Showing papers on "Organizational culture published in 2001"

Reciprocation of perceived organizational support.

Abstract: Four hundred thirteen postal employees were surveyed to investigate reciprocation's role in the relationships of perceived organizational support (POS) with employees' affective organizational commitment and job performance. The authors found that (a) POS was positively related to employees' felt obligation to care about the organization's welfare and to help the organization reach its objectives; (b) felt obligation mediated the associations of POS with affective commitment, organizational spontaneity, and in-role performance; and (c) the relationship between POS and felt obligation increased with employees' acceptance of the reciprocity norm as applied to work organizations. Positive mood also mediated the relationships of POS with affective commitment and organizational spontaneity. The pattern of findings is consistent with organizational support theory's assumption that POS strengthens affective commitment and performance by a reciprocation process.

Overcoming cultural barriers to sharing knowledge

Abstract: Culture is often seen as the key inhibitor of effective knowledge sharing. A study of companies where sharing knowledge is built into the culture found that they did not change their culture to match their knowledge management initiatives. They adapted their approach to knowledge management to fit their culture. They did this by: linking sharing knowledge to solving practical business problems; tying sharing knowledge to a pre‐existing core value; introducing knowledge management in a way that matches the organization’s style; building on existing networks people use in their daily work; and encouraging peers and supervisors to exert pressure to share.

Improving the quality of health care in the United Kingdom and the United States: a framework for change.

Abstract: Fueled by public incidents and growing evidence of deficiencies in care, concern over the quality and outcomes of care has increased in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Both countries have launched a number of initiatives to deal with these issues. These initiatives are unlikely to achieve their objectives without explicit consideration of the multilevel approach to change that includes the individual, group/team, organization, and larger environment/system level. Attention must be given to issues of leadership, culture, team development, and information technology at all levels. A number of contingent factors influence these efforts in both countries, which must each balance a number of tradeoffs between centralization and decentralization in efforts to sustain the impetus for quality improvement over time. The multilevel change framework and associated properties provide a framework for assessing progress along the journey.

Organizational Culture: Mapping the Terrain

Abstract: The article presents a review of the book “Organizational Culture: Mapping the Terrain,” by Joanne Martin.

The uncertain relevance of newness: organizational learning and knowledge flows

Abstract: This study explores how organizational learning in subunits affects outflows of knowledge to other subunits. Three learning processes are explored: Collecting new knowledge, codifying knowledge, an...

Integrating entrepreneurship and strategic management actions to create firm wealth

Abstract: Creating wealth is at the heart of both entrepreneurship and strategic management. For general managers and entrepreneurs, a keen interest is to learn how to apply entrepreneurial and strategic tools, techniques, and concepts in ways that help the firm create increasing amounts of wealth. Many of the activities that organizations engage in to create wealth take place within six domains: innovation, networks, internationalization, organizational learning, top management teams and governance, and growth. Importantly, the entrepreneurship and strategic management literatures have insights for entrepreneurs and general managers about the value to be gained by paying attention to these six domains. We describe how these insights can be classified as entrepreneurial and strategic actions, and discuss how greater wealth can be created when firms integrate these actions when seeking to create wealth.

Implementing information systems in health care organizations: myths and challenges

Abstract: Successfully implementing patient care information systems (PCIS) in health care organizations appears to be a difficult task. After critically examining the very notions of 'success' and 'failure', and after discussing the problematic nature of lists of 'critical success- or failure factors', this paper discusses three myths that often hamper implementation processes. Alternative insights are presented, and illustrated with concrete examples. First of all, the implementation of a PCIS is a process of mutual transformation; the organization and the technology transform each other during the implementation process. When this is foreseen, PCIS implementations can be intended strategically to help transform the organization. Second, such a process can only get off the ground when properly supported by both central management and future users. A top down framework for the implementation is crucial to turn user-input into a coherent steering force, creating a solid basis for organizational transformation. Finally, the management of IS implementation processes is a careful balancing act between initiating organizational change, and drawing upon IS as a change agent, without attempting to pre-specify and control this process. Accepting, and even drawing upon, this inevitable uncertainty might be the hardest lesson to learn.

