Organisation Culture

Key concepts :

a) organization culture
b) dominant culture
c) strong culture
d) cultural  dimensions
d) cultural artefacts
e) ways to strengthen/cjhange org. culture.


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Focus on :

a) cultural dimensions
b) cultural artefacts.
c) ways to strengthen/change org culture.

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We know that having a well designed organisation structure alone (last lesson) is not good enough for a company to performance at peak.

The company also need to have a strong culture.

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So what is organisation culture ?.

•Organzational culture — basic pattern of shared values & assumptions governing way employees within an organisation think about and act on problems and opportunities. ( Key word : shared values/assumptions)

•Dominant culture is the core values widely shared by organization’s members and gives an organisation its distinct personality. (Example: PBL approach pedagogy is a dominant culture of Republic Polytechnic)

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•A Strong culture exists when an organization’s core values are both intensely held and widely shared. (Example : Singapore Airlines core value of Service Over and Above the Rest [SOAR] is a strong culture) As such, a strong culture has a great influence on the behavior of its members because it acts as:soical glue.

Social glue - ie keep the employees together, shared values, proud to be working for the company.

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Dominant culture : the culture the organization wants to convey to the employees.
Strong culture : the employees believe and practice the org. culture - ways/values/believe.


Eg : in an organisation that market eco friendly product/services :

if the culture is dominant, the employees understand what is eco friendly etc.

if the culture is strong the employees practise eco friendly habits/values/behaviour at work - eg : they bring their own cups for coffee and don't use disposal, they separate their garbage for recycling, the manager don't drive, they cycle/walk or take public transport to office.

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Organisation cultural dimension :

describe the different aspects of an organisation culture, the summation form the company organisation culture.




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Note : Innvonation +risk taking : ie does the company encourage their employees to come up with innovative ideas/ways to solve problems/handle customers enquiries or reward those who do things in the same/standard way (ie low innovative culture.)


Note : stability : ie does the company prefer not to have many changes in the process, ways of doing things etc (stable) or encourage employees to make changes in the way they work, deal with customers etc.
Most IT companies has low stability because they faced dynamic environment.


Note : A company with aggressive org. culture, employees are encourage to compete with each other - for sales, for resources etc.

Agresiveness IS NOT how aggressive the company is in marketing their product/services.

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What is artefacts ?.

Organisation culture is invisible and intangible.

Thus, it manifest (ie show itself) through artefacts (tangible things).

Artefacts show/indicate the type of org. culture.

Artefacts can also be used to inculcate/aligned organisation culture.



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DIFFERENT TYPE OF ARTEFACTS :

a) Physical structure
b) Symbols
c) Organisation language
d) Stories and legend
e) Ritual
f) Ceremonies.

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a) Physical structure.

physical things - building, colour of building, table , chair, office layout etc.

EXAMPLE : a company that has an innovative culture or want to encourage innovative employees may have very informal office chair/tables, open layout, no room office.

b) SYMBOLS - logo, color, mascot display the organisation culture

check out the logo for different kind of company - check out government office logo (very formal, stiff, stable) vs private company like Apple, Facebook (informal, risk taking etc.)


c) ORGANISATION LANGUAGE.

the language used internally by employees, usually only understood by those who work in the company. it also form a sort of short cut (eg in RP, UT means examination, online, 45-60 minutes) Those who are not in RP will not undertand the word/language used.

Staff feel closer/"understand" each other through this language, which then act as social glue.


Note in social setting : teens often have their own words/phrase(language) that their parents will not understand. eg : LOL, emo.......


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d) STORIES/LEGENDS.

usually of how the company was founded, or stories of senior management achievement etc are used to convey the org. values.

Famous stories : Steve Job/Bill Gates are college drop out. Hewlett Packard started their business in their parent garage.

values/org.culture conveyed ? - risk taking. (ie they did not finish formal education.)


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E) RITUALS.

regularly/daily/prescribed way of doing things unique to the organisation.

eg : weekly/monthly department lunch with manager.
coffee break where everyone bring their own food to share (could be a ritual).


F) CEREMONIES.

usual formal event, organised  for specific purpose/function, NOT frequent.

eg: award ceremony, installation ceremonies (eg : new CEO/new manager), annual dinner and dance.

usually speech/awards are given out to reward the type of behaviour the company wants to inculculate/encourage.


Note: if your org culture is to encourage/support inovation/risk taking, the the company may give award for most creative employee, most innovative ideas from employees etc.

the ceremonies and the award served to encourage innovation and risk taking in employees and this become a shared value in the organisation.


   
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STRATEGY to change or strengthen culture . (see 6P, slide 22)

 

What this slide show is 4 different ways that can be use to change or strengthen the org. culture.

Eg : action/behaviour of founder/leader : Richard Branson believe in a strong risk taking culture and often take part in antics. eg : once he dressed up as a stewardess for Virgin Airline.

