Organisational Culture

and
Structure Part 1

HRM3125
 Why study Organisational Culture

• First Impressions
• Culture and organisational performance
• Culture and strategy
• Culture and Globalisation
• The ‘culture perspective’ or the ‘symbolic
approach’
Organisational or corporate culture

• Organisational culture: the collection of relatively uniform

and enduring values, beliefs, customs, traditions and practices that
are shared by an organisation’s members, learned by new recruits,
and transmitted from one generation of employees to the next.
• Anthropology, sociology, psychology and early
management thought.
• The 1980’s the art of Japanese management
(Pascale & Athos), In search of excellence (Peters &
Waterman) and Corporate cultures (Deal & Kennedy)
 ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
DEFINITIONS
‘The customary & traditional way of doing things, which is
shared by all members, and which new members must learn &
at least partially accept, in order to be accepted into the
organisation’ (Jacques)

‘The way we do things round here’ (Deal & Kennedy)

Shared values (Peters & Waterman)

That set of basic assumptions that has worked well enough to

be taught to new members (Schein)
 Organisational culture

• An iceberg
– the surface is based on a much deeper reality
• An onion
– the core is shielded by many layers

To change an organisation in any significant or lasting

way, you need to change the:
VALUES and BELIEFS that lie at the CORE
ORGANISATIONAL ICEBERG
GOALS
STRUCTURE
POLICIES

VALUES
ATTITUDES
INFORMAL INTERACTIONS
Levels
Levels Visible
of
of Culture
Corpor
Corpor Expresse
d Values
ate
ate
Culture
Culture
Core
Values
 Schein on Culture
Organisational Culture is seen in terms of three levels,
each distinguished by its visibility to and accessibility by
individuals.
• Pattern of basic assumptions, which have been invented,
discovered or developed in learning to cope with its
problems of external adaptation and integration. These
have been effective enough to be considered as valid
and therefore taught to new members as the correct way
to perceive, think and feel in relation to problems
• Culture is not overt behaviour or visible artefacts nor is it
the philosophy or value system of the organisation’s
founder. Rather it is the assumptions which lie behind
the values and which determine the behaviour, patterns
and the visible artefacts
 Three layers of culture
• Values
– often written down
– statements about purpose, mission, objectives
– usually general/vague
(e.g. Service to the Community)

• Beliefs
– more specific
– usually overt/talked about
(e.g. the company should not trade with Burma)

• Taken-for-granted assumptions
– this is the real “core” of culture
– difficult to identify and explain
– often linked to the raison d’etre of the organisation
(e.g. police forces are needed to catch criminals)
Where does organisational culture
come from?
Top
Management

Philosophy of
Organisation’s Selection criteria Organisation
founder Culture

Socialisation
Organisational Socialisation

Organisational Socialisation – the

process through which an individual's
pattern of behaviour and their values,
attitudes and motives are influenced to
conform with those seen as desirable in a
particular organisation.
 Organisational Culture

• Ways of transmitting organisational culture

Hill & Jones 2002

Seven Steps of Organisational Socialisation
1.Careful
Selection of
Start Entry level Deselect
candidates

7.Consistent 2.Humility-inducing 3.in-the-trenches

Role models Experiences promote Training leads to
Openness towards Mastery of a core
Accepting discipline
Organisation’s norms
6.Reinforcing And values
4.Rewards and
5.Adherence to Control systems are
Values enables the Meticulously refined
Reconciliation To reinforce
Of personal Behaviour that is
sacrifices Deemed pivotal in
The marketplace
 Stages of Organisational socialisation

The three most common responses;

1. Collude; whereby they submit entirely and

enthusiastically to the cultural values

2. Capitulate; whereby they change their

outward behaviour but not their internal values

3. Defensive; whereby they resist the culture

 Culture types (Handy)

• Power

• Role

• Task

• Person
 Types of Culture (Handy 1993)

• Power cultures
– Dominated by influential individuals or groups;
the company relies on them to make most strategic
and many tactical decisions (centralised decision-
making).
• Role cultures
– Layers of management with defined roles and set
procedures; usually decentralised with decisions
being made through well-established rules.
 Types of Culture (Handy 1993)
• Task cultures
– Focus on the job at hand; teams of (expert) people
are grouped together as needed with strategic
decisions being made by the team doing the task.
• Person cultures
– Focused on benefits to the members of an
organisation (usually associations, trade unions,
co-operatives, professional trade bodies, etc).
Decision-making is guided by what benefits it
provides its members.
 Organisational culture definitions

Power culture WEB

Role culture GREEK

TEMPLE

Task culture NET

.