Are the strategic stars aligned for your corporate brand

Abstract: In recent years, companies have increasingly seen the benefits of creating a corporate brand. Rather than spend marketing dollars on branding individual products, giants like Disney and Microsoft promote a single umbrella image that casts one glow over all their products. A company must align three interdependent elements--call them strategic stars--to create a strong corporate brand: vision, culture, and image. Aligning the stars takes concentrated managerial skill and will, the authors say, because each element is driven by a different constituency: management, employees, or stakeholders. To effectively build a corporate brand, executives must identify where their strategic stars fall out of line. The authors offer a series of diagnostic questions designed to reveal misalignments in corporate vision, culture, and image. The first set of questions looks for gaps between vision and culture; for example, when management establishes a vision that is too ambitious for the organization to implement. The second set addresses culture and image, uncovering possible gaps between the attitudes of employees and the perceptions of the outside world. The last set of questions explores the vision-image gap--is management taking the company in a direction that its stake-holders support? The authors discuss the benefits of a corporate brand, such as reducing marketing costs and building a sense of community among customers. But they also point to cases in which a corporate brand doesn't make sense--for instance, if you are a product incubator, if you've recently experienced M&A activity, or if you are expecting fallout from risky ventures.

The Sage handbook of organizational communication : advances in theory, research, and methods

Abstract: Preface Acknowledgments Approaches to Research on the Communicative Constitution of Organizations - Boris Brummans, Francois Cooren, Daniel Robichaud, James Taylor Communicating Identity and Identification in and Around Organizations - George Cheney, Lars Christensen, Stephanie Dailey Communicating Work-Life Issues: Policies, Practices, and Opportunities - Erika Kirby, Patrice Buzzanell Communication, Organizing, & Social Movements - Shiv Ganesh, Cynthia Stohl Conceptual Foundations: Theory Debate, Contested Histories, Generative Struggles - Stanley Deetz, Elizabeth Rush Critical Theory and Postmodernism - Dennis Mumby Diverse Voices, Alternative Rationalities and (the) Spaces In-Between: Decolonizing Organizational Communication - Kirsten Broadfoot Diverse Voices, Alternative Rationalities and (the) Spaces In-Between: Decolonizing Organizational Communication and Other Adventures - Debashish Munshi Embedded Teams - Andrea Hollingshead, David Seibold, Kay Yoon Engaged Scholarship and Democracy - Sarah Dempsey, Kevin Barge Feminist Organizational Communication Theory - Karen Ashcraft Field Research in Organizational Communication - Marya Doerfel, Jennifer Gibbs Globalization and Social Justice Organizations - Cynthia Stohl, Shiv Ganesh Incivility, Destructive Workplace Behavior, & Bullying - Vincent Waldron, Jeffrey Kassing Information & Communication Technologies in Organizations - Ronald Rice, Paul Leonardi Institutional Theory: A Fertile Field for Organizational Communication - John Lammers, Mattea Garcia Introduction Section I: Theories of Organizational Communication - Patricia Sotirin Introduction Section II: Research Methods in Organizational Communication Studies - Patricia Riley Introduction Section III: Communication & the Postbureaucratic Organization - James Barker Introduction Section IV: Managing Organizational Knowledge, Meaning & Change - Kathleen Krone Introduction Section V: Organizations, Stakeholders, & Conflict - Steve May Introduction Section VI: Examining the Organization-Society Relationship - Janet Fulk Knowledge & Knowing in Organizational Communication - Timothy Kuhn Leadership Communication - Gail Fairhurst, Stacey Connaughton Mixed Methods: When More Really is More - Karen Myers Organizational Change and Innovation - Laurie Lewis Organizational Communication, Ethics, and Responsibility - Steve May, Juliet Roper Organizational Culture: Creating Meaning and Influence - JoAnn Keyton Organizational Discourse Analysis - Gail Fairhurst, Linda Putnam Organizational Networks - Noshir Contractor, Michelle Shumate Organizing and Difference - Patricia Parker Organizing Ethnography and Qualitative Approaches - Sarah Tracy, Patricia Geist-Martin Power & Resistance in Organizational Communication - Heather Zoller Socialization and Assimilation: Theories, Processes, and Outcomes - Michael Kramer, Vernon Miller Structuration Theory - Robert McPhee, Marshall Poole, Joel Iverson Systems Theory - Marshall Poole Organizational Emotions and Compassion at Work - Katherine Miller Workplace Relationships - Patricia Sias The Future of Organizational Communication - Dennis Mumby, Linda Putnam Author Index Subject Index About the Editors About the Contributors

