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Essentials of
Organizational Behavior, 11/e
Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge
Chapter 15

Organizational Culture
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

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1.

2.

3.

4.
5.
6.

Define organizational culture and describe its common

characteristics.
Compare the functional and dysfunctional effects of
organizational culture on people and the organization.
Explain the factors that create and sustain an organizations
culture.
Show how culture is transmitted to employees.
Demonstrate how an ethical culture can be created.
Show how national culture may affect the way
organizational culture is transported to a different country.

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Organizational Culture
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A system of shared meaning

held by members that
distinguishes the organization
from other organizations

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Seven Characteristics of Organizational Culture

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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Innovation and Risk Taking

Attention to Detail
Outcome Orientation
People Orientation
Team Orientation
Aggressiveness
Stability

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Culture Is a Descriptive Term

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Culture

Organizational culture is
concerned with how
employees perceive an
organizations culture, not
whether or not they like it
Descriptive

Job Satisfaction

Measures affective
responses to the work
environment: concerned
with how employees feel
about the organization
Evaluative

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Do Organizations Have Uniform Cultures?

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The dominant culture expresses the core values that

are shared by a majority of the organizations
members
Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to
reflect common problems, situations, or experiences
of members
Subcultures mirror the dominant culture but may add
to or modify the core values

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Strong Cultures
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In a strong culture, the organizations core values are

both intensely held and widely shared
Strong cultures will:
Have

great influence on the

behavior of its members
Increase cohesiveness
Result in lower employee
turnover

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Cultures Five Basic Functions

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Defines Boundaries
Conveys a Sense of Identity
Generates Commitment Beyond Oneself
Enhances Social Stability
Sense-making and Control Mechanism

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Culture as a Liability
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Barrier to Change

Culture is slow to change even in a dynamic environment

Barrier to Diversity
Culture seeks to minimize diversity
Can embed prevalent bias and prejudice

Barrier to Acquisitions and Mergers

Most mergers fail due to cultural incompatibility

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Creating Culture
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Ultimate source of an organizations culture is its

founders
Founders create culture in three ways:

By hiring and keeping those who think and feel the same way
they do

Indoctrinating and socializing those employees to their way of

thinking and feeling

Acting as a role model and encouraging employees to

identify with them

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Keeping a Culture Alive

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Selection seek out those who fit in

Top Management establish norms of behavior by
their actions
Socialization help new employees adapt to the
existing culture

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

A Socialization Model
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Pre-arrival initial knowledge about the

organization and own unique ideas
Encounter exposed to the organization
Metamorphosis member changed to fit within the
organization

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Dimensions of Socialization Programs

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Intense Programs

Formal new workers

separated for training
Collective group basis
Fixed planned activities
Serial role models used
Divestiture strip away
characteristics to build up
new ones

Moderate Programs

Informal new workers

immediately put to work
Individual one-on-one
Variable no timetables
Random on your own
Investiture accepts and
confirms existing
characteristics

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

How Organization Cultures Form

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Success in employee socialization depends on

managements selection of socialization method and the
closeness of new employees values to those of the
organization
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

How Employees Learn Culture

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Culture is transmitted to
employees through:
Stories provide explanations
Rituals reinforce key values
Material Symbols convey
importance
Language identify and
segregate members

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Creating an Ethical Organizational Culture

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A strong culture with high risk tolerance, low-tomoderate aggressiveness, and focuses on means as
well as outcomes is most likely to shape high ethical
standards
Managers must be visible role models
Communicate ethical expectations
Provide ethical training
Visibly reward ethical acts and punish unethical ones
Provide protective mechanisms

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

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Creating a Positive Organizational

Culture
A positive culture is one that
emphasizes the following:

Building on Employee Strengths

Rewarding More Than Punishing
Emphasizing Vitality and Growth
of the Employee

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Global Implications
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National and Organizational Cultures:

Organizations exist in a global context

Must be aware of local and national cultures

Suggestions and Observations:

Organizations heavily dependent on foreign markets and labor

National culture does influence organizational culture

All managers must be culturally sensitive

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Implications for Managers

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Create the culture you

want when the
organization is small
and new
If established culture
needs to be changed,
expect it to take years

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Keep in Mind
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Organizational culture is concerned with how

employees perceive the culture, not whether or not
they like it
Ethical and positive organizational cultures can be
created methods differ
National culture influences organizational culture

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Summary
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1.

2.

3.

4.
5.
6.

Defined organizational culture and described its common

characteristics.
Compared the functional and dysfunctional effects of
organizational culture on people and the organization.
Explained the factors that created and sustained an
organizations culture.
Showed how culture was transmitted to employees.
Demonstrated how an ethical culture could be created.
Showed how national culture might affect the way
organizational culture is transported to a different country.

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

15-22

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Printed in the
United States of America.
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall