LEC5 Flashcards
(16 cards)
Organizational Culture
Shared values and beliefs that enable members to understand their roles and the norms of the organization, including:
Observed behavioral regularities, as typified by common language, terminology, and rituals.
Norms ->the amount of work to be done, the degree of cooperation between management and employees.
Dominant values that the organization advocates and expects participants to share, such as high product and service quality, low absenteeism, and high efficiency
A philosophy that is set forth in the MNC’s beliefs regarding how employees and customers should be treated.
Rules that dictate the do’s and don’ts of employee behavior relating to areas such as productivity, customer relations, and intergroup cooperation.
Organizational climate, atmosphere of the enterprise as reflected by the way that participants interact with each other, conduct themselves with customers, and feel about the way they are treated by higher-level management
Factors Determining Organizational Culture
- General relationship between the employees and their organization
- Hierarchical system of authority that defines the roles of managers and subordinates
Family Culture
POWER- oriented culture
Strong emphasis on hierarchy and orientation to the person
Family-type environment that is power oriented and headed by a leader who is regarded as a caring parent
Management looks after employees, and tries to ensure that they are treated well and have continued employment
Characterized by traditions, customs, and associations：Bind the personnel together, make it difficult for outsiders to become members
May catalyse and multiply the energies of the personnel or end up supporting a leader who is ineffective and drains their energies and loyalties
Eiffel Tower
ROLE/TASK- oriented culture
Strong emphasis on hierarchy and orientation to the task
Jobs are well defined, and everything is coordinated from the top
This culture is narrow(eng) at the top, and broad(breit) at the base
Relationships are specific, and status remains with the job.
Managers seldom create off-the-job relationships with their people, because they believe this could affect their rational judgment
This culture operates very much like a formal hierarchy—impersonal and efficient and loyalties
- Each role is described, rated for difficulty, complexity, and responsibility and has a salary attached to it
- Jobs are awarded to the best fit between role and person
Learning involves the accumulation of skills necessary to fit a role, and organizations
Disadvantage EIffel tower
Hard to change： Long process, complicated procedures.
Guided missile
PROJECT oriented culture
Strong emphasis on equality in the workplace and orientation to the task
This culture is oriented to work
Work typically is undertaken by teams or project groups
In projects, formal hierarchical considerations= low priority, and individual expertise=greatest importance
All team members are equal
All teams treat each other with respect, may need the other for assistance
Egalitarian and task-driven organizational culture
+Changes can happen quickly
-more connection to project, than organization
–> Google, Deloitte
Incubator
FULLFILLMENT oriented culture
equality and person
organizations serve as incubators for the self-expression and self-fulfillment of their members
Little formal structure
Participants confirm, criticize, develop, and find resources for, or to help complete, the development of an innovation
Creates an environment where participants have an intense, emotional commitment to work
Changes are fast and spontaneous
Motivation remains high
Leadership is achieved and not gained by position
–> start ups
Multicultural Team Effectiveness
Focus of attention must be determined by the stage of team development
Entry stage - Focus on building trust and developing team cohesion
Work stage - Focus is directed toward describing and analyzing the problem or task that has been assigned
Action stage - Focus shifts to decision making and implementation
Risks of organizational cultures
Even you have a clear organizational culture in the multinational companies, you still face lots of challenges to manage your subsidiaries abroad.
Misunderstanding between different subsidiaries?
Impose strong culture of headquarter to foreign subsidiaries?
Interaction Between National and Organizational Cultures
National cultural values of employees may have a significant impact on their organizational performance
Cultural values employees bring to the workplace with them are not easily changed by the organization.
Types of Multiculturalism
Domestic multiculturalism:
Multicultural and diverse workforce that operates in the MNE’s home country
Group multiculturalism: Homogeneous groups Token groups Bicultural groups Multicultural groups
Group multiculturalism
Homogeneous groups (people from the same cultural background)
Token groups (for example 4 Americans and 1 Japanese manager)
Bicultural groups (for example, 2 Americans and 2 Japanese managers)
Multicultural groups (for example 2 Americans, 2 Japanese and 2 Chinese managers working on a project)
Potential Problems Associated with Diversity
Attitudinal problems
–>May cause a lack of cohesion(Mangel an Zusammenhalt) that results in the unit’s inability to take concerted(konzentriert) action or to be productive
Perceptual problems
–>When culturally diverse groups come together, they often bring preconceived, erroneous stereotypesp(
vorgefasste, fehlerhafte Stereotypen) with them
Inaccurate biases
Inaccurate communication
Advantages of Diversity
Can enhance creativity, lead to better decisions, and result in more effective and productive performance
Can prevent groupthink
–>Social conformity and pressures on individual members of a group to conform and reach consensus
Enhance relationship to customers with diverse background
Cross cultural groupy can be highly effective, under the right conditions
(Tasks requiring innovativeness, Activities must be determined by the stage of team development)
Multicultural Team Effectiveness - Guidelines
- select team members on task related abilities, not on ethnicity
- team members have to be prepared to deal with cultural differences
- team leader has to help the group to identify themselves and to define their goal
- distribute power according to persons’ abilities
- provide team with positive feedback on process and output