Aligning artefacts : eg : if we want to develop a org culture of stability, we can align physical strucutres eg our tables/chairs/furnitures to be formal and use the same the design/model for years after years.

 

Power

KEY CONCEPTS.


1) Sources of power.

2) Influencing techniques

3) Contingencies of power.


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As a manager, why learn about power?.

- learn how to influence our staff behavour/goals/belief so they will do what need to be done to achieve organizational goals.


================POWER - CAPACITY to change others' behaviour.

INFLUENCE - ATTEMPT to change behaviour.


SOURCES (TYPES) OF POWER.


- 2 types : positional or personal.

1) Positional Power (ie power that comes from the job/position you are in.)

a) legitimate power. (power bestowed in the position)
b) reward power. (the power to give reward to influence behaviour/motivate people)
c) coercive power (the power to punish)


2) Personal Power (ie power arising from your character/personality/skill/talent).

a) Referent power ( power comes from the person charisma, character, talent etc)

b) Expert power ( power comes from the person's expertise, ie when we are expert in some field, others look toward us for advise, teaching, coaching to get what we want and therefore we have power over them. ie they will listen to us/follow our instruction etc.)
EXAMPLE : if you are very good in playing on line game (because instead of doing worksheet, do research, you play and practise online games during lesson or study break period), your classmates who love to play the same online games will see you "up", ask you for tips etc etc. By the nature of it, if you ask them to buy you a drink, they will. (this is raw and abuse of your expert power.)

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So? : you know about power, so what?

- then think of how to increase your power (so that you can have greater influence).
- with greater influence, you can get more things done.

greater power, greater influence.

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INFLUENCING TECHNIQUES.

With power, we can influence staff behaviour.

Know which influencing techniques goes best with which power.


Legitimating technqiue ==> legitimate power.

Pressuring technique ==> coercive power

exchange technique ===> reward power.

Ingratiation (get the person in a good mood) ===> referent power/legitimate power

Rational technique ==> expert power.

Coalition building (get a third party help) ==>; expert/referent power.



see 6P slide 9 and 10 (influence technique)



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CONTINGENCIES OF POWER.

the power we have is dependent on a few factors.

a) SUBSTITUTABILITY - substitution.

the less we can be "substitute", the more power we have.

EXAMPLE :
if we are the only one who can make decision (eg grant leave, pay rise etc) we have greater power.

if beside us, there are other managers who can decide on the same issues, we have less power. (because if the staff cannot get you to approve, they can go to the other managers.)

YOu can increase your power example, by increasing your expert power, so you are not easily replaced/substitue.




B) CENTRALITY (central).

how many people are dependent on you (for direction, instructions, advise etc etc).

the more people depend on you, the more power you have.

In small companies, usually the boss have high centrality power.

The Principal has high centrality power, many decision are dependent on his approval.

The student has low centrality power (Or almost zero).


You can increase your power, by making sure many people report to you.



C) DISCRETION
freedom to make decision without having to refer to another source of power or authority.

EXAMPLE : if you , as manager is able to make many decisions (eg who to go for training, or to go for the free company trip etc) without having to refer to your superior, you have greater power, because you have greater discretional decision making power.

if you have to get permission for everything your staff asked for, you have less power.
eg : you have to ask your superior if you can allow your staff to leave early (from work) or to go to toilet (joking lah), you have less power.

You can increase your power by negotiating with your boss to allow you room to make decision without refering to him. You need to gain his confidence to do so.



D) VISIBILITY.

seen by others, staff, staff know who you are etc.

eg : A manager that constantly go around to meet his/her staff , will have higher visibility and therefore greater power.

The more visible a singer/band is (to his/her fans), the more power he/she has over the fan.

Change Management

KEY CONCEPTS.

a) driving force
b) restraining force
c) sources of resistance
d) strategy to reduce resistance.

Focus on sources of resistance and srategy to reduce resistance to change.


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As a manager, why learn about change management ?.

- learn how to manage changes in organization so that organizational goals can be achieved.

As a manager/leader, to manage change, we need to know if the situation at work
will support change (ie is driving forces greater than restraining forces),
if not prepare for change (identify the sources of resistance that causes restraining force to increase.)
then make the change.



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Is the situation ready ? : Lewin : field force analysis. Example.


(if you can't read, refer to : http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_06.htm)

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Driving forces: factors/situation/events/things/demographic etc which force change to take place.

EXAMPLE :

- change in demographic : Singapore population is ageing very fast, the facilities (eg bus need to be changed to allow older people to board and disembark. (Yes, I saw this when I was in Australia. Bus driver driver can't speed off from each bus stop.)

- customer wants smartphones - if a phone manufacturer does not make smartphones model, it will ????? close down lah.

