Showing papers on "Organizational culture published in 1993"

Building a learning organization.

Abstract: Continuous improvement programs are proliferating as corporations seek to better themselves and gain an edge. Unfortunately, however, failed programs far outnumber successes, and improvement rates remain low. That's because most companies have failed to grasp a basic truth. Before people and companies can improve, they first must learn. And to do this, they need to look beyond rhetoric and high philosophy and focus on the fundamentals. Three critical issues must be addressed before a company can truly become a learning organization, writes HBS Professor David Garvin. First is the question of meaning: a well-grounded, easy-to-apply definition of a learning organization. Second comes management: clearer operational guidelines for practice. Finally, better tools for measurement can assess an organization's rate and level of learning. Using these "three Ms" as a framework, Garvin defines learning organizations as skilled at five main activities: systematic problem solving, experimentation with new approaches, learning from past experience, learning from the best practices of others, and transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently throughout the organization. And since you can't manage something if you can't measure it, a complete learning audit is a must. That includes measuring cognitive and behavioral changes as well as tangible improvements in results. No learning organization is built overnight. Success comes from carefully cultivated attitudes, commitments, and management processes that accrue slowly and steadily. The first step is to foster an environment conducive to learning. Analog Devices, Chaparral Steel, Xerox, GE, and other companies provide enlightened examples.

Corporate culture, customer orientation, and innovativeness in Japanese firms : a quadrad analysis

Abstract: “Quadrads” (double dyads) of interviews, each conducted with a pair of marketing executives at a Japanese vendor firm and a pair of purchasing executives at a Japanese customer firm, provided data

Cultural constraints in management theories

Abstract: Executive Overview Management as the word is presently used is an American invention. In other parts of the world not only the practices but the entire concept of management may differ, and the theories needed to understand it, may deviate considerably from what is considered normal and desirable in the USA. The reader is invited on a trip around the world, and both local management practices and theories are explained from the different contexts and histories of the places visited: Germany, Japan, France, Holland, the countries of the overseas Chinese, South-East Asia, Africa, Russia, and finally mainland China. A model in which worldwide differences in national cultures are categorized according to five independent dimensions helps in explaining the differences in management found; although the situation in each country or region has unique characteristics that no model can account for. One practical application of the model is in demonstrating the relative position of the U.S. versus other parts of the...

Predators and prey: a new ecology of competition.

Abstract: Much has been written about networks, strategic alliances, and virtual organizations. Yet these currently popular frameworks provide little systematic assistance when it comes to out-innovating the competition. That's because most managers still view the problem in the old way: companies go head-to-head in an industry, battling for market share. James Moore sets up a new metaphor for competition drawn from the study of biology and social systems. He suggests that a company be viewed not as a member of a single industry but as a part of a business ecosystem that crosses a variety of industries. In a business ecosystem, companies "co-evolve" around a new innovation, working cooperatively and competitively to support new products and satisfy customer needs. Apple Computer, for example, leads an ecosystem that covers personal computers, consumer electronics, information, and communications. In any larger business environment, several ecosystems may vie for survival and dominance, such as the IBM and Apple ecosystems in personal computers or Wal-Mart and K mart in discount retailing. In fact, it's largely competition among business ecosystems, not individual companies, that's fueling today's industrial transformation. Managers can't afford to ignore the birth of new ecosystems or the competition among those that already exist. Whether that means investing in the right new technology, signing on suppliers to expand a growing business, developing crucial elements of value to maintain leadership, or incorporating new innovations to fend off obsolescence, executives must understand the evolutionary stages all business ecosystems go through and, more important, how to direct those changes.

The Dynamics of Organizational Culture

Abstract: Schein's (1985) model of organizational culture as assumptions, values, and artifacts leaves gaps regarding the appreciation of organizational culture as symbols and processes. This article examinee these gaps and suggests a new model that combines Schein's theory with ideas drawn from symbolic-interpretive perspectives. The new model, called cultural dynamics, articulates the processes of manifestation, realization, symbolization, and interpretation and provides a framework within which to discuss the dynamism of organizational cultures. Implications of the cultural dynamics model for collecting and analyzing culture data and for future theoretical development are presented.

