Theme 8: environment features

• organisational culture

  • Organisational culture is the set of shared, taken-for-granted implicit assumptions that members of an organisation hold and that determine how they perceive, think about and react to their environment.
• three models of culture:

  • Schein's Model
  • Goffee and Jones Model
  • The Competing Values model
• Schein's model:

  • Espoused values
  • Artefacts
  • Basic hidden assumptions
• espoused values - what people say they believe in
• basic hidden assumptions - underlying beliefs and attitudes which are not openly expressed but influence behaviour
• artefact - physical manifestation of organisational culture (e.g. dress code)
• • Sociability – sincere friendliness or the emotional non-instrumental relations among individuals who regard one another as friends (social relations) (extent to which organisations value social relations- not just co-workers but friends(high/low levels of this)
• • Solidarity – refers to the emphasis on shared common tasks and goals (task performance)(extent to which organisation values performance/outcomes)
• Goffee and Jones: two fundamental dimensions:

  • solidarity
  • sociability
• Networked organisation– high sociability and low solidarity. Emphasis is on warm, positive feelings and good social relations rather than on task performance
• Mercenary Organisation – low sociability and high solidarity. High emphasis on productivity and performance with little concern with the quality of social relations
• Fragmented Organisation - low sociability and low solidarity. Neither emphasise productivity nor quality of social relations
• Communal organisation – high sociability and high solidarity. High emphasis on both productivity and the quality of social relations
• The competing values models: two fundamental dimensions of effectiveness

  • Flexibility versus Control
  • Internal versus External orientation
• • Flexibility versus Control (how much an organisation can change vs stick to plans/rigid)
  • Internal versus External orientation(focus on things happening in organisation vs external environment)
• • Internal orientation and low Flexibility (Internal Process emphasis)
  • Internal orientation and high Flexibility (Human Relations emphasis)
  • External orientation and low Flexibility (Rational Goal emphasis)
  • External orientation and high Flexibility (Innovation emphasis)
• rational goals: achieving specific goals/ results, tight control to meet external goals/ environment/ market
• innovation: adapt to changes in external enviroment, constantly evolving to changes in market to remain competitive
• internal process: keeping things running smoothly in organisation with set rules, internal efficiency with low flexibility, high control (consistent, standardised method
• Human relations: prioritsing well-being/growth/relations with employees( invest in our employees=training) culture of growth/value/teamwork
• factors that facilitate the development of an organisation’s culture:

  • leadership
  • recruitment and selection processes
  • socialisation processes
  • globalisation
  • individualistic
  • Power distance
  • masculine/feminine
• The effect of COVID-19 on culture: working from home, many businesses have kept working from home, radically accelerated the flexible work trend

  strong leadership and good communication needed
• Organisational climate:

  • Employees perceptions of the work environment. At individual level it can be referred to as psychological climate(individuals perceptions of the work environment) and when shared, group or organisational climate. (when the whole group perception is shared, becomes organisational climate)
• Culture is what makes organisations distinctive; (e.g what makes checkers different from woolies, makes them fundementally different)
• Organisational climate is ‘what it feels like to work here (the vibes of the place, e.g friendly, competitive, relaxed)
• • corporate social responsibility(CSR) is a cultural value that emphasises the importance of organisations promoting business activities that bring simultaneous economic, social and environmental benefits. CSR involves considering and/or forging partnerships with other stakeholders other than stockholders, stakeholders that can also be affected, directly and/or directly, by the activities of the organisation
• factors that necessitate the need for organisational change:

  • actions of competition
  • government legislation
  • environmental factors
  • demographic factors
  • ethics
  • leaders or leadership
• Models of change:

  • Episodic vs Continuous change
  • The Burke-Litwin model
  • The learning perspective
  • The Forcefield analysis of change
• • Episodic (Planned)
  • Is a planned and potentially revolutionary change
  • fundamental and lasting change in some organisation’s functioning
  • Continuous(Emergent) change
  • Involves continuous (usually non-disruptive) improvements, encouraged by continuous reflection and learning
  • Can be achieved by encouraging all to be agents of change
  • slowly and continuously adapts and evolves
• The Systems perspective:

  • The perspective fundamentally makes an assumption that organisations are composed of a multitude of subsystems that vary in size and scope, and that change in one subsystem will lead to changes in other related subsystems.
• Burke-Litwin Model:

  • Transformational factors (mission and strategy, leadership, organisational culture) and transactional/operational factors (structure, systems, management, practices and climate).
  • The external environment is the most powerful driver
  • Changes in the external environment affect transformational factors which lead to changes in the transactional factors
• The learning perspective:

  • Action learning
  • learning of organisation
• Action learning:

  proposes that organisations should continuously review their functioning, diagnose gaps between current and desired performance, identify objectives for change, implement change, evaluate the outcomes and institutionalise the whole approach
• Learning organisation

  • works to create, acquire and transfer knowledge in order that the organisation adapts itself continually on the basis of knew knowledge and insight, as well as to the external forces that influence survival
• The Forcefield Analysis of change

  • Proposed by Kurt Lewin (1948)

  According to the Model, change occurs when:

  • The forces favouring change strengthen
  • Resistance to change lessens or
  • If both occur simultaneously

  Otherwise organisations remain in equilibrium
• factors that can necessitate need for change:

  • -government legislation
  • -environmental factors
  • -demographic factors
  • -ethics
  • -leaders or leadership
• Models of change:

  • Episodic vs Continuous change
  • The systems perspective
  • The Burke-Litwin Model
  • The Learning perspective
  • The forcefield analysis of change
• Episodic (Planned)

  • Is a planned and potentially revolutionary change
  • Aim is to be make fundamental and lasting change in some organisation’s functioning
• Continuous(Emergent) change( market and innovative cultures)

  • Involves continuous (usually non-disruptive) improvements, encouraged by continuous reflection and learning
  • Can be achieved by encouraging all to be agents of change
• The systems perspective is anchored in the systems thinking

  The perspective fundamentally makes an assumption that organisations are composed of a multitude of subsystems that vary in size and scope, and that change in one subsystem will lead to changes in other related subsystems.