lecture 8 & 9 : organizational culture

Question 1

organizational culture

Answer 1

a system of shared meanings and common beliefs held by organizational members that determines on a large degree how they act towards one another

Question 2

7 dimensions of organizational culture

Answer 2

1. attention to detail - precision and analysis
2. outcome oriented - ends vs means
3. people oriented - task vs people
4. team oriented - individual vs group
5. aggressiveness - cooperative vs competitive
6. stability - status quo
7. innovative and risk taking - entrepreneurship

Question 3

how employees learn organizational culture

Answer 3

• stories : narratives about significant events or activities of people that conveys the spirti of the organization
• rituals : repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the values of the organization
• symbols : physical assets that distinguishes the organization
• language : acronyms and jargon of terms, phrases, word meanings spesific to an organization

Question 4

strong vs weak culture

Answer 4

• in companies with strong cultures, key values are deeply held and widely shared
• strong cultures have more influence to employees than weak cultures
• emloyees are more commited to companies with strong cultures

Question 5

benefits of a positive and strong culture

Answer 5

• foster high performance from employees by instilling and promoting employees innitiative aids recruitment and socialization of new employees
• attraction (attract similar-minded employees)
• selection (select similar-minded employees)
• attrition (dissimilar-minded employees leave)
• the company culture has positive influence over the employees’ behavior
• makes the employees’ behavior predictable
• sense-making and control mechanism