Chapter 8 Flashcards
(20 cards)
Organizational culture
Organizational culture:
Consists of shared beliefs, values and assumptions that exist in an org
- the shared beliefs, values and assumptions determine the norms that develop and the patterns of behaviour that emerge from these norms
Characteristics of org culture
Characteristics of org culture
- Organizational culture stable over time
- Established culture can persist despite the turnover of members, providing the social continuity
- Cultural context can involve internal or external orgs
- Culture can have strg impact on org performance and member satis
Subcultures
Subcultures
a smaller culture that develop within larger orgs culture that are based on differences in training, occupation or departmental goals
- Effective orgs develop an overarching culture to manage diffs btw subcultures
- Ex: different professions and functional areas may develop their own subcultures
'’Strong culture’’ concept
def:
Weak cultures: Def
'’Strong culture’’ concept
A strong culture is an org culture with intense and pervasive beliefs, values, and assumptions providing grt consensus concerning ‘‘what the orgs is about’’ or what it stands for
- High level of understanding of what culture is and strong commitment to core values
- Organizational size is not a factor for strong culture
- strong cultures are associated with greater success and effectiveness
Weak cultures: beliefs, values and assumptions are less strongly ingrained or less widely shared across the orgs- fragmented and have less impact on orgs members
Advantages of strong cultures
Advantages of strong cultures
Potential advantages of a strong culture include:
- Coordination
- Conflict resolution- sharing core values will suggest a dispute resolution mechanism
- Financial success
- Invisible to competitiors
- Cannot be copied easily
- Can be substainable competitive advantage
Liabilities of strong cultures
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Liabilities of strong cultures
- Resistance to change
- Culture clash- two companies with strong culture
- Pathology- some cultures can threaten orgs effectiveness due to infighting, secrecy, paranoia
Contributors to orgs culture
- Founder’s role
- Socialization
Contributors to orgs culture
- Founder’s role
- Many cultures reflect values of an org’s culture
- Top mana strongly shapes an org’s culture
- Sometimes culture begun by founder that can cause conflict when top mana wishes to change orgs direction
- Socialization
- Socialization is one of primary means by which indv can learn the cultures beliefs, values and assumptions
- Precise nature of socialization process is key to culture that emerges in org
- Org with strong cultures expose employees to careful, step-by-step socialization process
Socialization steps
Socialization steps
Step1: selecting employees
Step2: debasement and hazing
Step3: training ‘‘in the trenches’’
Step4: Reward and promotion
Step5: exposure to core culture
Step6: Orgs folkore
Step7: role models
Diagnosing a culture
Diagnosing a culture
Cultures can be diagnosed through symbols, rituals & stories characterize the orgs way of life
- Symbols are strong indicators of the corporate culture
- Rituals can be monthly parties , employee nights ect..
- Stories about past orgs events, known as company folkore- Communicate ‘‘how things work’'’and reflect uniqueness of orgs cultures
Business Ethics
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- Moral
- Stakeholders
Business Ethics
-Written or unwritten codes of principles and values that govern decisions and actions within a company
- Deal with the ‘‘oughts’’ of life- thinking of the moral consequences of decisions
- Business decision-making is typically economic/financial, business decisions also impact people
- Moral consequences can be framed in terms of potential harm to any stakeholder in the decision
- Stakeholders are ppl inside or outside an org who have the potential to be affected by orgs decision
More Business Ethics
- Many managers
- Managers
- Top managers
- Among Bussiness
Women
More Business Ethics
- Many managers have been pressured to compromise their own ethical standards when making decisions
- Managers see themselves as having higher ethical standards than their peers and sometimes their superiors
- Top managers tend to see their orgs as being more ethical than do those lower in the hierarchy
- Among Bussiness students, undergraduates have been found to be more ethical than MBA
Women,old people more ethical> men, young
- Common Themes of Ethical Issues Facing Managers
Common Themes of Ethical Issues Facing Managers
- Honest communication: Evaluate subordinates candidly; Label honestly; do not slant proposals to senior management
- Fair treatment: Pay equitably, do not give preferences to suppliers with political connections
- Special consideration: The ‘‘fair treatment’’ standard can be modified for special cases, such as helping out long-time employee, preference to hiring the disabled
- Fair competition: Avoid bribes and kickbacks to obtain business, do not fix prices with competitors
- Responsibility to orgs: Act for good of org as a whole,, not for self-interest
- Corporate social responsibility: Do not pollute: think about the community impact of plant closures; show concern for employee health and safety
- Respect for law
Unethical Behaviour
Unethical Behaviour
- polluting
- Not fully paying employees
- engaging in price-fixing
Ethical Decision Making
Ethical Decision Making
Economic analysis: focuses on what is the best decision for a company’s profits
Legal analysis: focuses only meeting legal requirement of host and parent countries
Ethical Analysis: goas beyond focus on profit goals and legal regulations
Causes of Unethical Behaviour
Causes of unethical behavior include:
Causes of Unethical Behaviour
Causes of unethical behavior include:
- Gain
- Role confict
- strong orgs identification
- Competiton
- Personality
- Orgs and industry culture
Whistle-blowing
Whistle-blowing
Whitsle-blowing occurs when current or former organizational member discloses illegitimate practices to some person or organization that may be able to take action to correct these practices
The whistle may be blown inside or outside offending org
Sexual Harassment
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Sexual Harassment
form of unethical behaviour that stems , from abuse of power and perpetuation of a gender imbalance
Managers abusing their position, reward or coercive power in exchange for
- Most prevalent with supervisors and co-workers
Prevalent in hostile work environments: Most likely in male-dominated industries and orgs in which men attempt to maintain dominance relative to women
client and cust can also engage in harassment
Minority women most likely to be harassed
Many orgs are slow to react to complaints of sexual harassment
Deaf ear syndrome refers to inaction or complacency of org s in face of charges of sexual harassment
Why do orgs fail to respond
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Why do orgs fail to respond
- Inadequate orgs policies and procedures for managing harassment complaints
- Defensive managerial reactions
- Orgs features that contribute to inertial tendencies
Responding to Sexual Harassment
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Leading orgs that are responsive to complaints of sexual harassment have:
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Responding to Sexual Harassment
- Examine the characteristics of deaf ear orgs
- Foster mana support and education
- Stay viligant
- Take immediate action
- Create a state-of-the-art policy
- Establish clear reporting procedures
Leading orgs that are responsive to complaints of sexual harassment have:
- Top management commitment
- Provide comprehensive education programs
- Continuously monitor to work environment
- Respond to complaints in a thorough and timely manner
- Have clear policies and reporting procedures
Ethical decision making ‘‘best practices’’ steps
Ethical decision making ‘‘best practices’’ steps
- Establish clear ethical guidelines
- Lead by example
- Making ethics part of entrepreneurial culture
- Involving all employees
- Set and monitor goals
- Effective integration in business processes
- Open discussion of ethics and other ethical issues
- Practice what you preach
