Ten Organizational Design Models to align structure and operations to busines...
A seminar report on ob
1. A SEMINAR REPORT
ON
CHANGING ORGANISATION CULTURE OF
INDIAN CORPORATE WORLD
In partial fulfillment for the award of the degree
of
Masters of business administration
SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY
Prof: Raminder Kaur Pawandeep kaur
Dept: School of Management studies Roll no 5354
MBA – I (D)
At
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA
2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Prof: Raminder Kaur, Lecturer, MBA Department,
School of Management Studies, Patiala who has been guiding force for my Report on
“Changing organization culture of Indian corporate world”.
I am also thankful to my friends, for their support and encouragement in finding out the
appropriate material for this Report, without them making this report would have been
impossible.
3. CONTENT
Organization culture overview
What is organization culture?
Nature,functions,drawbacks ,levels of organization culture
Pattrens ,types of organization culture
The factors which changing organization culture in corporate world
Style of leadership of managers
Common Language
Organization characteristics
Group boundaries for inclusion or exclusion
Distributing power and status
Developing norms of intimacy, friendship, and love
Rewards and punishments
Founders and owners of the company
The environment (juridical, economic, cultural, technological)
The working group, system procedure
Changes in staff
Company Heroes and Heroines
Stories ,legends
Reasons to change OC in Indian corporate world
Impact of changing education system
Impact of technology
Impact of changing expectations of employees
Impact of workload
Impact of competition
Impact of changing aspirations of company‟s customers
Methods adopted to change the OC in India
Effective leadership
Committed and active participation of leadership
Assigning a culture manager
Top management support
Training
A change in statement of beliefs, values
Management style, organization structure, organization style
Changing criteria for recruitment, selection
Changes in Indian companies organization culture
Effects by changing the organization culture
5. What is organization culture?
Organizational Culture is
a) a pattern of basic assumptions
b) invented, discovered, or developed by a given group
c) as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration
d) that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore
e) is to be taught to new members as the
f) correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to these problems
Organizational Culture is also a set of inter-related beliefs, shared by most of the employees of a
company about how one should behave at work and what activities are more important than
others .Organizational Culture can be deliberately determined or simply allowed to evolve
Organizational Culture should be identified during formulation of strategy and led by leadership
and top management example
Organizational culture is an idea in the field of organizational studies and management which
describes the psychology, attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values (personal and cultural values)
of an organization. It has been defined as "the specific collection of values and norms that are
shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each
other and with stakeholders outside the organization." Ravasi and Schultz (2006) state that
organizational culture is a set of shared mental assumptions that guide interpretation and action
in organizations by defining appropriate behavior for various situations. Although it‟s difficult to
get consensus about the definition of organizational culture, several constructs are commonly
agreed upon – that organizational culture is holistic, historically determined, related to
anthropological concepts, socially constructed, soft, and difficult to change. A single definition of
organizational culture has proven to be very elusive. No one definition of organizational culture has
emerged in the literature. One of the issues involving culture is that it is defined both in terms of its
causes and effect. For example, these are the two ways in which cultures often defined.
1. Outcomes- Defining culture as a manifest pattern of behavior- Many people use the term
culture to describe patterns of cross individual behavioral consistency For example, when
people say that culture is “The way we do things around here,” they are defining consistent
way is in which people perform tasks, solve problems, resolve conflicts, treat customers, and
treat employees.
6. 2. Process- Defining culture as a set of mechanisms creating cross individual behavioral
consistency- In this case culture is defined as the informal values, norms, and beliefs that
control how individuals and groups in an organization interact with each other and with
people outside the organization.
Organizational culture is a macro phenomenon which refers to the patterns of beliefs,
assumptions, values, and behaviours reflecting commonality in people working together.
NATURE OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
The culture of an organization may reflect in various forms adopted by the organization. These could
be:
The physical infrastructure
Routine behaviour, language, ceremonies
Gender equality, equity in payment
Dominant values such as quality, efficiency and so on
Philosophy that guides the organization‟s policies towards it employees and customers like
„customer first‟ and „customer is king‟, and the manner in which employees deal with customers.
Functions of organizational culture
1. Behavioral control
2. Encourages stability
3. Provides source of identity
Draw backs of culture
1. Barrier to change and improvement
2. Barrier to diversity
3. Barrier to cross departmental and cross organizational cooperation
4. Barrier to mergers and acquisitions
LEVELS OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
1. At Level one the organizational culture can be observed in the form of physical objects,
technology and other visible forms of behavior like ceremonies and rituals. Though the
culture would be visible in various forms, it would be only at the superficial level. For
example, people may interact with one another but what the underlying feelings are or
whether there is understanding among them would require probing.
2. At Level Two there is greater awareness and internalization of cultural values. People in the
organization try solutions of a problem in ways which have been tried and tested earlier. If
the group is successful there will be shared perception of that „success‟, leading to cognitive
changes turning perception into values and
7. 3. Level three represents a process of conversion. When the group repeatedly observes that the
method that was tried earlier works most of the time, it becomes the „preferred solution‟ and
gets converted into underlying assumptions or dominant value orientation. The conversion
process has both advantages. The advantages are that the dominant value orientation guides
behaviour, however at the same time it may influence objective and rational thinking.
