This document discusses social systems and organizational culture. It defines a social system as a complex set of interacting human relationships where all parts are interdependent. It examines how social cultures impact organizations and the roles and conflicts that can arise. It also explains that strong organizational cultures tend to outperform peers and discusses measuring and changing organizational culture.

1. Social System and
Organizational Culture
Human Behavior and Organization Class
Prof. Melvin Vitug Moraga

2. Lecture Objectives
1 2 3
Understand the
operation of a
social system
Examine social
cultures and
their impact
Discuss the role
and role conflict
in organizations
4
Explain
organizational
culture and its
effect

3. Research
reveals that
strong
cultures tend
to outperform
their peers.

4. What is a Social System?
complex set of interacting
human relationships
all parts are mutually
interdependent
engages in exchanges with
its environment (open system)

5. Social Equilibrium
When all interdependent parts are in
dynamic working balance
† a single event can throw a system out of
balance
† when in disequilibrium, the parts work
against each other
† over time, the basic character changes
little

6. American
automobile
manufacturers
† design
† quality
† cost
International
automakers
† Toyota
† Honda
† Mazda
† Nissan
Cross-functional
Teams
problem: product design, factory engineering, sales and marketting
† Speeding product dev’t
† Cost reduction by 20%
result: more productive equilibrium

7. Functional and Dysfunctional Effects
Functional effects…
† creativity
† productive employees
† quality improvements
To elicit functional
behaviors, provide
clear expectations
and promises of
reward

8. Functional and Dysfunctional
Effects (cont’n)
Dysfunctional effects…
† lower productivity (hard)
† lower satisfaction (soft)
† lower commitment (soft)

9. Psychological and Economic Contracts

10. Psychological and Economic Contracts
(cont’n)
The psychological contract builds upon
the concept of exchange theory
† to remain attracted to the relationship,
both parties must have a net positive ratio
† the contract is continually examined
and revised

11. Social Culture
Acting in accordance with the expectations
of others
† human-created beliefs, customs,
knowledge, and practices
† distinctive social cultures can exist
within a single nation

12. Social Culture (cont’n)
Managers must understand and
appreciate the backgrounds and
beliefs of work unit members
† one-culture dependency may
create intellectual blinders

13. Cultural Diversity
Job-related
diversity
Non-Job-
Related
diversity
† Type of work
† Rank
† Physical proximity
† Group affiliation
† Culture
† Ethnicity
† Socio-economics
† Sex

14. Cultural Diversity (cont’n)
Discrimination and Prejudice
† Discrimination is generally an action
† Prejudice is an attitude
† Either may exist without the other
The law prohibits…
† Actions, not feelings
† Any action that has discriminatory results,
regardless of intentions

15. Cultural Diversity (cont’n)
Valuing Diversity
† Prejudicial stereotypes
† Differences must be recognized,
acknowledged, appreciated, and used to
collective advantage

16. Cultural Diversity (cont’n)
Valuing Diversity
† Organizations are under political,
economic, social, and technical pressures
to change
† Actively managing diversity provides a
competitive advantage

17. Social Cultural Values
The Work Ethic
† Group differences
† Gradual decline
Social Responsibility
† Costs and benefits
† Strive for balance
† Social, economic, and technical values

18. Role
A pattern of expected
actions
† Facilitates interaction
† Multiple roles

19. Role Perceptions

20. Mentors
A role model who guides another employee
† Stronger employee loyalty
† Faster movement up learning
curve
† Better succession planning
† Increased accomplishments
† Gradual decline

21. Mentors (cont’n)
Assigning mentors can result in…
† Resentment
† Abuse of power
† Unwillingness to serve

22. Role Conflict
Others have different perceptions or
expectations of a person’s role
† Boundary roles
† Role ambiguity

23. S t a t u s
Social rank of a person in a group
† status systems
† status anxiety
† status deprivation
† status relationships
† status symbols

24. Sources of Job Status

25. Status (cont’n)
Significance of status
† Influences transfers and jobs employees
take
† Helps determine informal leaders
† Motivates those seeking to advance
† Some societal backlash

26. Organizational Culture
Complex social system of laws, values,
customs
† Behavior = Interaction between personal
characteristics and the environment
† Shared norms

27. Organizational Culture (cont’n)
Benefits of Organizational Culture
† Provides organizational identity
† Source of stability, continuity, security
† Provides context
† Typically identifies and rewards high-
producing and creative individuals (role
models)

28. Organizational Culture (cont’n)
Benefits of Organizational Culture
† Provides organizational identity
† Source of stability, continuity, security
† Provides context
† Typically identifies and rewards high-
producing and creative individuals (role
models)

29. Characteristics of Organizational
Culture (cont’n)
distinctive stable implicit
symbolic integrated
reflection
of top
management
subcultures
varying
strength
No single type of culture is best

30. Measuring Organizational Culture
Difficult at best..
† Examination of stories, symbols, rituals,
and ceremonies
† Interviews and open-ended questionnaires
† Examination of corporate philosophy
statements
† Become a member of the organization and
observe

31. Communicating and Changing Culture
Difficult at best..
† Formal communication channels
† Informal means
† Unintentional ways
† Storytelling

32. Communicating and Changing Culture
People are more willing to adapt and learn
when they want to…
† Please others
† Gain approval
† Learn about their work environment

33. Case: The Kaisa Construction Company
Kaisa Construction company is a small company in Manila. Over half its revenue is
derived from the installation of underground water and power line, so much of its
workers is seasonal and turnover among its employees is high.
Federico Marasigan, a college student, had been employed by Kaisa as a backhoe
operator for the last three summers. On his return to work for the fourth summer,
Marasigan was assigned the second newest of the company’s five backhoes. The
owener reasoned that Marasigan had nine months of work seniority, so according to
strict seniority, he should have the second backhoe. The action required the present
operator of the backhoe, Pedro Manansala, a regular employee who had been with
the company seven months, to be reassigned to an older machine. Manansala was
strongly dissatisfied with this; he felt that as a regular employee he should have
retained the newer machine instead of having to give it to a temporary employee.
The other employee soon fell into camps, one supporting Manansala and one
supporting Marasigan. Job conflict arose, and each group seemed to deligth in causing
work problems for the other group. In less thant a month Manansala left the company.
QUESTIONS:
1. Discuss this case in terms of the social system, equilibrium, the
psychological contract, role , status, and status symbols.