Culture & ControlColin Lienhard&Kimber Lambert

What Is Culture?

a shared, learned, symbolic system of values, beliefs and attitudes that shapes and influences perception and behavior

Cultural/organization paradox

Why is understanding culture important to organizations?

organizations must interact and are not all of the same “culture”

people within an organization often have different cultural backgrounds

leaders change and shape culture

managers/administrators live within the boundaries set by an existing culture

organizations can be a unique form of culture

Reflect

Why did Schein fail at fixing the problems at the Action Company?

Why did Schein fail at fixing the problems at the Multi Company?

What is cultural analysis and why is it beneficial to implementing changes in an organization?

Common Factors of Culturesobserved behavioral

regularities

group norms

espoused values

formal philosophy

rules of the game

climate

embedded skills

habits of thinking, mental models, and/or linguistic paradigms

shared meanings

Culture is more than just “sameness” or sharing…

What are the two requirements for strong cultures?

Structural Stability

Patterning or Integration

Schein’s Formal Definition of Culture:

A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be taught to new members and the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.

Problems with SocializationSocialization does not always allow an individual access to the deepest aspects of a cultureCulture can be a mechanism for social controlExamples?

Problems in Cultures

The Problem of “Behavior”behavior is not a good indicator of culturebehavioral regularities are not always a part of a culture

Can A Large Organization Have One Culture?Depends upon how the question is viewedIf empirical then yes –but why?No, is made up of smaller subcultures that are often in conflict

Smircich distinguishes between studies of culture as a metaphor for organizational life and studies of culture as a variableCulture as a Variable

Functionalist viewpointoffers the promise that a strong culture will lead to outcomes that are desired to be maximized

Culture as a Metaphorsymbolic approachfocuses on the symbolic meaning associated with cultural formsviews culture as a lens through which to study organizations

Which do You Think? Why?

Why Study Culture?Offers clarity in an ambiguous worldA way to capture complexities in everyday lifeTo motivate and control employeesGenerate commitment, increase productivity, and possibly profitability

Cultural StudiesNeopositive Cultural Research

Uses the scientific methodfocus on socially constructed knowledgestudy’s empirically based conclusions are usually described as being objectively true

Interpretive Studieshow people interpret what happens to them

Post Modern Cultural Studieschallenge any objective truth claim as other subjective understanding of the claim are always possibleevery objective argument contains within itself its negation

Ideational Definitions Of CultureIdeational culture refers to ideas, symbols, values, norms, principles, beliefs, ways of feeling, thinking and acting, as well as a stock of knowledge and a world view constructed by a group which, over time become convention

Materialistic Definitions Of CultureMaterial culture comprises the material products of a culture, as well as the tools used to construct the artifacts in question. Material culture in public organizations includes the physical buildings of the bureaucracy, plus the tools available for public servants to do their job, such as offices, desks, files, paper, pens, information systems, telephones, faxes, computers and the like.

Cultural Studies (continued)Generalist Study of Culture

Looks at the big pictureHow multiple aspects interact

Specialists Views Of Cultureargue that a small number of manifestations can represent an entire culture interpretations of more manifestations would be consistent

The “Uniqueness” of A Culturecultures want to be unique to define a nichepeople want to be viewed as separate and specialbecause cultural members exist mainly within the boundaries of their cultures and only know about a few others it is hard for them to determine their uniquenessone of the rare consensus on organizational culturethe uniqueness paradox –what is believed to be unique can inevitably be found elsewherevery difficult to justify empirically

I Am Studying “Culture”…But What Am I Studying?

Ritualsrituals are “choreographed”are repeated according to a schedulerituals re-energize/start over (ex Mary Kay)are not always unique but may have unique aspects

Organizational Studies and Scripts

Two elements-a narrative describing a sequence of events and a set of meaning or interpretations

*the green badge story

*central elements of an organizational story are known by many

*focuses on a single event sequence

*central characters are members of the organization

*ostensibly true

*scripts have 4 defining characteristics

*well defined set of character or roles

*contains a single fixed sequence of events

*some events in a sequence may be optional

*when one of several alternatives can occur, referred to as script branches

Jargon

*special language understood by organizational insiders

*technical jargon – task oriented, emotionally neutral

*emotional jargon – concerned with feelings

*technical jargon is often learned first

Humor

*usually not funny to an outsider

*used to distinguish insiders from outsiders

*subtle measure of the degree to which a member feels they belong to an organization

Physical Attributes

*powerful culture clues (visual)

*General motors Building

*dress code, arrangement of furniture, colors in buildings

Formal and Informal Practices

*formal practices are written and more easily controlled by management

*Four types of Formal practices- structure, task and technology, rules and procedures and financial controls

*informal practices are not written down, evolve through interaction

*usually inconsistent with the formal practices

*British Police Drinking

Content Themes

*espoused-relatively superficial

*trying to make an impression on an audience

*tend to be abstract

*inferred – reflect a deeper level of interpretation

The Engineering CultureWhat are some of the examples of the “Tech Culture” Gideon Kunda describes?

Mostly white

Mostly male

Upscale

Drab dress

How do others perceive Lyndsville?

Not fun

People work too hard

It can’t be enjoyable

What does Dave Carpender Think about his managerial job?

It’s his job to put people to work efficiently

He believes that the head management

Culture & Control at Tech

What are Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman’s views on management and controll?

Management is the art of creating corporate cultures

Managers shape cultures

Why do you think there has been a large popularity in Corporate control?

Managers shape employees into corporate images.

Outside sources

What are some outside sources that influence culture control?

Advertisement

Self and non self

Media

Newspapers

Speeches given by managerial positions

Rituals

In presentation…Strategic words are used to get employment motivated

Preparation“boot camps” to get acclimated

Also build culture