These three levels range on a scale of superficial to deeply embedded. As cultural symbols get
converted to shared assumptions, they move from a superficial level to a real internationalised level
PATTERNS OF ORGANISATIONALS CULTURE
Types of Organizational Culture
Organizational culture can vary in a number of ways. It is these variances that differentiate one
organization from the others. Some of the bases of the differentiation are presented below :
1. Strong vs. weak culture : Organizational culture can be labeled as strong or weak based on
sharedness of the core values among organizational members and the degree of commitment the
members have to these core values. The higher the sharedness and commitment, the stronger the
culture increases the possibility of behaviour consistency amongst its members, while a weak
culture opens avenues for each one of the members showing concerns unique to themselves.
2. Soft vs. hard culture : Soft work culture can emerge in an organization where the organization
pursues multiple and conflicting goals. In a soft culture the employees choose to pursue a few
objectives which serve personal or sectional interests. A typical example of soft culture can be
found in a number of public sector organizations in India where the management feels
constrained to take action against employees to maintain high productivity. The culture is welfare
oriented; people are held accountable for their mistakes but are not rewarded for good
performance. Consequently, the employees consider work to be less important than personal and
social obligations. Sinha (1990) has presented a case study of a public sector fertilizer company
which was established in an industrially backward rural area to promote employment generation
and industrial activity. Under pressure from local communities and the government, the company
succumbed to overstaffing, converting mechanised operations into manual operations, payment
of overtime, and poor discipline. This resulted in huge financial losses (up to 60 percent of the
capital) to the company.
3. Formal vs. informal culture : The work culture of an organization, to a large extent, is
influenced by the formal components of organizational culture. Roles, responsibilities,
accountability, rules and regulations are components of formal culture. They set the expectations that
the organization has from every member and indicates the consequences if these expectations are not
fulfilled..
4.
TABLE 1: FORMAL Description Effect on Organisational
COMPONENTS OF Culture
ORGANISATIONAL
CULTURE Component
8. 1 Mission/Vision The milestones to Could be unrealistic
be reached
2 Policies Statements Policies, if not
designed to be drafted properly
guidelines to can provide leeway
bahavioural
decision
3 Procedures Methods of Can facilitate or
providing specific create obstacles in
guidelines smooth functioning
4 Rules Specific Rules could be a
instructions for means or an end in
performing a task themselves
5 State of Organization at State of
Organizational young, growing, organizational
Development maturing, or mature development has
stage of direct impact on
development work culture
9. The factors which change and formed
the organizational culture
The style of leadership of the managers. This has a considerable effect upon the culture
of a group. Now if the manager is distant towards his/her subordinates, this attitude can
have a negative impact upon the culture. The trust in the manager, the embodiment of the
chief in a positive example can influence favorably the efficacy of the group. The
managers always influence, substantially, the organizational culture, their influence being
proportional to the hierarchical level. At the same hierarchical level, the influence differs
from one manager to another, because the level of training and the leading style are not
the same.
Common language There is no official national language. If English is its unofficial
first language, Spanish is its unofficial second language. Today in companies,the
language spoken most is English and this effect the organization culture at large scale.
Today the Indian corporate world is not limited its business only to the extent of Indian
boundaries but spread all over the world. In Indian companies, there is a very low rate of
people spoken Hindi and Punjabi, because the need of the time changes their
communication way which effect the organization culture and quite different the
traditional ways communication. Economies opened, and due to technological
developments in communication, transportation, and finance, there were fewer
difficulties with the practical issues of conducting business across national borders.
Communications technology showed exponential growth, including innovations that
facilitated doing business anywhere at anytime, such as remote access and net
conferencing.
The organizational characteristics. Today They can affect, also, the type of culture that
it is developed. The organizations differ according attributes as measure and complexity.
Between the complexity of the organization‟s culture and the size of the company (that
can be expressed through the business figure, capital, number of employees) there is a
direct proportional report. Moreover, the big organizations tend to higher degrees of
specialization and towards a bigger impersonal character. Usually, in the small
companies the culture is more homogenous, while in the big companies are clearly
shaped the sub-cultures. The organizations, also, differ according the degree of
formalization (expressed in rules, politics, norms) and after the degree of decentralization
and autonomy. The history of the company represents a factor with profound influence
upon the organizational culture with tradition; at the same time, it differentiates the
cultures of these organizations from the cultures of the new enterprises. The stage of the
life cycle of the company can constitute an important factor rarely taken into
consideration. The economic situation of the company influences the organizational
culture by its restrictions and
economic facilities.
10. Group boundaries for inclusion or exclusion
In Indian corporate world the adoption of these instructions for establish group
boundaries
1. In small group, take some silence and start to build community in this group. (have fun)
2. Examine the Barriers Handout. Discuss barriers in group in an attempt to find the barrier if
someone would like to transform (let go of or improve) in his life. (have fun)
3. Share personal insights with each other. (have fun)
4. Select a barrier (or barriers) to present to the large group. This can be a common barrier or
each person may feel a need to present their individual barrier. (have fun)
5. Together as a group, decide how someone wishes to present the barrier(s) and their
transformation to the large group. This can be done in about any way you desire. Be creative.
Make it fun. It can be just a report, a song or group of songs, or a poster, but a skit is preferred.
Try to keep the your presentation to 10 minutes. You can use props. The transformation should
embody emptiness in some way. (Have fun)
6. There are a few rules about the presentation:
· Do not use any presentation that uses fire or smoke (fire detectors may go off and stop the
workshop.)
· Do not require participation by individuals in the large group.
· Be mindful of our differences and respect all differences .
Ask if there are any question and for only one person at a time to speak.
A boundary is often created for protection and should only be changed with considerable
thought. A boundary "rule" is one you have originated that defines what is good or bad for you.
A boundary may be a barrier to communication depending on what it is. Are you aware of any
boundary you have that is a barrier to meaningful communications? Are you aware of any
boundary that you want to change? How will you do that and how will you know if it is safe to
change?
