This Document Contains Chapters 16 to 17 Chapter 16 Organizational Culture Chapter Overview This chapter examines organizational culture: the effects culture has on members within the organization; how members learn the culture; and how it can be changed. Chapter Objectives After studying this chapter, the student should be able to: 1. Describe the common characteristics of organizational culture. 2. Compare the functional and dysfunctional effects of organizational culture on people and the organization. 3. Identify the factors that create and sustain an organization’s culture. 4. Show how culture is transmitted to employees. 5. Demonstrate how an ethical culture can be created. 6. Describe a positive organizational culture. 7. Show how national culture may affect the way organizational culture is interpreted. Suggested Lecture Outline I. INTRODUCTION A. In Chapter 5, we found that individuals have relatively enduring and stable traits that help predict their attitudes and behaviors. B. Organizations also have personalities, which are referred to as “cultures.” Organizational cultures govern how that organization’s members behave. II. WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE? A. Organizational Culture. 1. A system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. 2. This is a shared medium that consists of a set of seven key characteristics of the organization values. a. These characteristics are measured on a continuum from low to high and provide a composite picture of an organization's culture. b. This becomes the basis for the feelings of shared understanding that members have about the organization, how things are done in it, and the way members are supposed to behave. c. They are: 1) Innovation and Risk Taking. The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risks. 2) Attention to Detail. The degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision, analysis, and attention to detail. 3) Outcome Orientation. The degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve those outcomes. 4) People Orientation. The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the organization. 5) Team Orientation. The degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals. 6) Aggressiveness. The degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easy-going. 7) Stability. The degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth. B. Culture Is a Descriptive Term. 1. Organizational culture describes how employees perceive the characteristics of an organization’s culture, not whether or not they like those characteristics. It is a descriptive term. 2. Job satisfaction seeks to measure affective responses to the work environment: it is concerned with how employees feel about the organization. It is an evaluative term. C. Do Organizations Have Uniform Cultures? 1. Culture is a system of shared meaning; therefore individuals of dissimilar backgrounds or at varying levels in the organization should describe the organization's culture in similar terms despite their differences. a. This doesn't mean, however, that an organization's culture is completely uniform. 2. Dominant Culture. a. This is the overall organizational culture as expressed by the core values held by the majority of the organization's members. b. When people are asked to portray an organization's culture, they normally describe the dominant culture: a macro view that gives an organization its distinct personality. 3. Subcultures. a. These subsets of the overall culture tend to develop in larger organizations to reflect the common problems, situations, or experiences that are unique to members of certain departments or geographical areas. b. The subculture retains the core values of the dominant culture but adds to, or modifies, them to reflect their own distinct situation. D. Strong versus Weak Cultures. 1. Strong cultures have a greater impact on employee behavior and are more directly related to reduced turnover. 2. Strong Culture. a. This exists when an organization's core values are both intensely held and widely shared. b. The greater the number of members who accept the core values and the greater their commitment to these values, the stronger the culture is. c. A strong culture creates an internal climate of high behavioral control and builds cohesiveness, loyalty, and organizational commitment, which, in turn, reduces turnover. 3. Weak Culture. a. In this case, the organization's core values are not widely held or intensely felt. b. These cultures have far less impact on member behavior. E. Culture versus Formalization. 1. Since strong organizational culture increases behavioral consistency, strong culture can act as a substitute for formalization. 2. Strong culture achieves the same ends as formalization, but without the need for written documentation. 3. Thus they are two means to the same ends: predictability, orderliness, and consistency. III. WHAT DO CULTURES DO? A. The Functions of Culture. 1. Overall, culture benefits organizations by increasing organizational commitment and the consistency of employee behavior. 2. It also aids employees by reducing ambiguity. 3. There are five basic functions of culture that help achieve these benefits: a. Defines Boundaries. Culture creates distinctions between one organization and another. b. Identity. Culture conveys a sense of identity for its members. c. Commitment. Culture generates commitment to something that is larger than one's own self-interest. d. Social Stability. Culture is the social glue that helps hold the organization together by providing appropriate standards for socially acceptable employee behavior. e. Control Mechanism. Culture serves as a sense-making and control mechanism that guides and shapes the attitudes and behavior of employees. 4. Today’s trend toward decentralized organizations makes culture more important than ever, but ironically it also makes establishing a strong culture more difficult. a. When formal authority and control systems are reduced, culture’s shared meaning points everyone in the same direction. b. However, employees organized in teams may show greater allegiance to their team and its values than to the values of the organization as a whole. 5. In virtual organizations, the lack of frequent face-to-face contact makes establishing a common set of norms very difficult. Strong leadership that communicates frequently about common goals and priorities is especially important in innovative organizations. 6. Individual–organization “fit”—that is, whether the applicant’s or employee’s attitudes and behavior are compatible with the culture—strongly influences who gets a job offer, a favorable performance review, or a promotion. a. It’s no coincidence that Disney theme park employees appear almost universally attractive, clean, and wholesome with bright smiles. b. The company selects employees who will maintain that image. c. On the job, a strong culture, supported by formal rules and regulations, ensures they will act in a relatively uniform and predictable way. B. Culture Creates Climate. 1. If you’ve worked with someone whose positive attitude inspired you to do your best, or with a lackluster team that drained your motivation, you’ve experienced the effects of climate. 2. Organizational climate refers to the shared perceptions organizational members have about their organization and work environment. 3. This aspect of culture is like team spirit at the organizational level. a. When everyone has the same general feelings about what’s important or how well things are working, the effect of these attitudes will be more than the sum of the individual parts. b. The same appears true for organizations. 1) One meta-analysis found that across dozens of different samples, psychological climate was strongly related to individuals’ level of job satisfaction, involvement, commitment, and motivation. 2) A positive overall workplace climate has been linked to higher customer satisfaction and financial performance as well. 4. Dozens of dimensions of climate have been studied, including safety, justice, diversity, and customer service, to name a few. a. A person who encounters a positive climate for performance will think about doing a good job more often and will believe others support his or her success. b. Someone who encounters a positive climate for diversity will feel more comfortable collaborating with co-workers regardless of their demographic background. 5. Climate also influences the habits people adopt. a. If the climate for safety is positive, everyone wears safety gear and follows safety procedures even if individually they wouldn’t normally think very often about being safe. C. Culture as a Liability. 1. Culture enhances organizational commitment and increases the consistency of employee behavior. 2. From an employee’s standpoint, culture is valuable because it spells out how things are done and what’s important. 3. But we shouldn’t ignore the potentially dysfunctional aspects of culture, especially a strong one, on an organization’s effectiveness. a. Institutionalization. 1) When an organization undergoes institutionalization and becomes institutionalized—that is, it is valued for itself and not for the goods or services it produces—it takes on a life of its own, apart from its founders or members. 2) It doesn’t go out of business even if its original goals are no longer relevant. 3) Acceptable modes of behavior become largely self-evident to members, and although this isn’t entirely negative, it does mean behaviors and habits that should be questioned and analyzed become taken for granted, which can stifle innovation and make maintaining the organization’s culture an end in itself. b. Barriers to change. 1) Culture is a liability when the shared values are not in agreement with those that further the organization’s effectiveness. 2) This is most likely when an organization’s environment is undergoing rapid change and its entrenched culture may no longer be appropriate. 3) Consistency of behavior, an asset in a stable environment, may then burden the organization and make it difficult to respond to changes. c. Barriers to diversity. 1) Hiring new employees who differ from the majority in race, age, gender, disability, or other characteristics creates a paradox. 2) Management wants to demonstrate support for the differences these employees bring to the workplace, but newcomers who wish to fit in must accept the organization’s core cultural values. 3) Because diverse behaviors and unique strengths are likely to diminish as people attempt to assimilate, strong cultures can become liabilities when they effectively eliminate these advantages. 4) A strong culture that condones prejudice, supports bias, or becomes insensitive to people who are different can even undermine formal corporate diversity policies. d. Barriers to acquisitions and mergers. 