Chapter 2 Learning Objectives

• Give examples of how national culture and

National and Organizational values influence workplace behavior.
Culture • Describe the key components and layers of
organizational culture.
• Explain the various methods that managers
use to influence culture change.
• Identify ways in which socialization sustains organizational
culture.
• Compare the characteristics of effective socialization.

1 2

• A nation’s culture affects how organizational transactions • The culture within an organization also
are conducted
exerts influence over employee behavior.
• Knowledge of and flexibility regarding how to work
productively with individuals from different national – Attempting to adjust to these different environments
backgrounds have become important factors for managers involves learning new values, processing information
to consider in their plans. in new ways, and working within an established set
of norms, customs, and rituals.
• Learning to operate in a world influenced by national
cultural differences is becoming a mandatory requirement
for effective management.

3 4

1
 National Culture National Culture and Values
Influence Workplace Behavior
• A national culture is the sum total of the beliefs,
• Values are the conscious, affective desires
rituals, rules, customs, artifacts, and institutions
that characterize the population of the nation. or wants of people that guide behavior
– An individual’s personal values guide behavior
on and off the job

5 6

• Values are a society’s

ideas about what is Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
right or wrong
• Values are passed Power Distance

from one generation to

Uncertainty Avoidance
the next and are Hofstede’s
communicated Cultural Individualism
through education Dimensions
systems, religion, Masculinity
families, communities,
Long-term orientation
and organizations.
7 8

2
 Power distance Uncertainty avoidance
• Power distance is the level of acceptance by a society of • The concept of uncertainty avoidance refers to the extent
the unequal distribution of power in organizations. to which people in a society feel threatened by ambiguous
– In countries in which people display high power distance (e.g., situations.
Mexico), employees acknowledge the boss’s authority and – Countries with a high level of uncertainty avoidance (e.g.,
typically follow the chain of command. France) tend to have specific rules, laws, and procedures.
– In countries where people display low power distance (e.g., • Managers in these countries tend to have a propensity for low-risk decision
Norway), superiors and subordinates are likely to regard one making, and employees exhibit little aggressiveness.
another as equal in power, resulting in a more decentralized and – In countries with lower levels of uncertainty avoidance (e.g.,
less rigid management structure and style. Hong Kong), organizational activities are less formal, more risk
taking occurs, and there is high job mobility.

9 10

Individualism Masculinity
• Individualism refers to the tendency of people to • Masculinity refers to the presence of traditionally
fend for themselves and their family. “feminine” values— assertiveness and materialism.
– In countries that value individualism (e.g., the United States), • In comparison, femininity emphasizes “feminine”
individual initiative and achievement are highly valued and the values—a concern for relationships and the quality of life.
relationship of the individual with organizations is one of – In highly masculine societies (e.g., Switzerland), one finds considerable
independence. job stress and conflict between the job and family roles.
– Countries emphasize collectivism (Arab countries). Japan is a – In countries with low masculinity (e.g., Denmark), one finds less conflict
collectivist country in which the will of the group rather than the and stress..
individual predominates.

11 12

3
 The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE)
project, conceived by Robert House of the University of Pennsylvania, is a large
international research project involving 150 researchers who have collected data from
more than 17,000 managers from 62 cultures. One of the goals of this large-scale study is
to identify and understand managers’ perceptions of cultural practices and values in their
respective countries. In other words, the research aims at understanding which cultural
• Long-term orientation, the dimension identified, is variables influence leaders and organizational cultures in different countries.

defined as the degree to which members of a given culture

value persistence, thrift (savings), and order in
relationships.
• The opposite pole of this dimension, short-term
orientation, is when a culture values respect for tradition,
the exchange of favors and gifts, protecting one’s “face”
(i.e., avoiding shame), and steadiness and stability.

13 14

Organizational Culture Matters

• Some of the Definitions of Culture: • A pattern of basic assumptions—invented, discovered, or

– Symbols, language, ideologies, rituals, and developed by a given group as it learns to cope with the
problems of external adaptation and internal integration—
myths.
that has worked well enough to be considered valid and,
– Organizational scripts derived from the therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way
personal scripts of the organization’s founder(s) to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.
or dominant leader(s). Edgar Schein
– Is a product; is historical; is based upon
symbols; and is an abstraction from behavior
and the products of behavior.
15 16

4
 Schein’s Three-Layer Organizational
Model Artifacts and Creations, Values, and Basic Assumptions

Examples of Cultural I Visible but often not

Artifacts and decipherable I - Artifacts and Creations II - Values III - Basic Assumptions
Attributes
Creations - Relationship to
- Documents - Technology - Testable in the
physical environment environment
- Physical layouts Greater level of - Art - Testable on by social - Nature of reality, time,
- Furnishings II awareness consensus
- Visible and audible and space
- Language Values behavior patterns - Nature of human
- Jargon (Values are conscious,
affective desires or nature
Taken for granted
- Work ethic and practice invisible preconscious (An annual report, a wants. ) - Nature of human
newsletter, wall
- Loyalty III dividers between activity
workers..)
- Commitment Basic - Nature of human
- Helping others relations
Assumptions

17 18

• Layer one includes artifacts and creations that are visible • Shared things: wearing the Disney uniform to fit
but often not interpretable. the attraction
• An annual report, a newsletter, wall dividers between workers, and
furnishings are examples of artifacts and creations. • Shared sayings: a “Mickey” is a compliment for
• At layer two are values or the things that are important to doing a good job
people. • Shared behavior: smiling at customers and being
• Values are conscious, affective desires or wants.
polite
• In layer three are the basic assumptions people make that
guide their behavior.. • Shared feelings: taking pride in working at
Disney.

