Chp 15 - Organizational Culture and Change

Question 1

What is organizational culture?

Answer 1

The shared social knowledge within an organization regarding the rules, norms, and values that shape the attitudes and behaviours of its employees.

Question 2

Tell me the three facets of organizational culture

Answer 2

1. Culture is social knowledge among employee
2. Culture says rules, norms and values
3. Shapes/reinforces certain employee attitudes/behaviour by creating system of control over employees.

Question 3

What are the three major components of any organization culture?

Answer 3

1. Observable artifacts
2. Espoused values
3. Basic underlying assumption

Question 4

What is observable artifacts?

Answer 4

organization’s culture that employees can easily see or talk about.
“How they should act during the workday”

Question 5

Observable artifacts help show not only current employees but also potential employees, customers, shareholders, and investors what the organization is all about. So why type of artifacts are they? *hint there is 6

Answer 5

Physical structure
Rituals *Causal Friday
Symbols
Stories
Ceremonies
Language

Question 6

What is espoused values?

Answer 6

The beliefs, philosophies, and norms that a company explicitly states.
*Mission or verbal statements or annual reports

Question 7

What is basic underlying assumption definition?

Answer 7

The ingrained beliefs and philosophies of employees, they don’t question the validity of their behaviour

*taken for granted That things should be safe in an engineering firm

Question 8

3 factors of the basic underlying assumption

Answer 8

1. Deepest and least observable
2. Dictate behaviour and affect attitudes
3. Long lasting and difficult to change

Question 9

Culture can be divided into two dimensions, what are they?

Answer 9

Solidarity (Group thinks and act alike)
Sociability (how friendly they to one another)

Question 10

If they are low on both solidarity and sociability, this is what type of culture?

Answer 10

Fragmented
* Think fragile, no think alike and no caring they gonna break

Question 11

An organization in which employees think alike but aren’t friendly to one another, This is what culture?

Answer 11

Mercenary culture
*Mission same goal but they no nice
*Whats in it for me?

Question 12

If all employees are friendly to one another, but everyone thinks differently and does their own thing, what’s there culture?

Answer 12

Networked culture
*Network event friendly but no think alike

Question 13

An organization with friendly employees who all think alike represents a???

Answer 13

Communal culture

Question 14

Company start as communal culture and then shift to network culture as they grow. T or f?

Answer 14

True

Question 15

What are the specific culture types?

Answer 15

1. Customer service
2. Safety
3. Diversity
4. Sustainability
5. Creativity

Question 16

What is the service culture process?

Answer 16

1. Service oriented leadership behaviour
2. Service culture
3. Service oriented employee behaviours
4. Customer satisfaction
5. Unit sales

Question 17

“The degree to which employees agree about how things should happen within the organization and behave accordingly” This defines?

Answer 17

Culture strength

Question 18

What are the 4 types of ways culture strength is described?

Answer 18

Strong
Weak
Organizational subculture
Differentiated

Question 19

Differences between strong and weak culture?

Answer 19

Strong - agree about ways things are done and behaviour meet with expectations

High consensus (Agree abt what to happen)
High intensity (Everybody follow through with that belief)

Weak - employee disagree about way things are done or what is expected of them

Question 20

What are some advantages of strong culture?

Answer 20

Good
1. differentiaties
2. Identify
3. Desired behaviour
4. stability

Question 21

What are some disadvantages of strong culture

Answer 21

1. Merging difficult
2. Limit diversity of thought
3. create extreme behaviour
4. Adapting to environment more difficult

Question 22

Subculture is a strong leader in one area of the company that engenders norms and values, or because different divisions in a company act independently and create their own cultures.
T or F?

Answer 22

True

Question 23

Subculture is good when there is different demands and needs for their employees. But bad when their values dont match those of the larger organization. What is the culture now called?

Answer 23

Countercultures

Question 24

What two processes can conspire to help keep cultures strong?

Answer 24

Attraction selection attrition (ASA)
Socialization

Question 25

Define Attraction selection attrition (ASA).

Answer 25

Attraction: potential employees will be attracted to organizations whose cultures match their own personality. Selection: Hire personality that match organization culture

Question 26

Finally, those people who still don't fit will either be unhappy or ineffective when working in the organization and what process is this? T or F?

Answer 26

True, this is the attrition part process.

Question 27

Define socialization

Answer 27

The primary process by which employees learn the social knowledge that enables them to understand and adapt to the organization's culture. *Processes before employee starts and end till the leave

Question 28

What are the 3 stages that socialization happens?

Answer 28

1. Anticipatory stage 2. Encounter stage 3. Understanding and adaptation

Question 29

What happens in the anticipatory stage?

Answer 29

- hears the name - creates a picture of what its like to work there - treated during recruitment - insiders tell them

Question 30

What happens at the encounter stage?

Answer 30

Begins the day an employee starts work. They compare info they got from previous stage to what organization is really like.

Question 31

When does reality shock happen?

Answer 31

A mismatch of information that occurs when an employee finds that aspects of working at a company are not what they expected them to be

Question 32

What happens at the understanding and adaption stage?

Answer 32

newcomers come to learn the content areas of socialization and internalize norms and expected behaviours.

Question 33

What are the 6 dimensions addressed in most socialization efforts

Answer 33

1. Goals and values 2. Performance proficiency (Whats a good performer) 3. People 4. Language (Acronyms ,slang) 5. History 6. Politics (Informal and formal work relation)

Question 34

What are different change interventions

Answer 34

Selection Training Performance management Changes in leadership Mergers and acquisitions

Question 35

What is person organization fit (Pof) and how does it affect job performance and organizational commitment?

Answer 35

"Which a person's personality and values match the culture of an organization" Experience higher job satisfaction, less tress, higher trust, emotional attachment

Question 36

What are 5 ways to encourage adaption to the organizational culture?

Answer 36

1. Group new employees 2. Orientation 3. Hurdles before organizational membership 4. Role models 5. Remind they are now part of group and this define them LOL

Question 37

What are 3 other major ways in organization to routinely and effectively help speed the socialization process of new comers..

Answer 37

Realistic job previews Orientation program Mentoring

Question 38

When does realitsc job preview occure?

Answer 38

During anticipatory stage of socialization specifically during recruitment process. Shows pos and neg aspect of job.

Question 39

So recognizing that a change in culture is a difficult undertaking the steps that are taken in variably are?

Answer 39

1. Unfreezing 2. Change intiative 3. Refreezing

Question 40

What does it mean to unfreeze?

Answer 40

when the organization comes to some realization that the status quo is unacceptable.

Question 41

What does it mean to change initiative?

Answer 41

In the case of culture change, this may involve bringing in a new leader, introducing a new reward system, or implementing a new training program.

Question 42

What does it mean to refreeze?

Answer 42

the newly developed attitudes and behaviours (i.e., new ways of thinking, feeling, and acting) need to "harden up," becoming entrenched as new norms, values, and shared understandings.

Question 43

How do organizations determine if cultural change is needed?

Answer 43

Interviews and focus groups (which are done by 3rd party) Structured assessments

Question 44

What is one structured diagnostic tool used successfully by consultants and change agents is the?

Answer 44

OCAI - Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument

Question 45

What does the OCAI assessment of the first dimension show?

Answer 45

The distinguish of how some want: Flexibility, discretion and dynamism vs Stability, order, and control

Question 46

The second dimension distinguishes?

Answer 46

Internally oriented - integration, coordination and cohesion Externally oriented - Risk taking, entrepreneurship, and results