Exploring Perceptions of Organizational Ownership of Information and Expertise

Abstract: Beliefs of organizational ownership relate to whether information and knowledge created by an individual knowledge worker are believed to be owned by the organization. Beliefs about property rights affect information and knowledge sharing. This study explored factors that help determine an individual's beliefs about the organizational ownership of information and expertise that he or she has created. Four different situations of organizational ownership (information vs. expertise/internal vs. external sharing) were considered. The study found that a belief in self-ownership was positively associated with organizational ownership - suggesting a collaborative type of ownership situation for both information and expertise and for both internal (intraorganizational) and external (interorganizational) sharing situations. Organizational culture and the type of employee also influenced the beliefs of organizational ownership in all four scenarios. We conclude the paper with implications for practice and future research.

Antecedents of organizational commitment and the mediating role of job satisfaction

Abstract: Investigates the relationships between employees’ perceptions of organisational culture and subculture, and job satisfaction and commitment. Questionnaires containing the above measures were distributed to nurses employed in seven large hospitals and a total of 251 responses were obtained. Measures of leadership style and employee demographics were also included in the questionnaire. Regression analysis was used to investigate the extent to which nurses’ job satisfaction and commitment to their wards are predicted by their perceptions of the hospitals’ cultures (or organisational culture), the cultures of their wards (or organisation subculture), the leadership styles of their ward managers, and several demographic characteristics including age, experience, education and job tenure. It was found that ward culture was more predictive of commitment than was hospital culture. Also, statistically controlling for job satisfaction did not substantially reduce the influence on commitment of any of the independent variables included in this study. The results suggest that managers may need to focus more on organizational subcultures in generating greater commitment among employees.

Disappearing Acts: Gender, Power, and Relational Practice at Work

Abstract: This study of female design engineers has profound implications for attempts to change organizational culture. Joyce Fletcher's research shows that emotional intelligence and relational behavior are often viewed as inappropriate because they collide with powerful, gender-linked images. Fletcher describes how organizations say they need such behavior and yet ignore it, thus undermining the possibility of radical change. She shows why the "female advantage" does not seem to benefit women employees or organizations. She offers ways that individuals and organizations can make visible the invisible work.

National and organizational culture differences and international joint venture performance

Abstract: This study examines the effect of dimensions of national and organizational culture differences on international joint venture (IJV) performance. Based on data from a survey of executives from joint ventures between Indian partners and partners from other countries, we found that the presumed negative effect from culture distance on IJV performance originates more from differences in organizational culture than from differences in national culture.

Entrepreneurship as Radical Change in the Family Business: Exploring the Role of Cultural Patterns

Abstract: This article explores the relationship between organizational culture and the entrepreneurial process that is viewed as radical change in the context of the family business. Drawing on results from two in-depth family business case studies, the authors develop a conceptual model for understanding organizational culture and its impact on entrepreneurial activities. The model is built around the extent to which the culture is connected to one dominant family member or several family members, the degree of cultural explicitness, and the degree of cultural openness. It is argued that whereas some cultural patterns tend to preserve the traditional way of doing business, others tend to facilitate entrepreneurial change. The conclusion is that to support entrepreneurial processes, managers need to foster a process of high-order learning in which old cultural patterns are continuously questioned and changed. To accomplish this, the organizational culture needs to be highly explicit and open.

Determinants of organisational creativity: a literature review

Abstract: In today’s competitive business environment, global competition forces companies to perpetually seek ways of improving their products/services. Organisations increasingly aspire to become more creative and capitalise on the benefits of creativity, and perceive the development of conditions that encourage creativity within their working environment as a long‐term process rather than a quick fix to their current problems. While the capability of an organisation to become more creative must start at the level of the individual, individual creativity in itself is not enough. A vital, often ignored component of creativity is the creativity that occurs at the organisational level. This paper reviews writings in an attempt to clearly identify the factors that influence organisational creativity and hence that need to be taken into consideration when managing creativity in organisational settings. The literature review summarises five key factors that affect organisational creativity, namely organisational climate, leadership style, organisational culture, resources and skills and the structure and systems of an organisation.

