Chapter 3 organizational culture and environment: the constraints

The usefulness of management The omnipotent view The view that managers are directly responsible for an organization’s success or failure. The symbolic view The view that much of an organization’s success or failure is due to external forces outside managers’ control. Realty suggests a synthesis.

The organizations’ culture Organizational culture: the shared values, principles, traditions, and ways of doing things that influence the way organizational members act. Attention to detail Outcome orientation People orientation Team orientation Aggressiveness Stability Innovation and risk taking

Strong and weak culture Strong culture Weak culture Values widely shared Values limited to a few people—usually top management Culture conveys consistent messages about what’s important Culture sends contradictory messages about what’s important Most employees can tell stories about company history/heroes Employees have little knowledge of company history or heroes Employees strongly identify with culture Employees have little identification with culture Strong connection between shared values and behaviors Little connection between shared values and behaviors How about the culture in your class? In Wuhan? In China?

The source of culture Founders and history. How an organization’s culture continues? How employees learn culture? Stories Rituals Material symbols Language

Current organizational culture issues facing managers Creating an ethical culture Creating an innovation culture Challenge and involvement, trust and openness, idea time, playfulness/humor, conflict resolution, debates, risk taking Creating a customer-responsive culture

Spirituality and organizational culture Strong sense of purpose. Focus on individual development. Trust and openness. Employee empowerment. Toleration of employee expression.

environment External environment Internal environment Those factors and forces outside the organization that affect the organization’s performance. Internal environment Mermber of organization management

Public pressure groups Specific and general global economics Public pressure groups suppliers The organization Political legal demographics government competitors customers sociocultural technological

Stakeholder vs. shareholder Any constituencies in the organization’s environment that are affected by the organization’s decision and actions. Balance of stakeholder Shareholder Owner of the organization’s assets. Maximiazation of shareholder interest.

organization customers Which one is most important? employees customers unions Social and political action group organization shareholders competitors suppliers Trade and industry associations governments Which one is most important? Could you give more stakeholder in China?