Boundaries are accumulated during life for protection and become a learned method of existing.
11. Boundaries need to be changed slowly and may be replaced with another boundary that offers
more freedom until it becomes safe to "take the next step". Some people have few or almost no
boundries and this often gets them into trouble. An example of this is a person that regulary
offers far more information that is asked for by people they talk to. This becomes a turnoff to
others and may result in other avoiding you.
Distributing power and status
As hierarchy increases power becomes difficult to concentrate at the top and there can be
a distribution of power to lower managers. Decentralization can occur as lower level
managers assume decision-making, but to retain some degree of standard operational
procedures, the organization increasing relies on written policies and procedures. This
formalization of organizational rules helps to maintain order across the growing
organization and ensures conformity and continuity in practices.
Also, with growth organizations begin to divide the work into ordered units that perform
specialized work. Increased specialization of work into departments is termed
differentiation. The extent to which an organization is departmentalized, divisionalized,
and hierarchically layered characterizes the organization‟s complexity.
Increased organizational size has important implications for management: it can limit the
flexibility of individual work, affect how much authority can be delegated, and lead to an
emphasis on results rather than how the work is actually performed (because results are
easier to monitor).This changes the organization culture at large scale.
Developing norms of intimacy, friendship, and love
Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than
association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and
associations. Friendship and association can be thought of as spanning across the same
continuum. The study of friendship is included in the fields of sociology, social
psychology, anthropology, philosophy, and zoology. Various academic theories of
friendship have been proposed, among which are social exchange theory, equity theory,
relational dialectics, and attachment styles.Value that is found in friendships is often the
result of a friend demonstrating the following on a consistent basis adopted in the
corporate world:
12. The tendency to desire what is best for the other
Sympathy and empathy
Honesty, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth,
especially in terms of pointing out the perceived faults of one's counterpart
Mutual understanding and compassion; ability to go to each other for emotional support
Enjoyment of each other's company
Trust in one another
Positive reciprocity - a relationship is based on equal give and take between the two
parties.
The ability to be oneself, express one's feelings and make mistakes without fear of
judgement.
Rewards and punishments The consequences of behavior-what behavior is
rewarded and what is punished-can significantly influence culture. If the organization
reacts to new ideas by ridiculing the ideas and those who propose them, it won't take long
before people believe that new ideas are not welcomed or desired. One belief of
perceived organizational culture is reflected in the statement: "Don't raise questions or
suggest improvements, because nothing will come of it and you will just get in trouble."
If you were in an organization's strategic leader, what steps could you take to alter the
reward system to change this aspect of the culture? Employee motivation, positive
employee morale, rewards and recognition are explored in these resources. What creates
motivated, contributing people? How do you maintain high employee morale when
people work long hours? How does your reward and recognition system contribute to or
Every person has different reasons for working. The reasons for working are as individual
as the person. But, we all work because we obtain something that we need from work.
The something obtained from work impacts morale, employee motivation, and the quality
of life. To create positive employee motivation, treat employees as if they matter -
because employees matter. These ideas will help you fulfill what people want from work
and create employee motivation. Some companies offer rewards, incentives, and
promotions to employees
whose behavior supports the desired organizational culture. They believe
that these rewards encourage similar behavior in other employees and help
to perpetuate or change the culture. For example, 3M‟s promotion system
allows scientists and engineers to rise to high levels in the company
without becoming managers. This system allows them time to conduct
innovative research. The company also rewards employees who
recommend improvements in processes or innovative ideas for new
products.The company alsogives bonuses to production workers when a plant meets its
goals and up to 10 percent bonuses for salaried employees based on corporate success.
13. Each division receives 1 percent of its salaries for cash awards, which can amount to 8
percent of an employee‟s pay. In addition, to recognize exemplary contributions quickly,
employees are given thank you cards and dinner for two at a restaurant.
The founders and owners. In many cases, the founders create the philosophy of the
company and determine the basic values. The owners of the company can exert their influence
from more points of view: of the type of owner (natural and/or juridical persons); the number of
owners. When there are a reduced number of owners, their influence can be more profound
The environment (juridical, economic, cultural, technological).
The juridical environment can influence the organizational culture positively or negatively. When it
includes contradictory elements its influence upon the organizational culture is negative. The
economic environment of the company reflects the status of the national economy. Thus, the
economic crisis is also reflected at the organizational level. The individual who enter or are within
an organization of businesses are ‘impregnated’ with the values, beliefs,attitudes that come from
the national culture. The economic culture is derived from the national culture and presents
particularities for each country, which manifests upon other variables – owners, employees,
managers. The technique and technology used refer to the degree of technical endowment and
the type of technologies used, which have implications over the organizational culture. Thus, the
amplification of the degree of technical endowment of the companies has implications over the
content of the organizational
culture, after the reduction of the frequency and intensity of human contacts.
The working group. The working groups appear in organizations in different forms.
The working force is created by a formal authority, the organizations being networks of working
groups. The variables that determine the formation of the group can be delimitated into the
personal characteristics (personality, experience, training, attitudes), situational variables (the
tasks to fulfill, available space, the way of granting the awards – respectively the group as a
whole or the individual). Groups appear due to the need of affiliation, the necessity to reach the
goals, physical approach, and compatibility between the personalities, the attitudes and values of
the individuals. The nature of the group and the number of members affect the perceptions
regarding the nature of the organizational culture. Each employee brings into the organization
convictions, attitudes, behaviors, from whose intertwining results the organizational culture. The
implication regarding the mission of the group influences the cultural perceptions. At the same
time, the relationships within the group are decisive for the process of creation of the
organization’s culture. The general existent attitudes towards the risk and the existence of
conflict, the types of relationships of communication will have a considerable impact upon the
working group. They affect, at the same time, the amplitude of the innovation and organizational
creativeness. According these factors, the members of the organization will develop an
impression about ‘what kind of working place is that’.
