Management tenth edition

Stephen P. Robbins Mary Coulter

Chapter Organizational
3 Culture and
Environment
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 3–1
Learning Outcomes
Follow this Learning Outline as you read and
study this chapter.
3.1 The Manager: Omnipotent Or Symbolic?
• Contrast the actions of managers according to the omnipotent
and symbolic views.
• Identify the two constraints on managerial discretion.

3.2 Organizational Culture

• Identify the seven dimensions of organizational culture.
• Discuss the impact of a strong culture on organizations and
managers.
• Explain how a culture is formed and maintained.
• Describe how culture affects managers.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 3–2
Learning Outcomes
3.3 Current Organizational Culture Issues.
• Describe the characteristics of an ethical culture, an innovative
culture, and a customer-responsive culture.
• Explain why workplace spirituality seems to be an important
concern.
• Describe the characteristics of a spiritual organization.
3.4 The Environment.
• List the components of the specific and general environments.
• Explain the two dimensions of environmental uncertainty.
• Identify the most common organizational stakeholders.
• List the four steps in managing external stakeholder
relationships.
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The Manager: Omnipotent or
Symbolic?
• Omnipotent View of Management
 Managers are directly responsible for an
organization’s success or failure.
 The quality of the organization is determined by the
quality of its managers.
 Managers are held accountable
for an organization’s performance,
yet it is difficult to attribute
good or poor performance
directly to their influence
on the organization.
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The Manager: Omnipotent or
Symbolic?
• Symbolic View of Management
 Much of an organization’s success or failure is due to
external forces outside of managers’ control.
 The ability of managers to affect outcomes is
influenced and constrained by external factors.
 The economy, customers, governmental policies,
competitors, industry conditions,
technology, and the actions of
previous managers
 Managers symbolize control and
influence through their action.
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Exhibit 3–1 Parameters of Managerial Discretion

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The Organization’s Culture
• Organizational Culture
 A system of shared meanings and common beliefs
held by organizational members that determines, in a
large degree, how they act towards each other.
 “The way we do things around here.”
 e.g compare starbucks coffee to other coffee places in
Amman, what do you notice?
 Values, symbols, rituals, myths, and practices
 Implications:
 Culture is a perception.
 Culture is shared.
 Culture is descriptive.
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Exhibit 3–2 Dimensions of Organizational Culture

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5 Minute video and class discussion: what is organizational
culture?

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Strong Versus Weak Cultures
• Strong Cultures
 Are cultures in which key values are deeply and
widely held.
 Have a strong influence on organizational members.
• Factors Influencing the Strength of Culture
 Size of the organization
 Age of the organization
 Rate of employee turnover
 Strength of the original culture
 Clarity of cultural values and beliefs

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Values held at GOOGLE
• Focus on the user and all else will follow.
• It’s best to do one thing really, really well.
• Fast is better than slow.
• Democracy on the web works.
• You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.
• You can make money without doing evil.
• There’s always more information out there.
• The need for information crosses all borders.
• You can be serious without a suit.
• Great just isn’t good enough.

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Exhibit 3–3 Contrasting Organizational Cultures

Dimension Organization A Organization B

Attention to Detail High Low
Outcome Orientation Low High
People Orientation Low High
Team Orientation Low High
Aggressiveness Low High
Stability High Low
Innovation and Risk Taking Low High

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Benefits of a Strong Culture
• Creates a stronger employee commitment to the
organization.
• Aids in the recruitment and socialization of new
employees.
• Fosters higher organizational
performance by instilling and
promoting employee initiative.

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Organizational Culture
• Sources of Organizational Culture
 The organization’s founder
 Vision and mission
 Past practices of the organization
 The way things have been done
 The behavior of top management
• Continuation of the Organizational Culture
 Recruitment of like-minded employees who “fit”
 Socialization of new employees to help them adapt
to the culture

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What is mission & vision?
• What is a Mission Statement? ( the “what” & the “how” )
A mission statement is a short summary of an organization’s core purpose,
focus, and aims. This usually includes a brief description of what the
organization does and its key objectives.

