Organizational Culture Understanding how company culture is established

What is culture? A pattern of beliefs and behaviors shared by an organization’s members Plays important role in shaping the behavior of individuals and groups and therefore can be a very strong force to deal with! A social control system Just like a classical control system: Measures a parameter (behavior, in this case), and causes it to be changed if it is not in line with the expected norm. Interesting point is that with culture, people don’t feel controlled, they feel autonomous. This is because they become immersed in a “sea of culture” and the control is internally generated, i.e., self-control BA 553: Business Process Management2

3 What is organizational culture? Culture is a consistent and supported pattern of behaviors which are acquired and transmitted by symbols and actions It is embodied in the institutions, environment and artifacts held to be important by the corporation Major characteristics of culture: It has historical roots within the corporation It includes ideas, patterns and values It is selective and exclusive in nature, it is learned, it is based upon symbols and supported by symbolic actions It guides behavior, and yet it is a product of behavior (self-perpetuating)

BA 553: Business Process Management4 Why focus on corporate culture? A key factor in the success of implementing BPM is the support of employees at all levels for improvement If the organizational culture does not encourage support for improvement, BPM is unlikely to succeed It is therefore important to assess the organization’s culture to determine if the organization is ready to implement BPM, and help shift the culture if it is not yet ready The organization’s ability to shift its culture to be compatible with organizational teamwork will determine if BPM is successful

BA 553: Business Process Management5 Traditional vs. Teamwork Culture Command and Control CultureTeamwork/Learning Culture Risk adverseRisk taking Closed-mindedOpen-minded Don’t mess with successAchievement motivation Past orientedAnticipative / future oriented Self focusGroup focus Direct authorityInfluence HierarchicalFlat Acquiescence to authorityEmpowerment Unilateral decisionsConsensus Restricted informationFree information CompartmentalizedHolistic Short termLong term Rules / procedures emphasisPeople emphasis

How is organizational culture created? Organizational culture is not something that a single leader creates, nor is it something that managers control and make predictable Instead, organizational culture is something that every person in the organization contributes to and has a role in either perpetuating or changing over a long period of time. Organizational culture is the result of years of decision-making, actions taken, organizational policies established and discarded. Organizational culture is influenced not just by the formal policies and procedures but rather the informal practices that define and reinforce “the way things are done around here”. Within an organization there may be many different subcultures associated with variables such as organizational role and seniority level. BA 553: Business Process Management6

7 Items that Influence Culture Primary What leaders pay attention to, measure, get emotional about, or ignore are important to others, and become the expected norm Leader’s reaction to critical incidents Myths, legends about important events and people Deliberate role modeling, coaching, teaching Criteria for allocation of rewards and status Criteria for recruitment, selection, promotion and excommunication Secondary Organizational structures and systems embed culture. These are also controlled by the leadership Design of physical spaces, etc. Formal statement of work

BA 553: Business Process Management8 Historical Events (Myths and legends about important events and people) The existing culture is reinforced by the sharing of stories about significant historical events that align with employees’ views of the norms and values of the organization New events that demonstrate behaviors and actions that align with the desired organizational character help create the “to be” culture Eventually, these will be the historical events that are shared stories of how the embedded culture works For further reading: Mathews, lR. And Wacker, W. (2008), What’s Your Story? Storytelling to Move Markets, Audiences, People, and Brands, FT Press, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Wortmann, C. (2006), What's Your Story? Using Stories to Ignite Performance and Be More Successful, Kaplan Publishing, New York, NY. Poulton, M. (2005), “Organizational Storytelling, Ethics and Morality: How Stories Frame Limits of Behavior in Organizations,” Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 4-9.