August 10, 2022

Using your favorite search engine, search on the term creating ethical organizations? or positive organizational culture.? Find three articles related to the topic of your choice

Initial Postings: Read and reflect on the assigned readings for the week. Then post what you thought was the most important concept(s), method(s), term(s), and/or any other thing that you felt was worthy of your understanding in each assigned textbook chapter.

Your initial post should be based upon the assigned reading for the week, so the textbook should be a source listed in your reference section and cited within the body of the text. Other sources are not required but feel free to use them if they aid in your discussion.

Also, provide a graduate-level response to each of the following questions:

Using your favorite search engine, search on the term “creating ethical organizations” or “positive organizational culture.” Find three articles related to the topic of your choice and write up a brief synopsis that explains how managers can create such an organization. Compare your findings to the suggestions given by the authors in your text.

[Your post must be substantive and demonstrate insight gained from the course material. Postings must be in the student's own words – do not provide quotes!] [Your initial post should be at least 200+ words and in APA format (including Times New Roman with font size 12 and double spaced).

Essentials of Organizational Behavior

Fifteenth Edition

Chapter 16

Organizational Culture

Learning Objectives

16.1 Describe the common characteristics of organizational culture.

16.2 Show how culture is transmitted to employees.

16.3 Identify the factors that create and sustain an organization’s culture.

16.4 Compare the functional and dysfunctional effects of organizational culture on people and the organization.

16.5 Describe the similarities and differences in creating an ethical culture, a positive culture, and a spiritual culture.

16.6 Show how national culture can affect the way organizational culture is interpreted in another country.

Organizational Culture Learning Objective 16.1

Organizational culture: a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations

Organizational culture is an important concept in studying how organizations behave. Culture is defined as a common perception held by the members of the organization or a sense of shared meaning. This system is characterized by values, beliefs, and underlying assumptions that serve several purposes.

The Effect of Culture on Organizational Outcomes (Exhibit 16-2)

Culture	Employee Attitudes & Performance	Innovation	High Quality Products/Services & Operational Efficiency	Customer Satisfaction & Market Share	Profitability & Revenue Growth
Clan	+*	+*	0	+*	–
Adhocracy	+*	+	+*	–	0
Market	0	+	+*	+*	0
Hierarchy	+*	–	+*	0	+*

Note: + corresponds with a positive effect on the outcome, – corresponds with a negative effect on the outcome, 0 corresponds with a zero, or null, effect on the outcome, * suggests the culture is strongly related to the outcome.

Sources: Based on findings from C. A. Hartnell, A. Y. Ou, A. J. Kinicki, D. Choi, and E. P. Karam, “A meta-analytic test of organizational culture’s association with elements of an organization’s system and its relative predictive validity on organizational outcomes,” Journal of Applied Psychology 104, no. 6 (2019): 832–850.

One of the most common frameworks describes organizational cultures as possessing several competing values.

The Clan is a culture based on human affiliation. Employees value attachment, collaboration, trust, and support.

The Adhocracy is a culture based on change. Employees value growth, variety, attention to detail, stimulation, and autonomy.

The Market is a culture based on achievement. Employees value communication, competence, and competition.

And the Hierarchy is a culture based on stability. Employees value communication, formalization, and routine.

Another widely used framework is the Organizational Culture Profile (OCP).

Do Organizations Have Uniform Cultures?

The dominant culture expresses the core values that are shared by a majority of the organization’s members

Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences of members

Subcultures mirror the dominant culture but may add to or modify the core values

Most large organizations have both a dominant culture and several subcultures. The dominant culture reflects the core values that are shared by the majority of employees in the organization. Subcultures reflect common problems or experiences shared by employees in the same department or location.

Strong versus Weak Cultures

In a strong culture, the organization’s core values are both intensely held and widely shared

Strong cultures will:

Have great influence on the behavior of members

Increase cohesiveness

Result in lower employee turnover

A strong culture is one in which the core values are intensely held and shared by most.

