MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

OB Session 4
Roar Vejter Bovim

INTRODUCTION
Repetition Session 1-3
Learning Goals:
After taking this course, the students should be able to:
 Demonstrate an understanding of concepts, theories, models and perspectives presented in the
course.
 Demonstrate an ability to analyze and explain complex organizational situations and practices,
using concepts, theories, models and perspectives discussed in the course.
 Formulate effective solutions to organizational problems or situations, using the concepts, theories,
models and perspectives addressed in the course.
 Deliver well‐structured and compelling written and oral presentations on organizational associated
issues, tailored to the needs of a specific audience.

INTRODUCTION CULTURE
Today, we are going to focus on some key aspects of culture. I have called the talk today
“Managing Organizational Culture”. My aim is to help you understand how you as a leader can 1
cope with and deal with culture. So we will discuss: What is culture? How can we manage national
culture? How can we understand and manage the content of culture? How do we manage cultural change?

Group exercise (2-3): In this class, we come from many different national cultures.
Share with you neighbor:
What do you appreciate about your national culture?
What do you dislike?

1. WHAT IS ‘ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE’?

− The word ‘culture’ has a long history
o Traditionally, ‘culture’ referred to cultivation of crops (agriculture)
o During the 19th century, the word began to be used about what distinguished us
from animals, in other words, the human society
o When sociologist and anthropologists started to study different groups of people
and their societies, ‘culture’ became a word for the particular groups that were
studied.
− ‘Culture’ was introduced to organization theory in the 1950s
o Researchers argued that organizations are more than ‘structure’: human &
emotional elements
 o In the early 1980s, organizational culture became a ‘hot’ topic and widespread
o In a short period of time, several bestselling management books came out, e.g. Tom
Peters & Robert Waterman’s “In Search of Excellence”.
− As with leadership, there are many definitions of organizational culture. There are some
fundamental aspects most researchers agree on:
o Culture is primarily not about music, theater, art
o Culture is something a group of people have in common
o Culture is about more or less shared understandings, meanings, beliefs, and
‘ways to do things’ that a group has in common.
o Culture is learned and new members become socialized into the culture
The pattern of basic assumptions that a given group has invented, discovered, or developed in
learning to cope with its problems of external adaption and internal integration, and that have
worked well enough to be considered valid, and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the
correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to these problems. Edgar Schein (1985:6)
Culture refers to the knowledge members of a given group are thought to more or less share; […] A
culture is expressed (or constituted) only through the actions and words of its members and must be
interpreted by, not given to, a fieldworker [...] Culture is not itself visible, but is made visible only
through its representation. John Van Maanen (1988:3)

− Examples: Google culture

− Related to other cultures 2
– Organizational culture is part of a regional and national culture - mutually
influence each other. Example: Silicon Valley.
– Within an organization, there might be several subcultures, a smaller group of
people within the organization that share a culture
i. Shared interest: profession, gender, occupation
ii. Share territory: departments, units, office building
iii. Bovim (2010): offshore culture, drilling culture
− It is important to distinguish between formal and informal culture
− Our definition of culture depends on our basic perspective (Martin 2002)
i. Modernistic, 1980erne: a tool for management, control and effectiveness,
objective, easy to measure & change, organization, quantitative methods -
SUCCESS
ii. Symbolic-interpretive, 1950s: the anthropological and sociological approach,
when people interact using symbols, social constructed, subjective, difficult to
change, qualitative method, subculture - UNDERSTANDING
iii. Postmodern, 1990s: fragmented, changes continually depending on the subject
(e.g., race, ethnicity, gender), individuals, difficult to describe, maintain power
relations, deconstruct – QUESTION
 Group exercise (2-3): Why are you studying organizational theory and culture and
what is your interest?
a) To have SUCCESS as a leader, making effective companies?
b) To gain UNDERSTANDING about the organization, its employees and
conditions?
c) To QUESTION the existing power relation, ideology, etc.?

