Organization As a social system and culture, Social System is a complex set of human relationships interacting in many ways.

1. ORGANIZATION AS A
SOCIAL SYSTEM AND
CULTURE

2. Social System
 Social System is a complex set of human
relationships interacting in many ways.
 With in Organization
 With in Department
 With in Portion of building of organization

3.  All Organization consists of many subsystems
(small groups) and they are mutually
interdependent. If there is change at any step
it will change to all.

4. Major Ideas of Social System
 Social Equilibrium
Social equilibrium is situation in
which a system is in a dynamic
working balance among all
interdependent subsystem

5. Functional and Dysfunctional
 Favorable VS unfavorable

6. Psychological & Technological
Impact

7. Who is an employee
 Means role conflict

8. Role VS Set

9. Organizational Culture
 Institutionalization: A forerunner of culture
 When an organization takes on a life of its own, apart from
any of its members, becomes valued for itself, and acquires
immortality
 Organizational Culture
 A common perception held by the organization’s
members; a system of shared meaning
 Seven primary characteristics
1. Innovation and risk taking
2. Attention to detail
3. Outcome orientation
4. People orientation
5. Team orientation
6. Aggressiveness
7. Stability
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10. Do Organizations Have Uniform
Cultures?
 Culture is a descriptive term: it may act as a substitute for
formalization
 Dominant Culture
 Expresses the core values that are shared by a majority of the
organization’s members
 Subcultures
 Minicultures within an organization, typically defined by department
designations and geographical separation
 Core Values
 The primary or dominant values that are accepted throughout the
organization
 Strong Culture
 A culture in which the core values are intensely held and widely shared
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11. What Do Cultures Do?
 Culture’s Functions
1. Defines the boundary between one organization and
others
2. Conveys a sense of identity for its members
3. Facilitates the generation of commitment to
something larger than self-interest
4. Enhances the stability of the social system
5. Serves as a sense-making and control mechanism
for fitting employees in the organization
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12. Culture as a Liability
 Barrier to change
 Occurs when culture’s values are not aligned with the
values necessary for rapid change
 Barrier to diversity
 Strong cultures put considerable pressure on
employees to conform, which may lead to
institutionalized bias
 Barrier to acquisitions and mergers
 Incompatible cultures can destroy an otherwise
successful merger
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13. How Culture Begins
 Stems from the actions of the founders:
 Founders hire and keep only employees who think and
feel the same way they do.
 Founders indoctrinate and socialize these employees
to their way of thinking and feeling.
 The founders’ own behavior acts as a role model that
encourages employees to identify with them and
thereby internalize their beliefs, values, and
assumptions.
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14. Keeping Culture Alive
 Selection
 Concerned with how well the candidates will fit into
the organization
 Provides information to candidates about the
organization
 Top Management
 Senior executives help establish behavioral norms that
are adopted by the organization
 Socialization
 The process that helps new employees adapt to the
organization’s culture
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15. Stages in the Socialization Process
 Prearrival
 The period of learning prior to a new employee
joining the organization
 Encounter
 When the new employee sees what the
organization is really like and confronts the
possibility that expectations and reality may
diverge
 Metamorphosis
 When the new employee changes and adjusts to
the work, work group, and organization
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16. Socialization Program Options
 Choose the appropriate alternatives:
 Formal versus Informal
 Individual versus Collective
 Fixed versus Variable
 Serial versus Random
 Investiture versus Divestiture
 Socialization Outcomes:
 Higher productivity
 Greater commitment
 Lower turnover
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17. How Employees Learn Culture
 Stories
 Anchor the present into the past and provide explanations and
legitimacy for current practices
 Rituals
 Repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the
key values of the organization
 Material Symbols
 Acceptable attire, office size, opulence of the office furnishings,
and executive perks that convey to employees who is important
in the organization
 Language
 Jargon and special ways of expressing one’s self to indicate
membership in the organization
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18. Creating an Ethical Organizational Culture
 Characteristics of Organizations that Develop High
Ethical Standards
 High tolerance for risk
 Low to moderate in aggressiveness
 Focus on means as well as outcomes
 Managerial Practices Promoting an Ethical Culture
 Being a visible role model
 Communicating ethical expectations
 Providing ethical training
 Rewarding ethical acts and punishing unethical ones
 Providing protective mechanisms
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19. Creating a Positive Organizational
Culture
 Positive Organizational Culture
 A culture that:
 Builds on employee strengths
 Focus is on discovering, sharing, and building on the strengths of
individual employees
 Rewards more than it punishes
 Articulating praise and “catching employees doing something
right”
 Emphasizes individual vitality and growth
 Helping employees learn and grow in their jobs and careers
 Limits of Positive Culture:
 May not work for all organizations or everyone within
them
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20. Spirituality and Organizational
Culture
 Workplace Spirituality
 The recognition that people have an inner life that
nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that
takes place in the context of the community
 NOT about organized religious practices
 People seek to find meaning and purpose in their
work.
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21. Why Spirituality Now?
 As a counterbalance to the pressures and stress of a
turbulent pace of life and the lack of community many
people feel and their increased need for involvement and
connection.
 Formalized religion hasn’t worked for many people.
 Job demands have made the workplace dominant in many
people’s lives, yet they continue to question the meaning
of work.
 The desire to integrate personal life values with one’s
professional life.
 An increasing number of people are finding that the
pursuit of more material acquisitions leaves them
unfulfilled.
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