Systems, Procedures, and Processes
Companies that are perpetuating or changing their cultures generally recognize that they
must make their systems, procedures, and processes compatible with their values and
beliefs. Motorola, for example, focuses on customer satisfaction by attempting to reduce
mistakes in its products and at the same time do its work faster. Its objective is to provide
customers “out-of-the-box” quality, on-time deliveries, and no early product failures. To
achieve this goal, Motorola established a standard measure of quality by the number of
defects found per unit. Each quarter, it reviews each division‟s level of quality in relation
to its quality goals. If a division does not meet the goals, the reviews are done monthly; if
the goals have still not been met, the reviews are done weekly. Federal Express believes
that customer satisfaction begins with employee satisfaction. Therefore, the company
14. developed systems, procedures, and processes to show that it values its employees. Among
these are a no-layoff policy, promotions from within, semiannual performance reviews to
help employees identify training needs and improve their skills, a program in which
employees may air perceived problems with higher-level management without fear of
repercussion, and employee ratings of managers.
Staff Changes
When employees do not support a culture change or do not help to perpetuate the values and
beliefs that a company believes are important some companies replace employees or change
their responsibilities. DuPont, for example, has provided generous incentives to employees
that agree to retire early. It has also appealed to some employees‟ sense of duty in asking
them to move from key management positions. DuPont values its employees, however, and
in making these changes takes care to avoid disrespect and humiliation for the individual.
Federal Express also reassigns employees or changes their responsibilities when it determines
that they are not suited for their positions. The company bases its determination on an annual
survey questionnaire that indicates whether employees are satisfied with their managers. On
the questionnaire, employees rate their managers, and if a manager receives low score and
does not improve, the company tries to find another position within the organization that more
closely fits the person‟s &ilk+. Because the company values its employees, it does not attach
a stigma to such a change.
Stories, Legends, and Myths
Some companies repeat success stories, legends, or myths to impress their values and beliefs on
employees. Corning, for example, distributed to its quality improvement teams worldwide a
notebook of stories on total quality successes. The company also includes stories related to the
value of quality in its total quality digest and in company and division newspapers. One story
exemplified the importance of viewing a product through the customer‟s eyes. On a tour
through a customer‟s plant, Corning employees were shown samples of a chipped and cracked
Corning product and a competitor‟s product that was in good condition. Corning was in danger
of losing the customer‟s business because of the poor quality of the product.Corning‟s plant
manager asked each plant employee for ideas to resolve the problem. Through teamwork, the
problem was resolved and the customer was retained. IBM also distributed a book of quality
success stories. In one story,employees had reduced the building, testing, and delivery time for
an airborne communications location system from 120 days to 45 days. Although IBM
accomplished this task as a special effort to support the Army during Operation Desert Shield,
many of the changes made to accomplish the reduction have since become standard procedures
and have thus increased the timeliness of operations. Finally, a famous story in Johnson &
Johnson-a company that values innovation-is about the firing of James Burke, who later
became the company‟s chairman of the board. Mr. Burke was tired by a former chairman,
General Johnson, for making a mistake. The following day, General Johnson rehired Mr. Burke
and publicly announced that what the company needed was people who made mistakes. The
point was that if people do not risk making mistakes in their efforts to be creative, nothing
Innovative would ever happen.
15. Company Heroes and Heroines
Some officials believe that a good technique to encourage people to support a company‟s
values and beliefs is to make heroes or heroines of exemplars of those values. Every quarter,
each division at Corning singles out employees who exemplify the company‟s beliefs and
values, particularly those related to quality. The division recognizes these employees‟
contributions in front of the other divisional members to make their efforts well known. In
addition, Corning includes in a quality milestone book pictures of team members who have
presented quality improvement success stories at the annual “quality milestone” event. Thus,
these employees become well known for their contributions throughout the organization. At
DuPont, the Vice President of the Materials, Logistics, and Services Division, which is leading
the company‟s effort to change its culture, presents a quality leadership award to employees
who have made important contributions to improving quality. DuPont believes that other
employees will emulate the employees whose accomplishments have been
Recognized, rewarded, and publicized
Hiring the Right
People Some companies attempt to recruit people who believe in or are willing to accept the
organizations‟ desired values and beliefs. The companies we visited, however, have not fully
developed processes and procedures to ensure success at this effort. Corning is moving toward
hiring people it believes will work well as team members and who are open and flexible by
having Corning team members participate in the hiring process. Some parts of the company also
test prospective employees to see if they will fit into the culture. Although Federal Express does
not try to determine if a prospective employee will fit into its culture in all respects, in the last 5
years, it has used tests to help predict whether an applicant will be successful at the work
expected. The company looks for people with the particular skills needed to perform or to learn
to perform a job. Academics and literature have discussed communications in the hiring process
as a means of modifying the attitudes of prospective employees. They note that it is important to
communicate realistically the organization‟s current and desired beliefs and values and both
positive and negative aspects of the job. They believe that this can help in attracting and
retaining employees who share the organization‟s desired beliefs.
Slogans
Some of the companies use slogans to symbolically communicate their desired values and beliefs.
