Chapter 6 Organizational culture and committees ACCA F1 Chapter 6 Organizational culture and committees

Organizational functions Research and development(R&D): it improves products or process, supports the organization’s strategy, and is coordinated with marketing. Purchasing is the acquisition of the material resources and business services needed in an organization, it is important to cost and quality management.

Organizational functions Production is essential in an organization, it plans, organizes, directs and controls the necessary activities to provide products and services. Direct service provision: service is intangible, inseparable, variable, but it is very important, especially in service businesses. Besides, it can add value to tangible products.

Organizational functions The administration department is often to be centralized, these functions are carried out at the head office. The finance function is one of the most important expert roles in an organization. It involves raising money, recording and controlling what happens to money, managing accounting information, and reporting to stakeholders.

Organizational functions-marketing Marketing is the management process which indentifies, anticipates and satisfies customer needs profitably. Marketing mix(4P): Product, Place, Promotion, Price Market planning is subordinate to corporate strategic planning, but it can provide very important information, like the product’s strength and weakness.

Organizational functions-HRM Human resource management is the process of evaluating an organization’s HR needs, finding people to fill those needs, and getting the best work from each employee by providing the right incentives and job environment- with the overall aim of helping achieve organizational goals. Concerned with the most effective use of HR. The HR cycle

What is culture Culture is the ways of behaving and understanding that are shared by a group of people. It is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the member of one category of people from another. Culture has many levels. In an organization, culture matters, because it determines strategy, goals and modes of operating.

Culture’s elements Culture has three different levels The first level is observable, it contains behavior, artefacts, and attitudes. The second level are the underlying values and beliefs which give special meaning and significance to the observable elements. The third level are hidden assumptions, which are the foundational ideas shaping values and beliefs. The second and third level are unobservable.（冰山一角）

Organization culture The way we do things around the organization. Manifestations include beliefs and values(level 2), behavior, artefacts, rituals and symbols(level 1). There are internal and external factors influencing organization culture, including founder, history, leadership and management style, and organization’s environment

Culture and structure Organizations which have different culture may have different structure. An organization may have more than one type of cultures, these cultures prevail in different parts of the organization. The national culture influences organization culture, then it influences organization’s structure indirectly.

Handy’s cultural stereotypes Apllo （阿波罗） Power culture Role culture Person culture Task culture Culture Athena（雅典娜）

Handy’s model Differentiated by their structures, processes and management method. Power culture is best suited to small entrepreneurial organizations, which are controlled by a key person. These organizations are clubs, and have few rules and procedures. Role culture has a bureaucratic style, it is suited to large organization which in a stable environment. It is formal, the rules and procedures are well-established.

Handy’s model Task culture focus on outputs, the person who are essential to get the job done may have great power. The organizations are always horizontally-structured, and they are tolerant to costly risk. Person culture pays attention to serve the interests of the individuals within the organization. The individuals who have talent are superior to the managers.

National culture Different counties have different ways of doing business, different cultural values and assumptions.(like some custom in India or Japan) Hofstede(1984) created a model, which describes four main dimensions of difference between national cultures

Hofstede model Power distance: the extent to which unequal distribution of power(someone gets more power than other one) is accepted Uncertainty avoidance: the extent to which security, order and control are preferred Individualism: the extent to which people prefer to live and work in individualist ways Masculinity: the extent to which social gender roles are distinct (are female so different from male?)

Committees Committee is a key part of organizational communication process, it consists of executives, and relates employers and employees. Every committee has a Chair and a secretary. There are many types of committees according to the power they can exercise.