Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–16
(d) Onboarding: programs aimed at helping employees integrate,
assimilate, and transition to new jobs to help assimilate employees into
their new work environment.
(4) Phase 3: Change and Acquisition See Slide 3-28
(a) The change and acquisition phase requires employees to master tasks
and roles and to adjust to work group values and norms.
(b) Employees should be clear about their roles and be effectively
integrated within the work unit.
(c) Employees should have a clear understanding regarding the use of
social media and communication devices.
(d) Table 3-1: Socialization Tactics describes tactics used by
organizations to help employees through this adjustment process.
See Slide 3-29
iii) Practical Application of Socialization Research
(1) Past research suggests five practical guidelines for managing
organizational socialization.
(a) Managers should avoid a haphazard, sink-or-swim approach to
organizational socialization because formalized socialization tactics are
more effective.
(b) Managers should consider how they might best set expectations
regarding ethical behavior during all three phases of the socialization
Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–17
process.
(c) The type of orientation program used to socialize employees affects
their expectations and behavior.
(d) Although there are different stages of socialization, they are not
identical in order, length, or content for all people or jobs.
(e) Managers should pay attention to the socialization of diverse
employees.
V. Embedding Organizational Culture Through Mentoring
i) Mentoring Overview
(1) Mentoring: process of forming and maintaining development relationships
between developers and a junior person. See Slide 3-31
(2) Mentoring contributes to creating a sense of oneness by promoting the
acceptance of the organization’s core values throughout the organization.
(3) The socialization aspect of mentoring also promotes a sense of
membership.
(4) Mentoring can impact an employee’s job performance, career
advancement, and job and career satisfaction.
ii) Functions of Mentoring
(1) Kathy Kram identified two general functions of the mentoring process.
(a) Career functions:
(i) Sponsorship.
(ii) Exposure and visibility.
Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–18
(iii)Coaching.
(iv)Protection.
(v) Challenging assignments.
(b) Psychosocial functions:
(i) Role modeling.
(ii) Acceptance and confirmation.
(iii)Counseling.
(iv)Friendship.
iii) Developmental Networks Underlying Mentoring
(1) Figure 3-6: Developmental Networks Associated with Mentoring
presents a developmental network typology based on integrating the
diversity and strength of developmental relationships. See Slide 3-
33
(a) Diversity of developmental relationships: the variety of people
within the network an individual uses for developmental assistance.
See Slide 3-32
(i) The two subcomponents are:
1. the number of different people the person is networked with
2. the various social systems from which the networked
relationships stem (e.g., employer, school, family, community,
Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–19
professional associations, and religious affiliations).
(ii) The diversity of developmental relationships ranges from low to
high.
(b) Developmental relationship strength: the quality of relationships
among an individual and those involved in his or her developmental
network. See Slide 3-35
(i) Strong ties are reflective of relationships based on frequent
interactions, reciprocity, and positive affect.
(ii) Weak ties are based more on superficial relationships.
(2) These two dimensions combine to form four types of development
networks:
(a) Receptive: composed of a few weak ties from one social system.
(b) Traditional: contains a few strong ties between an employee and
developers that all come from one social system.
(c) Entrepreneurial: made up of strong ties among developers from
several social systems.
(d) Opportunistic: associated with having weak ties with multiple
developers from different social systems.
iv) Personal and Organizational Implications See Slides 3-36, 3-37, 3–
38
(1) Key personal implications to consider:
(a) It is important to foster a broad developmental network because the
Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–20
number and quality of one’s contacts influences career success.
(b) Job and career satisfaction are likely to be influenced by the
consistency between an individual’s career goals and the type of
developmental network at his or her disposal.
(c) A developer’s willingness to provide career and psychosocial
assistance is a function of the protégé/protégée’s ability, potential, and
the quality of interpersonal relationships.
(d) It is important to become proficient at using social networking tools
such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
(i) The Real World/Real People: AT&T Conducts Mentoring Online
profiles how one firm uses online tools to conduct mentoring.
(e) Individuals should develop a mentoring plan.
(2) In addition to the obvious benefit of employee development, mentoring
enhances the effectiveness of organizational communication by increasing
the amount of vertical communication in both directions, and provides a
mechanism for modifying or reinforcing organizational culture.