1) Historically, when management looked at acquisition or merger decisions, the key factors were financial advantage and product synergy. 2) In recent years, cultural compatibility has become the primary concern. 3) All things being equal, whether the acquisition actually works seems to have more to do with how well the two organizations’ cultures match up. 4) The primary cause of failure is conflicting organizational cultures. a) The $183 billion merger between America Online (AOL) and Time Warner in 2001 was the largest in U.S. corporate history. b) It was also a disaster. c) Only 2 years later, the stock had fallen an astounding 90 percent, and the new company reported what was then the largest financial loss in U.S. history. d) Culture clash is commonly argued to be one of the causes of AOL Time Warner’s problems. IV. CREATING AND SUSTAINING CULTURE A. How a Culture Begins. 1. The ultimate source of an organization's culture is its founder(s). Founders have a vision of what the organization should be and they are unconstrained by previous customs or ideologies. 2. The new organization's small size facilitates the founder’s imposition of his or her vision on all organizational members. Founders create culture in three ways: a. Employee Selection. Founders hire and keep only those employees who think and feel the same way the founders do. b. Socialization. Founders indoctrinate and socialize their employees toward the founders’ way of thinking and feeling. c. Modeling. 1) The founder acts as a role model and encourages employees to identify with him or her and to internalize the founder’s beliefs, values, and assumptions. 2) Any organizational success is attributed to the founder’s vision, attitudes, and behavior. 3) In a sense, the organization becomes an extension of the founder’s personality. B. Keeping a Culture Alive. 1. Once a culture exists, practices within the organization serve to maintain it by giving employees a similar set of experiences. 2. These practices include the selection process, performance evaluation criteria, training and development activities, and promotional procedures: those who support the culture are rewarded and those who do not are penalized. 3. Selection. a. The selection process needs to identify and hire employees with relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities; one of the more critical facets of this process is ensuring that those selected have values that are consistent with those of the organization. b. Employees whose values and beliefs are misaligned with those of the organization tend to not be hired, or self-select out of the applicant pool, thereby protecting the existing organizational culture. 4. Top Management. a. The verbal messages and actions of top management establish norms of behavior throughout the organization. b. These norms include the desirability of risk taking, level of employee empowerment, appropriate attire, and outlining successful career paths. 5. Socialization. a. New employees must adapt to the organizational culture in a process called socialization. b. While socialization continues throughout an employee's career, the initial socialization is the most critical. c. There are three stages in this initial socialization shown in Exhibit 16-1. The success of this socialization will affect employee productivity, commitment, and turnover. 1) Prearrival stage. a) This encompasses all the learning that occurs before a new member joins the organization. b) Each individual arrives with his or her own unique set of values, attitudes, and expectations both surrounding the work and the organization. c) That knowledge, plus how proactive their personality is, are the two critical predictors of how well the new employees will adjust to the new culture. d) The perception of being able to “fit in” is critical in the hiring process. 2) Encounter stage. a) This is when the new employee sees what the organization is really like and confronts the possibility that expectations and reality may diverge. b) If the employee's expectations prove to be reasonably accurate, the encounter stage merely provides a reaffirmation of the perceptions gained earlier. c) But when expectations and reality differ, new employees must undergo socialization that will detach them from their previous assumptions and replace them with another set the organization deems desirable. d) At the extreme, a new member may become disillusioned with the actualities of the job and resign: an indication of the failure of the selection process. e) The greater the number of friendship ties a newcomer has in the organization, the more likely he or she is to be committed. 3) Metamorphosis stage. a) In this final stage, relatively long-lasting changes take place as the employee has adjusted to the work itself and internalized the work group’s values and norms. b) The more management relies on socialization programs that are formal, collective, fixed, serial, and emphasize divestiture, the greater the likelihood that the newcomer’s differences and perspectives will be stripped away and replaced by standardized and predictable behaviors. c) Successful metamorphosis should have a positive effect on new employee productivity, organizational commitment, and turnover as the employee has internalized the norms of the organization and their work group. (1) Bringing about desired metamorphosis. (2) Formal versus Informal. Formal programs segregate the employees from ongoing work and differentiate them in some way as a newcomer. Informal programs simply put the new employee to work. (3) Individual versus Collective. Socialization can occur on an individual or group basis. (4) Fixed versus Variable refers to the time scheduled when newcomers make the transition from outsider to insider. A fixed schedule establishes standardized stages of transition, such as probationary periods. Variable schedules give no advance notice of transition timetables. (5) Serial versus Random. Serial programs use role models to train and encourage the newcomer, such as in apprenticeship programs. In random programs, role models are deliberately withheld and employees must learn to figure things out on their own. (6) Investiture versus Divestiture. Investiture socialization assumes and confirms that newcomers have the necessary qualities and qualifications for success. Divestiture programs try to strip away certain characteristics of the recruits to reshape them into the proper role. C. Summary: How Cultures Form. 1. Exhibit 16-3 provides a simple model of how an organization's culture is established and sustained. 2. The original culture is derived from the founder's philosophy, which in turn strongly influences the criteria used in hiring. 3. The actions of top management set the general climate of what is acceptable behavior. 4. How well employees are socialized will depend on management’s selection of socialization method and the closeness of the new employees’ values to those of the organization. V. HOW EMPLOYEES LEARN CULTURE A. Culture is transmitted to employees in a number of forms: stories, rituals, material symbols, and language. B. Stories. 1. Stories typically revolve around key events such as rule breaking, unlikely successes, workforce reductions, reactions to past mistakes, and methods of organizational coping that involve the organization's founders or other key personnel. 2. These stories anchor the present in the past and provide explanations and legitimacy for current practices. C. Rituals. 1. These are repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the key values of the organization. They highlight what goals are most important: which people are important and which are not. D. Symbols. 1. Material symbols such as the size of offices, the elegance of furnishings, perquisites, awards and trophies, and the attire worn, all convey to employees who is important, the degree of egalitarianism desired by top management, and the kinds of appropriate behavior. E. Language. 1. Specialized languages, acronyms, or jargon serve as a means to identify and segregate members of a culture or subculture. 2. Once assimilated, the specialized language acts as a common denominator that unites members of a given culture or subculture. VI. CREATING AN ETHICAL ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE. A. The organizational culture most likely to shape high ethical standards among its members is one that’s high in risk tolerance, low to moderate in aggressiveness, and focused on means as well as outcomes. B. This type of culture also takes a long-term perspective and balances the rights of multiple stakeholders, including the communities in which the business operates, its employees, and its stockholders. C. Managers are supported for taking risks and innovating, discouraged from engaging in unbridled competition, and guided to pay attention not just to what goals are achieved but also to how. D. If the culture is strong and supports high ethical standards, it should have a very powerful and positive influence on employee behavior. E. Principles for managers that encourage development of an ethical culture include: 1. Be a Visible Role Model. a. When senior management is seen as taking the ethical highroad, it provides a positive behavioral guideline for all employees. 2. Communicate Ethical Expectations. a. The creation and use of an organizational code of ethics helps reduce ethical ambiguities and enforce the organization's primary values. 3. Provide Ethical Training. a. Training acts to reinforce the organization’s standards of conduct, clarifies ethical practices, and addresses possible ethical dilemmas. 4. Visibly Reward Ethical Acts and Punish Unethical Ones. a. Performance appraisals must include the means taken to achieve goals as well as the ends themselves. b. Review the means taken to achieve goals as well as the ends themselves. c. Visibly reward those who act ethically. Just as important, unethical acts should be conspicuously punished. 5. Provide Protective Mechanisms. a. Organizations must create formal mechanisms that allow employees to discuss ethical dilemmas or report unethical behavior without fear of reprimand (such as ethical counselors, ombudsmen, or ethical officers) to facilitate the change to an ethical culture. F. Setting a positive ethical climate has to start at the top of the organization. 1. A study of 195 managers demonstrated that when top management emphasizes strong ethical values, supervisors are more likely to practice ethical leadership. 2. This positive ethical attitude transfers down to line employees, who show lower levels of deviant behavior and higher levels of cooperation and assistance. 3. The general ethical behavior and attitudes of other members of the department matter too for shaping individual ethical behavior. 