In the management discourse few words are thrown about more carelessly than ‘organizational culture’. While the term is usually defined too broadly—including such phenomena as assumptions, values, traditions, articles of faith, myths and artifacts—this book applies a far more narrow concept. Organizational culture, or the informal structure of an organization, is a term used to describe the behavioral expectations in an organization that have not been decided on in a formal way but that evolved by means of repetition and imitation. This book shows how this narrow definition makes it possible to more precisely observe and understand an organization’s culture and its changes. Management’s only way for influencing organizational culture—and this may sound paradoxical at first—is to change the organization’s formal structure as for example its incentive schemes, goal-setting processes, strategic directions or hierarchy.
Tabella dei contenuti
Preface
1. Organizational Culture—What Is It About?
1.1. The Culture of Organizations—The Undecided Decision Premise
1.2. Types of Organizational Cultural Expectations
1.3. The Three Sides of Organizations
2. The Temptations and Limits of an Instrumental-Rational Approach
2.1. The Reactivation of an Old Hope for Control
2.2. Characteristics of a “Malleable” Organizational Culture
2.3. The Failure of Cultural Programs
3. Leverage for Influencing Organizational Culture
3.1. Formalization of Programs, Communication Channels and Personnel as Leverage
3.2. Abandonment of Formalization as a Strategy for Changing Organizational Culture
3.3. Increased Formalization as a Starting Point for Shaping the Organizational Culture
4. Conclusion—Consequences for Influencing Organizational Cultures
Bibliography
Altri ebook dello stesso autore / Editore
255.667 Ebook in questa categoria