Restraining force: factors/sitatuation/events/things/people/government etc which prevent changes, oppose changes, do not support changes to take place.

EXAMPLE :

A company wants to expand or ramp up production (change), but can't find skilled workers (restraining force.)

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WHAT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RESTRAINING FORCE AND RESISTANCE ?.

Restraining force : can be due to NON PEOPLE : situation, govt policy etc or PEOPLE.

Resistance : arises from people, people behaviour. Why people resist change ? - fundamentally, when they don't benefit from the change, they will not support it.

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6 sources of resistance (arise from people/system structure) :

.1) Saving face

. 2) Direct cost.

. 3) Fear of unknown
4) Incongruent Team Dynamic

5) Incongruent Organisation system
6) Breaking routines

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6 sources of resistance (arise from people/system structure) : Elaboration.

1. a) Saving face

EXAMPLE : Ah Long has just graduated and gotten a job as event executive (through his uncle's friend contact.) Ah Long reports to Ah Short, the manager with 10 years experience.

 Ah Long is new and excited and immediately suggest to Ah Short to make changes to the ways events are communicated to staff via facebook instead of phone call.

Good idea, will save the company tons of money/time.

Ah Ah Short refuse to implement the change because the owner might think he is incompetent, not creative and resist the request to change.

thThis is called "saving face" .

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2. b) Direct cost.

  When is change is made and the staff welfare (cost) etc is impacted negatively eg : lower commission, lower pay, longer working hours etc. The staff will not support the change.

Example :

In your company, the management has been promoting staff based on seniority and qualification.
Mr X has been working in the company for 20 years now and due for a promotion (and a big fat pay raise.)

A new hotshot  manager, Mr Y came in (graduated from Republic Poly) and decide that staff will now be promoted based on performance and qualification.

Mr X  will be affected because he has been social loafing at work (and thus did not perform) and did not graduate from poly.( because he was social loafing during projects and presentation).

Mr X will not receive a promotion (direct cost) and no pay raise (direct cost).

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33) Fear of unknown (key word : don' know what will happen.)

 When there is change and the staff does not know what will happen to them /their work/their colleagues etc.

  Example.

v  Student Z is used to presenting in meeting 3. He will come in at 1.45pm,  bullied his team mates to give him one slide to present, usually he present the content slide or the problem summary slide.
  The stand in faci announced that the team will switch presentation. Also, the slide to be presented will be randomly selected based on a random generator app.
   Student X is unhappy with the change because he doesn't know how he will be graded and if he will still grade his usual grade of A, He doesnt know if he can present as well as in previous lessons.


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4 4) Incongruent (not aligned) TEAM Dynamics.

R  Resistance arise from change in the team dynamic.

eg the change proposed may force the team to break up, or include new team members or change the way the team has been working (ie the norm). So the people affected will resist.

   Example : 
  You have been going out for lunch with your colleagues together (norm). Everyone gets along well.

T The new manager joined and set up a new rule that during lunch hours, the service counter must be maintained by at least 2 staff.
 Now you and your colleagues cannot lunch together a group, as 2 of you need to man the service counter.  You and your colleagues may resist the change to the norm.

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55) Incongruent Organisation systems :

   When change is made to system like career path, rewards, power, communication system, influence etc. and the people are affected, they will resist. 


   EXAMPLE 1 :

I Currently, you are an IT development manager at A1 mobile app company.
   Your team is rewarded based on the number of apps developed by the team in a year.

  The new manager studied about social loafing and he wanted reward the staff based on individual effort.
   However,  the mobile apps are still developed based on team effort, as the apps are complex and unlikely one person can do the full app development.

  The staff are unhappy with the change,  because there is congruency in the system. Staff have to work together as a team but is rewarded individually.

6 6) Breaking routines.

   Human are habitual creatures. When the habit they have formed over times or are comfortable with will be changed/broken, they don't like it and will resist.

    Example :

S Supposed you work part time at an Starbucks, and have been assigned permanently on weeknights. The new manager wants to change your shift to weekend. You may resist it, because it is breaking your routines of sleeping in on weekends.

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STRATEGIES to reduce resistance to change.

6 strategies to reduce resistance to change (and therefore weakening restraining force) : (in order of preference).

1. a) Communication :

c communicate the change needed, why the change is needed, how it will benefit the staff and persuade them to change along.

co

b) Learning
Provide staff with training so that they can be comfortable with the change (in process, system, operating new equipment etc).

3. c) Employee involvement.

Ge Get employee involved in discussing about change, suggestion for the change or lead the change in some ways. When people feel  they are consulted, they are more supportive of the change.

4. d) Stress management

W When the change causes stress, help employees to manage the stress, learn how to destress etc.

