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Questions and Answers
Which of the following exemplifies visible elements of organizational culture?
Which of the following exemplifies visible elements of organizational culture?
What is a key challenge in implementing corporate value statements?
What is a key challenge in implementing corporate value statements?
Which of the following is NOT considered an aspect of basic assumptions in organizational culture?
Which of the following is NOT considered an aspect of basic assumptions in organizational culture?
What typically influences the extent to which espoused values are shared among members of an organization?
What typically influences the extent to which espoused values are shared among members of an organization?
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Which of the following best captures an organizational culture's view on human nature?
Which of the following best captures an organizational culture's view on human nature?
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What practice enhances group decision-making by addressing potential flaws in ideas?
What practice enhances group decision-making by addressing potential flaws in ideas?
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Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of organizational culture?
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of organizational culture?
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How should leaders respond to the emergence of doubts from group members?
How should leaders respond to the emergence of doubts from group members?
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Which layer of organizational culture is described as invisible and largely subconscious?
Which layer of organizational culture is described as invisible and largely subconscious?
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What is a potential outcome of group processes in organizations?
What is a potential outcome of group processes in organizations?
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Why is the concept of group splitting beneficial for decision-making?
Why is the concept of group splitting beneficial for decision-making?
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Which aspect of organizational culture is characterized by visible symbols and artifacts?
Which aspect of organizational culture is characterized by visible symbols and artifacts?
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What is a critical feature of organizations in contrast to rational decision-making assumptions?
What is a critical feature of organizations in contrast to rational decision-making assumptions?
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What are emergent organizational phenomena characterized by?
What are emergent organizational phenomena characterized by?
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What does the rational-choice perspective suggest about individual decision making in organizations?
What does the rational-choice perspective suggest about individual decision making in organizations?
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Which of the following illustrates the concept of organizational differentiation?
Which of the following illustrates the concept of organizational differentiation?
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What primary question arises regarding emergent processes in organizations?
What primary question arises regarding emergent processes in organizations?
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In the context of group processes within organizations, what challenge is frequently discussed?
In the context of group processes within organizations, what challenge is frequently discussed?
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What does the discovery of the informal organization emphasize?
What does the discovery of the informal organization emphasize?
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Which statement is true regarding emergent decision-making?
Which statement is true regarding emergent decision-making?
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How do emergent processes influence organizational culture?
How do emergent processes influence organizational culture?
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What is a prominent typology of organizational cultures mentioned?
What is a prominent typology of organizational cultures mentioned?
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Which of the following typologies is characterized by fast feedback and is typically found in sales environments?
Which of the following typologies is characterized by fast feedback and is typically found in sales environments?
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According to the typologies, which culture is associated with a high degree of risk?
According to the typologies, which culture is associated with a high degree of risk?
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What criticism is levied against typologies of organizational cultures?
What criticism is levied against typologies of organizational cultures?
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What is a key factor in dysfunctional organizational cultures according to Kets de Vries & Miller?
What is a key factor in dysfunctional organizational cultures according to Kets de Vries & Miller?
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What characterizes paranoid cultures?
What characterizes paranoid cultures?
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Which of the following is a negative effect of organizational culture?
Which of the following is a negative effect of organizational culture?
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What is a characteristic of a dramatic culture?
What is a characteristic of a dramatic culture?
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Which approach suggests that organizational cultures can be systematically changed by managers?
Which approach suggests that organizational cultures can be systematically changed by managers?
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What is one primary implication of a compulsive culture?
What is one primary implication of a compulsive culture?
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What is the first step in the course correction approach to changing organizational cultures?
What is the first step in the course correction approach to changing organizational cultures?
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What describes a characteristic of schizoid cultures?
What describes a characteristic of schizoid cultures?
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What does the course correction approach recognize about organizational cultures?
What does the course correction approach recognize about organizational cultures?
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Which negative effect is associated with cultural thinking?
Which negative effect is associated with cultural thinking?