4. Finally, employees whose ethical values are similar to those of their department are more likely to be promoted, so we can think of ethical culture as flowing from the bottom up as well. VII. CREATING A POSITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE A. A positive organizational culture is one that emphasizes building on employee strengths, rewards more than it punishes, and emphasizes individual vitality and growth. B. Building on Employee Strengths 1. Although a positive organizational culture does not ignore problems, it does emphasize showing workers how they can capitalize on their strengths. C. Rewarding More Than Punishing 1. Although most organizations are sufficiently focused on extrinsic rewards such as pay and promotions, they often forget about the power of smaller (and cheaper) rewards such as praise. 2. Part of creating a positive organizational culture is “catching employees doing something right.” 3. Many managers withhold praise either because they’re afraid employees will coast or because they think praise is not valued. 4. Because employees generally don’t ask for praise, managers usually don’t realize the costs of failing to do it. D. Emphasizing Vitality and Growth 1. A positive organizational culture recognizes the difference between a job and a career. 2. It supports not only what the employee contributes to organizational effectiveness, but also how the organization can make the employee more effective—personally and professionally. 3. A positive culture recognizes the difference between a job and a career and supports not only what the employee does to contribute to organizational effectiveness but also what the organization can do to make the employee more effective (personally and professionally). E. Limits of Positive Culture 1. Is a positive culture a panacea? Though companies have embraced aspects of a positive organizational culture, it is a new enough idea for us to be uncertain about how and when it works best. 2. Not all cultures value being positive as much as U.S. culture does, and, even within U.S. culture, there surely are limits to how far we should go to preserve a positive culture. 3. For example, Admiral, a British insurance company, has established a Ministry of Fun in its call centers to organize such events as poem writings, foosball, conker (a British game involving chestnuts) competitions, and fancy dress days. 4. When does the pursuit of a positive culture start to seem coercive or even Orwellian? 5. As one critic notes, “Promoting a social orthodoxy of positiveness focuses on a particular constellation of desirable states and traits but, in so doing, can stigmatize those who fail to fit the template.” 6. Our point is that there may be benefits to establishing a positive culture, but an organization also needs to be careful to be objective and not pursue it past the point of effectiveness. VIII. GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS A. Organizational cultures are so powerful they often transcend national boundaries. 1. But that doesn’t mean organizations should, or could, be blissfully ignorant of local culture. 2. Organizational cultures often reflect national culture. B. One of the primary things U.S. managers can do is to be culturally sensitive. 1. Some ways in which U.S. managers can be culturally sensitive include talking in a low tone of voice, speaking slowly, listening more, and avoiding discussions of religion and politics. C. The management of ethical behavior is one area where national culture can rub up against corporate culture. D. U.S. managers endorse the supremacy of anonymous market forces and implicitly or explicitly view profit maximization as a moral obligation for business organizations. 1. This worldview sees bribery, nepotism, and favoring personal contacts as highly unethical. 2. Any action that deviates from profit maximization may indicate that inappropriate or corrupt behavior may be occurring. 3. In contrast, managers in developing economies are more likely to see ethical decisions as embedded in a social environment. 4. That means doing special favors for family and friends is not only appropriate but may even be an ethical responsibility. E. Managers in many nations also view capitalism skeptically and believe the interests of workers should be put on a par with the interests of shareholders. F. U.S. employees are not the only ones who need to be culturally sensitive. 1. Three times a week, employees at the Canadian unit of Japanese video game maker Koei begin the day by standing next to their desks, facing their boss, and saying “Good morning” in unison. 2. Employees then deliver short speeches on topics that range from corporate principles to three-dimensional game engines. 3. Koei also has employees punch a time clock and asks women to serve tea to top executive guests. 4. Although these practices are consistent with Koei’s culture, they do not fit Canadian culture very well. “It’s kind of like school,” says one Canadian employee. IX. IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS A. Realize that an organization’s culture is relatively fixed in the short term. 1. To effect change, involve top management and strategize a long-term plan. B. Hire individuals whose values align with those of the organization; these employees will tend to remain committed and satisfied. Not surprisingly, “misfits” have considerably higher turnover rates. C. Understand that employees’ performance and socialization depend to a considerable degree on their knowing what to do and not do. 1. Train your employees well and keep them informed of changes to their job roles. D. As a manager, you can shape the culture of your work environment, sometimes as much as it shapes you. 1. All managers can especially do their part to create an ethical culture. E. Be aware that your company’s organizational culture may not be transportable to other countries. 1. Understand the cultural relevance of your organization’s norms before introducing new plans or initiatives overseas. X. KEEP IN MIND A. Organizational culture develops over time and reflects deeply held values to which employees are strongly committed. B. Ethical and positive organizational cultures can be created—methods differ. C. National culture influences organizational culture. XI. SUMMARY A. Employees form an overall subjective perception of the organization based on factors such as degree of risk tolerance, team emphasis, and support of people. 1. This overall perception becomes, in effect, the organization’s culture or personality and affects employee performance and satisfaction, with stronger cultures having greater impact. Discussion Questions 1. Describe the seven key characteristics that capture the essence of the organization's culture. Answer: (1) Innovation and Risk Taking. The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risks. (2) Attention to Detail. The degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision, analysis, and attention to detail. (3) Outcome Orientation. The degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve those outcomes. (4) People Orientation. The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the organization. (5) Team Orientation. The degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals. (6) Aggressiveness. The degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easy-going. (7) Stability. The degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth. 2. Contrast organizational culture and job satisfaction. Answer: Organizational culture describes how employees perceive the characteristics of an organization’s culture, not whether or not they like those characteristics. It is a descriptive term. Job satisfaction seeks to measure affective responses to the work environment: it is concerned with how employees feel about the organization. It is an evaluative term. 3. Identify the functional and dysfunctional effects of organizational culture on employees. Answer: Overall, culture benefits organizations by increasing organizational commitment and the consistency of employee behavior. It also aids employees by reducing ambiguity. There are five basic functions of culture that help achieve these benefits – it: (1) defines boundaries, (2) conveys a sense of identity for its members, (3) generates commitment to something that is larger than one's own self-interest, (4) acts as the social glue that helps hold the organization together by providing appropriate standards for socially acceptable employee behavior, and (5) serves as a control mechanism that guides and shapes the attitudes and behavior of employees. It helps employees make sense of the work environment: it defines the rules of the game. In today's organizations, where direct and close managerial control appears to no longer be an option, culture is one of the ways to enforce organizational standards and to maintain effectiveness. Because culture is difficult to change in the short run and defines proper behavior, it may create three barriers in the organization. (1) Barrier to Change. When the cultural values are not aligned with those that will increase an organization’s effectiveness in dynamic environments, they can create a barrier to implementing the necessary organizational changes. (2) Barrier to Diversity. Strong cultures, by their very nature, often seek to minimize diversity. (3) Barrier to Acquisitions and Mergers. The main cause for the failure of these combinations has been cultural conflict. 4. List the factors that maintain an organization's culture. Answer: Once a culture exists, practices within the organization serve to maintain it by giving employees a similar set of experiences. These practices include the selection process, performance evaluation criteria, training and development activities, and promotional procedures: those who support the culture are rewarded and those who do not are penalized. Specifically, there are three key factors: (1) Selection. The selection process needs to ensure that potential hires have values that are consistent with those of the organization. (2) Top Management. The verbal messages and actions of top management establish norms of behavior throughout the organization. These norms include the desirability of risk taking, level of employee empowerment, appropriate attire, and outlining successful career paths. (3) Socialization. New employees must adapt to the organizational culture in a process called socialization. While socialization continues throughout an employee's career, the initial socialization is the most critical. 