Teaching Plan


Managers: What Do They Do?

Organizational Culture:

 

To the extent that an organization over time develops uniquely shared norms we can distinguish organizations by its culture. Organizational culture is manifest through symbolic aspects of organizational life:

  • myths, stories, legends

  • communication and socialization

  • ceremonies and rites of passage.

Interest in management embedded in an organizational culture emerged in the 1980's, likely fostered by the popularity of William Ouchi's (1981) Theory Z: How American management can Meet the Japanese Challenge. Ouchi argued that global advances by Japanese firms had been attained by a management style reliant on an organizational culture of trust in which individual employees assume responsibility for work, managers are cross trained participants in the work, and employees are collectively committed to the company.

 

Peters and Waterman's best seller In Search of Excellence (1982) again argued that organizational culture is linked with performance. As individuals commit to a company's goals, the shared expectations by all provide a reward: shared participation in success.

 

Schneider (1987) argued that “the people make the place” and "attributes of people, not the nature of external environment, or organizational technology, or organizational structure, are the fundamental determinants of organizational behavior." Organizational culture is created by the people in the organization. He model this process as a cycle of Attraction- Selection-Attrition (ASA):

  • Attraction: People seek  a "fit" with their own personality in their choice of career and employer.

  • Selection: Organizations recruit and select people that are compatible - they "fit" in.

  • Attrition: When incompatible people join a company, they tend to leave seeking a "fit" with another organization. This leaves the organization with more homogenous group.

This tendency towards homogeneity reinforces common shared norms of behavior or culture.

Founding Stories:

Business founders can establish the framework for the development of organizational culture, and the founder often provides the myth and legend that embody the culture. At WalMart Sam Walton's early focus on small towns and location of corporate offices in Arkansas, his tight fisted corporate and personal frugality, and his personal drive to build his company have created a "WalMart" culture in which Sam Walton, though deceased, is a legendary figure who defines corporate values.

Organizational Socialization:

What are the implications for managing?


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