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Which of the following is NOT one of the three steps in the course correction approach?
Which of the following is NOT one of the three steps in the course correction approach?
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What is a primary characteristic of 'culturalism' in organizational culture?
What is a primary characteristic of 'culturalism' in organizational culture?
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What is the primary purpose of assessing the need for change in the course correction approach?
What is the primary purpose of assessing the need for change in the course correction approach?
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What does the bottom line of the course correction approach emphasize?
What does the bottom line of the course correction approach emphasize?
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Study Notes
Principles of Management: Emergent Processes in Organizations
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Lecture Objectives:
- Understand the significance of emergent processes in organizations.
- Analyze specific forms of emergent processes in organizations.
- Analyze the potential and limits of managing emergent processes.
Basic Puzzle: Formal Structure vs. Emergent Processes
- Multiple foci of organizational theories:
- Formal organization (lecture 3)
- Observable and measurable features (lectures 4 & 5)
- Individuals (lecture 6)
- What about processes that unfold beyond formal structures and rules?
Roadmap for the Lecture
- The nature of emergent organizational phenomena
- Organizational decision processes beyond hierarchical structures
- Group processes in organizations
- Organizational culture
The Discovery of the Informal Organization
- Hawthorne experiments (lecture 4): Evidence of emergent processes beyond formal structures.
- Definition of emergent organizational phenomena: Cannot be explained by organizational structures, and outcomes are unpredictable.
- Practical and theoretical questions regarding emergent processes: Desirability, controllability, and their impact on organizations.
How Does Decision Making in Organizations Work?
- Rational-choice perspective: Individuals are rational decision makers, maximizing efficiency based on complete information. Organizations are rational systems, with hierarchy as the sole explanation for decisions.
- Reality: Outcomes are often unintended/suboptimal. Individuals are satisficers (aiming for sub-optimal outcomes), while emergent processes shape organizational decisions.
Emergent Decision Making in Organizations (1): Organizational Differentiation
- Organizations as complex systems: Departments are specialized sub-systems with unique rules and perspectives of the environment.
- Example: Conflicts arise between departments (e.g., marketing vs. finance) due to differing goals and perceptions.
- Division of labor implies departmental conflicts and priorities.
- Organizational decisions are the result of interplay between various departments and actors.
Emergent Decision Making in Organizations (2): Micropolitics
- Organizational decisions are influenced by the interplay of groups/individuals with differing interests (career, power, prestige).
- Limited resources in organizations lead to conflict and struggles for resources.
- Organizational decisions are the result of power dynamics (manipulation, compromise).
Emergent Decision Making in Organizations (3): Organized Anarchy
- Decision process as a "garbage can" where various problems intersect.
- Decision process is shaped by independent streams: Problems, Participants, Solutions, and Choice Opportunities.
- Organizational decisions result in oversight (formal decision, unresolved core problem), flight (formal decision, unresolved core problem to a different arena), and resolution (less likely).
Groups in Organizations
- Groups as sub-units of organizations.
- What is a group: 2 or more persons interacting repeatedly over time with common activities/goals, and a sense of belonging.
- Formal vs informal groups: Formal groups are focused on specific tasks, while informal groups are based on personal goals and sympathy.
Cohesion of Groups
- Cohesion (stability) increases with group homogeneity.
- Conformity increases with cohesion.
- More attractive groups lead to higher convergence of opinions, goals and norms.
- Non-conformity leads to rejection, influenced by group cohesion.
- Cohesive groups are less likely to accept new members that deviate from their goals, norms, and standards.
Emergent Behavioral Patterns in Groups (1): Risk Taking
- Groups tend to take more risk-filled decisions than individuals.
- Reasons: Diffusion of responsibility, leadership, and risk as a social value (avoiding an impression of timidity or hesitation).
Emergent Behavioral Patterns in Groups (2): Groupthink
- Cohesive groups strive for unanimity, suppressing autonomous critical thought.