Strong cultures will have a great influence on the behavior of members and increase cohesiveness, which should result in lower employee turnover.

How Employees Learn Culture Learning Objective 16.2

Culture is transmitted to employees through:

Stories: provide explanations

Rituals: reinforce key values

Symbols: convey importance, degree of egalitarianism desired, and appropriate behaviors

Language: identify and segregate members

Employees learn the organizational culture through a number of avenues. They can gain an understanding of culture by hearing stories that present the past and provide explanations for current practices. Rituals, or repetitive sequences of activities, can reinforce the key values of the organization and provide insight into the culture. Material symbols such as dress codes, formal or informal, office size or style, and perks for key employees can denote who is important in an organization.

Language is another way to learn about organizational culture, as employees will express themselves in certain ways to indicate membership in the organization.

How a Culture Begins Learning Objective 16.3

Ultimate source of an organization’s culture is its founders

Founders create culture in three ways

Hiring and keeping those who think and feel the same way they do

Indoctrinating and socializing those employees to their way of thinking and feeling

Acting as a role model and encouraging employees to identify with them

Cultures start from the very beginning of the organization with the founders. Founders will tend to hire and keep employees who view things in a similar fashion. They will also try to get employees to think about things the way they do and socialize them to their point of view and ways of doing things. This is done so that the founders’ behavior will become the behavior to model after in order to succeed in the organization and to fit in.

How Organizational Cultures Form (Exhibit 16-3)

Organizational cultures begin with the founder of the organization, continue through the hiring of people who see things similarly, and are enforced through top management and socialization.

Keeping a Culture Alive

Selection: seek out those who fit in

Top management: establish norms of behavior by their actions

Socialization: help new employees adapt to the existing culture

A culture is kept alive in three main ways. The first is to find those who fit into the culture and hire them. Second, it is critical that top management establish norms of behavior by how they act. Finally, socialization into the culture helps new employees adapt to the way things are done.

A Socialization Model (Exhibit 16-4)

The socialization process involves a few steps. The employee will learn about the organization through literature, interviews, and other people in the prearrival stage. Once the employee starts interacting with other employees, the employee enters the encounter stage, where he or she sees what the organization is really like. Expectations are measured against reality during this stage, and a misalignment may emerge. During the third stage, metamorphosis, the new employee adjusts to the organization and work.

Entry Socialization Options (Exhibit 16-5)

There are a number of possible socialization programs. Each organization needs to select one that best fits its culture. When the socialization process matches an organization’s culture, it will have positive outcomes, including higher productivity, greater commitment, and lower turnover.

Long Description:

The details are as follows:

Formal vs. Informal The more a new employee is segregated from the ongoing work setting and differentiated in some way to make explicit his or her newcomer’s role, the more socialization is formal. Specific orientation and training programs are examples. Informal socialization puts the new employee directly into the job, with little or no special attention.

Individual vs. Collective New members can be socialized individually. This describes how it’s done in many professional offices. They can also be grouped together and processed through an identical set of experiences, as in military boot camp.

Fixed vs. Variable This refers to the time schedule in which newcomers make the transition from outsider to insider. A fixed schedule establishes standardized stages of transition. This characterizes rotational training programs. It also includes probationary periods, such as the 8- to 10-year “associate” status used by accounting and law firms before deciding on whether or not a candidate is made a partner. Variable schedules give no advance notice of their transition timetable. Variable schedules describe the typical promotion system, in which one is not advanced to the next stage until one is “ready.”

Serial vs. Random Serial socialization is characterized by the use of role models who train and encourage the newcomer. Apprenticeship and mentoring programs are examples. In random socialization, role models are deliberately withheld. New employees are left on their own to figure things out.

Investiture vs. Divestiture Investiture socialization assumes that the newcomer’s qualities and qualifications are the necessary ingredients for job success, so these qualities and qualifications are confirmed and supported. Divestiture socialization tries to strip away certain characteristics of the recruit. Fraternity and sorority “pledges” go through divestiture socialization to shape them into the proper role.