Person culture
CLUSTER
 Types of Culture (Miles & Snow 1978)

• Defenders
• Prospectors
• Analysers
• Reactors
 Four Types of Strategic Positions
(Miles & Snow)

• Defender
– focus on niche market leadership and cost efficiencies
• Prospector
– focus on innovation and creativity in a growing and
dynamic market
• Analyser
– focus on following the market and competitor activity;
usually cost-focus in stable environments, differentiation-
focus in dynamic markets
• Reactor
– focus on continually adjusting strategy to business
environment, usually because of an ongoing mismatch
between resources and strategies
 Contrasting forms of organisational control

Bureaucratic control (F.W. Taylor)

Manipulation of rewards loyalty increased productivity

Humanistic control (Elton Mayo)

Satisfying task or work group loyalty increased productivity

Culture (symbolic) control (Deal & Kennedy, Schein)

Manipulation of culture love firm and its goals
increased productivity including myth and ritual
 Adaptive and inert cultures

• Adaptive cultures
– Are innovative and encourage and reward
initiative by middle and lower-level managers.

• Inert cultures
– Are cautious and conservative; do not value
and may discourage initiative by middle and
lower-level managers.
 Traits of strong adaptive cultures

• A bias for action

– Have values that promote autonomy and
entrepreneurship

• Focus on the organisation’s mission

– “Sticks to its knitting”

• Use structure and operations consistently

– Create an organisational design that motivates
employees to do their best.
 A strong organisational culture

• Good points

• A clear corporate identity

• Commitment to organisational goals

• Social cohesiveness

• Fewer rules and procedures

 A strong organisational culture
possible weak points

• Resistance to change
• Lack of new ideas
• Arrogance towards outsiders
• Employees work to please the boss

Example: IBM in the 1970’s

McKinsey 7-S framework
Structure

Systems
Strategy

Shared
Values

Skills Style

Staff
 The Cultural Web

Power
Structure
Symbols

Paradigm
Control Stories
systems

Rituals

Adapted from Campbell 2000

A Cultural Web of the UK National Health
Service
STORIES SYMBOLS
•Cures •Terminology
•Villians (politicians) •White coats/uniforms
•Heroes and heroism •Retinues
•Change agents are fools •Mobile phones
•Abuse of managers •Doctors’ dining room
•The golden age •Big institutions
•“Royal”
ROUTINES &
RITUALS PARADIGM
•Clinical rituals POWER
•NHS is a ”Good Thing”
•Consultation ceremonies •Fragmented:
•Public service
•Patient infantalising
•Free at point of delivery - professional bodies
- waiting rooms - doctors
•Clinicians values
- putting to bed - senior clinicians
•Providers know best
- waking up •“Old Boy” network
•Acute sector superior
•Ward rounds •Politicians
•“Ours”
•Blaming next tier
CONTROLS
ORGANISATION
•Hierarchical
•Financial reporting
•Mechanistic
•Waiting lists
•Pecking order of services
•Consultant episodes
•Tribal/Functional
•Professional
responsibility
 National Culture

A collective frame of reference which includes

• Religion
• Social patterns
• Language
• Attitude to work
• Role of women
• Attitude to wealth
• Respect for authority
Etc
 National Culture

Managers need to understand in order to

• Communicate
(To Customers, local employees)
• Negotiate
• Be socially acceptable
• Recognise ethical standards
• Market and advertise
 DANGERS

• Ethnocentric
– Comparisons - using one’s own country as the
ideal

• Polycentric
– Regarding other nations as different but of equal
value
Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture

• High/Low Power Distance

• Individualism/Collectivism

• Masculinity/Femininity

• High/Low Uncertainty Avoidance

 MASCULINITY versus FEMININITY

• JAPAN MASCULINITY

• ITALY

• GERMANY
• UK
• USA

• FRANCE

• HOLLAND

• SWEDEN FEMININITY
 UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE
• Countries which avoid uncertainty have
– Many laws
– An inner urge to work hard
– An intolerance of those
– Who do not conform

• Countries which accept uncertainty have

– Few laws
– A more leisurely attitude to work
– A confident, unplanned approach to
solving problems
 Culture and Conflict
Tinsley (1998) noted different culture had different ways
of dealing with conflict. Her studies of three nationalities
noted the following
• Status model: in a situation of conflict, one should defer
to status power within the group. This gives the person
with the highest status within the group power to create
and enforce solutions for the others, and these will be
accepted and respected. The Japanese preferred this
model.
• Apply regulations: This method emphasised referring
back to pre-existing, independent regulations, rules and
policies to shape the resolution of conflict. the Germans
favoured this model.
• Integrating interests: This style of conflict resolution
involves bringing together the concerns of all parties so
as to create an outcome favoured by all members. The
Americans preferred this model.
Culture Must Be Integrated

STRATEGY STRUCTURE

CULTURE PROCESSES