Culture Morale Values

8/12/2019 Culture Morale Values

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Organizational culture is the behavior of humans who are part of an organization

and the meanings that the people attach to their actions. Culture includes the

organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, symbols, beliefs and habits.

It is also the pattern of such collective behaviors and assumptions that are taught to new

organizational members as a way of perceiving, and even thinking and feeling.

Organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact with each other, withclients, and with stakeholders.

Robert A. Cooke

Robert A. Cooke defines culture as the behaviors that members believe are required to fit in

and meet expectations within their organization. The Organizational Culture Inventory

measures twelve behavioral norms that are grouped into three general types of cultures:

Constructive cultures, in which members are encouraged to interact with people andapproach tasks in ways that help them meet their higher-order satisfaction needs.

Passive/defensive cultures, in which members believe they must interact with peoplein ways that will not threaten their own security.

Aggressive/defensive cultures, in which members are expected to approach tasks inforceful ways to protect their status and security.

Constructive cultures

Constructive cultures are where people are encouraged to be in communication with their

co-workers, and work as teams, rather than only as individuals. In positions where people

do a complex job, rather than something simple like a mechanic one, this sort of culture is

an efficient one.

1.Affirmation: Also termed as Achievement. Based on the need to attain high-qualityresults on challenging projects, the belief that outcomes are linked to one's effortrather than chance and the tendency to personally set challenging yet realistic

goals. Completing a task successfully, typically by effort, courage, or skill (pursue a

standard of excellence) (explore alternatives before acting) - People high in this

style think ahead and plan, explore alternatives before acting and learn from their

mistakes.

2. Self-actualizing: realization or fulfillment of one's talents and potentialities -considered as a drive or need present in everyone (think in unique and

independent ways) (do even simple tasks well) - Based on needs for personal

growth, self-fulfillment and the realization of one's potential. People with this style

demonstrate a strong desire to learn and experience things, creative yet realistic

thinking and a balanced concern for people and tasks.3. Humanistic-encouraging: help others to grow and develop (resolve conflicts

constructively) - Reflects an interest in the growth and development of people, a

high positive regard for them and sensitivity to their needs. People high in this style

devote energy to coaching and counseling others, are thoughtful and considerate

and provide people with support and encouragement.

4.Affirmative: a positive thinker, who has an approach to life that of a benefit giver.He has no vested interested to pull out from organizational goals, but works in


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harmony with the firm. This kind of behavioral norm states that they treat people as

more valuable than things (cooperate with others) - Reflects an interest in

developing and sustaining pleasant relationships. People high in this style share

their thoughts and feelings, are friendly and cooperative and make others feel a part

of things.

Organizations with constructive cultures encourage members to work to their full

potential, resulting in high levels of motivation, satisfaction, teamwork, service quality, and

sales growth. Constructive norms are evident in environments where quality is valued over

quantity, creativity is valued over conformity, cooperation is believed to lead to better

results than competition, and effectiveness is judged at the system level rather than the

component level. These types of cultural norms are consistent with (and supportive of) the

objectives behind empowerment, total quality management, transformational leadership,

continuous improvement, re-engineering, and learning organizations.

Passive/defensive cultures

Norms that reflect expectations for members to interact with people in ways that will notthreaten their own security are in the Passive/Defensive Cluster.

The four Passive/Defensive cultural norms are:

Approval Conventional Dependent AvoidanceIn organizations with Passive/Defensive cultures, members feel pressured to think and

behave in ways that are inconsistent with the way they believe they should in order to be

effective. People are expected to please others (particularly superiors) and avoidinterpersonal conflict. Rules, procedures, and orders are more important than personal

beliefs, ideas, and judgment. Passive/Defensive cultures experience a lot of unresolved

conflict and turnover, and organizational members report lower levels of motivation and

satisfaction.

Aggressive/defensive cultures

This style is characterized with more emphasis on task than people. Because of the very

nature of this style, people tend to focus on their own individual needs at the expense of the

success of the group. The aggressive/defensive style is very stressful, and people using this

style tend to make decisions based on status as opposed to expertise.

1. Order-basedthey are the rulers, the dictators. They do not tolerate any deviationsin the path of accomplishment of goals. They are very critical and cynical at times.

People who use this style are more likely to question others work; however, asking

those tough question often leads to a better product. Nonetheless, those who use

this style may be overly-critical toward others, using irrelevant or trivial flaws to

put others down. Also called as oppositional.