2. MANAGING THE INFLUENCE OF NATIONAL CULTURE

Study of Geert Hofstede late 1970s, Dutch organization theorists
− the influence of national culture, IBM
− Compared countries: Is there a difference in the organizational culture?
Result: 4 dimensions of national culture within the organizational culture
1. Power Distance: The extent to which the members of a culture are willing to accept an
unequal distribution of power, wealth and prestige.
 Low: Denmark, Sweden (Jante Law).
i. rely on democracy, expect to be consulted by superior.
 High: Malaysia, Philippines
i. rely on hierarchy, lack of upward mobility, expect to be told what to do
2. Uncertainty Avoidance: The level of tolerance societies have for uncertainty and ambiguity.
Ways of coping: technology, law, religion.
 Low: Singapore, Jamaica, Denmark
3
i. accepting of innovative ideas & deviant behavior, dislike rules, resist
formalization
 High: Greece, Portugal
i. legislated against, more formalization & standardization
Group exercise (2-3): Power Distance & Uncertainty Avoidance
a. Do you recognize this?
b. Based on Hofstede’s results, if you want to start a restaurant chain in
Guatemala (GUA):
i. What leadership style would you use: telling, selling, participating or
delegating?
ii. Would it be smart to have a detailed job description?
3. Individualism (vs. collectivism): The degree to which individuals in a culture are expected
to act independently of other members of the society.
 Low: Guatemala, Thailand, Korea
i. undesirable & alienating, cohesive groups: identity & loyalty, relationship-
focus
 High: United States, Australia
i. a source of well-being, loose relationships, task-focus
4. Masculinity (vs. femininity): The degree of separation between gender roles in a society.
 Low: Sweden, Denmark, Norway
i. little focus on gender differences
 ii. work goals: relationships, service, preserving environment, quality of life
 High: Japan, Austria
i. women are nurturing, men assertive
ii. work goals: career advancement, earnings, selling oneself

Group exercise (2-3): Individualism & Masculinity

c. Do you recognize this?
d. Based on Hofstede’s results, if you are work at a hotel in Venezuela (VEN):
i. You lead a team. Would it be a good idea to start your teamwork by
talking about the team goals?
ii. What would be most effective in order to increase your employee’s
thriving: a) taking a day off having a party or b) increasing their
bonuses

3. MANAGING THE CULTURAL CONTENT

Van Maanen (1990): The culture (cultural content) of Disneyland, Anaheim, CA
− Describes the cultural content
Formal / Official Culture
− Attractive people
− Introduction course & socialization: ’University of Disneyland’
”First, we practice the friendly smile. Second, we use only friendly and courteous phrases.”
“Customer is king”, “Everyone is a child at heart when at Disneyland” 4
− Uniform, hair, shoes
− Wide smile and appropriate words
− Little contact with guests
”Walt’s in the park (all the time now)”

Informal Culture
 Don’t follow the rules
 Lack of emotional control
”Why aren’t you smiling?”, ”Having a bad day?”, ”Did Goofy step on your foot?”
 Responding on assaults
”seatbelt squeeze”, ”break-up-the-party”, ”sorry-I-didn’t-see-your-hand”
 Hierarchy of status

Schein: Analyzing Cultural Levels

According to Edgar Schein, an American social psychologist, culture is found and can be analyzed
on three different levels: 1) basic assumptions (the essence of culture), 2) values & norms, 3)
artifacts

1. Basic Assumptions
– the core or essence of culture
– what members believe to be their reality
 – taken-for-granted (e.g., a fish)
– penetrate every part of cultural life
– e.g.: time, human nature, conformity (div.), space (personal, social, public), doing-being
Group exercise (2-3): Why is it often hard to describe basic assumptions in
organizations? What does it mean that they are ‘taken-for-granted’?

2. Values & Norms

Values (what is valued)
– a result of assumptions
– social principles, goals & standards
– what members care about most
– moral code (right & wrong)
– can be recognized & challenged
– e.g., quality, customer first, respect for leaders
Norms (what is normal)
– practical expressions of values
– unwritten rules: defines what is expected
– often communicated informally
– e.g., talking in movie theaters, informing boss, clothing, display emotions

Group exercise (2-3): Mention a few examples of values and norms from the place 5
where you work/ have been working. How were they expressed in practice?

3. Artifacts
– a result of values
– manifestations or expressions of cultural core
– tangible, concrete, physical
– difficult to interpret (distance)
1. objects: logo, architecture, dress, products
2. verbal expressions: jargon, stories, myths, humor, rhetoric
3. activities (practices): ceremonies, rituals, meetings, traditions, gestures
Group exercise (2-3): Mention a few objects, verbal expressions, and activities from
the place where you work/have been working.

Pictures: artifacts

4. MANAGING CULTURAL CHANGE

− Culture is hard to change!
− To change culture, you have to work from top and from bottom
− To change culture, you need to know and work with the cultural content
− Lack of cultural change and adjustment to the environment and strategy can turn into a
cultural trap!
Example IBM: Radical Cultural Change
Louis V. Gerstner, biography: ‘Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? Inside IBM's Historic Turnaround’
(HarperBusiness 2002)

CONCLUSION
To cope with and deal with culture is important today: internationally, mergers & acquisitions,
changing company

1. What is ‘Culture’?
2. Managing the Influence of National Culture
3. Managing the Cultural Content
4. Managing Cultural Change