Affecting_Change

Organizational culture represents a common perception held by the organization’s members. This was made explicit when we defined culture as a system of shared meaning. We should expect, therefore, that individuals with different backgrounds or at different levels in the organization will tend to describe the organization’s culture in similar terms (Robbins and Judge). Acknowledgement that the organizational culture has common properties does not mean, however that there cannot be subcultures within any given culture. Most large organizations have a dominant culture and numerous sets of subcultures. A dominant culture expresses the core values that are shared by a majority of the organization’s members. When we talk about an organization’s culture, we are referring to its dominant culture. It is this macro view of culture that gives an organization its distinct personality. Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences that members face. The subcultures are likely to be defined by department designations and geographical separation. The purchasing department, for example, can have a subculture that is uniquely shared by members of that department. It will include the core values of the dominant culture plus additional values unique to members of the purchasing department. Similarly, an office or unit of the organization that is physically separated from the organization’s main operations may take on a different personality. Again the core values are essentially retained, but they are modified to reflect the separated unit’s distinct situation (Robbins and Judge). If the organizations had no dominant culture and were composed only of numerous subcultures, the value of the organizational culture as an independent variable would be significantly lessoned because there would be no uniform interpretation of what represented appropriate and inappropriate behavior. It is the shared meaning aspect of culture that makes it such a potent device for guiding and shaping behavior. That’s what allows us to say, for example, that Microsoft’s culture values aggressiveness and risk taking and then to use that information to better understand the behavior of Microsoft executives and employees. But we cannot ignore the reality that many organizations also have subcultures that can influence the behaviors of members (Robbins and Judge). Established Methods of Control In this simulation, Smith & Falmouth (S&F) is a company that is midsized and is a tele-shopping and mail order network that has major operations in the United States and Canada. Six months ago the company started S&F Online which is an e-tailing branch that was driven by current industry forecast. This new division is thought of as a crucial part of Smith & Falmouth’s growth strategy over the next three years. The CEO of the company, Irene Seagraves knows that time is of the essence and it is a major driving force in getting this division launched. She moved without haste and very methodical to put three key teams in place which are the logistics team, a web development team, and a marketing manager that will be responsible to make sure that all aspects of marketing and logistics operations are being complied with the parent company. The Project Manager is responsible for the operations of S7F online. He is complimented by his six member web development team. Their function is to maintain the Online Sales Channel, which consist of the web site together with the online payment gateway. The Project Manager and Logistics Manager work very close together. The Logistics Manager is complimented by his three member team, and they are responsible for customer support, delivery operations, and they also manage order handling. Another aspect of the logistics team is that they report order fulfillment status to the Marketing Manager. The Marketing manager works hand in hand with Smith & Falmouth to produce marketing budgets, promotional activities, and also coordinates the product lines. What is important about this department and organizational culture is that the teams close coordination has already produced results. When you look at the concept of organizational culture of Smith & Falmouth, it is based on the general patterns of behavior, their values, and beliefs that each of the members there has in common. The team members here definitely have a connection with each other. They value the other members of the team but they are not a fan of outside influences. This was evident when the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) was named and he had the mighty task of trying to lead a group of employees that are unwilling to achieve the aggressive target set forth by the company. By allowing the employees to function in this manner represents a weak organizational culture. The teams here are very strongly on the side of their current leaders who are not currently influenced by the new COO. All of the employees will only restrict themselves to official interactions with the new COO. Your decisions will only be effective depending on how good you utilize the influential individuals within the current network. Within this organizational culture, changes will have to be made if this company wants to continue to be successful. Restructuring Strategy One thing that the best managed companies have in common is that they have a concerted effort to empower their employees. By employing this structure, companies reward their employees by giving more control over how and when the work is done to those who actually so the work. When you look at the price that is paid for employee alienation, it is staggering. By not empowering employees can lead to poor quality of work, underproduction, turnover and absenteeism. To this day motivating your employees remains a primary concern of management, and one of the most difficult task to deal with. This is where a good organizational structure comes in to play. If the current organization you have in place is not as effective as you like, then a recommended restructuring strategy should be put in place. The CEO of Smith & Falmouth has hired a new COO and he has the uncomfortable task of trying to get unwilling workers to accomplish the aggressive target given to him by Irene. This is not an easy task, but he realizes that he must accomplish this goal. The main goal of this restructure is to align the right person with the right job and make sure everyone understands the goals and mission of the company. Since the organizational restructuring usually impacts how the work is done, reactions of these employees to change are important. By eliminating the old teams, this will signify a destruction of a shared mental model or collective mind. The employees will feel like they are losing their friend or colleague. We have to understand that the loss of a friend or colleague will eliminate one source of social support and it could have a negative affect on the individual’s performance. To improve the organizational culture you must be focused both on your employer’s goals as well as the goals of the employee. When your new teams are put in place, the employees will need a chance to adapt to the new work procedures, but in any case they must work well together with their new colleagues. As a new team, they must develop a collective mind. Their attitudes toward the change will vary from resistance to adoption and finally to engagement. This new restructuring change must be beneficial for the organization as well as for the employees. Additionally, your employees must be able to implement this change and also facilitated to do it by management. This is empowerment. By empowering the employees you will increase the effectiveness of the organization and improve the capabilities of the team. Employees look forward to being able to affect the work they do, how they go about doing it, and the conditions surrounding the works. The reason empowerment works is that it contributes to the employees needs to control the work they have to do, and also to influence a situation or another person’s thinking, attitude or behavior. Empowerment is powerful and it will ensure the success of this new team.