Work status and organizational citizenship behavior: a field study of restaurant employees

Abstract: This survey-based field study of 257 service employees developed and tested a model of differences in the organizational citizenship behavior of full-time and part-time employees based on social exchange theory. Questionnaire data from matched pairs of employees and their supervisors demonstrated that part-time employees exhibited less helping organizational citizenship behavior than full-time employees, but there was no difference in their voice behavior. We also predicted that both preferred work status (an individual factor) and organizational culture (a contextual factor) would moderate the relationships between work status and citizenship. For helping, results demonstrated that preferred status mattered more to part-time workers than to full-time. For voice, preferred work status was equally important to part-time and full-time workers, such that voice was high only when actual status matched preferred status. Contrary to our expectations, work status made more of a difference in both helping and voice in less bureaucratic organizations. We discuss the implications of work status for social exchange relationships, differences in the social exchange costs and benefits of helping compared to voice, and ramifications of our findings for future research. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Achieving Acculturation in Mergers and Acquisitions: An International Case Survey

Abstract: Various explanations have been suggested concerning the causes of ‘cultural clashes’ and prescriptions for harmoniously integrating the beliefs and values of merging firms. Using a form of meta-analysis known as a case survey design, which combines the ideographic richness of case studies with the statistical generalizability of larger samples, and a sample consisting of 50 mergers and acquisitions (23 US domestic, 15 Swedish domestic and 12 Swedish cross-border), we found that acculturation is best achieved when the buying firms rely on social controls. That is, by participating in such activities as introduction programs, training, cross-visits, retreats, celebrations and similar socialization rituals, employees will create, of their own volition, a joint organizational culture regardless of expectations of synergies, the relative organization size and differences in nationalities and cultures. A post hoc analysis of a proposed integration control typology further suggests that social controls also indi...

Vanquishing virtue: the impact of medical education.

Abstract: North American physicians emerge from their medical training with a wide array of professional beliefs and values. Many are thoughtful and introspective. Many are devoted to patients’ welfare. Some bring to their work a broad view of social responsibility. Nonetheless, the authors contend that North American medical education favors an explicit commitment to traditional values of doctoring—empathy, compassion, and altruism among them —and a tacit commitment to behaviors grounded in an ethic of detachment, self-interest, and objectivity. They further note that medical students and young physicians respond to this conflict in various ways. Some re-conceptualize themselves primarily as technicians and narrow their professional identities to an ethic of competence, thus adopting the tacit values and discarding the explicit professionalism. Others develop non-reflective professionalism, an implicit avowal that they best care for their patients by treating them as objects of technical services (medical care). Another group appears to be ‘‘immunized’’ against the tacit values, and thus they internalize and develop professional virtue. Certain personal characteristics of the student, such as gender, belief system, and non-medical commitments, probably play roles in ‘‘immunization,’’ as do medical school features such as family medicine, communication skills courses, medical ethics, humanities, and social issues in medicine. To be effective, though, these features must be prominent and tightly integrated into the medical school curriculum. The locus of change in the culture of medicine has now shifted to ambulatory settings and the marketplace. It remains to be seen whether this move will lessen the disjunction between the explicit curriculum and the manifestly contradictory values of detachment and entitlement, and the belief that the patient’s interest always coincides with the physician’s interest. Acad. Med. 2001;76:598‐605.

The effect of organizational culture and ethical orientation on accountants' ethical judgments

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between organizational ethical culture in two large international CPA firms, auditors' personal values and the ethical orientation that those values dictate, and judgments in ethical dilemmas typical of those that accountants face. Using an experimental task consisting of multiple judgments designed to vary in "moral intensity" (Jones, 1991), and unique as well as tried-and-true approaches to variable measurements, this study examined the judgments of more than three hundred participants in our study. ANCOVA and path analysis results indicate that: (1) Ethical judgments in situations of high moral intensity are affected by personal values and by environmental variables, such as the professional code of conduct (direct and indirect effects) and previous ethics instruction (direct effect only). (2) Corporate ethical culture, and a relatively strong firm rules-orientation, affect auditors' idealism but not relativism, and therefore indirectly affect ethical judgments. Jones' (1991) moral intensity argument is supported: differences in the characteristics of specific judgment tasks apparently result in different decision processes.