5. Identify and describe the phases of organizational socialization. Answer: There are three phases in the initial socialization process: (1) Prearrival: this encompasses all the learning that occurs before a new member joins the organization. Each individual arrives with his or her own unique set of values, attitudes, and expectations both surrounding the work and the organization. That knowledge, plus how proactive their personality is, are the two critical predictors of how well the new employees will adjust to the new culture. (2) Encounter. This is when the new employee sees what the organization is really like and confronts the possibility that expectations and reality may diverge. If the employee's expectations prove to be reasonably accurate, the encounter stage merely provides a reaffirmation of the perceptions gained earlier. But when expectations and reality differ, new employees must undergo socialization that will detach them from their previous assumptions and replace those assumptions with another set the organization deems desirable. At the extreme, a new member may become disillusioned with the actualities of the job and resign: an indication of the failure of the selection process. The greater the number of friendship ties a newcomer has in the organization, the more likely he or she is to be committed. (3) Metamorphosis. In this final stage, relatively long-lasting changes take place as the employee has adjusted to the work itself and internalized the work group’s values and norms. The more management relies on socialization programs that are formal, collective, fixed, serial, and emphasize divestiture, the greater the likelihood that the newcomer’s differences and perspectives will be stripped away and replaced by standardized and predictable behaviors. Successful metamorphosis should have a positive effect on new employee productivity, organizational commitment, and turnover. 6. How can culture be transmitted to employees? Provide examples for each. Answer: In addition to the initial socialization process mentioned in Question five, culture is transmitted to employees in a number of forms: stories, rituals, material symbols, and language. (1) Stories typically revolve around key events such as rule breaking, unlikely successes, workforce reductions, reactions to past mistakes, and methods of organizational coping that involve the organization's founders or other key personnel. (2) Rituals are repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the key values of the organization. (3) Material symbols such as the size of offices, the elegance of furnishings, perquisites, awards and trophies, and the attire worn, convey to employees who is important, the degree of egalitarianism desired by top management, and the kinds of appropriate behavior. (4) Specialized languages, acronyms, or jargon serve as a means to identify and segregate members of a culture or subculture. Examples will vary. 7. Explain how an ethical culture can be established. Answer: First, favorable conditions must exist. A strong organizational culture that is high in risk tolerance, low-to-moderate in aggressiveness, and focuses on means as well as outcomes is the one most likely to shape high ethical standards. Secondly, top management can use practices that encourage the development of an ethical culture, such as: (1) being a visible role model: when senior management is seen as taking the ethical high road, it provides a positive behavioral guideline for all employees; (2) communicating ethical expectations: the creation and use of an organizational code of ethics helps reduce ethical ambiguities and enforce the organization's primary values; (3) providing ethical training: acts to reinforce the organization’s standards of conduct, clarifies ethical practices, and addresses possible ethical dilemmas; (4) visibly rewarding ethical acts and punishing unethical ones: performance appraisals must include the means taken to achieve goals as well as the ends themselves; (5) providing protective mechanisms: must create formal mechanisms that allow employees to discuss ethical dilemmas or report unethical behavior without fear of reprimand. 8. What is a positive organizational culture and what key variables are used in creating it? Answer: A positive organizational culture is one that emphasizes building on employee strengths, rewards more than it punishes, and emphasizes individual vitality and growth. Key variables in creating positive culture are: (1) Building on Employee Strengths. The emphasis in positive cultures is in showing workers how to capitalize on their own strengths. (2) Rewarding More Than Punishing. Involves using relatively inexpensive rewards such as praise and positive reinforcement. Managers “catch employees doing something right.” (3) Emphasizing Vitality and Growth. Positive cultures emphasize individual growth: they want their employees to “be all they can be.” 9. What is the relationship between national culture and a global organization’s organizational culture? Answer: Organizational culture often reflects the national culture from whence it came. But it exists in a global context: global organizations must be aware of both local and national cultures. Firms have often become heavily dependent on foreign product markets, labor markets, or both, increasing both internal and external complexity. All managers in organizations must be culturally sensitive. Not only must U.S. managers be aware of other cultures, managers from other cultures should be sensitive to the local cultures in which they operate. Exercises 1. Self-analysis. How consumer-responsive are you? Using the six key variables mentioned in the chapter, assess your personality and your organization’s culture. Write up your findings and give specific examples of what you believe can be done to increase your consumer responsiveness in this organization. 2. Web Crawling. Using your favorite search engine, search on the term “creating ethical organizations” or “positive organizational culture.” Find four 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. 3. Teamwork. Slogan Analysis: break the class into teams, each team is tasked with creating a list of 12 slogans (or sayings) they have seen or heard that describe an organization’s culture (e.g., “Quality Is Job 1” for Ford, “Have It Your Way” at Burger King, or “It wasn’t invented here!”). Clearly write each of these slogans on a large Post-it® note (one slogan per note sheet). When all groups are completed, collect the Post-its® and randomly stick them on the wall or whiteboard. Gather the class in front of the notes and give them a few moments to read over the cards and then provide the following guidance: As a group, you have one minute to organize these notes into columns of like organizational cultural variables. No talking is allowed. Everyone and anyone can move the notes from one column to another: no one is in charge. Use your own individual beliefs as to where a card belongs. Give them one minute to organize the cards. Ensure they do not speak. If two people keep moving a single card back and forth between two columns, create a second card with the same slogan and stick one copy of the card under each column. When the minute is up, give them 15 seconds to silently look over their arrangement. Then give them 15 seconds more for any final changes. Have them return to their seats. Move column by column through the arrangement and lead a discussion over what organizational cultural variable each column represents. Seek and point out any commonalities with the slogans and the cultural variables mentioned in the text. 4. Analyzing Your Organization (Cumulative Project). Have the students meet with some of the “old-timers” in their organization. Have them discuss the various stories that shaped the organization’s culture throughout the years. You might ask them what the founder was like, and what his or her values and belief system were or are. Relate these findings to the current organizational culture. Is it the same? If not, what has changed over the years, and why? Relate this to any existing materials, symbols, or special language that defines the current culture of the organization. Suggested Assignment Divide the class into groups of three to five students each. Ask each group to go to the following website: http://sinau.me/hcli/2010/12/27/more-than-just-go-to-another-country-acculturation-perspective-of-global-leadership/ Ask each group to place themselves into the role of Personnel Manager for a medium-sized multinational company. The company plans to expand into Viet Nam. Several managers from various foreign locations—United States, Mexico, Canada, and France—will be transferred to the new location to oversee development and operations until such time as a cadre of Vietnamese managers can be trained and educated to company policies and culture traits to assume operational leadership. Have the student groups prepare a training plan for the expatiate managers to prepare them for the rigors of the transfer. 1. Are some expatriate managers more likely to acclimatize to the new assignment than others? 2. Is there an estimate of the time and effort it will take for each of the expatriate managers to acclimatize to the new location? Are some more likely to acclimatize faster than others based on their country cultures? 3. Which may be more effective: a. The plan to acclimatize our expatriate managers for managing in Viet Nam b. A plan to hire management personnel in Viet Nam and bring them to the U.S. operations for acclimatizing to the organizational culture to apply in their culture of country. Chapter 17 Organizational Change and Stress Management Chapter Overview This chapter is about change. We describe environmental forces that require managers to implement comprehensive change programs. We also consider why people and organizations often resist change and how this resistance can be overcome. We review various processes for managing organizational change. We also discuss contemporary work stress issues for today’s managers. Chapter Objectives After studying this chapter, the student should be able to: 1. Identify forces that act as stimulants to change. 2. Describe the sources for resistance to change. 3. Compare the four main approaches to managing organizational change. 4. Demonstrate two ways of creating a culture for change. 5. Identify the potential sources and consequences of stress, and describe techniques for managing stress. Suggested Lecture Outline I. INTRODUCTION A. Change is an environmental constant for modern organizations. Managers must be able to help organizations change, understand the reasons for resistance of change, and move organizations in new relevant directions. II. FORCES FOR CHANGE A. No company today is in a particularly stable environment. 1. Even those with dominant market share must change, sometimes radically. 2. The car market, for instance, is particularly volatile. The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord have been market leaders in the midsize division, but their sales have not been as strong since the Great Recession, while sales for the Ford Fusion climbed 66 percent in four years. In the compact class, Chevrolet saw strong growth for the Cruze until it was plagued by recalls and poor reliability. a. In each car segment, producers must constantly adapt and change in order to compete. B. Six Specific Forces That Act As Stimulants for Change. 