Chapter Fourteen:

Organizational
Culture

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 Organizational Culture Defined
• The values/assumptions
shared within an
organization
• Provides direction toward
the “right way” of doing
things
• Company’s DNA – invisible,
yet powerful template for
employee behaviour

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 Elements of Organizational Culture
Artifacts of
organizational
culture

Organizational
culture

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 Organizational Culture Profile
Org Culture
Dimensions Dimension Characteristics
Experimenting, opportunity seeking, risk taking, few
Innovation
rules, low cautiousness
Stability Predictability, security, rule-oriented
Respect for people Fairness, tolerance
Outcome
Action oriented, high expectations, results oriented
orientation
Attention to detail Precise, analytic
Team orientation Collaboration, people-oriented
Aggressiveness Competitive, low emphasis on social responsibility
Source: O’Reilly et al (1991)

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 Organizational Culture Artifacts
Observable symbols and signs of culture
• Physical structures, ceremonies, language, stories
• Maintain and transmit organization’s culture
Need many artifacts to accurately decipher a
company’s culture

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 Artifacts: Language, Rituals, Ceremonies
Language
• How employees address each other and outsiders, express
emotions, describe stakeholders, etc.
• Leaders use language to anchor or change culture
• Language also differentiates subcultures
Rituals
• Programmed routines (e.g., how visitors are greeted)
Ceremonies
• Planned activities for an audience (e.g., award ceremonies)

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 Artifacts: Physical Structures/Symbols

Building structure – may

shape and reflect culture
Office design conveys cultural
meaning
• Furniture, office size, wall
hangings, friezes

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 Organizational Culture and Effectiveness
Culture strength
advantages depend on:
• Environment fit
• Moderate strength
• Adaptive culture

Functions of Organizational
strong cultures outcomes
• Control system • Org performance
• Social glue • Employee well-being
• Sense-making

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 Contingencies of Culture Strength
Culture content is aligned with environment
• Misaligned culture guides wrong decisions and behaviours for
relations with stakeholders
Culture strength is not the level of a cult
• Cults lock people into mental models
• Cults suppress subculture dissenting values
Culture Is an adaptive culture
• External focus -- need for continuous change
• Support continuous improvement of internal work processes
• Learning orientation

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 Changing/Strengthening Organizational Culture (1 of 3)

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 Changing/Strengthening Organizational Culture (2 of 3)
Founders/leaders model desired culture
• Founder’s values/personality
• Transformational leaders can reshape culture – organizational
change practices

Align artifacts with desired culture

• Artifacts keep culture in place

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 Changing/Strengthening Organizational Culture (3 of 3)
Introduce culturally consistent rewards
• Rewards are powerful artifacts

Support workforce stability and communication

• High turnover weakens org culture
• Strong culture depends on frequent,
open communication
Use attraction, selection, and
socialization of new employees
• Attraction-selection-attrition theory
• Socialization practices

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 Attraction-Selection-Attrition Theory
Culture strength increases
through:
• Attraction – applicants self-
select based on compatible
values
• Selection – firms select
applicants with compatible
values
• Attrition – employees with
incompatible values
quit/removed

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 Organizational Socialization
The process by which individuals learn the values,
expected behaviours, and social knowledge necessary
to assume their roles in the organization
Learning Process
• Newcomers make sense of the organization’s physical, social,
and strategic/cultural dynamics
Adjustment Process
• Newcomers adapt to new work roles, team norms, etc.

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