Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior - Essay Example

Organizational Culture Number Introduction Upon entering an organization it is often very easy to detect an organization's culture and who the leaders are. At a hospital, for example, uniforms generally point out a person's job and function within the organization. Doctors wear scrubs, nurses wear white uniforms, and maintenance personnel wear distinctive uniforms as well. These are visual clues to what a person's job is. There are also other ways to determine a person's job or function. One of those ways is to examine an organization's culture. The purpose of this study is to examine "management by culture" as a way of exercising control in an organization. This study will also focus on the issues of power and resistance as they pertain to management by culture. Method Journal articles, online research, and textbook readings are used to help define organizational culture, power and resistance within organizational culture, and exercising control using organizational culture. Examples from the real time functioning organizations will be used to provide insight into how management by culture can be successfully used to meet mission goals. 1. Defining Management by Culture Organizations develop a culture all their own whether or not the organizational leadership wants it. But, organizational leadership can help develop a culture among workers that works to the organization's advantage. Management by culture does just that. Management can incorporate symbols, stories, heroes, slogans, or ceremonies to create an environment that encourages positive operations within the organization. The organization identifies what it considers positive attributes, abilities, or behaviours that need to be rewarded within the organization. The ultimate goal of management by culture is to accomplish the mission of the organization. Management by culture reduces friction between management and staff by directly addressing resistance within the organization. 2. Organizational Culture Organizational culture or corporate culture is defined as "The values, customs, rituals, attitudes, and norms shared by members of an organization, which have to be learnt and accepted by new members of the organization."1 Organizational culture can be further subdivided into integrative culture, differentiated culture, and fragmentation culture. It is important to note that an organization's culture can have positive attributes and negative attributes. Obviously, an organization will want to support the positive culture that develops and discourage any negative culture that develops. Integrative culture includes an agreement on what should be adopted and what should not. Integration provides "unity, predictability, and clarity to work assignments".2 Differentiated culture consists of subcultures that may develop that do not share the common goals and objectives of the organization. This encourages inconsistencies in the organization that are not wanted by management. Fragmentation culture consists of multiple definitions of organizational values and assumptions within the organization. This happens when an organization grows too quickly, has a very diverse work force, or enters the global marketplace. 3. Building a Positive Corporate Culture/ Management by Culture The challenge of any organization is to create, and nurture, a positive corporate culture that includes all that work for, or lead, the organization. Management at this level works to reward desired behaviours among its employees. Positive reinforcement of desired behaviours lowers the incidences of power struggles and resistance. In short, people like to be recognized and rewarded rather than punished or fired. Management by culture requires the organization to put into place set standards and practices. The organization will be better able to recognize high performance with set standards and practices. The task environment and internal environment need to be clearly identified. The cultural environment needs to be clearly identified as well. The cultural environment can be defined as having a set of "key values, beliefs, understandings, and norms that members of the organization share."3 An organization can adopt symbols to recognize positive attributes of its corporate culture. For example, a worker that has gone a year with no absences can be awarded a pin recognizing perfect attendance. Another employee may have passed the five year mark and can be awarded a longevity pin (years pin). These pins would be given in a company ceremony so that the employees are publicly recognized for their positive contributions to the organization. Another positive way to encourage positive corporate culture is the sharing of stories either publicly in a ceremony or posted on an employee bulletin board. At a local hospital letters from patients thanking hospital employees for their good care are posted in the hall next to the employee break room. This is a good way to recognize heroes in the organization as well. An employee that has been recognized outside the organization for doing some good deed could have his story posted as well. In this way the organization recognizes behaviours that are valued by the organization. Slogans are very important in organizations. A slogan such as "hard worked is the key to success!" shows employees a valued attribute within the organization. One of the most important ways to recognize positive attributes of the organization is the ceremony. Ceremonies recognize employees in front of an audience for behaviours valued by the organization such as high marks for quality control, attendance awards, and retirement awards. Ceremonies are designed to recognize the employee but also function to send a message to other employees about what types of behaviours are valued by the organization. 