Understanding & Changing Organizational Culture

• Organization culture

• What it is

• How it works

• How to change it….maybe

• What is culture?• What are the organizational indications of culture?• How might you “diagnose” the health of a culture?• How is organizational culture formed?• How can culture be changed?

Culture is the social glue that helps hold an organization together by providing

appropriate standards for what employees should say or do.

A system of meaning shared by the organization’s members

Cultural values are collective beliefs, assumptions, and feelings about what things are good, normal, rational, valuable, etc.

The basic pattern of shared values and assumptions governing the way employees within an organization think about and act on problems and opportunities.

According to Deal and Kennedy, a strong culture is. "a system of informal rules that spells out how people have to behave most of the time".

Visible

• Unconscious, taken-for-granted perceptions or beliefs

• Mental models of ideals

Shared assumptionsShared assumptions

• Conscious beliefs• Evaluate what is good or bad, right or

wrong

Shared valuesShared values

ArtifactsArtifactsArtifactsArtifacts

• Stories/legends• Rituals/ceremonies• Organizational language• Physical structures/décor

• Stories/legends• Rituals/ceremonies• Organizational language• Physical structures/décor

Invisible(below the surface)

Innovation and risk taking Direction Management support Control Reward system Integration Stability

Controlling behavior Defining boundaries Conveying identity Promoting commitment

Culture creation occurs in three ways:First, founders hire and keep only

employees who think and feel the way the way they do.

Second, they indoctrinate and socialize these employees to their way of thinking and feeling.

Selection Top management Socialization

Now the hard stuff… (culture change)

• Requires a “damn good reason!” to change

• Gap analysis is an important (if not essential) motivator

• Culture almost always wins over strategy

• Remove barriers, don’t push the river

• There are usually “revenge effects” (unexpected consequences)

• It takes time (4-7 years)

Societal Culture“Who we are,” customs

Organizational Culture“The way we do things here”

Team NormsWhat’s (un)acceptable;

“This is what we do”

Individual PersonalityValues, beliefs,

temperament, habits; “Who I am”

Levels of Change

Effective Control Promotions of innovation Strategy Formation and

implementation Strong Commitment form

Employees Performance & Satisfaction

Barrier to change Barrier to diversity Barrier to acquisitions and mergers