For example, 3M believes slogans it has used, like “People count at 3M,” “ Innovation working
for you,” and “What won‟t they think of next,” have served as a means of communicating values
and making employees proud of the company they work for.
16. Reasons to change OC in Indian corporate world
Impact of changing education system
In today‟s changing world there are a lot of changes occur in the education system,
many of the students go to abroad for their higher studies ,many of the students are
placed in international companies and many foreign students joined Indian companies
,their basic education as well as higher studies impact the organization culture because
of the value ,beliefs formation while theireducation.
Impact of technology In recent times, technology has become an ever increasing
presence in the workplace and it is one of the hot topics among the business world. More
and more businesses, large and small, are trying to incorporate the latest technology into
their operations. This notion is evidenced by the fact that the popular business
publications now have technology sections, and information systems departments are
becoming critical components of most organizations. The scope of technology that an
organization can adopt or employ is vast, ranging from something seeming simple, such
as buying a personal computer with a word processor, to investing in the latest state-of-
the-art computer-aided manufacturing machinery. Regardless of the complexity of the
system or the size of the organization, one thing is certain - the incorporation of such
technology or information systems will accompany change. Purposely, I have not said
that they will cause change because the reverse is also true. Implementation of
technological systems can either act as a catalyst for change or be the means of achieving
a desired change. Regardless of the motivation, a properly integrated system ideally will
take into account the impact on the organization before it is put into place. This paper
will look at the relationship between technological advances/information technology and
change in an organization. It will also give some examples of how information
technology has been implemented in some specific cases in industries such as aerospace,
computers, oil and gas, railroad, and manufacturing.
The contribution of information technology and its impact on the organization is emphasized by
Nadler, who states "perhaps the largest single influence on organizational architecture and design
has been the evolution of information technology." Technology certainly has its place among the
key elements which shape an organization. The model used by Andersen consultants is typical
when it lists technology as an equal attribute, along with strategy, people, and business
processes. The interconnectivity of these elements should be obvious, for one cannot be changed
in a transformational sense without at least consideration of the others. While the formal
17. structure or arrangements within an organization will likely be affected by the arrival of new
technology, this does not have to be the case in all situations. A transformation can also occur
through the business changing the way it operates. More specifically, information technology can
be linked to changes in factors such as job design, physical layout or location, supervisory
relationships and autonomy, cooperation inside and outside the organization, and formation of
work teams.
One futuristic idea whose time has come is the notion of the virtual workplace. This concept is
based on the idea of employees being able to work independently as a result of having access to
information. One article proposes "the virtual workplace provides access to information you need
to do your job anytime, anyplace, anywhere. . . employees do not have to be tied to their offices
to do their jobs."(Jenner, p.16) The idea of not even having a set office space certainly would be
a change from the typical routine of showing up at the office from 9 to 5 (ideally) and
performing your work at your desk. Such a plan would obviously be dependent on the job to be
accomplished, but it is interesting to think of the supervisory implications. Such employees
would have the ultimate amount of autonomy and would have to be managed accordingly. Tasks
would have to be more objective or goal oriented and measures of job performance could no
longer depend on face to face interaction, but rather would have to be tied strictly on the ability
to complete assigned tasks.
The tasks that employees perform within an organization are being drastically affected by the
increased mechanization and application of technology as a part of the production process. In
many settings, tasks previously performed directly by human operators are being automated,
changing the human's task to one of supervisory control. Now the expectations of an average
employee in such an environment has to change, because they are no longer performing
repetitive tasks, but rather must be able to recognize and react to problem situations. Such
progress has to start somewhere, and in reality this movement towards robotics has its roots in
the theories of scientific management. Thus the changes in technology day by day changes the
culture in organizations.
Impact of changing expectations of employees
In an effective team culture, the concept of context is addressed. Team members understand why
they are participating on the team and how the team fits within their organization. In an effective
team culture, team members understand where the work of their team fits in the total context of
their organization‟s strategic plan and success goals.
18. When the organization culture supports teamwork, team members understand how the strategy of
using teams fits in the total context of their organization‟s strategic plan and success goals. Team
members understand why using teams will help their organization attain its business goals. In
fact, they understand the context of a team culture so well, they are convinced that teams are the
only way their organization will excel.
In a successful team culture, teams understand where their work fits in the total context of the
organization‟s mission, goals, principles, vision and values. Team members spend time defining
their team culture by agreeing upon team norms and expectations within the company‟s overall
team context.
Finally, team members understand that 20% of the problems they will experience as a team will
fall within the context of the task or mission the team is assigned to accomplish. The other 80%
of the problems will relate to their team culture and the processes team members establish and
commit to for interacting.
Impact of workload
There is comfort found in standing still. It is only natural that employees facing a drastic
organizational change wonder how that change will impact them on an individual level.
Improperly managed organizational change can create fear among the ranks, which impacts job
satisfaction, performance and productivity. Workers could lose confidence, fearing a loss of job
stability. They may also fear that changes will increase their workload or that they will not be
capable of learning how to use new technology. Organizations must combat these fears and
lessen the impact on employees.
19. The term "organizational culture" commonly is used to refer to the nature or personality of an
organization. A company may have a positive organizational culture, marked by open
communication and trust in organizational leadership, or it may have a negative culture in which
workers have little trust in their leaders. The effect of organizational change on employees often
depends on the culture of the organization. Additionally, a negative organizational culture has
the capability of hindering change, making necessary transitions more difficult for employees to
bear.
Effective change management is essential to streamlining the change process and reducing the
negative impact on employees. When organizational changes are properly managed, workers
perceive the benefits of a proposed change and accept the change. Workers benefit from properly
managed change in a variety of ways. For example, a technological update may offer employees
the opportunity to learn new skills. New technology can also increase job satisfaction by
reducing the workload.
