The Symbolic Frame
Organizational Culture Defined
The systems of shared beliefs and values that
develops within an organization. In simple
terms, organizational culture is the personality
of the organization.
Components of Organizational
Culture
 Organizational Artifacts
Cultural routines that form the substance of public
functions and events staged by the organization.
– Symbolism of Rites, Rituals, and Ceremonies
Rites are relatively dramatic, planned sets of
recurring activities used at special times to
influence the behavior and understanding of
organizational members.
Components of Organizational
Culture
 Organizational Artifacts (cont.).
Language systems and metaphors.
– The way that organizational members typically
express themselves and communicate with each
other.
Stories, sagas, myths.
– Stories are accounts based on true events; they
often contain both truth and fiction.
– Myths are beliefs that are accepted uncritically and
used to justify current actions.
The Impact of Culture on
Organizations
 Strong cultures.
Shared values and beliefs create a setting in which
people are committed to one another and share an
overriding sense of mission.
A strong culture can cause a resistance to change,
however, by reinforcing a singular view of the
organization and the environment.
Information Technology: The
Impact on Culture and Change
Information technology removes barriers of time,
distance, communications and in some cases,
organizational level
 The removal of these barriers has caused employees to
be less tolerant of ivory-tower management
 This trend has facilitated employee empowerment and
flatter organizational structures

Shlain, The Alphabet Versus the
Goddess
 “Major neuronal pathways such as the instinctual
instructions that automatically inform all other
mammals how to survive at birth disappeared.
To compensate, the missing pieces of the
hominid neonatal brain were added after . . .
Much later we would name these ‘culture’”.
Culture Tells Us:
 What we need to know to survive in an
organization
 How it is communicated in the Organization
Organizational Culture
What we need to Know.
 Basic Underlying
Assumptions
 Espoused Values

How It is Communicated.
 Artifacts

Physical Layout
Decorations
Slogans
Stories
Rites & Ceremonies
Organizational Culture

Individual Behaviors
Influences Perceptions,
Defines Reality, Defines
Situation
Guidelines for Behavior
Common Identity
Organizational
Effectiveness
 Kotter & Heskett

Strong Culture Effective if
Matches Environment
Strong Cultures Must
Value Change
Must Value EE’s,
Customers &
Stockholders
Changing an Organization’s
Culture
 Top managers can set the tone for a culture and
for culture change
 Managers who strive for quality understand they
must involve employees , build on what
organizational members share, and teach new
members how to behave
The Challenge to Understanding
Organizational Change
 Change is essential to an organization’s survival
 Is it important that organizations recognize the
need for change and learn to manage the
process effectively
Organizational Change
 Organizational change is any alteration of
activities in an organization
 Examples of areas in which organizational
change can occur:
Structure of the organization
Transfer of work tasks
Introduction of a new product, service or technology
Targets for Change
 Individual Targets
Involves human resource changes.
Changes in this area are triggered by new staffing
strategies or by an effort to enhance workforce
diversity.
 Group Targets
Involves changes in the nature of the relationship
between managers and subordinates or the
relationships within work groups.
Targets for Change
 Organizational Targets
Involves changes in any of the following areas:
– Basic goals and strategies of the organization
– Products, quality, or services offered
– Organizational structure
– Organizational processes such as reward,
communication, or information processing system
– Culture
Targets for Change
 Environmental Targets
Involves changing sectors of an organization’s
environment.
For example, changes in products or services
offered may require new technology or a new
distribution system.
A Framework for Change
 Force Field Analysis
 Proposed by Kurt Lewin
 Describes change as a three-step process
Unfreezing
Changing
Refreezing
Unfreezing
 Step 1: Unfreezing
Developing an initial awareness of the need for
change and the forces supporting and resisting
change.
Unfreezing
Driving forces
Restraining forces
Overcoming resistance to change
Unfreezing
 Strategies for Unfreezing
Change processes must overcome resistance to
change.
Strategies for dealing with resistance to change
– Communication and education
– Participation and involvement
– Facilitation and support
– Negotiation and agreement
Unfreezing
 Strategies for Unfreezing
Strategies for dealing with resistance to change
(cont.)
– Manipulation and co-optation
– Explicit and implicit coercion
Changing
 Step 2: Changing
The second step in the change process focuses on
learning new required behaviors
Changing
Organizational development activities:
- Survey feedback
- Team building
- Process consultation
- Quality-of-work-life programs
Changing
 Tactics for planned change
Organizational Development (OD)
– A process of planned change that uses
behavioral science knowledge, theory, and
technology to help an organization improve its
capacity for effective change.
Changing
 Tactics for planned change (cont.)
Techniques for people-focused organizational
change :
– Survey feedback - improve relationships among
the members of groups or between departments
through the discussion of common problems.
– Team building - a process by which members of a
work group diagnose how they work together and
plan changes to improve their effectiveness.
Changing
 Tactics for planned change
Techniques for people-focused organizational
change (cont.)
– Process consultation - involves structured
activities directed toward key “processes” through
which members of a group work with one another.
Changing
 Tactics for planned change
Techniques for people-focused organizational
change (cont.)
– Quality-of-work-life Programs - Undertaken by an
organization for the purpose of (1) improving the
quality of employee’s work life, or (2) improving
group or organizational productivity.
Refreezing the Change
 Step 3: Refreezing
The third step in the change process, centers on
reinforcing new behaviors, usually by positive
results, feelings of accomplishment, or rewards from
others.
Refreezing
Gain top management support
Reinforce new behaviors
Evaluate results
Refreezing the Change
 Approaches used to accomplish refreezing
Gain top management support
Reinforce new behaviors
Evaluate the change
Ethical Issues in Organizational
Change
Do employees feel
manipulated?
Does the CEO have a
vested interest in the
change?
To what extent
should the firm
disclose all aspects
of the change in
advance?
To what extent do
employees have the
right to participate
in changes that
affect them?
Activities Associated with
Effective Change
 Solicit input from those who will be affected by
organizational change. Involvement is essential
to accept the need for change
 Carefully formulate your message regarding the
need for and nature of organizational change.
The success of the change process will depend
on effective communication
Activities Associated with
Effective Change
 Assess your organizational environment and be
sure that the tone and the tempo of the change
fit the organization. Timing is everything
 Serve as a role model for the behaviors sought
by the organizational change. Actions speak
louder than words
Structure as Theater
 The symbolic view approaches structure as
stage design: an arrangement of space, lighting,
props, and costumes that make the drama vivid
and credible to its audience.
 One role is to reflect and convey prevailing
social values and myths.
Leading Principles
 How someone becomes a group member is
important
 Diversity provides a team’s competitive
advantage
 Example, not command, holds a team together
 A specialized language fosters cohesion and
commitment
Leading Principles
 Stories carry history and values and reinforce
group identity.
 Humor and play reduce tension and encourage
creativity
 Ritual and ceremony lift spirits and reinforce
values
 Informal cultural players make contributions
disproportionate to their formal roles
Leading Principles
 Soul is the secret of success.