The Functions of Culture

Defines boundaries

Conveys a sense of identity

Generates commitment beyond oneself

Enhances social stability

Sense-making and control mechanism

Cultures take on distinct functions. Cultures define the boundary between one organization and others. They also convey a sense of identity for the members of the organization. If the cultures are strong they can facilitate a continuous commitment to something larger than self-interest over an extended period of time. Cultures also help people know what to expect in the organization and can thereby enhance the stability of the social system. Culture can also serve as a sense-making and control mechanism for fitting employees into the organization.

Culture Creates Climate

Organizational climate:

The shared perceptions organizational members have about their organization and work environment

More readily observable “behavioral evidence” for an organization’s culture

Directly links values with explicit practices

Positive climate is linked to higher customer satisfaction and financial performance

A person who encounters a positive climate for performance will think about doing a good job more often and will believe others support her success.

Climates can interact with one another to produce behavior.

Climate also influences the habits people adopt.

How Organizational Cultures Have an Impact on Employee Performance and Satisfaction (Exhibit 16-6)

Long Description:

The sequence in the flow diagram are as follows:

Various observed factors are perceived as a part of an organization’s culture. These factors range from high to low on their strength which leads to the organizational climate, which in turn diverges into performance and satisfaction.

The observed factors include the following:

Leader and member behaviors

Organizational structure

Organizational mission, values, beliefs

Organizational artifacts, stories, symbols.

The Ethical Dimension Learning Objective 16.4

Ethical culture: shared concept of right and wrong behavior in the workplace that reflects the true values of the organization and shapes the ethical decision making of its members

An ethical culture reflects the true values of the organization and shapes the ethical decision making of its members.

The ethical climate theory (ECT) and the ethical climate index (ECI) to categorize and measure the ethical dimensions of organizational cultures.

Five climate categories – instrumental, caring, independence, law and code, and rules – are most prevalent in organizations.

Each explains the general mind-set, expectations, and values of managers and employees in relationship to their organizations.

Culture and Sustainability

Sustainability: organization practices that can be sustained over a long period of time because the tools or structures that support them are not damaged by the processes

Concepts of sustainable management have their origins in the environmental movement, so processes that are in harmony with the natural environment are encouraged. Social sustainability practices address the ways social systems are affected by an organization’s actions over time, and, in turn, how changing social systems may affect the organization.

Culture and Innovation

Culture and innovation: innovative companies are characterized by their open, unconventional, collaborative, vision-driven, and accelerating cultures

Culture as an asset: culture can contribute to an organization’s bottom line

Start-up firms often have innovative cultures by definition because they are usually small, agile, and focused on solving problems in order to survive and grow.

Culture as a Liability

Institutionalization

Behaviors and habits go unquestioned – can stifle innovation

Barriers to change

Culture is slow to change

Barriers to diversity

Culture seeks to minimize diversity

Can embed prevalent bias and prejudice

Toxicity and dysfunctions

Barriers to acquisitions and mergers

Cultural incompatibility can be a problem

Culture can also be a hindrance to an organization. A company can become institutionalized when people value the organization more than what they provide. When cultures are strong, they can become a barrier to change, as their values may not align with the values needed to embrace or facilitate the change. Cultures that may pressure employees to conform can be a barrier to hiring, developing, and promoting a diverse workforce. Coherence around negative and dysfunctional values in a corporation can produce downward forces that are equally powerful yet toxic. Finally, if a merger or acquisition occurs, one of the most difficult things to do is to merge the two cultures. Many mergers fail because of culture clashes.

Ethical Cultures Learning Objective 16.5

Principles for managers:

Be a visible role model

Communicate ethical expectations

Provide ethical training

Visibly reward ethical acts and punish unethical ones

Provide protective mechanisms

Managers can create a more ethical culture and more ethical climates by adhering to specific principles.

Managers must be visible role models and communicate ethical expectations. Training on ethical behavior and guidelines must be done. Ethical acts must be rewarded, while unethical acts need to be punished. In addition, protective mechanisms must be in place to assist the workers in behaving ethically.