4. Issues of Power and Resistance Despite an organizations best efforts issues of power and resistance do arise. These issues test the organizations ability to deal with problems as they arise. The organization may be challenged to change its values or its vision. The most important factor that will help with conflict resolution is communication. The conflict may involve a small group of employees within an organization or many employees. The organization will need to communicate clearly its vision, current reality, and plan to support the vision. The employees and leadership roles need to be clearly defined. The organization will need to make their case (explain) while using good techniques for communicating well. The organization will need to address issues brought up by employees and deal with fears that employees may have. It can't be stated enough that the key to the success of any organization is communication. Employees have the most problems when management announces changes. It may be that the organization has acquired another business and desires to merge current operations with the operations of the newly acquired business. This may result in resistance from employees who can't handle change very well. Again, communication is key! Roles may need to be redefined and fears need to be addressed. Change in an organization can be a scary thing. Employees might be afraid of being let go or being assigned job tasks that are too difficult. And, Management must have a plan for dealing with resistance to change and power struggles that may occur. "It may look difficult, but it's quite safe holding on to the first bar, and it's fine when you have grasped the second bar. It's when you let go that you are vulnerable." Karl Wallenda, aerialist, of the Flying Wallendas 5. Real World Examples A. Towers Perrin conducted a survey within the European Union (EU) that focused on the management of EU companies in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy, and Belgium. They classify the results of their survey as "upbeat".4 The majority of those surveyed felt that management was effective. There was no consensus on how managers should deal with low performers. The survey showed that employees don't believe their employers when they state that they value performance because of the way they deal with low performers. Performance-based rewards are rising in the EU. According to the 23rd Annual Hewitt Associates Salary Increase Survey EU companies on average allocate 9.6% of payroll to performance rewards.5 Hewitt and Associates reported that EU companies have plans to allocate as much as 16% of payroll to performance rewards. It is clear that both employers and employees value the positive reinforcement of performance rewards. Disturbing are the employers who both provide performance rewards but do not deal with low performers. This sends a mixed message to employees. B. On many occasions corporate or organizational culture draws top employees. In Vancouver, Washington (USA) employees are drawn to "Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza" chain. They are drawn by this organization's focus on employee's quality of life. "Employees don't work around fryers, grease, and broilers and they don't have late hours"6 Managers are offered up to 20% of their base salary as a bonus and managers also are provided with 100% medical coverage (a rarity in the United States). According to Eric Scoggin employees are interested in "culture and environment and how much they enjoy work and who they are working with"7 This organization puts great emphasis on ways to make work fun and interesting. The organization sponsors competitions and gives out prizes. What's most interesting is the employees' value being recognized more than the prize money they receive. Scoggin says that the culture found in his organization is "structured, disciplined and tough, but enjoyable and very fair"8. This organization is one that values high quality results but also focuses on treating its employees with dignity and respect. C. A special report ComputerWorld's 06/18/07 tells about the 100 best places to work in information technology. The number one pick this year is Quicken Loans. It is this organizations corporate culture that has employees sticking around. A visitor to Quicken Loans was struck by the environment in which these employees worked. The visitor "took in the brightly coloured murals on the walls, the open floor plan, the banners for various IT teams with names like "Speed Demons" and "Jedi Council" and, of course, the free flowing popcorn and cappuccino."9 The visitor asked where he could go and apply for a job. That is the normal reaction of visitors to this company. The majority of new hires come from employee referrals. This organization does little advertising for open positions because of the success of its employee referral network. What keeps them here after they are hired is the access to cutting edge technology, the company's emphasis on daily opportunities for good ideas, and a corporate culture that values creativity. Employees are regularly