Transformational Leadership and Organizational Culture

Abstract: The organization's culture develops in large part from its leadership while the culture of an organization can also affect the development of its leadership. For example, transactional leaders work within their organizational cultures following existing rules, procedures, and norms; transformational leaders change their culture by first understanding it and then realigning the organization's culture with a new vision and a revision of its shared assumptions, values, and norms (Bass, 1985). Effective organizations require both tactical and strategic thinking as well as culture building by its leaders. Strategic thinking helps to create and build the vision of an agency's future. The vision can emerge and move forward as the leader constructs a culture that is dedicated to supporting that vision. The culture is the setting within which the vision takes hold. In turn, the vision may also determine the characteristics of the organization's culture. Transformational leaders have been characterized by four separate components or characteristics denoted as the 4 Is of transformational leadership (Avolio, Waldman, and Yammarino (1991). These four factors include idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Transformational leaders integrate creative insight, persistence and energy, intuition and sensitivity to the needs of others to "forge the strategy-culture alloy" for their organizations. In contrast, transactional leaders are characterized by contingent reward and management-by-exception styles of leadership. Essentially, transactional leaders develop exchanges or agreements with their followers, pointing out what the followers will receive if they do something right as well as wrong. They work within the existing culture, framing their decisions and action based on the operative norms and procedures characterizing their respective organizations. In a highly innovative and satisfying organizational culture we are likely to see transformational leaders who build on assumptions such as: people are trustworthy and purposeful; everyone has a unique contribution to make; and complex problems are handled at the lowest level possible. Leaders who build such cultures and articulate them to followers typically exhibit a sense of vision and purpose. They align others around the vision and empower others to take greater responsibility for achieving the vision. Such leaders facilitate and teach followers. They foster a culture of creative change and growth rather than one which maintains the status quo. They take personal responsibility for the development of their followers. Their followers operate under the assumption that all organizational members should be developed to their full potential. There is a constant interplay between culture and leadership. Leaders create mechanisms for cultural development and the reinforcement of norms and behaviors expressed within the boundaries of the culture. Cultural norms arise and change because of what leaders focus their attention on, how they react to crises, the behaviors they role model, and whom they attract to their organizations. The characteristics and qualities of an organization's culture are taught by its leadership and eventually adopted by its followers. At one extreme a leader accepts no deviation from standard operating procedures, managing-by exception in a highly transactional fashion while at the other extreme another leader rewards followers when they apply rules in creative ways or if they break them when the overall mission of the organization is best served. How leaders react to problems, resolve crises, reward and punish followers are all relevant to an organization's culture as well as how the leader is viewed both internally by followers and externally by clients/customers. To reiterate, the culture affects leadership as much as leadership affects culture. For instance, a strong organizational culture, with values and internal guides for more autonomy at lower levels, can prevent top administration from increasing its personal power at the expense of middle-level administration. …

Management and Organizational Behavior

Abstract: What Managers and Organizations Do. 1: Managing People and Organizations. 2: Strategic Thinking, Planning and Controlling. 3: Organizing Work and People. 4: Creating and Modifying Organizational Culture. Managing People. 5: Understanding Perception, Learning, and Personality. 6: Motivation Principles. 7: Methods of Motivating People in Organizations. Managing Relationships. 8: Communicating for Understanding and Results. 9: Creating Productive Interpersonal Relationships. 10: Building Groups Into Teams. 11: Conflict Management and Negotiation. Leadership Practices. 12: Ethical Problem Solving and Decision Making. 13: Power and Politics. 14: Leadership. Managing Change. 15: Managing Change and Organizational Development. 16: Self Management at Work: Stress, Health, Career. Appendix A: Origins and Methods of Management and OB Theories.

Learning, Trust, and Technological Collaboration

Abstract: Companies increasingly collaborate in their technological activities. Collaboration enables firms to learn about uncertain and turbulent technological change, and enhances their ability to deal with novelty. A number of studies reveal the importance for successful collaboration of high levels of inter-personal trust between scientists, engineers, and managers in the different partners. However, these individual relationships are vulnerable to labor turnover and inter-personal difficulties. Using two examples of highly successful technological collaborations, it is argued that the survival of such relationships in the face of these inevitable inter-personal problems requires the establishment of interorganizational trust. Such trust is characterized by community of interest, organizational cultures receptive to external inputs, and widespread and continually supplemented knowledge among employees of the status and purpose of the collaboration.