Impact of changing aspirations of company’s customers
customer satisfaction and building long-term relationships is what your corporation strives to
achieve as part of its culture. Training employees to take the time to listen to a customer's
inquiries or concerns and resolving complaints to the satisfaction of both the customer and the
company is part of corporate culture for positive customer relations. The happier your customer,
the more likely she will make a recommendation to others which helps to boost your bottom line.
Customer service strategies can be effectively nothing more than a guideline in a corporate
annual report. Or, they can be visibly implemented for the customer to see. Implementing a
customer service strategy as part of a company's corporate culture is a step towards building
customer loyalty. It requires a commitment by company employees to satisfy the needs of
customers in its day-to-day operations. The effectiveness of the customer relations strategy is
critical in a competitive market.
A company's products and services change all year long. A company engaging in an annual
survey may not be keeping up with a customer's ever changing demands. Companies which
adopt the principle of continuous feedback on brand awareness as part of its corporate culture
keep its products fresh and customers satisfied promoting customer loyalty. Feedback tells the
customer that her opinions are important to the company in order for the company to do its best
to meet her needs.
Customers drive product innovation. Understanding your customer and his buying habits can be
the lifeblood of establishing the right products. Data from surveys and other client feedback is
only as effective as the data management system that the company is willing to adapt. It can help
to achieve accurate analysis for invaluable insight into a customer's needs and behaviors.
Adapting new technology to a company's business practices as part of a company's customer-
centric corporate culture is a tool to satisfy customers to stay competitive.
Organizations can impede profitability by not demonstrating willingness to welcome direct
customer input into its product development. Brainstorming at the corporate level can be
restrictive for a company in terms of innovation. Establishing customer innovation centers help
20. to give corporations an opportunity to team with customers to create product ideas and test
prototypes before it hits the market. Customers and corporations engaging in modern day
corporate culture are able to work together to break barriers of corporate boardroom product
development in the name of customer satisfaction.
21. Methods adopted to change the OC in India
EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
Committed and active participation of leadership organizational culture and leadership are
elements in a company that work in conjunction with one another toward organizational success.
Both culture and leadership influence how the company will function and what will be achieved.
Either culture will determine how leadership functions, or leadership will transform the
organizational culture so that the culture supports the organizational. Organizational Leaders
Organizational leaders influence how people within it will function and the course that the
organization will take, now and in the future. Leaders can be managers, supervisors, appointed
leaders or natural leaders. Regardless of their official capacity in an organization, they must
understand the organizational culture in order to motivate others to function in the manner that
they desire.
Appointed vs. Natural Leaders
Each organization has individuals who are appointed as leaders. There are also those
within the company who are natural leaders, who are sought out by workers for guidance
and support. These natural leaders can exist at all levels of the organization and greatly
influence the attitudes and values of the workers. Appointed leaders and/or managers
must be capable of identifying the natural leaders of the organization and working with
them to gain support so that organizational planning and functions will be successful.
Assigning a culture manager
Assigning a Culture Manager Some companies have assigned a person or group to facilitate their
culture change efforts. For example, Corning has a manager o corporate quality and a quality
council. Most have not, however, because company officials generally believe that many
employees should be involved in their culture change or perpetuation efforts. They consequently
rated assigning a culture manager as the least important of the techniques they use.
Top Management support
When a company is motivated to change its culture, strong top management leadership and a
display of commitment and support for desired beliefs and values are considered crucial to its
success. Senior officials must articulate and live by organizational values and beliefs to
demonstrate to employees that top management is committed to making permanent cultural
changes and is not merely paying lip service to them. Companies have used various means to
explain new values and beliefs and to motivate acceptance and internalization of them. For
example, top management officials often discuss the organizational values and beliefs in
meetings, internal publications and television networks, and videotapes. They also implement
employees‟ suggestions that support the organization‟s values and beliefs and reward them for
their accomplishments.
22. To achieve success, top management needs to ensure that all facets of the organization-reward
and promotion systems, the organizational structure and management style, training,
communications, symbolism, and systems, l procedures, and processes-reflect its values and
beliefs.
Training Training has been used as a very important tool for promoting and developing
skills related to an organization‟s beliefs and values. Corning, for example, has made
training the cornerstone of its efforts to change to a culture that places high value on
quality. Its goal is to devote 5 percent of the work year to training. Corning has trained all
its 26,000 employees in
quality awareness and is now training its employees in communications, problem solving,
statistics, interpersonal, group participation, and management skills to enable them to work in the
company‟s new total quality environment. Ford also places a high value on training as a tool to
instill in its employees its mission, values, and guiding principles. In training on technical,
human relations, and management skills, for example, Ford includes discussions and examples
emphasizing the importance of supporting its values and beliefs to achieve success.
A Statement of Values and Beliefs According to company officials, articulating
an organization‟s values and distributing a written statement of those values to employees
is an
Important technique. When Ford began to change its culture about 10 years ago, it developed a
written statement of its mission, values, and guiding principles. This statement was an important
step in Ford‟s efforts to change because Ford believes that its culture must flow from and be
Compatible with its mission and that its employees must clearly understand what its mission is.