• What is a Vision Statement? (The “Why”)

A vision statement is a short description of an organization’s aspirations and
the wider impact it aims to create. It should be a guiding beacon to
everyone within the organization and something which underpins internal
decision-making and determines the intended direction of the organization. 

• What’s the Difference Between a Mission Statement and a Vision

Statement?
In short: The mission is the “what” and the “how,” and the vision is the “why.”
In other words, your mission is your means to achieve your vision.

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Examples : TESLA

• Mission statement: To create the most compelling car company of the 21st
century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.

• Vision statement: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.

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 IKEA

• Mission statement: Offer a wide range of well-designed, functional

home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as
possible will be able to afford them.
• Vision statement: To create a better everyday life for the many
people.

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 ‫دائرة األحوال المدنية االردنية‬
‫الرؤية و الرسالة‬

‫‪ :‬رؤيـــة الدائرة‬

‫‪ .‬منظومة بيانات مدنية آمنة ومتكاملة‪ ،‬مرجعية وطنية ‪ ،‬خدمات تقنية متميزة‬

‫‪ :‬رســــالة الدائرة‬

‫توثيق جميع البيانات المدنية للمواطنين والمقيمين العرب واألجانب ضمن قاعدة بيانات شاملة والمشاركة‬
‫الفاعلة مع القطاعين العام والخاص لتسيير اعمالهم تطبيقا ً لمفهوم الحكومة اإللكترونية بما يصب بمصلحة‬
‫المواطن واصدار وثائق الدائرة بمواصفات عالمية آمنة ودقيقة بخدمات متطورة من خالل كادر بشري‬
‫‪.‬كفؤ‬

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Exhibit 3–5 How an Organization’s Culture Is
Established and Maintained

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How Employees Learn Culture
• Stories
 Narratives of significant events or actions of people that
convey the spirit of the organization
• Rituals
 Repetitive sequences of activities that express and
reinforce the values of the organization
• Material Symbols
 Physical assets distinguishing the organization
• Language
 Acronyms and jargon of terms, phrases, and word
meanings specific to an organization

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Exhibit 3–4 Strong Versus Weak Organizational
Cultures

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Class asignment 1 due Monday
Nov. the 2nd
For this assigment, please select any local organization,
whether for profit or non-profit or a govermental body in
Jordan. Search for it’s mission and vision or values if
available in different domains where informaiton is shared
with the public such as their website, facebook page,
instagram etc.

Then try to observe through their social media platforms

such as T.V advertisements, facebook posts, twitter,
instagram, if what they post correlate with their mission,
vision and values. Please be prepared to briefly share your
findings with your class mates on Monday.

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Assignment 2 due Nov. the 2nd
Ask any working family member about what stands
out as unique traits in their ways of doing work at
their workplace. Ask them if there are any unique
ways of doing things? What distinguish their
behaviour as a team from others?

Example questions:
•How do they celebrate success together?
•How do they make collective decisions?
•How does teamwork look like to them?

Feel free to ask any other question you feel is

relevant to the context o this assignment. Please be
prepared to share with your peers next class.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 3–23
How Culture Affects Managers
• Cultural Constraints on Managers
 Whatever managerial actions the organization
recognizes as proper or improper on its behalf
 Whatever organizational activities the organization
values and encourages
 The overall strength or weakness of the
organizational culture

Simple rule for getting ahead in an organization:

Find out what the organization rewards and act accordingly.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 3–24

 Quote

Edgar Schein an organizational consultant writes

that:

“leaders create and manage culture. If you do not

manage culture, it manages you, and you may not
even be aware of the extent to which this is
happening”

What does this mean?