Organizational Culture and Performance: Proposing and Testing a Model

Abstract: The purpose of this article is twofold: first, to propose and test a model concerning how an organization's culture affects organizational performance; and second, to demonstrate the application of LISREL modeling methodology to estimate and test this model. Organizational culture is hypothesized to consist of three interrelated dimensions: a sociocultural system of the perceived functioning of the organization's strategies and practices, an organizational value system, and the collective beliefs of the individuals working within the organization. Organizational culture is operationalized by several latent variables: organizational structure and purpose, organizational values, task organization, climate, and individual values and beliefs. These variables, in turn, are hypothesized to affect organizational performance. Analysis of data from 392 respondents who participated in the study confirms the fit of the proposed model to the data. The model presented in the study represents an initial attempt to desc...

Product and Promotion Adaptation in Export Ventures: An Empirical Investigation

Abstract: While the desirability of marketing adaptation vs. standardization has long been debated within both academic and business circles, empirical studies investigating the conditions under which each strategy becomes appropriate have been rare. This article provides a formal investigation of the correlates of product and promotion adaptation in export ventures. A conceptual framework of product and promotion adaptation in export ventures is proposed to integrate the diverse perspectives on the issue of standardization versus adaptation. The conceptual framework is further specified in a testable form and tested via data collected by a series of in-depth personal interviews with export marketing managers. The results support the contingency perspective recently emerging in the standardization literature, and suggest that the degree of the various aspects of product adaptation (i.e., upon and after entry) and promotion adaptation (i.e., positioning, packaging/labeling, and promotional approach) are significantly influenced by company, product/industry, and export market characteristics. However, the profile of the correlates varies across the various aspects of product and promotion adaptation.

Configurations of Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency

Abstract: This study examined the relationship between various characteristics of organizations—including resource inputs, context, rules and regulations, goals, climate, and informal systems—and the effecti...

Cultural perspectives on organizations

Abstract: This text offers an overview of the issues which a theory of organizational culture must address. It provides a critical account of contemporary theoretical approaches in the field and examines the problem of cultural or culturally constructed ambiguity in management structures and procedures.

Competitive advantage from tacit knowledge? unpacking the concept and its strategic implications.

Abstract: Competitive advantage grows from firm-specific knowledge. So theories relating strategy to knowledge require a typology, much as Polanyi distinguished tacit from objective knowledge. Ethnographic r...

What is the difference between organizational culture and organizational climate? a native's point of view on a decade of paradigm wars.

Abstract: The recent use of quantitative survey methods and "dimensions" in culture studies contradicts some of the epistemological foundations of culture research and calls into question a similarity to ear...

Measuring Normative Beliefs and Shared Behavioral Expectations in Organizations: The Reliability and Validity of the Organizational Culture Inventory:

Abstract: The Organizational Culture Inventory measures 12 sets of normative beliefs or shared behavioral expectations associated with three general types of cultures, Constructive, Passive-Defensive, and Ag...

Introducing physician order entry at a major academic medical center: I. Impact on organizational culture and behavior.

Abstract: In 1988 the University of Virginia Medical Center began implementation of a medical information system based on mandatory physician order entry. The implementation process was much more difficult than expected. The program experienced considerable delays, and cost much more than was originally estimated. Although there were some legitimate questions concerning the user-friendliness of the new technology, these were less significant than the cultural and behavioral problems encountered. The new system challenged basic institutional assumptions; it disturbed traditional patterns of conduct and forced people to modify established practice routines. Real progress toward the integration of the system into the center's operational culture occurred only after a senior management team representing important sectors of the hospital staff and administration began meeting regularly to address the institution-wide issues that had been raised. The author describes the problems that occurred and the organizational behaviors on which they were based, analyzes the lessons learned, documents the progress that has been achieved, and outlines the challenges that remain. The center's experience provides insight into the issue of technology-driven organizational transformation in academic medical centers. Recommendations for successful introduction of similar agents of institutional change are presented.

Leadership instability in hospitals: the influence of Board-CEO relations and organizational growth and decline.