1. Changing Nature of the Work Force. a. Almost every organization must adjust to a multicultural environment, demographic changes, immigration, and outsourcing. 2. Technology. a. Technology is continually changing jobs and organizations. 3. Economic Shocks. a. Monetary crises, fuel prices, stock market and real estate fluctuations, coupled with historically low interest rates all create a much more dynamic environment than existed in the recent past. 4. Competition. a. The global economy also means global competition. Speed of development and implementation is increasing. b. Successful firms must be flexible and responsive, requiring an equally nimble workforce. 5. Social Trends. a. Consumers who are otherwise strangers now meet and share product information in chat rooms and blogs. b. Companies must continually adjust product and marketing strategies to be sensitive to changing social trends. 6. World Politics. a. In recent years, we’ve seen a major set of financial crises that have rocked global markets, a dramatic rise in the power and influence of China, and dramatic shakeups in government across the Arab world. b. Throughout the industrialized world, businesses—particularly in the banking and financial sectors—have come under new scrutiny. III. RESISTANCE TO CHANGE A. Dynamics of Resistance to Change 1. We often see change as threatening. a. One recent study showed that even when employees are shown data that suggest they need to change, they latch onto whatever data they can find that suggests they are okay and don’t need to change. b. Employees who have negative feelings about a change cope by not thinking about it, increasing their use of sick time, and quitting. c. All these reactions can sap the organization of vital energy when it is most needed. 2. Resistance to change can be positive if it leads to open discussion and debate. a. These responses are usually preferable to apathy or silence and can indicate that members of the organization are engaged in the process, providing change agents an opportunity to explain the change effort. b. Change agents can also use resistance to modify the change to fit the preferences of other members of the organization. 1) When they treat resistance only as a threat, rather than a point of view to be discussed, they may increase dysfunctional conflict. 3. Resistance doesn’t necessarily surface in standardized ways. It can be overt, implicit, immediate, or deferred. a. It’s easiest for management to deal with overt and immediate resistance, such as complaints, a work slowdown, or a strike threat. b. The greater challenge is managing resistance that is implicit or deferred. c. These responses—loss of loyalty or motivation, increased errors or absenteeism—are more subtle and more difficult to recognize for what they are. d. Deferred actions also cloud the link between the change and the reaction to it and may surface weeks, months, or even years later. e. Or a single change of little inherent impact may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back because resistance to earlier changes has been deferred and stockpiled. 4. Exhibit 17-1 summarizes major forces for resistance to change, categorized by their sources. Individual sources reside in human characteristics such as perceptions, personalities, and needs. 1) Organizational sources reside in the structural makeup of organizations themselves. 5. It’s worth noting that not all change is good. a. Speed can lead to bad decisions, and sometimes those initiating change fail to realize the full magnitude of the effects or their true costs. b. Rapid, transformational change is risky in some organizations, such as JCPenney, which, under a new CEO, decided to radically change its pricing strategy. The company has yet to recover to its pre-change levels. c. Change agents need to carefully think through the full implications. B. Overcoming Resistance to Change. 1. There are eight tactics change agents can use to deal with resistance to change. a. Education and Communication. 1) Resistance can be reduced by communicating with employees to help them see the logic of the change. 2) Doing so reduces misinformation and can help managers “sell” the need for the change. b. Participation. 1) Involving people in the change decision builds buy-in and reduces resistance. 2) Assuming that the participants have the expertise to make a meaningful contribution, the result could be a higher quality solution. c. Building Support and Commitment. 1) If the emotional commitment to change can be raised, it will reduce resistance. d. Develop Positive Relationships. 1) People are more willing to accept changes if they trust the managers implementing them. e. Implementing Changes Fairly. 1) As noted in Chapter 7, procedural fairness becomes especially important when employees perceive an outcome as negative (as change often is). 2) Organizations should make sure employees see the changes are being implemented consistently and fairly. f. Manipulation and Cooptation. 1) Manipulation refers to covert influence attempts. a) Twisting facts to make them more attractive, withholding information, and creating false rumors to get employees to accept change are all examples of manipulation. 2) Cooptation seeks to “buy off” leaders of the resistance group by giving them a key role in the change decision. a) The organization seeks not their advice but their endorsement. 3) This manipulative tactic can backfire if the targets become aware they are being used. g. Selecting People Who Accept Change. 1) Organizations that have selected individuals whose personality easily accepts and adapts to change have far lower levels of resistance than organizations that have not used this criterion for selection. 2) Personalities that accept change are those that are open, risk-taking, flexible, and have a high self-concept. h. Coercion. 1) If all else fails, change agents can apply direct threats or force on those who resist. 2) This technique is has limited effectiveness and may actually increase resistance to change. IV. APPROACHES TO MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE A. This chapter presents three approaches to managing change: Lewin's classic three-step model of the change process, Kotter’s eight-step plan, and organizational development. B. Lewin's Three-Step Model. 1. This model treats change as a break in the organization's equilibrium state. 2. The status quo has been disturbed and change is necessary to establish a new equilibrium state. 3. Unfreezing. a. Pressure is required to overcome the inertia of the current status quo. b. Unfreezing must occur in one of three ways: 1) Driving Forces. a) The forces that direct behavior away from the status quo can be increased. 2) Restraining Forces. a) The forces that hinder movement from the existing equilibrium (or maintain the current status quo) can be decreased. 3) Combination Approaches. a) Pressure can be exerted by increasing the driving forces and decreasing the restraining forces. 4. Movement. a. Research on organizational change has shown that, to be effective, change has to happen quickly. b. Organizations that build up to change do less well than those that get to and through the movement stage quickly. 5. Refreezing. a. Without this last step, change will likely be short-lived and employees will attempt to revert to the previous equilibrium state. b. The objective of refreezing, then, is to stabilize the new situation by balancing the driving and restraining forces. C. Kotter's Eight-Step Plan for Implementing Change. 1. Builds from Lewin's change model and focuses on the various historic managerial failures in implementing change. 2. These eight sequential steps overcome historic problems. a. The first four steps are the “unfreezing” stage, the next three represent “movement,” and the final step is Lewin's “refreezing.” 3. The Eight Steps: a. Establish a sense of urgency by creating a compelling reason for why change is needed. b. Form a coalition with enough power to lead the change. c. Create a new vision to direct the change and strategies for achieving the vision. d. Communicate the vision throughout the organization. e. Empower others to act on the vision by removing barriers to change and encouraging risk-taking and creative problem solving. f. Plan for, create, and reward short-term “wins” that move the organization toward the new vision. g. Consolidate improvements, reassess changes, and make necessary adjustments in their programs. h. Reinforce the changes by demonstrating a relationship between new barriers and organizational success. D. Organizational Development (OD). 1. OD is a generalized concept. a. It encompasses a collection of change methods that seek to improve organizational effectiveness and employee well-being. b. OD values human organizational growth, collaborative and participative processes, and a spirit of inquiry. 2. OD holds to the following underlying values: a. Respect for People. People are believed to be responsible, conscientious, and caring, and should be treated with dignity and respect. b. Trust and Support. Effective organizations are characterized by trust, authenticity, openness, and a supportive climate. c. Power Equalization. Effective organizations deemphasize hierarchical authority and control. d. Confrontation. Problem should be openly confronted. e. Participation. Involving people in decision making regarding a change increases their commitment to implementing the change. 3. Five OD Interventions for Change a. Survey feedback. 1) One tool for assessing attitudes held by organizational members, identifying discrepancies among member perceptions, and solving these differences, is the survey feedback approach. 2) A questionnaire, usually completed by all members of the organization or unit, typically asks about their perceptions and attitudes on a range of topics, including decision-making practices; communication effectiveness; coordination among units; and satisfaction with the organization, job, peers, and immediate supervisor. 3) These data become the springboard for identifying problems and clarifying issues that may be creating difficulties for people. 4) Particular attention is given to encouraging discussion and ensuring it focuses on issues and ideas and not on attacking individuals. 5) For instance, are people listening? Are new ideas being generated? Can decision making, interpersonal relations, or job assignments be improved? 6) Answers should lead the group to commit to various remedies for the problems identified. b. Process consultation. 