Johnson & Johnson has had a written statement of its beliefs and values, called “Our Credo,”
since the mid-1940s. Over the years, the company has used this credo to guide its business
decisions. For example, when someone placed poison in several packages of one of the
company‟s premier products, the company offered full rebates to customers and destroyed all of
the product at a cost of $250 million, consistent with its credo, which states that “our first
responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use
our products and services.” The company took this step against the advice of every major
advertising company and one of the country‟s most respected business schools, which believed
that the company‟s product market share would never be regained. The company proved them
wrong,
Management Style Companies that are changing their culture often have to change
their Management style, sometimes drastically. When DuPont decided to change its
culture to achieve continuous improvement through its people, it began changing from an
authoritative to a participative management style. To make this change, DuPont has
begun to delegate authority to its employees and allow them to participate in the decision-
making process. For example, upon established problem discovery and problem solving
teams that include organizational members from the highest to the lowest levels of the
company. Because it is encouraging and empowering its employees to contribute fully to
the company‟s continuous improvement, DuPont Believes that it will be able to achieve
its vision of becoming a “great global company through people.”
23. In 198 1, Motorola also began changing to a participative management style after it began to
change its culture to emphasize quality. Although the company had been people-oriented for
years, it began to encourage and empower its employees to suggest better ways to do the work
and make decisions. Motorola believes that its employees are willing to risk suggesting
improvements that increase efficiency because of its policy not to lay off employees with 10 or
more years of service. The company believes that this change will help it to achieve its
fundamental objective of providing total customer satisfaction through the reduction of defects in
all its products and services to the very low rate of 3.4 per million. To empower its employees in
its cellular telephone business, Motorola made the following changes: Employees are now
responsible for quality because inspectors were removed. Employees can stop the production line
when they see problems in the quality of the products. Work teams make decisions and select
new team members when there are openings. Employees conduct reviews of their peers‟
performance and comment on supervisors‟ performance. Employees monitor their own
attendance at work.
Organizational Gatherings
Some companies use organizational gatherings to explain their values and beliefs to employees.
For example, at an annual “quality milestone” event, Corning‟s chairman of the board addresses
the employees on what quality means to the company, and several teams of workers give
presentations about quality improvements they have made. Ford and AT&T used what they call
“cascade” meetings to convey and discuss their values and beliefs. The results of meetings at the
highest level in the company are passed to employees at the organizational level directly below
until employees at the lowest level of the organization have been & informed. In this way, the
companies are assured that all employees are familiar with their values and beliefs.
Organizational Structure
When developing a culture or considering a culture change, a company generally selects an
organizational structure that will suit its desired culture. Federal Express has a more centralized
structure than some companies because of its focused mission to provide “totally reliable,
competitively superior global air-ground transportation of high priority goods and documents
that require rapid, time-certain delivery.” At the same time, Federal Express values and supports
its employees and has limited its organizational structure to five layers between the lowest level
employee and the chief executive officer. IBM has reduced the number of layers in its
organizational structure in support of its beliefs of respect for the individual, service to the
customer, and excellence in execution. This structure change allows more employees
to participate in decision-making and speeds the company‟s decision-making process.
Criteria for recruitment, selection, promotion, retirement and
excommunication.
One of the powerful ways of changing an organization's culture is through the type of people
brought into, retained, and advanced in the organization. You should be able to establish a
desired culture base in an organization by bringing in and advancing individuals with the values
you want, and eliminating those with undesired value bases.
24. That is what organizations are attempting when they propose tightening up admissions
standards to screen out undesirables. This strategy is consistent with the belief that the problems
experienced by the organization result from a few "bad apples" and do not reflect systemic
problems. However, if a strong culture bias exists, it may be too strong to be changed by
selection alone.
The military academies are organizations which change over one fourth of their membership
every year, which should provide an opportunity for changes to the organizational culture as new
members are brought in. The catch, however, is that the socialization of those new members rests
in the hands of those who are already part of the existing culture. How could the military
academies make systemic culture changes not negated by the socialization process new members
go through?
Work Stories Shape Culture
The tone and the content of your work stories are powerful forces in shaping and strengthening
your work culture. What your employees share with each other and talk about frequently
becomes imprinted on the organizational mind. Just like the little voice in your head talks to you
all day long, so the stories shared in the workplace form a substantial core of the employee
experience.
And, inspiring work stories are even more significant for new employees. New employees listen
to the work stories to learn about your culture and the work environment you provide for
employees. New employees use work stories to cultivate and create expectations around their
relationship with their new manager. What other employees tell you to expect and experience
powerfully frames your own experience.
New employees, especially, find their thinking imperceptibly influenced by the work stories.
Without awareness, they develop patterns of behavior and respond based on the expectations
formulated by the stories, oftentimes not by the reality.
So, given that employees tell stories; work stories affect and shape workplace culture, often
imperceptibly; and new employees are most influenced from day one by work stories that are
inspiring – or not, what‟s an employer to do? Can you stem the tide of employee negativity and
reinforce the inspiring components of the work stories your employees tell?
of the model added a feedback loop from receiver to sender. Nevertheless, the model suggested
Public relations excellence theory is grounded in a systems perspective .
25. Changes in organization culture of
Indian corporate
Environment
Honda will step up its effort to create better clean, fuel-efficient engine technologies and
improve further the recyclables throughout its product lines. Honda will also advance alternative
fuel technologies, including fuel cells. In addition, Honda will continue its efforts to minimize
environmental impact, as measured by the * Life Cycle Assessment, in all of its business fields,
including logistics and sales. In its production activities, Honda will promote environmental
preservation issues under its Green Factory concept.
Continuing to Increase Society‟s Trust in and Understanding towards Honda
In addition to continuing to provide products incorporating Honda‟s advanced safety and
environmental technologies, Honda will continue striving to earn even more trust and
understanding from society by, among other things, undertaking activities for corporate
governance, compliance, and risk management and contributing to society.