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Exhibit 3–6 Managerial Decisions Affected by Culture
• Planning
• The degree of risk that plans should contain
• Whether plans should be developed by individuals or teams
• The degree of environmental scanning in which management
will engage
• Organizing
• How much autonomy should be designed into employees’ jobs
• Whether tasks should be done by individuals or in teams
• The degree to which department managers interact with each
other

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Exhibit 3–6 Managerial Decisions Affected by Culture

• Leading (cont’d)
• The degree to which managers are concerned with increasing
employee job satisfaction
• What leadership styles are appropriate
• Whether all disagreements—even constructive ones—should
be eliminated
• Controlling
• Whether to impose external controls or to allow employees to
control their own actions
• What criteria should be emphasized in employee performance
evaluations
• What repercussions will occur from exceeding one’s budget

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Organization Culture Issues
• Creating an Ethical • Creating an Innovative
Culture Culture
 High in risk tolerance  Challenge and
 Low to moderate involvement
aggressiveness  Freedom
 Focus on means as  Trust and openness
well as outcomes  Idea time
 Playfulness/humor
 Conflict resolution
 Debates
 Risk-taking

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Exhibit 3–7 Creating a More Ethical Culture

• Be a visible role model.

• Communicate ethical expectations.
• Provide ethics training.
• Visibly reward ethical acts and punish unethical
ones.
• Provide protective mechanisms so employees can
discuss ethical dilemmas and report unethical
behavior without fear.

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Organization Culture Issues
(cont’d)
• Creating a Customer-Responsive Culture
 Hiring the right type of employees (those with a strong
interest in serving customers)
 Having few rigid rules, procedures, and regulations
 Using widespread empowerment of employees
 Having good listening skills in relating to customers’
messages
 Providing role clarity to employees to reduce
ambiguity and conflict and increase job satisfaction
 Having conscientious, caring employees willing to
take initiative
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Exhibit 3–8 Creating a Customer-Responsive Culture

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Spirituality and Organizational
Culture
•Workplace Spirituality
 The recognition that people have an inner life that
nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that
takes place in the context of community.
•Characteristics of a Spiritual Organization
 Strong sense of purpose
 Focus on individual development
 Trust and openness
 Employee empowerment
 Toleration of employees’ expression
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The golden circle theory by Simon Sinek

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Benefits of Spirituality
• Improved employee productivity
• Reduction of employee turnover
• Stronger organizational performance
• Increased creativity
• Increased employee satisfaction
• Increased team performance
• Increased organizational performance

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Defining the External
Environment
• External Environment
 Those factors and forces outside the organization that
affect the organization’s performance.
• Components of the External Environment
 Specific environment: external forces that have a
direct and immediate impact on the organization.
 General environment: broad economic, socio-
cultural, political/legal, demographic, technological,
and global conditions that may affect the organization.

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Exhibit 3–9 The External Environment

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Exhibit 3–10 Important Legislation

• Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

• Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972
• Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972
• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
• Civil Rights Act of 1991
• Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
• Child Safety Protection Act of 1994
• U.S. Economic Espionage Act of 1996
• Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act of 2000
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
• Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003
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Local examples
New government legislation concerend with cybercrimes has
impacted organizations, news agencies and individuals alike.
Arguably this law has led to limited freedom of speech.

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How the Environment Affects
Managers
• Environmental Uncertainty
 The extent to which managers have knowledge of
and are able to predict change their organization’s
external environment is affected by:
 Complexity of the environment: the number of components
in an organization’s external environment.
 Degree of change in environmental components: how
dynamic or stable the external environment is.

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Exhibit 3–11 Environmental Uncertainty Matrix

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Stakeholder Relationships
• Stakeholders
 Any constituencies in the organization’s environment
that are affected by the organization’s decisions and
actions

• Why Manage Stakeholder Relationships?

 It can lead to improved organizational performance.
 It’s the “right” thing to do, given the interdependence
of the organization and its external stakeholders.

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Managing Stakeholder
Relationships
1. Identify the organization’s external
stakeholders.
2. Determine the particular interests and
concerns of the external stakeholders.
3. Decide how critical each external stakeholder
is to the organization.
4. Determine how to manage each individual
external stakeholder relationship.
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Stakeholder analysis map

      
         Stakeholder mapping matrix

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Exhibit 3–12 Organizational Stakeholders

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 Terms to Know
• omnipotent view of • workplace spirituality
management • external environment
• symbolic view of • specific environment
management • general environment
• organizational culture • environmental
• strong cultures uncertainty
• socialization • environmental
complexity
• stakeholders

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