Positive Cultures

A positive organizational culture emphasizes:

Building on employee strengths

Rewarding more than punishing

Encouraging vitality and growth

Recognizing outside context

A positive organizational culture is one that builds on employee strengths so that employees can develop and grow. It also rewards more than it punishes, so employees are not afraid to try new things and feel good about what they are contributing. Finally, it emphasizes individual vitality and growth, so that employees are operating at full potential.

Not all national cultures value being positive as much as the U.S. culture does and, even within the U.S. culture, there surely are limits to how far organizations should go. An organization needs to be objective and not pursue it past the point of effectiveness.

Spiritual Cultures

Workplace spirituality: recognizes that people have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that takes place in the context of community

Characteristics of a spiritual organization:

Benevolence

Strong sense of purpose

Trust and respect

Open-mindedness

A growing number of organizations have embraced workplace spirituality. Workplace spirituality recognizes that people have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that takes place in the context of community.

Spiritual organizations value kindness toward others (benevolence). They build their cultures around a meaningful purpose. Mutual trust, honesty, and openness characterize spiritual organizations. And they value flexible thinking and creativity among employees (open-mindedness).

Not everyone supports spirituality in organizations. Critics question its scientific foundation, point out that it can make some employees uneasy, and wonder whether spirituality and profits are comparable objectives.

Reasons for Growing Interest in Spirituality (Exhibit 16-7)

Long Description:

The list is as follows:

Spirituality can counterbalance the pressures and stress of a turbulent pace of life. Contemporary lifestyles—single-parent families, geographic mobility, the temporary nature of jobs, new technologies that create distance between people—underscore the lack of community many people feel and increase the need for involvement and connection.

Formalized religion hasn’t worked for many people, and they continue to look for anchors to replace a lack of faith and to fill a growing feeling of emptiness.

Job demands have made the workplace dominant in many people’s lives, yet they continue to question the meaning of work.

People want to integrate personal life values with their professional lives.

An increasing number of people are finding that the pursuit of more material acquisitions leaves them unfulfilled.

The Global Context Learning Objective 16.6

Organizational culture can reflect national culture and it can transcend national boundaries

Companies must be sensitive to differing standards

Organizational culture still exists within a local culture, and that can’t be ignored. It is important that managers increase their ability to become more culturally sensitive through active listening, adjusting communication to the culture in which they are operating, and avoiding controversial topics in their discussions.

The management of ethical behavior is one area where national culture can rub up against corporate culture.

Companies must be sensitive to differing standards.

Implications for Managers

Realize that an organization’s culture is relatively fixed in the short term.

Hire individuals whose values align with those of the organization; these employees will tend to remain committed and satisfied.

Understand that employees’ performance and socialization depend to a considerable degree on their knowing what to do and not do.

You can shape the culture of your work environment.

Understand the cultural relevance of your organization’s norms before introducing new plans or initiatives overseas.

Cultures begin with the founders of the organization and are very difficult to change once they become embedded. In order to maximize employee outcomes, it is important to hire people who fit in the organization and help them become socialized into the corporate culture. Managers can reinforce culture through their actions.

Discussion Questions

Discuss your own organization’s culture. How are employees formally and informally socialized to the culture?

Discuss the rise in workplace spiritually. How can an awareness of spirituality help us better understand employee behavior?

This work is protected by United States copyright laws and is provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their courses and assessing student learning. Dissemination or sale of any part of this work (including on the World Wide Web) will destroy the integrity of the work and is not permitted. The work and materials from it should never be made available to students except by instructors using the accompanying text in their classes. All recipients of this work are expected to abide by these restrictions and to honor the intended pedagogical purposes and the needs of other instructors who rely on these materials.

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Essentials of Organizational Behavior

Fifteenth Edition

Chapter 17

Organizational Change and Stress Management

Learning Objectives (1 of 2)

17.1 Contrast the forces for change and planned change.

17.2 Describe ways to overcome resistance to change.

17.3 Compare the four main approaches to managing organizational change.

17.4 Demonstrate three ways of facilitating change.

Learning Objectives (2 of 2)

17.5 Identify the potential environmental, organizational, and personal sources of stress at work as well as the role of individual and cultural differences.