The Effects of Organizational and Ethical Climates on Misconduct at Work

Abstract: Questionnaire data obtained from 97 supervisory and nonsupervisory employees representing the Production, Production Services, Marketing, and Administration departments of an Israeli metal production plant were used to test the relationship between selected personal and organizational attributes and work related misbehavior Following Vardi and Wiener's (1996) framework, Organizational Misbehavior (OMB) was defined as intentional acts that violate formal core organizational rules We found that there was a significant negative relationship between Organizational Climate and OMB, and between the Organizational Climate dimensions (Warmth and Support, and Reward), and OMB Also, the activities of misbehavior reported by both managers and employees were negatively related to the Rules, Instrumental and Caring dimensions of Ethical Climates as defined by Victor and Cullen (1988)

Metaphors and meaning: An intercultural analysis of the concept of teamwork

Abstract: This paper develops a conceptual framework to explain different understandings of the concept of teamwork across national and organizational cultures Five different metaphors for teamwork (military, sports, community, family, and associates) were derived from the language team members used during interviews in four different geographic locations of six multinational corporations Results indicated that use of the teamwork metaphors varies across countries and organizations, after controlling for gender, team function, and total words in an interview Analyses of specific relationships between national cultural values and categories of metaphor use and between dimensions of organizational culture and categories of metaphor use revealed patterns of expectations about team roles, scope, membership, and objectives that arise in different cultural contexts We discuss the implications of this variance for future research on teams and the management of teams in multinational organizations

How to invest in social capital.

Abstract: Business runs better when people within a company have close ties and trust one another. But the relationships that make organizations work effectively are under assault for several reasons. Building such "social capital" is difficult in volatile times. Disruptive technologies spawn new markets daily, and organizations respond with constantly changing structures. The problem is worsened by the virtuality of many of today's workplaces, with employees working off-site or on their own. What's more, few managers know how to invest in such social capital. The authors describe how managers can help their organizations thrive by making effective investments in social capital. For instance, companies that value social capital demonstrate a commitment to retention as a way of limiting workplace volatility. The authors cite SAS's extensive efforts to signal to employees that it sees them as human beings, not just workers. Managers can build trust by showing trust themselves, as well as by rewarding trust and sending clear signals to employees. They can foster cooperation by giving employees a common sense of purpose through good strategic communication and inspirational leadership. Johnson & Johnson's well-known credo, which says the company's first responsibility is to the people who use its products, has helped the company in time of adversity, as in 1982 when cyanide in Tylenol capsules killed seven people. Other methods of fostering cooperation include rewarding the behavior with cash and establishing rules that get people into the habit of cooperating. Social capital, once a given in organizations, is now rare and endangered. By investing in it, companies will be better positioned to seize the opportunities in today's volatile, virtual business environment.

Sharing knowledge through intranets: a study of organizational culture and intranet implementation

Abstract: Explores factors affecting the implementation of intranets, which are the technology upon which many knowledge management (KM) systems are built. Because intranets facilitate the sharing of employee knowledge, many believe that organizational culture influences intranet implementation. The results of this study found that intranet implementation is facilitated by a culture that emphasizes an atmosphere of trust and concern for other people (ethical culture), flexibility and innovation (developmental culture), and policies, procedures and information management (hierarchical culture). Management should ensure that the proper values are in place to optimize intranet implementation and to facilitate knowledge sharing.

Restructuring workplace cultures: the ultimate work‐family challenge?

Abstract: Work‐life polices and practices have the potential to enhance opportunities for women in the workplace (and opportunities for men to be more involved in family life), but are often undermined by workplace culture. Presents a case study of an organisation which is addressing issues of workplace culture in relation to work‐life policies and gender equality. Despite achieving substantial change in practice and in shared assumptions, a new set of issues have emerged which will require innovative solutions.

The Effect of Human Resource Management Practices on MNC Subsidiary Performance in Russia

Abstract: This study investigates the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and the performance of 101 foreign-owned subsidiaries in Russia. The study's results provide support for the assertion that investments in HRM practices can substantially assist a firm in improving performance. Further, different HRM practices for managerial and non-managerial employees are found to be significantly related to firm performance. Only limited support, however, is obtained for the hypothesized relationship between efforts at aligning HRM practices with firm strategy and subsidiary performance.

