148 chapter 10 organizational culture and change 3

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Chapter 10: Organizational Culture and Change
3. Assess your organizational environment and be sure that the tone and the tempo of
the change fit the organization. Timing is everything.
4. Serve as a role model for the behaviors sought by the organizational change. Actions
speak louder than words.
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Chapter 10: Organizational Culture and Change
REVIEW QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTED ANSWERS
1. (Learning Objective 1) How does an organization’s culture evolve?
The initial culture typically reflects the personality, drive, and ambition of the founder of the
firm. Over time, the culture of a firm reflects its experiences and its efforts to maintain a
sustainable competitive advantage.
2. (Learning Objective 2) What are the two basic components of organizational culture?
The first is substance, which consists of shared systems of beliefs, values, expectations, and
norms. The second is form, which consists of the observable ways that members of an
organization express ideas. These components are shown in Figure 10.1.
3. (Learning Objective 3) Why are rites, rituals, and ceremonies important for
organizational members?
Through rites, rituals, and ceremonies, participants gain an understanding of beliefs, values
and norms that are important to the organization’s culture. Examples include regular
ceremonies to spotlight positive work achievements and reinforce high-performance
expectations, product promotions, and farewell parties.
4. (Learning Objective 4) How can culture influence an organization’s competitive
advantage?
Assuming that an organization has a good vision and mission, then if it also has a strong
culture that is focused on the mission, that will guide everyone in the organization to achieve
that mission. Essentially, the strong culture aligned with the mission guides, encourages,
coordinates, and focuses everyone’s behavior and attention on the mission.
5. (Learning Objective 5) Suggest ways managers can change organizational culture.
Changing an organization’s culture can be very complicated. Managers can modify the
visible forms of culture, such as the organization’s language, stories, rites, rituals, and sagas.
They can change the lessons to be drawn from common stories and even encourage
employees to see a different reality. Because of their positions, top-level managers can
interpret situations in new ways and adjust the meanings attached to important organizational
events. Of course, managers can also use training and other interventions to give information
to organizational members and educate them. Managers can also use rewards to encourage
new behavior.
6. (Learning Objective 6) Identify and describe the targets of planned change.
There are four primary targets of change: individual, group, organizational, and
environmental.