Refer to Pages 365–385.

14.1: Define organizational culture, and describe the seven characteristics.

Refer to Page 366.

Organizational culture is “the pattern of basic assumptions, that a given group has invented, discovered, or developed in learning to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, and that have worked well enough to be considered valid, and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.” This definition is rather complex; however, culture can be thought of as a set of shared meanings that people in organizations have with respect to how to adapt to the environments and procedures to cope with change. The seven characteristics and examples follow. (1) Innovation and risk taking. Most cultures in the service industries studied were average on this dimension with transportation showing the highest score. (2) Attention to detail. Consulting and accounting firms were highest on this dimension. (3) Outcome orientation. All companies studied in the service industry were high on this dimension. (4) People orientation. All companies studied in the four industries were average on this dimension. (5) Team orientation. All companies studied were average, but consulting firms were slightly higher on working in teams as part of their culture. (6) Aggressiveness (easygoingness reversed). All industries were average; however, consulting firms were less easygoing than other companies. (7) Stability. Most industries were average on stability; however, the U.S. Postal Service was higher than other organizations on the need for stability as part of the organization’s culture.

14.2: Explain the relationship between national culture and organizational culture.

Refer to Page 369.

Results of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) studies of leadership across cultures suggest that national culture has a strong influence on organizational culture. A study of 10 European cultures found national culture values (power distance and collectivism) influence the development of organizational culture. However, the values of the founders of companies and key leaders also have an influence on organizational culture. National culture constrains organizational culture but only partially.

14.3: Demonstrate understanding of the two characteristics of strong cultures by providing examples.

Refer to Page 370.

Strong cultures are based on two characteristics, high levels of agreement among employees about what they value and high intensity toward these values. If both are high, a strong culture exists. Some organizations are characterized by high levels of intensity but low agreement. In this case, employees and/or groups are at war with one another over what is important for the organization to value. For example, salespeople focus on customer-driven product features while accountants focus on cost containment. Thus, while both groups intensely value what they do, they disagree on priorities.

14.4: Explain how employees learn organizational culture through the socialization process.

Refer to Page 372.

Organizational socialization is defined as the process an organization utilizes to ensure that new members acquire necessary attitudes, behaviors, knowledge, and skills to become productive organizational members. When a new hire joins a company, the first 6 months on the job is characterized as a series of reality “shocks” because they are exposed to the unwritten rules defining the organizational culture in the organization. For example, the job may be considered an 8-hour workday, but the new hire notices that everyone works at least 10 hours a day. The process of socialization follows the following steps: organizational anticipatory socialization, organizational entry and assimilation, and metamorphosis.

14.5: Discuss four ways that employees learn organizational culture.

Refer to Page 374.

Storytelling is now recognized as an important way to understand how employees make sense of what happens at work. Storytelling is the sharing of knowledge and experiences through narrative and anecdotes to communicate lessons, complex ideas, concepts, and causal connections. Rituals are defined as “a form of social action in which a group’s values and identity are publicly demonstrated or enacted in a stylized manner, within the context of a specific occasion or event.” Symbols represent the sharing of knowledge through access and exposure to images, diagrams, or objects, which represent or illustrate a culture value or an idea. Organizations may have specific language, jargon, or acronyms that can be confusing to a new employee. These terms and usage may be unique to the organization and represents the organizational culture and how it is transmitted to newcomers.

14.6: Compare and contrast organizational culture and climate.

Refer to Page 376

Organizational climate has been defined as “shared perceptions of the way things are around here.” Organizational climate is the level of agreement in perceptions about the organization and work environment among employees. While the analysis of culture relies on understanding of an organization’s fundamental assumptions as discussed in the previous section, climate research is concerned with representing employee’s shared perceptions of values in a static way as states that they experience at a point in time. Another key distinction between culture and climate is that culture is viewed as evolving over time and is studied from a sociology or anthropology viewpoint. Climate can be altered through management interventions. In sum, the difference between culture and climate is that culture is an evolved context and climate is a situation that employees are in.