1) Managers often sense their unit’s performance can be improved but are unable to identify what to improve and how. 2) The purpose of process consultation (PC) is for an outside consultant to assist a client, usually a manager, “to perceive, understand, and act upon process events” with which the manager must deal. 3) PC is similar to sensitivity training in assuming we can improve organizational effectiveness by dealing with interpersonal problems and in emphasizing involvement. 4) But PC is more task directed, and consultants are there to “give the client ‘insight’ into what is going on around him, within him, and between him and other people.” 5) They do not solve the organization’s problems but rather guide or coach the client to solve his or her own problems after jointly diagnosing what needs improvement. 6) The client develops the skill to analyze processes within his or her unit and can continue to call on it long after the consultant is gone. c. Team building. 1) We’ve noted throughout this book that organizations increasingly rely on teams to accomplish work tasks. Team building uses high-interaction group activities to increase trust and openness among team members, improve coordinative efforts, and increase team performance. 2) Team building typically includes goal setting, development of interpersonal relations among team members, role analysis to clarify each member’s role and responsibilities, and team process analysis. 3) It may emphasize or exclude certain activities, depending on the purpose of the development effort and the specific problems with which the team is confronted. d. Intergroup development. 1) A major area of concern in OD is dysfunctional conflict between groups. 2) Intergroup development seeks to change groups’ attitudes, stereotypes, and perceptions about each other. a) Here, training sessions closely resemble diversity training (in fact, diversity training largely evolved from intergroup development in OD), except rather than focusing on demographic differences, they focus on differences among occupations, departments, or divisions within an organization. b) Among several approaches for improving intergroup relations, a popular one emphasizes problem solving. 3) Each group meets independently to list its perceptions of itself and of the other group, and how it believes the other group perceives it. a) The groups share their lists, discuss similarities and differences, and look for the causes of disparities. b) Once they have identified the causes of the difficulty, the groups move to the integration phase—developing solutions to improve relations between them. c) Subgroups can be formed of members from each of the conflicting groups to conduct further diagnosis and formulate alternative solutions. e. Appreciative inquiry. 1) Most OD approaches are problem centered. 2) They identify a problem or set of problems, and then look for a solution. 3) Appreciative inquiry (AI) instead accentuates the positive; that is, AI focuses on an organization’s successes rather than its problems. 4) The AI process consists of four steps—discovery, dreaming, design, and destiny—often played out in a large-group meeting over a 2- or 3-day time period and overseen by a trained change agent. a) Discovery sets out to identify what people think are the organization’s strengths. b) Employees recount times they felt the organization worked best or when they specifically felt most satisfied with their jobs. c) In dreaming, employees use information from the discovery phase to speculate on possible futures, such as what the organization will be like in 5 years. d) In design, participants find a common vision of how the organization will look in the future and agree on its unique qualities. e) For the fourth step, participants seek to define the organization’s destiny or how to fulfill their dream, and they typically write action plans and develop implementation strategies. V. CREATING A CULTURE FOR CHANGE A. We’ve considered how organizations can adapt to change. 1. But recently, some OB scholars have focused on a more proactive approach—how organizations can embrace change by transforming their cultures. 2. In this section we review two such approaches: stimulating an innovative culture and creating a learning organization. B. Stimulating a Culture of Innovation. 1. Definition of innovation. a. We said change refers to making things different. b. Innovation, a more specialized kind of change, is a new idea applied to initiating or improving a product, process, or service. c. Thus, all innovations imply change, but not all changes necessarily introduce new ideas or lead to significant improvements. d. Innovations can range from small incremental improvements, such as netbook computers, to radical breakthroughs, such as Soylent, a liquid food product that is cheaper and more environmentally sustainable than nearly every other food source. 2. Sources of Innovation. a. There are three basic sources of innovation: structural, cultural, and human resource variables. 1) Structural Variables. These are the most studied potential source of innovation. a) Organic structures positively influence innovation as they are lower in vertical differentiation, formalization, and centralization. b) Management with long tenure is positively associated with innovation as it provides legitimacy and knowledge of the process. c) Slack resources nurture innovation: allows an organization to purchase innovations, create them themselves, or absorb failures. d) Interunit communication using committees, task forces, and cross-functional teams increases innovation. 2) Culture Variables. a) Cultures that encourage experimentation, reward both successes and failures, and celebrate mistakes, are more likely to be innovative. 3) Human Resources Variables. a) Organizations that actively promote the training and development of their members, offer high job security, and encourage change champions are more innovative. b) Idea champions are managers who actively and enthusiastically promote an idea, build support, overcome resistance, and ensure that innovation is implemented. (1) Idea champions typically have extremely high self-confidence, persistence, energy, and acceptance of risk. (2) They share many of the characteristics of transformational leaders through the use of inspiration and vision. (3) They are good at gaining the commitment of others. (4) Idea champions tend to have a lot of autonomy and decision-making discretion in their jobs. (5) Idea champions do things differently in different cultures. (6) People in collectivist cultures prefer appeals for cross-functional support for innovation efforts. (7) People in high power distance cultures prefer champions to work closely with those in authority to approve innovative activities before work is begun. (8) The higher the uncertainty avoidance of a society, the more champions should work within the organization’s rules and procedures to develop innovation. (9) These findings suggest that effective managers will alter their organization’s championing strategies to reflect cultural values. VI. WORK STRESS AND ITS MANAGEMENT A. What Is Stress? 1. Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, demand, or resource related to what the individual desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important. 2. This is a complicated definition. Let’s look at its components more closely. a. Although stress is typically discussed in a negative context, it is not necessarily bad in and of itself; it also has a positive value. b. It’s an opportunity when it offers potential gain. c. Consider, for example, the superior performance an athlete or stage performer gives in a “clutch” situation. 1) Such individuals often use stress positively to rise to the occasion and perform at their maximum. 2) Similarly, many professionals see the pressures of heavy workloads and deadlines as positive challenges that enhance the quality of their work and the satisfaction they get from their job. 3. Types of Workplace Stress a. Challenge Stress. 1) Stressors associated with workload, pressure to complete tasks, and time urgency. 2) Although research is just starting to accumulate, early evidence suggests challenge stressors produce less strain than hindrance stressors. b. Hindrance Stress. 1) Stressors that keep you from reaching your goals (for example, red tape, office politics, confusion over job responsibilities). 4. Stress often results from demands and resources. a. Demands. 1) These are the responsibilities, pressures, obligations, and even uncertainties that individuals face in the workplace. 2) The greater the number of demands, typically the greater the stress level. b. Resources. 1) Things in an individual’s control that can be used to resolve the demands. 2) The scarcer the resources, the higher the stress, given the same level of demands. B. Consequences of Stress. 1. Stress shows itself in a number of ways, such as high blood pressure, ulcers, irritability, difficulty making routine decisions, loss of appetite, accident proneness, and the like. 2. These symptoms fit under three general categories: physiological, psychological, and behavioral symptoms. a. Physiological Symptoms. 1) Most early concern with stress was directed at physiological symptoms because most researchers were specialists in the health and medical sciences. 2) Their work led to the conclusion that stress could create changes in metabolism, increase heart and breathing rates and blood pressure, bring on headaches, and induce heart attacks. 3) Recently, evidence suggests stress may have harmful physiological effects. 4) One study linked stressful job demands to increased susceptibility to upper respiratory illnesses and poor immune system functioning, especially for individuals with low self-efficacy. b. Psychological Symptoms. 1) Job dissatisfaction is “the simplest and most obvious psychological effect” of stress. 2) But stress shows itself in other psychological states—for instance, tension, anxiety, irritability, boredom, and procrastination. 3) Jobs that make multiple and conflicting demands or that lack clarity about the incumbent’s duties, authority, and responsibilities increase both stress and dissatisfaction. 4) Similarly, the less control people have over the pace of their work, the greater the stress and dissatisfaction. 5) Jobs that provide a low level of variety, significance, autonomy, feedback, and identity appear to create stress and reduce satisfaction and involvement in the job. 6) Not everyone reacts to autonomy in the same way, however. For those who have an external locus of control, increased job control increases the tendency to experience stress and exhaustion. c. Behavioral Symptoms. 1) Behavior-related stress symptoms include changes in productivity, absence, and turnover, as well as changes in eating habits, increased smoking or consumption of alcohol, rapid speech, fidgeting, and sleep disorders. C. Managing Stress. 