Through these Company-wide activities, we will strive to materialize Honda‟s visions of “value
creation,” “globalization,” and “commitment to the future,” with the aim of sharing the joy with
Honda‟s customers, thus becoming a company that society wants to exist.
About Honda’s organization culture
Existing over the years, Honda has gained prominence in the global community through
ceaseless innovation and a commitment to servicing the needs of society. Honda's unique
corporate culture and groundbreaking approach to developing new technologies enable the
organisation to develop exciting new products that provide freedom of movement for people
around the world. With responsibility to the environment, a commitment to local markets, and
respect for people as its guiding principles, Honda aims to contribute to an increasingly mobile
society characterised by quality of life, comfort and convenience
As a responsible member of society whose task lies in the preservation of the global
environment, the company will make every effort to contribute to human health and the
preservation of the global environment in each phase of its corporate activity. Only in this way
will we be able to count on a successful future not only for our company, but for the entire
world."
Country specific data is also there in the various sections. E.g. Tsunami relief in India under
Humanitarian
India: Candidates engaged in hands on practice session at the sewing tailoring workshop
26. In order to help local rural people, especially women, Hero Honda has set up a Vocational
Training Centre. So far 26 batches comprising of nearly 625 women have been trained in
tailoring, embroidery and knitting. The Company has helped women trained at this center to set
up a production unit to stitch uniforms for Hero Honda employees. Interestingly, most of the
women are now self-employed.
With support from Honda Motor India Pvt Ltd. and the Indian Institutes of Technology, in 2007
the Honda Foundation launched the Honda Young Engineer and Scientist's Award (YES
Award)in India. The YES Awards are intended to recognize outstanding students who will
become trailblazers in ecotechnology. All recipients will be eligible for additional funds to
continue their research as professional interns or graduate students in Japan.
27. Effects by changing the organization
culture
The culture. Performance relationship The discussion so far has been dealing primarily with identifying
various ways of thinking about the relevance of the culture concept for corporate performances. Critique
against promises of using culture as a means for corporate goals have been raised. Much interest has
nevertheless been given to effects on performance of the ‘right’ or strong enough corporate culture. There
is a lot of writing and talk about this but also a few systematic empirical studies. Let us now turn to
empirical investigations of culture–performance relationships. The effects of organizational culture on
performance There are four views on the relationship between organizational culture on performance:
1 Perhaps the most common one is the so-called strong-culture thesis. It has often been assumed that
commitment of an organization’s employees and managers to the same set of values, beliefs and norms
will have positive results – that the ‘strength’ of ‘corporate culture’ is directly correlated with the level of
profits in a company (e.g. Denison, 1984). Researchers adopting this hypothesis tend to place new kinds
of human relations (involving employees in decision-making, allowing them some discretion, developing
holistic relations, etc.) at the core of organizational culture (e.g. Peters and Waterman, 1982; Ouchi,
1981). It is frequently argued that a distinct organizational culture contributes to performance through
facilitating goal alignment – a common culture makes it easier to agree upon goals as well as appropriate
means for attaining them. There are also positive effects on motivation – a shared culture encourages
people to identify with the organization and feel belongingness and responsibility for it, it is assumed
(Brown, 1995).
2 There are also, however, researchers that suggest the reverse relationship between culture and
performance: that high performance leads to the creation of a ‘strong’ corporate culture (cultural
homogeneity). It is possible that success brings about a common set of orientations, beliefs and values. A
particular workplace spirit may develop and there may be little incentive or encouragement to question
‘ways of doing things’, thus forming broad consensus andpossibly conformism. This culture may be more
than just a by-product of high performances: values and meanings may reproduce a successful
organization and thus contribute to performances. It may also be a source of conservatisand a liability in
situations calling for radical change.
3 Another idea draws upon contingency thinking to suggest that under certain conditions a particular type
of culture is appropriate, even necessary, and contributes to efficiency. Wilkins and Ouchi (1983), for
example, consider culture an important regulatory mechanism in organizational settings too complex and
ambiguous to be controlled by traditional means (bureaucracy and the market).In corporate situations
where these means of regulation function well, corporate control as a distinct form is less significant.
4 Still another version says that ‘adaptive cultures’ are the key to good performance, i.e. cultures that are
able to respond to changes in the environment. Such cultures are characterized by people willing to take
risk, trust each other, are proactive, work together to identify problems and opportunities, etc. It may be
tempting to say that ‘adaptive cultures’ are self-evidently superior. There easily enters an element of
tautology here: ‘adaptive’ implying successful adaption and this is per definition good for business. But as
Brown (1995) remarks, there are organizations that are relatively stable and fit with a relatively stable
environment, and risk-taking and innovation are not necessarily successful. Too much change can lead to
instability, low cost-efficiency, risky projects and a loss of sense of direction.
28. Culture spans the range of management thinking and organizational culture has been one of the
most enduring buzzwords of popular management. Why? Organizational culture is apparently
unifying and this strongly appeals to management‟s concern with projecting an image of the
organization as a community of interests. Perhaps most importantly culture penetrates to the
essence of an organization – it almost analogous with the concept of personality in relation to the
individual and this acute sense of what an organization is – its mission, core values – seems to
have become a necessary asset of the modern company. There is the vexed question of whether
or not organizational culture can be managed. Academics interested in understanding and
analyzing culture tend to say no. On the other hand for facing too much competition in
globalization, there is a need to change the organization culture oveall.By changing the culture in
organizations, companies able to get effective feedback from employees.