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2. Performance- This cultural norm is based on the idea that power can give access toconstant performance check. This type of person who has a performance based

approach towards its subordinate tends to throw the optimum power limit on his

or her subordinate. For them there is a need for prestige and influence. Those who

use this style often equate their own self-worth with controlling others. Those who

use this style have a tendency to dictate others opposing to guiding others actions.3. Competitive- This cultural norm is based on the idea of a need to protect ones

status. Those who use this style protect their own status by comparing themselves

to other individuals and outperforming them. Those who use this style are seekers

of appraisal and recognition from others.

4. Perfectionist - This cultural norm is based on the need to attain flawless results.Those who often use this style equate their self-worth with the attainment of

extremely high standards. Those who often use this style are always focused on

details and place excessive demands on themselves and others.

Organizations with aggressive/defensive cultures encourage or require members to appear

competent, controlled, and superior. Members who seek assistance, admit shortcomings, or

concede their position are viewed as incompetent or weak. These organizations emphasize

finding errors, weeding out "mistakes" and encouraging members to compete against each

other rather than competitors. The short-term gains associated with these strategies are

often at the expense of long-term growth

Personal and organizational culture

Organizational culture is taught to the person as culture is taught by his/her parents

thus changing and modeling his/her personal culture. Indeed employees and people

applying for a job are advised to match their "personality to a companys culture" and

fit to it. Some researchers even suggested and have made case studies research on

personality changing.

When personal cultures do not equate the organizational cultures there are two actions

that take place; the company opts to transform the employee to suit its behavior,

working patterns, thinking patterns etc. to that of the organizational culture through

training or if the company identifies that the individual does not show his acceptability

to change, it opts to not recruit that candidate.

National and organizational culture

Corporate culture is used to control, coordinate, and integrate of company

subsidiaries. However differences in national cultures exist contributing to differencesin the views on the management. Differences between national cultures are deep

rooted values of the respective cultures, and these cultural values can shape how

people expect companies to be run, and how relationships between leaders and

followers should be resulting to differences between the employer and the employee on

expectations. (Geert Hofstede, 1991) Perhaps equally foundational; observing the vast

differences in national copyright (and taxation, etc.) laws suggests deep rooted differing


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cultural attitudes and assumptions on property rights and sometimes; the desired root

function, place, or purpose of corporations relative to the population.

Impacts

Research suggests that numerous outcomes have been associated either directly or

indirectly with organizational culture. A healthy and robust organizational culture mayprovide various benefits, including the following:

Competitive edge derived from innovation and customer service Consistent, efficient employee performance Team cohesiveness High employee morale Strong company alignment towards goal achievementIt has been proposed that organizational culture may impact the level of employee

creativity, the strength of employee motivation, and the reporting of unethical behavior,

but more research is needed to support these conclusions.Organizational culture also has an impact on recruitment and retention. Individuals tend to

be attracted to and remain engaged in organizations that they perceive to be compatible.

Additionally, high turnover may be a mediating factor in the relationship between culture

and organizational performance. Deteriorating company performance and an unhealthy

work environment are signs of an overdue cultural assessment.

When an organization does not possess a healthy culture or requires some kind of

organizational culture change, the change process can be daunting. Culture change may be

necessary to reduce employee turnover, influence employee behavior, make improvements

to the company, refocus the company objectives and/or rescale the organization, provide

better customer service, and/or achieve specific company goals and results. Culture change

is impacted by a number of elements, including the external environment and industry

competitors, change in industry standards, technology changes, the size and nature of the

workforce, and the organizations history and management.

There are a number of methodologies specifically dedicated to organizational culture

change such asPeter SengesFifth Discipline. These are also a variety of psychological

approaches that have been developed into a system for specific outcomes such as the Fifth

Disciplines"learning organization" or Directive Communications"corporate culture

evolution." Ideas and strategies, on the other hand, seem to vary according to particular

influences that affect culture.

Burman and Evans (2008) argue that it is 'leadership' that affects culture rather than

'management', and describe the difference. When one wants to change an aspect of the

culture of an organization one has to keep in consideration that this is a long term project.

Corporate culture is something that is very hard to change and employees need time to get

used to the new way of organizing. For companies with a very strong and specific culture it

will be even harder to change.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sengehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sengehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadershiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadershiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Senge


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Thinking Ethically:

A Framework for Moral Decision Making

Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer

Moral issues greet us each morning in the newspaper, confront us in the memos on our

desks, nag us from our children's soccer fields, and bid us good night on the evening news.

We are bombarded daily with questions about the justice of our foreign policy, the morality

of medical technologies that can prolong our lives, the rights of the homeless, the fairness

of our children's teachers to the diverse students in their classrooms.

Dealing with these moral issues is often perplexing. How, exactly, should we think through

an ethical issue? What questions should we ask? What factors should we consider?

