Transcript Organizational Culture and Change Introduction  Organizational culture is like the blood flow in the human system that connects and energizes the various internal.

Organizational
Culture and Change
Introduction
 Organizational culture is like the blood flow in the human system
that connects and energizes the various internal organs.
Changes made in the systems/subsystems may not be effective until
they are compatible with the organizational culture. Otherwise, cultural
incongruence/resistance will defeat the purpose of any planned change.
What is Corporate Culture?
Corporate culture is the pattern of basic assumptions that is invented,
discovered, or developed by an organisation as it learns to cope with its
problems of external adaptation and internal integration, and validated
enough to be taught to new members as the correct ways of perceiving,
thinking, and feeling in relation to these problems (Schein, Martin and
Meyerson, 1986).
The elements of culture, thus, include:

Basic assumptions

Artifacts

Values
Cont….
Organisation Culture and Dealing with Change
Organisational culture could be a help or a hindrance to
organisational change.
On the one hand, it provides power for action while on the other, it
filters information, exercises control over decision-making, and
restrains action options.
Identifying and Diagnosing Organisation Culture

Interviewing employees at different levels of an organisation (for
example,
workers, supervisors, managers, etc.)
 Administering relevant questionnaires and conducting attitudinal and
morale surveys (socio-metric techniques assist in identifying cliques and
subcultures within the organisation)
Cont….
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Part
Organisational Change
Analyzing the process aspects (organizational
policies, decisions, procedures, rules and regulations,
and how the resources are procured and
managed, etc.)
 Examining the organization’s external relations with
its customers, clients, etc. in terms of how they
perceive and evaluate the organization
Developing New Culture
 The needed changes or adjustments in value orientation
 Employee attitudes, skills, and behaviors that would be
congruent with the
new values
 The changes required in current employee skills and
behaviors.
The needed changes in the current
organisational practices (i.e., the
administrative
and
work processes)
.
Cont….
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Part
Organisational Change
Employee-culture Compatibility
 Cultural compatibility is difficult to judge and, at best,
can be fostered through mentoring or coaching a new hire.
 It is important to examine how the corporate culture is
evidenced in the decisions and actions of the top
management
Assessing Cultural Risk
 This is to assess the degree to which the planned change (in structure,
systems, processes, and people) fits in with the organizational culture.
 The extent of cultural risk depends upon two issues: 1) how important
the changes are to the strategy and 2) how compatible the changes are with
the culture.
Change, Strategy, and Culture Alignment
Change
Strategy
Culture
Cont….
Is it Possible to Change the Corporate Culture?
 Culture is deep-seated in an organization as much as the
personality in an
individual.
 Any attempt to change the corporate culture requires an
understanding of
the cultural dimensions (artifacts, norms,
values, and basic assumptions).
 Changes that occur in the outer layers of organisational
culture are
deceptive, as the change may not trickle down to
the deeper layers (values
and basic assumptions). In fact,
resistance to change attempts may arise
from the value
base.
Cont….
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Part
Organisational Change
Changes in the corporate culture, rather than being an
initial solution to organisational problems, should be
considered only after the other less difficult and less
costly solutions have been found to be either inadequate
or inappropriate.
 Cultural change may involve certain issues of ethical
and legal sensitivity.
Checklist for Cultural Change
Formulate a clear picture of the firm’s new strategy and
of the shared values, norms, and behaviors needed to make
it work
•
• Take a close look at the inner functioning of the
organisation and determine if cultural change is necessary.
• Identify aspects of the current culture that could still be
valid and other aspects that need to be modified or changed.
•
Identify the depth of cultural change needed.
Cont….
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Part
Organisational Change
•Communicate the change translated into goals, sub goals,
activities, and behaviors.
•
Involve employees in the change process.
• Monitor the progress from time to time; build momentum
in terms of initial
success.
•
Defuse resistance.
Issues in Culture Change
There are at least three unresolved issues related to the culture
change. These are:
a) Whether and how basic underlying beliefs and assumptions can be
changed,
b) Whether emphasis is more fruitfully placed on intrinsic or extrinsic
motivators,
c) The timing and sequence in which motivators are best employed.
Cont….
The Role of Communication

Customize the message

Set the appropriate tone

Build in feedback

Set the example

Ensure penetration
Classic Skills for Leaders
1.
Tuning in to the environment
2.
Challenging the prevailing organisational wisdom
3.
Communicating a compelling aspiration
4.
Building coalitions
5.
Transferring ownership to a working team
6.
Learning to persevere
7.
Making everyone a hero
Cont….
Contemporary Change Issues For
Today’s Managers
 Continuous Improvement Processes
 Good isn’t good enough.
 Focus is on constantly reducing the variability in the organizational
processes to produce more uniform products and services.
 Lowers costs and raises quality.
 Increases customer satisfaction.
 Organizational impact
 Additional stress on employees to constantly excel.
 Requires constant change in organization.
• Process Reengineering
– “Starting all over”
– Rethinking and redesigning organizational processes
to produce more uniform products and services.
• Identifying the organization’s distinctive competencies—
what it does best.
• Assessing core processes that add value to the organization’s
distinctive competencies.
• Reorganizing horizontally by process using cross-functional
and self-managed teams.
Innovation
A new idea applied
to initiating or
improving a
product, process,
or service.
Sources of Innovation:
• Structural variables
• Organic structures
• Long-tenured management
• Slack resources
• Interunit communication
• Organization’s culture
• Human resources
Idea Champions
Individuals who take an innovation and actively and
enthusiastically promote the idea, build support,
overcome resistance, and ensure that the idea is
implemented.
Creating a Learning Organization
Learning Organization
An organization that has
developed the continuous
capacity to adapt and
change.
Characteristics:
1. Holds a shared vision.
2. Discards old ways of
thinking.
3. Views organization as
system of relationships.
4. Communicates openly.
5. Works together to
achieve shared vision.