5. e) Negotiation

Ne Negotiate with the staff on the change, what to change, how to change, when to change.

e Example : when to change : ie the time frame and schedule so they can be comfortable, maybe the change can be slow down or done in phases etc.

6. f f) Coercion

f Force the change (based on legitimate/coercive power) Or threaten with punishment etc.

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How can you recognize resistance to change. ie the behaviour of the people who resist change :

Exit

- they quit if they re not happy or can accept the change.

Voice

- some will voice out their resistance.

Loyalty

- some just tag along and hope for the best.

Neglect

- some silently protest, do their job grugdlingly or does not performance to par.

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Philosophically :

GOOD to know. (Not related to UT.)

Change is the only constant.

Nothing is permanent.

Even things we perceived as permanent, change with time.

The shoreline seems the same, but it changes with each wave.

You think you are the same, but every second cells are growing and dying and being replaced. Research seems to indicate that our body cells are replaced every 7 days.

Gandhi said : "If you want to change the world, change yourself."

CHANGE yourself, before you are changed !.

Team Development

1) What makes a team effective?.

2) Tuckman's Model of team.

3) Conflicts within a team.
 
4) what are the factors that increase team cohesion?

4) When to form a team (to work on a project) or as an individual (to work on a project).

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Focus on :

a) Tuckman's model of team development, know the characteristics.
b) Factors to increase team cohesion.


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An effective team has (ingredients):


- right people

- right/ good relationship among team members

- right/clear roles and processes.


An effective team (outcome) :

a) achieve team/organisational goal
b) team members are satisfied and happy with their team relationship
c) team is cohesive.

To be effective, team need

a) resources (eg training, equipment, space to experiment etc)
b) support from the organisation it is part of. (management agrees to goals, provide financial support, equpment support, leadership support.)

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An effective team has (ingredients):


- right people

- people with good mix of personalities/skill/exprience/complementary strength.

eg : if you are high in extrovesion- like to mix/interact with people, you need someone introvert/quiet/high conscientious - to do the work/check details/get it done. (not talk only).

- if you are good in sales/marketing, need someone good in technical etc.



- right/ good relationship among team members


- ie conflicts are managed
- there is team cohesion.
- members trust each other.
- members commuicate well.


- right/clear roles and processes.

- each member knows their roles
- each member knows how to get work done within the team (ie eg : how to get permission/approval needed, what is the procedure etc.)

- there are clear expectation of each member (eg dateline to finish a task/the standard of the work expected/the quality expected.)

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COHESION.

see 6P slide 8.

. how often team interact - eg do they sit phyically together in the same building or are they part of virtual team, scattered over different countries.

. homogenity -> how similar are the team members, more homogenous- more cohesive.

. smaller size.

. difficult to get into team. eg: company that are difficult to get in, eg SIA cabin crew - more cohesive.

. company/department/team - have past successes that team can be proud of.



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CONFLICTS

- either constructive conflicts or destructive conflicts.


- constructive conflicts
- conflicts arising from the issues
- to be expected and can be good (eg how to run the activity, which activities to select) if managed.


- destructive conflicts

- focus on the members.
- members dislike each other because of differences in personality/perception. etc.

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TUCKMAN'S MODEL.

Tuckman's model described the different stages a team goes through.

The stage a team is in, is signify by set of charactersitics.

There is no definite length of time a stage is in, it evolved depending on the members consistuent and the team leadership . (ie how the team leader facilititate the team development).

5 stages are :


FORMING

STORMING

NORMING

PERFORMING

ADJOURNING.

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CHARACTERISTIC :

FORMING. (UNCERTAINTY)

- members checking out each other.
- lack of trust.
- tentative comuncation.
- members deciding if they want to be part of the team.

end of forming : members feel they are part of a team.

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STORMING (CONFLICTS between team members, issues etc)

- fighting for leadership position.
- conflicts arises
- evaluating what is the team's goal/purpose.

end of storming : there is a hierchary and a leader/leadership team.


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NORMING. ( AGREEMENT of a team structure etc)

- a team structure has evolved. (ie who do what)
- clearer roles/expectations.
- team feel more cohesive and sense of belonging.

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PERFORMING (ACHIEVE GOAL/OUTCOME, see more result).

- leader known,
- set roles/goals/expectation.
- team members focus on getting work done.
- able to see result/achieve goals.

- at optimal/most effective stage.


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ADJOURNING (dissolution.)

- goal achieved.
- less need to be a team (unless another challenge/goal etc are set).

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WHAT CAN A LEADER DO TO HELP THE TEAM IN EACH STAGE (see 6P, slide 12).


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WHEN TO WORK AS TEAM :

a) when the task/activity is complex.
b) work to be done need mulitple skills/knowledge/experience.
c) ample time to build up a team to its opitmal stage.

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FOR UT :
 
a) must understand the characteristic of each Tuckman stage.
b) team cohesion.