Abstract: This study tested whether leadership instability--a systemic pattern of frequent succession in the top management position of an organization--was associated with sociopolitical structures that define the relationship between the board and chief executive officer (CEO), controlling for temporal patterns of the organizational life-cycle stage. In organizations that are not profit maximizing and subject to considerable uncertainty, such governance properties were hypothesized to affect leadership instability independent of organizational growth or decline. Results of regression analyses demonstrate strong main effects of board-CEO relations, net of the impact of organizational life cycle, on leadership instability.

Approaches to organisational culture and ethics

Abstract: This paper assesses the potential of organisational culture as a means for improving ethics in organisations. Organisational culture is recognised as one determinant of how people behave, more or less ethically, in organisations. It is also incresingly understood as an attribute that management can and should influence to improve organisational performance. When things go wrong in organisations, managers look to the culture as both the source of problems and the basis for solutions. Two models of organisational culture and ethical behaviour are evaluated. They rest on different understandings of organisational culture and the processes by which ethics are enhanced. Firstly, the prevailing approach holds that creating a unitary cohesive culture around core moral values is the solution to enhancing ethical behaviour. Both the feasibility and desirability of this approach, in terms of ethical outcomes, is questioned. The second model queries the existence of organisational culture at all, arguing that organisations are nothing more than shifting coalitions of subcultures. In this second model, the very porousness of the subcultures provides a catalyst for the scrutiny and critique of norms and practices. Such diversity and debate is construed as potentially a better safeguard for ethical behaviour than the uniformity promised by the unitary, strong culture model.

Competing with integrity in international business

Abstract: The first textbook to address the whole spectrum of multinational business ethics, Richard T. De George's Competing with Integrity in International Business examines moral debates about operating ethically in virtually every major market environment in the world. With examples from a variety of international settings, including the former Soviet bloc, China, Japan, and the European Community, and taking the company of integrity as its objective, this text offers guidelines for multinationals in underdeveloped countries as well as original strategies for corporations competing in corrupt environments. Backed by the distinguished author's wide and varied experience, both as a scholar and as consultant to firms and business institutions around the world, Competing with Integrity in International Business covers cooperation with local government, taxes, respect for and compliance with local society, human rights, national development, and other challenges, as well as responses to immoral adversaries and the use of publicity to expose corrupt actions. With insightful discussion of topics such as corporate culture and corporate virtue and chapter case studies from across the globe, this comprehensive text will prove invaluable for business and philosophy students at all levels.

Total quality and human resources management: lessons learned from Baldrige Award-winning companies

Abstract: Executive Overview Moving from business as usual to a Total Quality Management (TQM) culture demands much from an organization. Nowhere in the organization is the demand more apparent or more important than in the human resource management function. Interviews with human resource professionals employed by winners of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award provide insights into how HRM “best practices” support TQM cultures in these firms. Baldrige Award-winning companies have developed “portfolios” of human resource management policies to complement strategic TQM objectives. Aligning human resource practices with quality initiatives requires revolutionary changes in the way organizations train, empower, evaluate, and reward individuals and teams. However, the revolution is far from over. Even among organizations recognized for their TQM achievements, there is still a need for continuous improvement with respect to HR practices governing the selection, promotion, and development of future leaders. A pro...

Individual Perceptions of Organizational Cultures: A Methodological Treatise on Levels of Analysis

Abstract: Data from a survey study of organizational cultures in 20 organizational units in Denmark and the Netherlands were re-analyzed at the individual level, after elimination of between-unit variance. A factor analysis showed individuals' values to be composed of six dimensions, and individuals' perceptions of their organiza tion's practices of another six dimensions, entirely different from the dimensions found earlier to apply at the organizational level. The scores on these new dimen sions are related to various demographic characteristics of the respondents. This case is used for a methodological treatise stressing the need to choose the proper level of analysis for the problem at hand, a need which is too seldom recognized.

Dynamics of Planned Organizational Change: Assessing Empirical Support For A Theoretical Model

Abstract: This study employed meta-analytic procedures to evaluate the potential validity of a model of planned organizational change. Hypotheses derived from this model focus on the relationships among plan...