17.6 Identify the physiological, psychological, and behavioral symptoms of stress at work.

17.7 Describe individual and organizational approaches to managing stress at work.

Forces for Change Learning Objective 17.1

Changing nature of the workforce

Technology

Economic shocks

Competition

Social trends

World politics

There are many forces that stimulate change, including the changing nature of the workforce, technology, economic shocks, competition, social trends, and world politics. All these things can drive change in a workplace.

The changing nature of the workforce is evident across industries. Technology is continually changing jobs and organizations. Economic shocks have a huge impact on organizations, leading to job loss, the death of organizations, and a long road to recovery. Competition precipitates change. Social trends do not remain static. Organizations must therefore continually adjust product and marketing strategies to be sensitive to changing social trends. And world politics also affect changes in organizations.

Reactionary versus Planned Change

Change: making things different

Planned change: change activities that are intentional and goal oriented

Change agents: people who act as catalysts and assume the responsibility for managing change activities

In this chapter, we address change as an intentional, goal-oriented activity.

Change is making things different from the way they were. Change activities that are intentional and goal oriented are planned changes. And change agents are people who act as catalysts and assume the responsibility for managing change activities.

Resistance to Change Learning Objective 17.2

People tend to resist change, even in the face of evidence of its benefits

Can be positive if it leads to open discussion and debate

Remember, not all change is good

Change agents need to carefully think through the implications

Whenever change is present, there is resistance to change. Individuals and groups become comfortable with things that are familiar, and change threatens the status quo. There are different ways that change is resisted by employees.

It is important to note that not all change is good. Speed can lead to bad decisions; sometimes those initiating change fail to realize the full magnitude of the effects or their true costs.

Change can be positive if it leads to open discussion and debate. But change agents need to carefully think through its implications.

Resistance to change does not just come from lower levels in the organization. Resistance does not necessarily surface in standardized ways. It can be overt, implicit, immediate, or deferred.

Sources of Resistance to Change (Exhibit 17-1)

There are many sources of resistance to change, as seen in this slide. It can take the form of individual resistance, such as fear of the unknown or security issues, or organizational resistance, such as threat to expertise, structural inertia, or limited focus of change.

Long Description:

The details are as follows:

Individual Sources:

Habit: To cope with life’s complexities, we rely on habits or programmed responses. But when confronted with change, this tendency to respond in our accustomed ways becomes a source of resistance.

Security: People with a high need for security are likely to resist change because it

threatens their feelings of safety.

Economic factors: Changes in job tasks or established work routines can arouse economic fears if people are concerned that they won’t be able to perform the new tasks or routines to their previous standards, especially when pay is closely tied to productivity.

Fear of the unknown: Change substitutes ambiguity and uncertainty for the unknown.

Selective information processing: Individuals are guilty of selectively processing information in order to keep their perceptions intact. They hear what they want to hear, and they ignore information that challenges the world they’ve created.

Organizational Sources:

Structural inertia: Organizations have built-in mechanisms—such as their selection processes and formalized regulations—to produce stability. When an organization is confronted with change, this structural inertia acts as a counterbalance to sustain stability.

Limited focus of change: Organizations consist of a number of interdependent subsystems. One can’t be changed without affecting the others. So limited changes in subsystems tend to be nullified by the larger system.

Group inertia: Even if individuals want to change their behavior, group norms may act as a constraint.

Threat to expertise: Changes in organizational patterns may threaten the expertise of specialized groups.

Threat to established power relationships: Any redistribution of decision-making authority can threaten long-established power relationships within the organization.

Overcoming Resistance to Change

Communication

Participation

Building support and commitment

Developing positive relationships

Implementing changes fairly

Manipulation and cooptation

Selecting people who accept change

Coercion

When managers face resistance to change, there are some useful tactics they can

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