Against Essentialism: A Theory of Culture and Society

Abstract: Introduction 1 Theory after Essentialism Accounting for the Observer Observing Observers Levels of Observing Ideological Conflicts in Observation Inside and Outside Observers Value-Freedom and Disinterestedness The Myth of "Going Native" A Few Pretty Old Rules of Method The Classics Revisited, Briefly Networks and Systems Some Elements of a Working Epistemology 2 How to Sociologize with a Hammer The Crisis of Representation Underdetermination and Theory-Ladenness The Indeterminacy of Translation Empiricizing Contexts and Demarcations Incommensurability The Double Hermeneutic Things and Persons 3 Cultural Rationality After Reason Causes and Reasons The Unity of Persons What Do Persons Want and Believe? Decisions, Decisions How to Locate Rationality Some Covariates of Rationality 4 Foundations of Culture Never Minds Who Knows? No Idea! The Meanings of Meaning Observing Culture and Cultural Observers What Is in a Culture? Cultural Stratification Art Reputation From Creativity to Genius 5 Modes of Social Association I: Encounters, Groups, and Organizations The Bodies and Brains of Persons Emotional Selves Levels of Society Encounters Groups Organizations Variations in Organizational Cultures 6 Modes of Social Association II: Networks Drift Fields of Forces Power to the Networks Metabolism Renormalization Autopoiesis Self-Similarity Unity Boundaries Network Expansions Networks of Culture 7 Realism Explained A Continuum of Realism Core Expansions and Time Machines Instruction Density Monopoly and Hegemony Competition and Decentralization Literacy and Printing Orality, Perception, and Copresence Consensus Distance and Frontstages Conclusion Appendix: Theses References Index

Trust, Control and Post-Bureaucracy

Abstract: This paper is a contribution to the analysis of intra-organizational trust. From a discussion of concepts of trust, we suggest that trust is something which is constructed for and by people in organizations, thereby producing some degree of predictability. Trust is a precarious social accomplishment enacted through the interplay of social or discursive structures, including those of work organizations, and individuated subjects. We argue that bureaucratic organizations effected this construction in such an efficient manner that it `disappeared' as an issue for organizational theorists, but that shifting organizational forms have re-opened it. We suggest that the advent of corporate culturism in the 1980s offered one kind of reconfiguration of trust in organizations. However, subsequent extensions of organizational reform have undermined corporate culture as a way of constructing trust. These extensions, which, with some caveats, may be called post-bureaucratic, have brought with them new potential bases f...

Performance Management, Evaluation and Learning in ‘Modern’ Local Government

Abstract: Public sector reforms throughout OECD member states are producing a new model of ‘public governance’ embodying a more modest role for the state and a strong emphasis on performance management. In the UK, the development of performance management in the context of the ‘new public management’ has been primarily ‘top-down’ with a dominant concern for enhancing control and ‘upwards account-ability’ rather than promoting learning and improvement. The development of performance management and evaluation in local government in the UK has been conditioned by external pressures, especially reforms imposed by central government, which have encouraged an ‘instrumental–managerial’ focus on performance measurement. The new Labour government's programme of ‘modernizing local government’ places considerable emphasis on performance review and evaluation as a driver of continuous improvement in promoting Best Value. However, recent research has indicated that the capacity for evaluation in local government is uneven and many obstacles to evaluation exist in organizational cultures. Local authorities need to go beyond the development of review systems and processes to ensure that the capacity for evaluation and learning is embedded as an attribute of ‘culture’ in order to achieve the purpose of Best Value.

Conquering a culture of indecision.

Abstract: The single greatest cause of corporate underperformance is the failure to execute. Author Ram Charan, drawing on a quarter century of observing organizational behavior, perceives that such failures of execution share a family resemblance: a misfire in the personal interactions that are supposed to produce results. Faulty interactions rarely occur in isolation, Charan says. Far more often, they're typical of the way large and small decisions are made or not made throughout the organization. The inability to take decisive action is rooted in a company's culture. But, Charan notes, leaders create a culture of indecisiveness, and leaders can break it. Breaking it requires them to take three actions. First, they must engender intellectual honesty in the connections between people. Second, they must see to it that the organization's "social operating mechanisms"--the meetings, reviews, and other situations through which people in the corporation do business--have honest dialogue at their cores. And third, leaders must ensure that feedback and follow-through are used to reward high achievers, coach those who are struggling, and discourage those whose behaviors are blocking the organization's progress. By taking these three approaches and using every encounter as an opportunity to model open and honest dialogue, a leader can set the tone for an organization, moving it from paralysis to action.