Module 10 #Culture and learning

Organizational Behavior

Module 10: Culture and learning

Vinay Kumar, Ph.D

Vidisha Garg, MBA

ICBM-SBE, 2014

Components of organizational culture

• Organizational culture

– Set of shared meanings and exhibited behaviors that distinguish one

organization from another

– Components

• Innovation and risk taking

• Attention to detail

• Outcome orientation

• People orientation

• Team orientation

• Aggressiveness

• Stability

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 2

FIRST YEAR

FIRST TRIMESTER

SECOND TRIMESTER

THIRD TRIMESTER

ATTENTION

TO DETAIL

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Think about how your courses are organized!

One typology of organizational cultures

• Four types of firms

– Collaborative and cohesive

– Innovative and adaptable

– Controlled and consistent

– Competitive and customer-focused

Note:

There may be different other forms of categories with different labels.

What matters more is to understand in finer detail how the organization

wants itself to be seen by others!


Remember: Culture is just descriptive. That is, we can only describe an organization’s way of making sense of the world. Culture is not evaluative. Therefore, we cannot say one culture is better than the other.

Puzzles

• Is it necessary for an organization to have only one culture?

– Culture is a fuzzy concept.

– In an organization, there can be a dominant culture that defines the entire organization,

but there could also be a sub-culture that defines a distinct way of how a unit in the firm

operates.

• Can’t there be strong or weak cultures?

– Culture is not evaluative.

– Then how do we discuss strong or weak cultures? The idea here is to verify how

vulnerable a culture is to the forces of influence. If the members of an organization

change their behavior all too easily, and erratically, then that culture is perhaps a weak

culture. In strong cultures, the beliefs and values are intensely held and widely shared.

• Is culture different from formalization?

– What does formalization achieve? Predictability, Orderliness and Consistency.

– Culture is just another way of reaching the same goals, only with less rules/documents.


What does culture achieve?

• It creates distinctions between companies

– otherwise, it would not have been an interesting question to ask which company an

individual likes to join and why

• It conveys a sense of identity for members of organization

– recall, social identity theory!

• It facilitates commitment to a shared goal

– recall, psychological contracts!

• It enhances the stability of the organization

– recall, for example, disposability!

• It creates a climate where members share perceptions about work

– Think about it!


Recall from Module 3: Mapping attitudes to cultures


Cognitive Evaluations

Affects/ Feelings

Behaviors

Assumptions

Espoused Values

Artifacts / Behaviors

Breckler, S. J. (1984). Empirical Validation of Affect, Behavior, and Cognition as Distinct Components of Attitude. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1191-1205.

Schein, E. H. (1990). Organizational culture. American Psychological Association.

What should I get? What am I getting?

What should we give? What are we giving? DIFFERENCES

More on this in Unit 5

Job satisfaction Perceived support

Commitment Engagement

Troubles with strong cultures

• Institutionalization

• Barriers to change

• Barriers to diversity

• Barriers to acquisition and merger


How do cultures form and sustain?


Source: Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2013). Organizational Behavior,15th Edition. Pearson: New Jersey.

Think: Why do family businesses have a different style of operation compared to organizations with wider investor base that are run by professionals?

Think: Why do you think new recruits receive an induction program before they start getting their hands on the job?

How do employees learn culture?

• Stories

• Rituals

• Symbols

• Language


Source: http://devdutt.com/

http://devdutt.com/

http://devdutt.com/


• Stories

• Rituals

• Symbols

• Language


Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/amazon/10379912/How-Jeff-Bezos-rules-his-Amazonian-empire.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/amazon/10379912/How-Jeff-Bezos-rules-his-Amazonian-empire.html
















• Stories

• Rituals

• Symbols

• Language


Source: https://newyorkofficefurniturewarehouse.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/horrible-bosses-1.jpg?w=628&h=383&crop=1

https://newyorkofficefurniturewarehouse.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/horrible-bosses-1.jpg?w=628&h=383&crop=1








• Stories

• Rituals

• Symbols

• Language


Incorporating ethics into organizational culture

• Be visible role models

• Communicate ethical expectations (values above results!)

• Provide ethics training

• Reward ethical behaviors

• Provide protective mechanisms (would the organization be

tolerant if values were indeed placed above results?)


Injecting positivity into organizational culture

• Encourage independent thinking (not compliance)

• Build on employee strengths (not on idealizations)

• Reward more than punish (be cautious)

• Emphasize vitality and growth (not efficiency in routine)


Spirituality in organizations

• Why spirituality?

– Because rationality can override feelings/emotions

• What might spirituality bring?

– Benevolence

– Strong sense of purpose

– Trust

– Respect

– Open-mindedness

• What spirituality doesn’t mean?

– Religion

– Compromising economics

– Some form of legal statute


For discussion

• What are the areas you would look at to understand an organization’s

culture, let us say, our college? Could you give examples? Are these examples

falling within the four things that shape organizational culture?

• Has your behavior or have your beliefs changed in any way after joining a

new college? What do you think contributed to those changes?

• What are the parameters you would use to find out if you are happy and

productive in an organization? How would you determine that those are

indeed the parameters that guide in selecting an organization to work?


End of module 10.

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Upcoming

Case: Sumeru Software Solutions--Creating a culture of serene dynamism

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Module 10 #Culture and learning

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