Artifacts: Stories and Legends • Social prescriptions of desired (undesired) behaviour • Provides a realistic human side to expectations • Most effective stories and legends: • Describe real people • Assumed to be true • Known throughout the organization • Are prescriptive

  9. Artifacts: Rituals and Ceremonies • Rituals • programmed routines • (eg., how visitors are greeted) • Ceremonies • planned activities for an audience • (eg., award ceremonies)

  10. Artifacts: Organizational Language • Words used to address people, describe customers, etc. • Leaders use phrases and special vocabulary as cultural symbols • eg. Container Store’s “Being Gumby” • Language also found in subcultures • eg. Whirlpool’s “PowerPoint culture”

  11. Artifacts: Physical Structures and Symbols • Building structure -- may shape and reflect culture • Mountain Equipment Co-op’s downtown Toronto store roof holds a 10,000 square foot garden with 4-inch thick soil • Office design conveys cultural meaning • Furniture, office size, wall hangings

  12. Benefits of Strong Corporate Cultures SocialControl Strong Organizational Culture SocialGlue ImprovesSense-Making

  13. Problems with Strong Cultures • Culture content might be misaligned with the organization’s environment. • Strong cultures may focus on mental models that could be limiting • Strong cultures suppress dissenting values from subcultures.

  14. Adaptive Organizational Cultures • External focus -- firm’s success depends on continuous change • Focus on processes more than goals • Strong sense of ownership • Proactive --seek out opportunities AP/Wide World

  15. Bicultural Audit • Part of “due diligence” in merger • Minimizes risk of cultural collision by diagnosing companies before merger • Three steps in bicultural audit: 1. Examine artifacts 2. Analyze data for cultural conflict/compatibility 3. Identify strategies and action plans to bridge cultures

  16. Merging Organizational Cultures Assimilation Acquired company embraces acquiring firm’s cultural values Deculturation Acquiring firm imposes its culture on unwilling acquired firm Integration Cultures combined into a new composite culture Separation Merging companies remain separate with their own culture

  17. Strengthening Organizational Culture Foundersand leaders Strengthening Organizational Culture Selection and socialization Culturally consistent rewards Managing the cultural network Stable workforce

  18. 16 . C H A P T E R S I X T E E N OrganizationalCulture

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