- Symptoms of groupthink: Illusion of invulnerability, belief in morality, rationalization, stereotyping outsiders, self-censorship, group-censorship, "brain-guards", and illusion of unanimity.
Emergent Behavioral Patterns in Groups (3): Avoiding Groupthink
- Leaders encourage doubt expression
- Leaders avoid premature statements
- Teams discuss various alternatives
- "Devil's advocate" for challenging ideas
Wrap Up (1)
- Emergence as a key feature in organizations.
- The assumption of rationality is challenged, and organizational decisions often arise from limitedly rational and emergent processes.
- Groups influence organizational dynamics through their emergent properties.
- Group processes are significant sources of unintended (and potentially irrational) outcomes.
Organizational Culture
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Departing from other perspectives, the focus is on organisations as cultural systems akin to tribes or foreign cultures.
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Definition: Historically developed patterns of values and thought that shape organisational activities and feelings.
Main Features of Organizational Culture
- Implicit: Shared assumptions influencing daily activities.
- Collective: Shared patterns of orientation and values.
- Cognitive: Culture frames and provides meaning, orientation and makes sense.
- Emotional: Culture as a holistic framework beyond cognition, encompassing values, appreciation, acceptance and aversion.
- Historical: Culture as a product of organisational history, developing and shaping the organisation and its operations.
The Structure of Organizational Culture
- Three layers: Artifacts and symbols (visible elements require interpretation), espoused values and beliefs (partly visible and partly sub-conscious), underlying assumptions (invisible and largely unconscious).
The Layers of Organizational Cultures (1): Artifacts and Symbols
- Stories and legends communicate the organisation's critical values.
- Rituals such as admission, monthly employee awards, and Christmas parties exemplify shared values.
- Symbols include architecture, logo, dresscode, and language (jargon).
The Layers of Organizational Cultures (2): Espoused Values and Beliefs
- Unwritten moral principles and behaviours are shared, although not always explicitly or uniformly across members.
- For instance, is criticism of colleagues acceptable? What about discrimination of women?
- Value statements are attempts to codify essential norms but often are not fully lived.
The Layers of Organizational Cultures (3): Basic Assumptions
- Underlying philosophies about environment, rationality, perception of truth, time and its use, nature of humans, superior characteristics and actions, as well as interpersonal relations (competition or cooperation, emotive display)
Typologies of Organizational Cultures (1)
- Difficult to characterize cultures.
- Deal and Kennedy typology: Work hard/play hard (sales), Tough guy/Macho (advertising), Bet your company (pharma/construction).
- Typologies are limited, not exhaustive, and present simplified versions of the complexities within organizations.
Typologies of Organizational Cultures (2): Dysfunctional Cultures
- Kets de Vries and Miller typology: Identifies dysfunctional patterns, often linked to personality traits of leadership.
- Paranoid, Depressive, Dramatic, Compulsive, Schizoid cultures.
Effects of Organizational Cultures
- Positive Effects: Clear actions, effective communication, fast decisions, low control, high motivation.
- Negative Effects: Tendency towards closure, undervaluing new approaches, barriers to change, focus on tradition.
Changing Organizational Cultures (1)
- Approaching cultural change through cultural engineering and culturalism.
- Cultural engineering: Planned and managed.
- Culturalism: Organisational culture is a lifeworld, hard to manage.
Changing Organizational Cultures (2)
- "Course correction": A middle ground between cultural engineering and culturalism, recognising limitations but providing leverage points for change.
- Diagnosis (understanding existing culture)
- Assessing need for change (what is problematic)
- Changing through re-orientation (e.g., through value statements, destruction, development).
Wrap Up (2)
- Organisational culture extensively influences organisations.
- Changing organizational cultures is a complex and difficult process with clear limitations.
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Description
Explore the significance of emergent processes within organizations in this quiz. Analyze the impact of informal structures and the nature of group dynamics that unfold beyond traditional hierarchical frameworks. Test your understanding of the complexities involved in managing these processes.