rewarded with money, parties, and NBA tickets. For these employees this is the only place they ever want to work. This organizational culture not only focuses (and values) individuals but also teams. Rick Scero remembers when his team was rewarded. He was approached by a Quicken Loan's executive and handed a small package: "He didn't come over and say' here's tickets for you' he said 'here's a whole book of tickets for your team and families'.10 Scero has been contacted many times by people asking for recommendations for jobs with Quicken Loans. Many of the other top picks featured in ComputerWorld's Special Issue had positive corporate cultures that place high value on employees who perform well. Many of these top picks rewarded their employees in one way or another. Individual and group recognition ranked higher than monetary rewards for many of these employees. Work environment was a major factor in employee's decision to remain with an organization. What's notably missing from this special issue is how employees who under perform are dealt with. Discussion and Conclusion When visiting an organization it is sometimes evident that a strong corporate culture exists. Successful organizations have strong internal organizational cultures. When studying management, students are taught the value of creating and maintaining a strong corporate culture. Some of the most successful organizations, such as Quicken Loans and Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza have organizational cultures that promote and reward positive attributes exhibited by employees within the organization. These organizations don't put up with substandard work but reward hard work. The key to the success of any organization is communication. Part of organizational culture involves communicating to the employees the vision of the organization, standards to be met, and how employees can best help the organization meet its goals. Work assignments should reflect unity, predictability, and clarity. Any deficit in communications needs to be immediately corrected by management or employees. Management by culture involves creating an environment that focuses on employee contributions and the mission at hand. A clear understanding of the mission is essential to the foundation of accomplishing the mission. Works referenced in this paper show that rewarding employee's for performance works well for continued motivation to work. Sometimes, despite all efforts, employees become disgruntled and resist change to corporate culture or change to individual job specifications. Communication is key in this situation. Employees should walk away from any meeting with a clear picture of what the mission of the organization is and how they can positively contribute to mission accomplishment. Employees who under perform should not be ignored by management because that undercuts any gains made by employees who perform well. The Hewitt Association Survey pointed out that employees are bothered by lack of action against employees who under perform. Human Resources departments should have set standards for counseling underperformers with a clear goal to transform the under performer into a high performer worthy of recognition. Problems within an organization should be dealt with as they arise. New employees should be integrated into the corporate culture during training and rewarded when performance is exemplary. When change has to take place in an organization communication is essential. Those resistant to change should be counselled as to how they can continue to contribute positively to help the organization meet its mission goals. References ComputerWorld. (2007). "Special Report: 100 Best Places to Work in IT 2007". June 18, 2007 Issue, Pages 34-36. Daft, Richard L. and Dorothy Marcic. (1998). "Understanding Management". Orlando, Florida, USA. The Dryden Press. Mudd, Tom. "Europeans generally happy in the workplace." Industry Week/IW 248, no. 18 (October 04, 1999) Nation's Restaurant News. (2006). "Scoggin: Culture Draws Top Employees". May 8, 2006 Issue, page 16. "organizational culture"A Dictionary of Business and Management. Ed. Jonathan Law. Oxford University Press, 2006. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.OPLIN WebFeat.December 21, 2007 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.htmlsubview=Main&entry=t18.e4582 Bibliography ComputerWorld. (2007). "Special Report: 100 Best Places to Work in IT 2007". June 18, 2007 Issue, Pages 34-36. Daft, Richard L. and Dorothy Marcic. (1998). "Understanding Management". Orlando, Florida, USA. The Dryden Press. George, Jennifer M. and Gareth R. Jones. (2002). "Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior". New Jersey. Prentice Hall Publishers. Harvard Style. (2007). "Harvard Style Bibliographies and References". Leeds University Library. Retrieved December 21, 2007 from www.leeds.ac.uk/library/training/referencing/harvard.htm Mudd, Tom. "Europeans generally happy in the workplace." Industry Week/IW 248, no. 18 (October 04, 1999) Nation's Restaurant News. (2006). "Scoggin: Culture Draws Top Employees". May 8, 2006 Issue, page 16. Northcraft, Gregory B. and Margaret A. Neale. (1994). "Organizational Behavior: A Management Challenge". Second Edition. Orlando Fl. The Dryden Press. "organizational culture"A Dictionary of Business and Management. Ed. Jonathan Law. Oxford University Press, 2006. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.OPLIN WebFeat.December 21, 2007 Read More