Tailored Meanings: On the Meaning and Impact of Organizational Dress

Abstract: Dress in organizations is ubiquitous, yet it has been overlooked in organizational studies. Dress can reflect and create a variety of organizational dynamics. This article offers a framework to consider these dynamics. Three dimensions—attributes of dress, homogeneity of dress, and conspicuousness of dress—are identified. Relationships among these dimensions and organizational processes are proposed. Dress is argued to indicate internal and external processes. Dress also can affect individual and organizational outcomes, including employee compliance and legitimation and organizational image and utilization of human resources. A rich agenda for research is proposed.

Good News: Social Ethics and the Press

Abstract: Mass media ethics and the classical liberal ideal of the autonomous individual are historically linked and professionally dominant-yet the authors of this work feel this is intrisically flawed. They show how recent research in philosophy and social science-together with a longer tradition in theological inquiry-insist that community, mutuality, and relationship are fundamental to a full concept of personhood. The authors argue that "persons-in-community" provides a more defensible grounding for journalists' professional moral decison-making in crucial areas such as truthtelling, privacy, organizational culture, and balanced coverage. With numerous examples drawn from life as well as from theory, this book will interest journalists, editors, and professionals in media management as well as students and scholars of media ethics, reporting, and media law.

The Invention of Corporate Culture: A History of the Histories of Cadbury

Abstract: The concept of culture promised to make organization studies more historical. This promise has not been fulfilled. Possible reasons for the failure to integrate business history and organization studies are explored and a synthesis developed, using the historical concept of invented tradition in conjunction with the social cognition biases identified by organizational culture. The major part of the article then demonstrates how Cadbury, a British confectionery company well known for its Quaker traditions, invented its corporate culture by attributing significance to the Quaker beliefs of the Cadbury family retrospectively. A history is reconstructed, mainly from published sources, to demonstrate how the histories constructed by the firm, including a centenary celebration in 1931, were part of the process of giving meaning to the firm's labor-management institutions.

Influence of Formalization on Role Stress, Organizational Commitment, and Work Alienation of Salespersons: A Cross-National Comparative Study

Abstract: Organizations rely on formalization to coordinate the efforts of employees; however, this practice has been found to have a negative influence on role stress, organizational commitment, and work alienation of salespersons. Though the negative influence of formalization in the United States has been known for some time, we still cannot predict if similar relationships would/should be observed in other countries because the rationale developed to explain these relationships in the United States did not consider the cultural factors that influence them. With such knowledge, it would become possible to anticipate the nature of the relationship in different cultural environments. Such an approach to developing cross-national models has been often suggested but seldom implemented. By emphasizing the role of culture, this study generates practical guidelines for both practitioners and theorists.

Profiles of Organizational Culture and Effective Schools

Abstract: This study intends to investigate how school organizational culture is related to important organizational characteristics and observe how the profiles of strong culture‐effective schools are different from those of weak culture‐ineffective schools in terms of organizational variables (such as principal's leadership, organizational structure, and teachers’ social interactions), teachers’ job attitudes, and school effectiveness criteria. It is a cross‐sectional survey research involving 54 randomly sampled Hong Kong secondary schools and 588 teachers. The unit of analysis is the school. Organizational ideology index was found to be substantially correlated with schools’ perceived organizational effectiveness. Among the 10 measures of these organizational variables, teachers’ esprit and principal's charismatic leadership can contribute substantially to the prediction of school's strength of organizational culture. The organizational profile of perceived strong culture‐effective schools is contrasti...

Building Good Business Relationships: More than Just Partnering or Strategic Alliances?

Abstract: Suggests that the concepts of partnerships and strategic alliances are increasingly emphasized in literature and “real life”, which might lead managers to believe that partnership‐style relationships, as opposed to arm′s length relationships, are necessary for a firm to compete successfully. Explores why, how, and when to establish a wide range of possible business‐to‐business relationships. The inter‐organizational relationship literature suggests six reasons for forming relationships: necessity, asymmetry, reciprocity, efficiency, stability, and legitimacy. Compares this framework with six partnership characteristics based on the partnership‐building literature: planning, sharing of benefits and burdens, extendedness, systematic operational information exchange, operating controls, and corporate culture bridge building. Suggests that firms should concentrate on how to develop “good business relationships”, which may have varying levels of partnership characteristics.