1. Chapter 15 Organizational Culture
Essentials of
Organizational Behavior, 10/e
Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge
Chapter 15
Organizational Culture

2. After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Define organizational culture and describe its common characteristics.
Compare the functional and dysfunctional effects of organizational culture on people and the organization.
Explain the factors that create and sustain an organization’s culture.
Show how culture is transmitted to employees.
Demonstrate how an ethical culture and a positive culture can be created.
Show how national culture may affect the way organizational culture is transported to a different country.

3. Organizational Culture
A system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations
Composed of seven key characteristics

4. Seven Characteristics of Organizational Culture
Innovation and Risk Taking
Attention to Detail
Outcome Orientation
People Orientation
Team Orientation
Aggressiveness
Stability

5. Culture Is a Descriptive Term
Job Satisfaction
Organizational culture is concerned with how employees perceive an organization’s culture, not whether or not they like it
Descriptive
Measures affective responses to the work environment: concerned with how employees feel about the organization
Evaluative

6. Do Organizations Have Uniform Cultures?
The dominant culture expresses the core values that are shared by a majority of the organization’s members
Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences of members
Subcultures mirror the dominant culture but may add to or modify the core values

7. Strong Cultures
In a strong culture, the organization’s core values are both intensely held and widely shared
Strong cultures will:
Have great influence on the behavior of its members
Increase cohesiveness
Result in lower employee turnover

8. Culture Versus Formalization
Both seek predictability, orderliness, and consistency
Culture controls by increasing behavioral consistency
Formalization controls through policies and written documentation
Strong cultures can be a substitute for formalization

9. Culture’s Five Basic Functions
Defines Boundaries
Conveys a Sense of Identity
Generates Commitment Beyond Oneself
Enhances Social Stability
Sense-making and Control Mechanism

10. Culture as a Liability Barrier to Change Barrier to Diversity
Culture is slow to change – even in a dynamic environment
Barrier to Diversity
Culture seeks to minimize diversity
Can embed prevalent bias and prejudice
Barrier to Acquisitions and Mergers
Most mergers fail due to cultural incompatibility

11. Creating Culture
Ultimate source of an organization’s culture is its founders
Founders create culture in three ways:
By hiring and keeping those who think and feel the same way they do
Indoctrinating and socializing those employees to their way of thinking and feeling
Acting as a role model and encouraging employees to identify with them

12. Keeping a Culture Alive
Selection – seek out those who fit in
Top Management – establish norms of behavior by their actions
Socialization – help new employees adapt to the existing culture

13. A Socialization Model
Pre-arrival –initial knowledge about the organization and own unique ideas
Encounter – exposed to the organization
Metamorphosis – member changed to fit within the organization

14. Dimensions of Socialization Programs
Intense Programs
Moderate Programs
Formal – new workers separated for training
Collective – group basis
Fixed – planned activities
Serial – role models used
Divestiture – strip away characteristics to build up new ones
Informal – new workers immediately put to work
Individual – one-on-one
Variable – no timetables
Random – on your own
Investiture – accepts and confirms existing characteristics

15. How Organization Cultures Form
Success in employee socialization depends on management’s selection of socialization method and the closeness of new employees’ values to those of the organization

16. How Employees Learn Culture
Culture is transmitted to employees through:
Stories – provide explanations
Rituals – reinforce key values
Material Symbols – convey importance
Language – identify and segregate members

17. Creating an Ethical Organizational Culture
A strong culture with high risk tolerance, low-to-moderate aggressiveness, and focuses on means as well as outcomes is most likely to shape high ethical standards
Managers must be visible role models
Communicate ethical expectations
Provide ethical training
Visibly reward ethical acts and punish unethical ones
Provide protective mechanisms

18. Creating a Positive Organizational Culture
A positive culture is one that emphasizes the following:
Building on Employee Strengths
Rewarding More Than Punishing
Emphasizing Vitality and Growth of the Employee

19. Global Implications National and Organizational Cultures:
Organizations exist in a global context
Must be aware of local and national cultures
Suggestions and Observations:
Organizations heavily dependent on foreign markets and labor
National culture does influence organizational culture
All managers must be culturally sensitive

20. Implications for Managers
Create the culture you want when the organization is small and new
If established culture needs to be changed, expect it to take years

21. Keep in Mind…
Organizational culture is concerned with how employees perceive the culture, not whether or not they like it
Ethical and positive organizational cultures can be created – methods differ
National culture influences organizational culture

22. Summary
Defined organizational culture and described its common characteristics.
Compared the functional and dysfunctional effects of organizational culture on people and the organization.
Explained the factors that created and sustained an organization’s culture.
Showed how culture was transmitted to employees.
Demonstrated how an ethical culture and a positive culture could be created.
Showed how national culture might affect the way organizational culture is transported to a different country.

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