1. Because low to moderate levels of stress can be functional and lead to higher performance, management may not be concerned when employees experience them. a. Employees, however, are likely to perceive even low levels of stress as undesirable. b. It’s not unlikely, therefore, for employees and management to have different notions of what constitutes an acceptable level of stress on the job. c. What management may consider to be “a positive stimulus that keeps the adrenaline running” is very likely to be seen as “excessive pressure” by the employee. d. Keep this in mind as we discuss individual and organizational approaches toward managing stress. 2. Individual Approaches. a. An employee can take personal responsibility for reducing stress levels. Individual strategies that have proven effective include time-management techniques, increased physical exercise, relaxation training, and expanded social support networks. 1) Many people manage their time poorly. 2) The well-organized employee, like the well-organized student, can often accomplish twice as much as the person who is poorly organized. 3) So an understanding and utilization of basic time-management principles can help individuals better cope with tensions created by job demands. 4) A few of the best-known time-management principles are a) making daily lists of activities to be accomplished, b) prioritizing activities by importance and urgency, c) scheduling activities according to the priorities set, d) knowing your daily cycle and handling the most demanding parts of your job when you are most alert and productive, and e) avoiding electronic distractions like frequently checking e-mail, which can limit attention and reduce efficiency. b. Physicians have recommended noncompetitive physical exercise, such as aerobics, walking, jogging, swimming, and riding a bicycle, as a way to deal with excessive stress levels. 1) These forms of physical exercise increase heart capacity, lower the at-rest heart rate, provide a mental diversion from work pressures, and even slow the physical and mental effects of aging. c. Individuals can teach themselves to reduce tension through relaxation techniques such as meditation, hypnosis, and biofeedback. 1) The objective is to reach a state of deep physical relaxation, in which you feel somewhat detached from the immediate environment and from body sensations. 2) Deep relaxation for 15 or 20 minutes a day releases tension and provides a pronounced sense of peacefulness, as well as significant changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and other physiological factors. 3) A growing body of research shows that simply taking breaks from work at routine intervals can facilitate psychological recovery and reduce stress significantly and may improve job performance, and these effects are even greater if relaxation techniques are employed. d. As we have noted, friends, family, or work colleagues talk to provide an outlet when stress levels become excessive. 1) Expanding your social support network provides someone to hear your problems and offer a more objective perspective on the situation than your own. 3. Organizational Approaches. a. Several factors that cause stress—particularly task and role demands—are controlled by management and thus can be modified or changed. b. Strategies to consider include improved personnel selection and job placement, training, realistic goal setting, redesign of jobs, increased employee involvement, improved organizational communication, employee sabbaticals, and corporate wellness programs. c. Certain jobs are more stressful than others but, as already noted, individuals differ in their response to stressful situations. 1) We know individuals with little experience or an external locus of control tend to be more prone to stress. 2) Selection and placement decisions should take these facts into consideration. 3) Obviously, management shouldn’t restrict hiring to only experienced individuals with an internal locus, but such individuals may adapt better to high-stress jobs and perform those jobs more effectively. 4) Similarly, training can increase an individual’s self-efficacy and thus lessen job strain. d. We discussed goal setting in Chapter 7. 1) Individuals perform better when they have specific and challenging goals and receive feedback on their progress toward these goals. Goals can reduce stress as well as provide motivation. 2) Employees who are highly committed to their goals and see purpose in their jobs experience less stress because they are more likely to perceive stressors as challenges rather than hindrances. 3) Specific goals perceived as attainable clarify performance expectations. In addition, goal feedback reduces uncertainties about actual job performance. 4) The result is less employee frustration, role ambiguity, and stress. e. Redesigning jobs to give employees more responsibility, more meaningful work, more autonomy, and increased feedback can reduce stress because these factors give employees greater control over work activities and lessen dependence on others. 1) But as we noted in our discussion of work design, not all employees want enriched jobs. 2) The right redesign for employees with a low need for growth might be less responsibility and increased specialization. 3) If individuals prefer structure and routine, reducing skill variety should also reduce uncertainties and stress levels. 4) Role stress is detrimental to a large extent because employees feel uncertain about goals, expectations, how they’ll be evaluated, and the like. 5) By giving these employees a voice in the decisions that directly affect their job performance, management can increase employee control and reduce role stress. 6) So managers should consider increasing employee involvement in decision making. 7) Increasing formal organizational communication with employees reduces uncertainty by lessening role ambiguity and role conflict. f. Given the importance that perceptions play in moderating the stress–response relationship, management can also use effective communications as a means to shape employee perceptions. 1) Remember that what employees categorize as demands, threats, or opportunities is an interpretation and that interpretation can be affected by the symbols and actions communicated by management. g. Our final suggestion is organizationally supported wellness programs. 1) These typically provide workshops to help people quit smoking, control alcohol use, lose weight, eat better, and develop a regular exercise program; they focus on the employee’s total physical and mental condition. 2) Some help employees improve their psychological health as well. 3) A meta-analysis of 36 programs designed to reduce stress (including wellness programs) showed that interventions to help employees reframe stressful situations and use active coping strategies led to an appreciable reduction in stress levels. 4) Most wellness programs assume employees need to take personal responsibility for their physical and mental health and that the organization is merely a means to an end. VII. IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS A. Consider that as a manager, you are a change agent for your organization. 1. The decisions that you make and your role-modeling will help shape the organization’s change culture. B. Your management policies and practices will determine the degree to which the organization learns and adapts to changing environmental factors. C. Some stress is good. 1. Low to moderate amounts of stress enable many people to perform their jobs better by increasing their work intensity, alertness, and ability to react. 2. This is especially true if stress arises due to challenges on the job rather than hindrances that prevent employees from doing their jobs effectively. D. You can help alleviate harmful workplace stress for you and any employees you supervise by accurately matching workloads to employees, providing employees with stress-coping resources, and responding to their concerns. E. You can identify extreme stress when performance declines, turnover increases, health-related absenteeism increases, and engagement declines. 1. However, by the time these symptoms are visible, it may be too late to be helpful, so stay alert for early indicators and be proactive. VIII. KEEP IN MIND A. Organizations and their members tend to resist change. B. It is unlikely that any one approach to managing change works best in every situation. C. Change is often stressful, but not all stress is harmful. IX. SUMMARY A. The need for change has been implied throughout this text. B. Think about attitudes, motivation, work teams, communication, leadership, organizational structures, human resource practices, and organizational cultures. 1. Change was an integral part in our discussion of each. C. If environments were perfectly static, if employees’ skills and abilities were always up to date and incapable of deteriorating, and if tomorrow were always exactly the same as today, organizational change would have little or no relevance to managers. a. But the real world is turbulent, requiring organizations and their members to undergo dynamic change if they are to perform at competitive levels. Discussion Questions 1. Describe forces that act as stimulants to change. Answer: There are six specific forces that act as stimulants for change. (1) Changing Nature of the Work Force. The environment is steadily becoming more multicultural and the work force is aging. Skill sets of employees are in constant need of updating, increasing training costs. (2) Technology. Computers are now fundamental to almost every organization. Data has become digitized, raising issues with accessibility and privacy. (3) Economic Shocks. Monetary crises, fuel prices, stock market fluctuations, and historically low interest rates all create a much more dynamic environment than existed in the recent past. (4) Competition. The global economy also means global competition. Low labor cost countries are performing more and more of the manufacturing processes for the world while high labor cost countries shift to a service-based economy. Speed of development and implementation is increasing. (5) Social Trends. The way people perform typical daily actions has changed dramatically in a short period of time. (6) World Politics. Governments have changed dramatically in recent years. 2. Describe the sources of resistance to change. Answer: People tend to resist change, even in the face of evidence of its benefits. There are two main sources of resistance to change: individual and organizational. Individual Sources: (1) Habit—people tend to respond in accustomed ways; (2) Security—change threatens feelings of safety; (3) Economic Factors—fear that one will not be able to perform new tasks or routines when pay is tied to productivity; (4) Fear of the Unknown—ambiguity and uncertainty is less fearful than is the unknown; (5) Selective Information Processing—people filter what they perceive to keep their perceptions intact. Organizational Sources: (1) Structural Inertia—organizations have built-in mechanisms to produce stability such as regulations; (2) Limited Focus of Change—limited changes and subsystems tend to be nullified by the overall system; (3) Group Inertia—group norms act as a constraint to change; (4) Threat to Expertise—specialized groups feel change threatens their expertise; (5) Threat to Established Power Relationships—change modifies existing power relationships; (6) Threat to Established Resource Allocations—change modifies the ability to control the allocation of resources. 