Transcript Slide 1
Organizational Culture and
Cultural Diversity
Chapter 18
Learning Goals
1. Describe the core elements of a culture
2. Compare and contrast four types of
organizational culture
3. Discuss why subcultures exist in
organizations
4. Describe several activities for successfully
managing diversity
Culture: the unique pattern of shared assumptions,
values, and norms that shape the socialization,
symbols, language, narratives, and practices
of a group of people
Shared assumptions: the underlying thoughts and
feelings that members of a culture take for
granted and believe to be true
Value: a basic belief about something that has
considerable importance and meaning to
individuals and is stable over time
Norms: rules that govern the behaviors of group
members
Socialization: a process by which new members
are brought into a culture
Symbol: anything visible that can be used to
represent an abstract shared value or something
having special meaning
Language: a shared system of vocal sounds,
written signs, and/or gestures used to convey
special meanings among members of a culture
Narratives: the unique stories, sagas, legends,
and myths in a culture
Practices
Taboos: culturally forbidden behaviors
Ceremonies: elaborate and formal
activities designed to generate strong
feelings
Formal Control Orientation
Flexible
Clan
Culture
Entrepreneurial
Culture
Bureaucratic
Culture
Market
Culture
Stable
Internal
External
Focus of Attention
Behavior of employees is governed by formal
rules and standard operating procedures,
and coordination is achieved through
hierarchical reporting relationships
Focuses on predictability, efficiency, and
stability
Tasks, responsibilities, and authority
clearly spelled out
Internal Focus
Behaviors of employees are shaped by tradition,
loyalty, personal commitment, extensive
socialization, and self-management
Formal rules and procedures minimized
High sense of member obligation and identity
to the organization
Long and thorough socialization process
Mentors and role models
Strong peer pressure
Internal focus
“There’s a family mentality here as opposed
to just being another number. That trickles
down from the top. He [the CEO] knows
everyone’s name and says ‘hi’ everyday
when I see him during morning workouts at
the gym.”
Andres Smith, Accountant, Analytic Graphics, Inc.,
Easton, Pennsylvania
External focus and flexibility create an
environment that encourages risk taking,
dynamism, and creativity
Commitment to experimentation, innovation,
and being on the leading edge
Creates change and quickly reacts to change
Individual initiative, flexibility, and freedom
seen as fostering growth
Encouraged and rewarded
Market Culture
Values and norms reflect the importance of achieving
measurable and demanding goals, especially those
that are financial and market based (e.g., sales
growth, profitability and market share)
Hard driving competitiveness dominates
Profits orientation and quantifiable performance
goals prevail
Minimal informal social pressure on members
Superior interactions with subordinates focus on
performance-reward (economic) agreement and
resource allocations
Exists when assumptions, values,
and norms are shared by some—but
not all—organizational members
Reason for merger failure
Reasons Executives Give for Failed Mergers
Inability to manage target
business
Clash of management
styles/egos
Inability to implement change
in new organization
Synergies were overstated
Incompatible cultures
0
10
Percent of executives who state reason as
primary explanation for merger failures
20
30
Percent
40
50
60
Departments and divisions within the organization
have their own subcultures
Occupational subcultures
Geographically based subcultures
Subcultures created by managers
Positive cultures are created by managers who:
recognize personal milestones, such as birthdays and
employment anniversaries;
hold public celebrations for professional
achievements;
sponsor picnics and parties; and
listen to their employees and recognize the efforts
they put into work
Diverse workforce demographics
create subcultures
Ethnicity
Age
Gender and other demographics
“My first conscious exposure to racism occurred
when I came back to the States and went to public
school. One of the children said something—I don’t
remember now what—but I remember what my
grandmother said to me: ‘They tried to put you in a
box. Don’t ever let anybody put you in a box.’”
Clifton R. Wharton, Jr., Former Chairman and
CEO, TIAA-CREF
Cultural diversity: encompasses
the full mix of the cultures and
subcultures to which members
of the workforce belong
Organization goals for managing cultural
diversity include:
Legal compliance
Creating a positive culture for employees
Create greater economic value for the
organization
“HP is committed to building a work environment where
everyone has an opportunity to fully participate in creating
business success…We address our commitment [to diversity]
through development programs targeted to the next generation
of HP leaders, work-life initiatives for our employees, recruiting
of diverse talent, and other efforts that help employees and
managers foster an inclusive work environment. Additionally,
we establish diversity goals to create accountability and drive
our success. By weaving diversity into the fabric of our
company, we create a mind-set in every employee and manager
that will allow them to think consciously about diversity and
inclusion in everything they do.”
Emily Duncan, VP Culture and Diversity, Hewlett-Packard
Diagnosis: Before managers begin to design new
approaches to managing diversity, they must
understand how current practices affect the
amount and nature of diversity
Vision: Leaders must formulate and articulate a
clear vision to persuade others to join them
(continued)
Involvement: For the plan to be effective, those
who are affected must buy into it
Timing: Planned organization change usually
follows an evolutionary—not revolutionary—
path
Managing Cultural Diversity and
Inclusion: Diversity Training
Awareness training: designed to provide
accurate information about the many
subcultures present in the organization
Harassment training: aimed at ensuring
that employees understand the meaning of
harassment and the actions the company
will take when someone complains Harassment
Training
of being harassed
Seminar
Create Family-Friendly Work Places
Survey employees
Offer options to meet employees’ needs
Consider child-care initiatives
Consider elder-care initiatives
Hold Managers Accountable
Managing the reactions of the members of
the dominate culture, who may feel that they
have lost some of the power they previously
had
Synthesizing the diversity of opinions from
individuals and using them as the basis for
reaching meaningful agreement on issues
Avoiding real and perceived tokenism and
quota systems