msel532-schein and organizational culture

7/29/2019 MSEL532-Schein and Organizational Culture

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References:

Schein, E. (2010). Organizational Culture and Leadership. (4th Edition).

Schein, E. (1996). Three Cultures of Management: The Key to Organizational

Learning Sloan Management Review. 38 (1):, p9-20.


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1. Entrepreneur Leaders are the main architects of culture

2. Culture once its formed, it influences and shapes Leadership.

3. If elements of the culture become dysfunctional, leadership can and must do

something to speed up culture change


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Culture Formally Defined:

A pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solved its problems

of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be

considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct may to

perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.

Schein, E. (2010), Organizational Culture and Leadership, p9-18.


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The definition of organizational culture tells us about culture from the structural

point of view, but it does not tells us about its contents what cultural assumptions

are all about:

1. Survival in and adaptation to the external environment (focus of this chapter)2. Integration of the internal processes to ensure the capacity to continue to

survive and adapt


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ALL organizations regardless of their size have external and internal assumptions

that affect and essentially make up their culture.

Becoming aware of these assumptions can help an organization better manage

outcomes, recognize what may be unspoken, and ultimately ensure their survival.

Note: These assumptions are at play and making an impact whether they are

recognized or not. Recognizing them can support effective leadership.

This chapter illuminates aspects of culture formation, or group identity, that are

essential to a companys survival thus requiring adaptation to the external

environment.


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Culture formation and group formation are one in the same. Patterns of thought,

Beliefs, Feelings and Values that result from common experience and common

learning become the culture of a group.

Group Shared Experiences + Leadership + Common Learning = Shared Assumptions= Group Culture

Conclusion: Group Growth and Culture Formation are the two sides of the same

coin


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THE PROBLEMS OF EXTERNAL ADAPTATION AND SURVIVAL

1. Mission & Strategy

2. Goals

3. Means4. Measurement

5. Correction


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Mission & Strategy: Obtaining a shared understanding of core mission, primary task,

and manifest and latent functions. (i.e. Shared Assumption for the reason to be in

business, why the organization exists, long range)

These are timeless and long range

Manifest functions are the public acknowledgement of who we are and the

reason-to-be for the company or group.

Shared assumptions about who we are are a key element of the organizations

culture and to some degree limits the strategic options available to the

organization.

Latent functions are the shared and unspoken assumptions, their importance

only become apparent (or rise to the surface) when an organization or group is in

times of crisis or become threatened.


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Goals: Developing consensus on goals, as derived from the core mission (i.e. short

term activities to carry out the mission and strategy short term)

These are precise and tactical, with immediate and short-term execution in mind

and solidify the mission and facilitate the decisions on means (i.e. resourceallocation, prioritization of project or activities, etc).

The process of goal-setting can unearth unresolved issues or a lack of subculture

consensus on deeper issues. Only when consensus is reached, the goals can

reveal cultural elements of an organization.


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Means: Developing consensus on the means (or artifacts) to be used to attain the

goals, such as the organization structure, division of labor, reward system and

authority system. (i.e. Skills, Resources, Structure, Systems and Processes)

The Hows: How things will be done, how the mission is achieved, etc. Thesecan be some of the most important yet most invisible assumptions of an

organization.

When leaders succeed in imposing artifacts (such as structure, systems and

processes) and consensus is reached, these can become part of the

organizational culture. The downside is that when the artifacts become elements

of the culture, these are hard to change.

Consensus on the means creates behavioral regularities that can eventually

become visible manifestations of the culture.


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Measurement: Developing consensus on the criteria to be used in measuring how

well the group is doing in fulfilling its goals, such as the information and control

system. (i.e. Error Detection and Correction Systems KPIs, Performance Reviews)

Note: This step involves the cycle of obtaining information, getting thatinformation to the right place within the organization, and synthesizing it so

that appropriate corrective action can be taken.

Consensus must be reached on what to measure, what to measure and what to

do when corrections are needed.

These are primary focus of current members of an organization as well as

newcomers because these measurements are linked on how they perform in

doing their jobs.


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Correction: Developing consensus on the appropriate remedial or repair strategies

to be used if goals are not being met. (i.e. Change Management Process)

Consensus is crucial for survival what kind of action to take if a change in

course is required and how to make that change.

When crisis arises underlying assumptions surface.

Crisis situations reveal whether workers subcultures have developed around

restriction of output and hiding ideas from management or whether these

subcultures support productivity goals.


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CONLCUSION:

Culture ultimately reflects the groups effort to cope, learn and adapt, therefore the

implications for us leaders are:

External Problems for adaptation and survival should be their primary focus,even when the group was formed before his/her time.

Successful management of these external problems is most often how the

success or failure of a leader is measured.


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msel532-schein and organizational culture

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