19 20

5
 Organizational Culture and its
Effects Strong culture vs. Weak culture
• A strong culture is characterized by employees sharing
Since organizational culture involves shared core values and agreeing to the way things should be done
expectations, values, and attitudes, it exerts within the organization.
influence on individuals, groups, and • Weak cultures are those in which members of the
organizational processes. organization do not share a core set of values, and as such,
they are less likely to perform tasks in a manner that is
consistent across the organization.

21 22

Customer-Service Culture
Creating Organizational Culture Founded in 1901 by John W. Nordstrom, a Swedish immigrant who settled in
Seattle, Nordstrom’s 111-year-old store culture rests on the principle that the
customer should be offered the best possible service, selection, quality, and value.
• Can a culture be created that influences The company relies on experienced, acculturated “Nordies” to direct new
employees on how to provide superb customer service.
behavior in the direction management Nordstrom’s unique approach to customer service is legendary in the retail
industry:
desires? • A customer asked to see a particular pair of shoes, and was pleasantly
– Customer service, ethical, and diversity cultures surprised when the salesperson brought out the shoes—plus five more pairs of
similar shoes. When asked why he brought out five additional pairs, the
salesperson explained that he wanted to provide the customer with more
options.
• A Nordstrom customer inadvertently left her airline ticket on a counter. The
sales associate tried to get the lost ticket problem solved by calling the airline.
No luck. She then hailed a cab, headed for the airport, and made a personal
delivery to the customer.

23 24

6
 Ethical Culture Diversity Culture
• Companies have established credos or missions based on • PepsiCo. Indra Nooyi, chief executive officer since 2006, leads this
values and ethical principles that serve to project to global food and beverage company with over 285,000 employees in
200 countries and 2012 sales of $60 billion. Given that the firm
others what they believe and to guide behavior. markets products to a widely diverse set of customers, PepsiCo
• Research suggests that when ethics codes such as these are believes its commitment to diversity makes it more competitive
developed and enforced within an organization, they have and successful:
a positive impact on job satisfaction, esprit de corps, and • The company supports over 1,000 community organizations that
organizational commitment. promote diversity initiatives, develops long-term relationships
with minority and female suppliers, and creates an internal
• The Tylenol incident and Johnson & Johnson’s proactive, environment of inclusion for its minority and female employees.
ethical response often serve as a guide for other leaders
and organizations that confront crises or difficult business
decisions that have ethical implications.
25 26

Supportive organizational climate

(SOC)
• “The culture that eventually evolves in a particular • SOC can be defined as the amount of perceived support
organization is … a complex outcome of external employees receive from their co-workers, supervisor,
and other departments that helps them successfully
pressures, internal potentials, responses to critical
perform their job duties.
events, and, probably, to some unknown degree,
• Although research has not consistently found a direct link
chance factors that could not be predicted from a between SOC and individual performance, other research
knowledge of either the environment or the has reported that organizations with an SOC are more
members” likely to have employees that are satisfied with their
(Schein) jobs and committed to the organization.

27 28

7
 Influencing Culture Change
• Cultures are so elusive and hidden that they cannot be adequately
diagnosed, managed, or changed.
• Many leaders believe they can have a major impact on an already-
established organizational culture, but such cultural change requires a
major commitment of resources and an influential and powerful leader.
• Because it takes difficult techniques, rare skills, and considerable time to
understand a culture and then additional time to change it, deliberate
attempts at culture change are not really practical.
• Cultures sustain people throughout periods of difficulty and serve to
ward off anxiety. One of the ways they do this is by providing continuity
and stability. Thus, people will naturally resist change to a new culture.

Intervention Points to Influence Culture Change

29 30

Socialization Sustains the Culture

• Socialization is the process by which • Referred to as person–organization (PO) fit , employees

who fit well with an organizational culture were more
organizations bring new employees into likely to be satisfied with their jobs, co-workers, and
their culture. supervisors; be more committed to the organization;
and be less likely to quit.

• Socialization attempts to make this “fit” more comfortable

by reducing incoming employees’ uncertainty about
their new jobs and roles for the benefit of both
employees and the firm.

31 32

8
 Model of the Process of
Organizational Socialization
• Two ways of analyzing how socialization
works in organizations are
– The process model
– The career stage model

33 34

The career stage model of The career stage model of

socialization socialization
Newcomers at Nordstrom encounter the culture norms at the (1) Anticipatory socialization
initial employee orientation meeting. They are given a five-
by-eight-inch card that reads: (2) Accommodation
(3) Role management
– Welcome to Nordstrom: We’re glad to have you with our
company. Our number-one goal is to provide outstanding customer
service. Set both your personal and professional goals high. We
have great confidence in your ability to achieve them.

35 36

9
 Anticipatory Socialization Accommodation

• The first stage involves all those activities • The second stage of socialization occurs
the individual undertakes before entering after the individual becomes a member of
the organization or taking a different job in the organization.
the same organization. • During this stage, the individual sees the
• The primary purpose of these activities is to organization and the job for what they
acquire information about the new actually are, while attempting to become an
organization and/or new job. active participant in the organization and a
competent performer.
37 38

Characteristics of Effective
Role Management
Socialization
• The role management stage takes on a broader set
of issues and problems, during the third stage,
conflicts arise.
– One conflict is between the individual’s work and home
lives. Employees unable to resolve work/life conflict
are often forced to leave the organization or to perform
at an ineffective level.
– The second source of conflict during the role
management stage is between the individual’s work
group and other work groups in the organization

39 40

10
 Mentoring
• In work organizations, a mentor can provide
coaching, friendship, sponsorship, and role
modeling to a younger, less-experienced protégé.
• In working with younger or new employees, a
mentor can satisfy his or her need to have an
influence on another employee’s career.
• Some organizations use mentoring as a means of
developing leaders.

41 42

11