9/21/13
MNGT 5590 OK F1 2013 → Pages →

Week 1 Readings: Chapter 2: MNGT 5590 OK Organizational Behavior
Week 1 Readings: Chapter 2

Week 1: Readings
Chapter 2: Organizational Culture
An organization's culture reflects the "personality," "norms," and "values" of the organization. Every organization has a unique culture that shapes its objectives and actions, as well as shaping how people in an organization view the world around them and the organization itself. Culture is sometimes very subtle (e.g., what are the behavioral norms), and other times very obvious (e.g., elaborate ceremonies and rituals). Schein developed a three-level model of organizational culture that elaborates on the basic ideas of culture. This model distinguishes between artifacts (the most visible aspects of culture), values (less visible, but often articulated beliefs), and basic assumptions (typically invisible to outsiders, and often unknown even to members of the organization. Organizations usually prefer people who conform with the organization's culture, especially the organization's cultural values and assumptions. Therefore, employees need to be sensitive to what the culture demands of them, or they will ultimately end up being ostracized by their work groups, or even terminated by the organization. When effective, the socialization process helps employees understand their roles and how to behave in an organization. The orientation process (a part of the socialization process) conveys important information that new employees must know to begin to function effectively. Too often, however, organizations fail to create useful orientation programs, and employees are "oriented" informally by their coworkers. What they learn may or may not be consistent with the organization's objectives and goals. Managers and employees are in the unusual position of being both influenced and