The first step in analyzing moral issues is obvious but not always easy: Get the facts. Some

moral issues create controversies simply because we do not bother to check the facts. This

first step, although obvious, is also among the most important and the most frequently

overlooked.


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But having the facts is not enough. Facts by themselves only tell us whatis; they do not tell

us what ought to be. In addition to getting the facts, resolving an ethical issue also requires

an appeal to values. Philosophers have developed five different approaches to values to

deal with moral issues.

The Utilitarian ApproachUtilitarianism was conceived in the 19th century by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill

to help legislators determine which laws were morally best. Both Bentham and Mill

suggested that ethical actions are those that provide the greatest balance of good over evil.

To analyze an issue using the utilitarian approach, we first identify the various courses of

action available to us. Second, we ask who will be affected by each action and what benefits

or harms will be derived from each. And third, we choose the action that will produce the

greatest benefits and the least harm. The ethical action is the one that provides the greatest

good for the greatest number.

The Rights Approach

The second important approach to ethics has its roots in the philosophy of the 18th-century thinker Immanuel Kant and others like him, who focused on the individual's right

to choose for herself or himself. According to these philosophers, what makes human

beings different from mere things is that people have dignity based on their ability to

choose freely what they will do with their lives, and they have a fundamental moral right to

have these choices respected. People are not objects to be manipulated; it is a violation of

human dignity to use people in ways they do not freely choose.

Of course, many different, but related, rights exist besides this basic one. These other rights

(an incomplete list below) can be thought of as different aspects of the basic right to be

treated as we choose.

The right to the truth: We have a right to be told the truth and to be informed aboutmatters that significantly affect our choices.

The right of privacy: We have the right to do, believe, and say whatever we choose inour personal lives so long as we do not violate the rights of others.

The right not to be injured: We have the right not to be harmed or injured unless wefreely and knowingly do something to deserve punishment or we freely and

knowingly choose to risk such injuries.

The right to what is agreed: We have a right to what has been promised by thosewith whom we have freely entered into a contract or agreement.

In deciding whether an action is moral or immoral using this second approach, then, we

must ask, Does the action respect the moral rights of everyone? Actions are wrong to the

extent that they violate the rights of individuals; the more serious the violation, the morewrongful the action.

The Fairness or Justice Approach

The fairness or justice approach to ethics has its roots in the teachings of the ancient Greek

philosopher Aristotle, who said that "equals should be treated equally and unequals

unequally." The basic moral question in this approach is: How fair is an action? Does it treat

everyone in the same way, or does it show favoritism and discrimination?


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Favoritism gives benefits to some people without a justifiable reason for singling them out;

discrimination imposes burdens on people who are no different from those on whom

burdens are not imposed. Both favoritism and discrimination are unjust and wrong.

The Common-Good Approach

This approach to ethics assumes a society comprising individuals whose own good isinextricably linked to the good of the community. Community members are bound by the

pursuit of common values and goals.

The common good is a notion that originated more than 2,000 years ago in the writings of

Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. More recently, contemporary ethicist John Rawls defined the

common good as "certain general conditions that are...equally to everyone's advantage."

In this approach, we focus on ensuring that the social policies, social systems, institutions,

and environments on which we depend are beneficial to all. Examples of goods common to

all include affordable health care, effective public safety, peace among nations, a just legal

system, and an unpolluted environment.

Appeals to the common good urge us to view ourselves as members of the same

community, reflecting on broad questions concerning the kind of society we want tobecome and how we are to achieve that society. While respecting and valuing the freedom

of individuals to pursue their own goals, the common-good approach challenges us also to

recognize and further those goals we share in common.

The Virtue Approach

The virtue approach to ethics assumes that there are certain ideals toward which we

should strive, which provide for the full development of our humanity. These ideals are

discovered through thoughtful reflection on what kind of people we have the potential to

become.

Virtues are attitudes or character traits that enable us to be and to act in ways that develop

our highest potential. They enable us to pursue the ideals we have adopted. Honesty,

courage, compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are

all examples of virtues.

Virtues are like habits; that is, once acquired, they become characteristic of a person.

Moreover, a person who has developed virtues will be naturally disposed to act in ways

consistent with moral principles. The virtuous person is the ethical person.

In dealing with an ethical problem using the virtue approach, we might ask, What kind of

person should I be? What will promote the development of character within myself and my

community?

Ethical Problem SolvingThese five approaches suggest that once we have ascertained the facts, we should ask

ourselves five questions when trying to resolve a moral issue:

What benefits and what harms will each course of action produce, and whichalternative will lead to the best overall consequences?

What moral rights do the affected parties have, and which course of action bestrespects those rights?


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Culture Morale Values

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