3. Summarize Lewin's three-step change model. Answer: This model treats change as a break in the organization's equilibrium state. The status quo has been disturbed and change is necessary to establish a new equilibrium state. The first step is unfreezing. Pressure is required to overcome the inertia of the current status quo. Pressure can be exerted on the organization in three ways: (1) driving forces—forces that direct behavior away from the status quo—can be increased, (2) restraining forces —forces that hinder movement from the existing equilibrium (or maintain the current status quo)—can be decreased, and/or (3) a combination of the two. The second step is changing (or reforming). Once the organization is fluid, (that is, the forces maintaining status quo have dissipated), managers can reform the organization to meet the new conditions. The final step is refreezing. Instituting a change is insufficient to make it permanent. Forces need to be applied to make the changed state into the new equilibrium state. Organizational systems need to be realigned around the new reality and managers need to ensure employees accept it. Lewin’s model has little applicability in the modern environment where change is the norm rather than the exception. 4. Explain the relationship between Lewin's change model and Kotter’s plan for implementing change. Answer: Lewin's model describes the thawing, movement, and refreezing view of change. Kotter builds on this model and historic analysis of the reasons that managerial change efforts failed. His eight steps dovetail with Lewin's model: Steps one through four coincide with the unfreezing stage, Steps 5 to 7 represent movement, and the final step is refreezing. Where Lewin provided general guidance, Kotter provides more specific guidance for managerial action. 5. Explain the values underlying most organizational development (OD) efforts. Answer: OD holds to the following underlying values: (1) Respect for People. People are believed to be responsible, conscientious, and caring and should be treated with dignity and respect. (2) Trust and Support. Effective organizations are characterized by trust, authenticity, openness, and a supportive climate. (3) Power Equalization. Effective organizations deemphasize hierarchical authority and control. (4) Confrontation. Problem should be openly confronted. (5) Participation. Involving people in decision making regarding a change increases their commitment to implementing the change. 6. Describe potential sources of, and ways of managing, work stress. Answer: Stress may result from demands and resources. Demands are the responsibilities, pressures, obligations, and even uncertainties individuals face in the workplace. The greater the number of demands, typically the greater the stress level. Resources are the things in an individual’s control that can be used to resolve the demands. The scarcer the resources, the higher the stress, given the same level of demands. Managing Stress. Realistically, stress can never be totally eliminated from a person's life. Stress reduction techniques from organizational sources include: (1) Employee Selection. By selecting employees with abilities that match their positions the job stress is reduced. (2) Organizational Communications. Ambiguity-induced stress can be kept to a minimum by improving communications. (3) Goal-Setting Programs. Reduces stress by clarifying job responsibilities and providing clear performance objectives. (4) Job Redesign. If stress can be traced directly to boredom or work overload, job redesign can reduce stress. (5) Wellness Programs. Workshops sponsored by the organization can help employees improve their physical and mental health. However, an employee’s home life can also be creating stress. Stress reduction techniques from individual sources include: (1) Relaxation training and expanded social support networks. (2) Time Management Programs. These may prove helpful for both work-related and home-related stress. (3) Physical Activity Programs. Exercise has been shown to reduce stress-inducing chemicals in the body. Exercises 1. Self-analysis. How open to change are you? Select three activities you do frequently on a daily basis: brushing your teeth, combing your hair, making a sandwich, or pouring a glass of milk. For 24 hours, consciously try to do these activities using the hand opposite from the one you typically use. How did you feel during this 24-hour period? Were you more anxious? Did you find yourself slipping into the habitual use of your dominant hand? How strong were your habits? Write a one-page paper summarizing your feelings and experiences during this 24-hour period. 2. Web Crawling. Using your favorite search engine, search the term “making change happen” and review the listed websites. Your task is to find five techniques for implementing change in organizations that were not mentioned in your textbook. List these out with references and be prepared to discuss them in class. 3. Teamwork. Divide the class into teams. Ask them to access the website http://tomlaforce.com/stress-wrecks-teamwork/. After reviewing the site, ask students to relate to assignments they have had in other classes where they were required to work in groups. Can the students assess these groups as effective or not (relate to production of the desired outcome)? Can patterns be identified such as more effective group activity occurred when the group had less stress (maybe due dates, complexity of the assignment, concern for grade or others)? Ask the students to discuss their findings in the class. 4. Analyzing Your Organization (Cumulative Project). Discuss with your manager the times in which he or she has met resistance to a proposed organizational change. What types of resistance were encountered? How did the manager overcome the resistance? What types of change seem to be "hot buttons" with this organization? Have employees resisted when upper management implemented the change? Related to this, discuss the methods by which your organization tries to improve. Do they have specific quality programs in place? How about OD initiatives? Find out how they work, and how the organization responds to these initiatives. Report your findings to class. 5. Analyzing Your Organization (Summation). Review the answers you submitted for your Analyzing Your Organization questions throughout this course. Write a three-page summary of what you've learned through this course. How have your views and beliefs regarding your organization changed since the beginning of the course? Suggested Assignment Divide the class into relatively large teams of six to eight people each. Students will learn that necessary change may be undesired and resisted. Yet the resistance must be overcome if the organization is to change, grow, and succeed. You can use this as a double exercise. Either have the students simply strategize means to overcome resistance, or (and this is a more complex option) have students think through the whole change process and create alternative courses of action—other change efforts that might help the college/university solve its problem in another way. Introduce the following scenario (or one of your own that is more relevant to your situation) to the class: Due to massive cutbacks in both federal and state support and dramatically decreasing alumni gifts, your college or university must make some significant changes that will influence revenue and cash flow. The school had anticipated a budget increase this year in order to hire more faculty, reduce class sizes, and improve academic programs. Instead funding was cut. The university administration is mandating the following initiatives: 1. All freshmen and sophomores must live on campus in dorms (to increase occupancy). 2. There will be Saturday classes (to increase utilization of classroom space). 3. All faculty members will have their teaching loads increased by one class per semester (to reduce the need for additional faculty). 4. All classes must have a minimum of fifteen enrollments or they will be canceled. All introductory courses will be taught as large lecture sections (to reduce the need for faculty and increase the “profit margin” per class). 5. Students must pay a $250 per semester parking fee to have a car on campus and a $100 per semester security fee (to pay for parking facilities and campus police). 6. All majors with less than 100 students will either be consolidated or eliminated (to focus resources on larger majors). Have the teams brainstorm what type of resistance is likely to arise from these changes and from whom. Have the teams share their findings with the whole class and consolidate the specific examples of resistance into five or six categories. Reform the teams and have them discuss what strategies might be effective in overcoming each category of resistance. In addition, discuss what other ways the college or university might address the problem. When complete, have each team report their suggestions to the class for critique. Instructor Notes: Students will often begin by arguing about the specific changes. Students will want to argue that the changes shouldn’t be made or make judgmental statements (“these are stupid”). Help them focus on the fact that as managers they may have to support and implement changes with which they personally do not agree. Next, students often start talking about the kind of resistance and focus on specific acts—protests, demonstrations, angry letters, and so on. Help them think about the constituencies: those who have a stake in the changes besides just students and faculty members. If you chose the more complex option, then your students should begin by going back to the basic problem and assumptions. The basic problem is insufficient money (capital) and the assumption is that the university can solve the problem by spending less (reducing costs). Students should be encouraged to think about the particular needs represented by the various stakeholders. What does the administration need? What does the faculty need? What do students need? What do the alumni need? Instructor Manual for Essentials of Organizational Behavior Stephen P. Robbins, Timothy A. Judge 9789332587984, 9780133920819, 9780133973013, 9781292090078, 9781292090184, 9780134523859, 9780132968508
Download
Close
Close