BACK TO THE CHAPTER-OPENING CASE
1. What observable artifacts, espoused values, and basic assumptions are
displayed in the case?
a. Southwest Airlines considers its culture to be the “secret sauce” of the
organization: the special extra something that gives it a competitive
Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–21
celebration. Observable artifacts of the culture include the Corporate
2. How would you categorize Southwest Airline’s Culture based on the competing
values framework?
a. The competing values framework presented in Figure 3.3 identifies four
3. Which of the 11 methods or techniques for changing organizational culture were
used by Southwest Airlines?
a. The case itself provides very little content on specific cultural change but
inferences can be made about what tactics the firm uses to promote its
Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–22
OB IN ACTION CASE STUDY: Sergio Marchionne Undertakes Major Strategic and
Culture Change at Chrysler Group
1. What are the observable artifacts, espoused values, and basic assumptions
associated with Chrysler’s culture? Explain.
a. It appears that Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne is trying to change the
firm’s corporate culture to have less emphasis on structure, hierarchy and
change.
2. How is Mr. Machionne trying to improve the PE fit of his direct reports?
a. PE fit is a measure of the extent to which personal characteristics match
3. Use the competing values framework to diagnose Chrysler’s culture. To what
extent does it possess characteristics associated with clan, adhocracy, market,
and hierarchy cultures? Discuss.
a. The information in the case study provides some examples of each of the
Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–23
4. Begin by looking up Chrysler’s mission or vision statement on the company’s
Web site. Now answer the following question: To what extent is the culture type
you identified in question 2 consistent with the accomplishment of this mission or
vision? Explain.
5. Which of the mechanisms for changing organizational culture did Mr. Marchionne
use at Chrysler? Explain.
a. There are 11 mechanisms for changing organizational culture. One of the
mechanisms used by Mr. Marchionne was to change the design of
physical space, work environments, and buildings by locating his office
Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–24
6. Would you like to work at Chrysler? Explain your rationale.
a. Responses will vary according to student preferences.
To gain further insight and knowledge about Chrysler, visit its website:
http://www.chryslergroupllc.com and explore the content in the “Our Company” section.
LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE: Credit-Card Issuers Have Cultures That Focus on
Growth by Targeting Financially Strapped People
Assume that you are member of Congress. What would you do in light of the
facts in this case?
Discussion:
The financial industry is one that has been and will continue to go through substantial
transition as a result of the fallout from the implosion of the sub-prime mortgage crisis
Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–25
consumer rights. If new legislation is passed that limits the ability of credit-card issuers
to raise interest rates, this will likely help some consumers, but perhaps hurt others. In
order to recoup the lost revenue from higher interest rates on existing cards, banks are
INTERNET EXERCISE
This chapter focused on organizational culture and the competing values framework as
one tool for characterizing organizational cultures. General Electric, Facebook,
Southwest Airlines, and Wal-Mart are all well-known successful firms but each has a
different organizational culture. For this exercise, consult the web pages for each firm
to determine what aspects of organizational culture you see demonstrated.
Go to the General Electric homepage at: http://www.ge.com. Click on the “Our
Company” link. Under the “Our Culture” link, read the “Our People,” “Working
Environment” and “Leadership and Learning” sections. Return to the homepage and
click on the “Our Company” link and read the section “Our History.”
Go to the Facebook homepage at: http://www.facebook.com. Under the “Careers”
section, review the information for “Benefits and Perks” and “Life at Facebook.” Then
go to the company’s media link at http://www.facebook.com/press/ and review the
information under the “Factsheet” and “Timeline” sections. You should also watch some
of the video clips under the “B-Roll” section.
Go to the Southwest Airlines homepage at: http://www.southwest.com. Click on the
“About Southwest” section and read the “Mission” and “History” sections. Click on the
“The Southwest Difference” link and read the sections “Our Charitable Giving,”
“Community Outreach,” and “Environmental Initiatives.”
Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–26
Go to the Wal-Mart homepage at http://walmartstores.com. Click on the “About Us”
section. Read the sections titled “Our Purpose” and “History” and the sections under
“Culture.” Return to the homepage and click on the “Diversity” section and read some
of the sections of interest.
Questions:
1. Describe examples of observable artifacts, espoused values, and basic
assumptions for each firm.
2. How do you think the history of each firm has impacted its culture?
3. Using Figure 3-3: Competing Values Framework as a guide, how would you
classify each organization’s culture? Be sure to provide supporting evidence.
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES
1. Both self-assessment and group exercises are presented in “An Instructor’s
Guide to an Active Classroom” by A. Johnson and A. Kinicki (McGraw-Hill/Irwin,
2006).
2. Understanding physical surroundings as a manifestation of organizational culture
is discussed in “Space at Work: Exercises in the Art of Understanding Physical
Indicators of Culture” by L. Barklay and K. York in Journal of Management
Education, 2001, Vol. 25(1), pp. 54-69.
3. Techniques to understand organizational culture are presented in “Exploring
Organizational Culture: Teaching Notes on Metaphor, Totem, and Archetypal
Images” by D. Starr-Glass in Journal of Management Education, 2004, Vol.
28(3), pp. 356-371.
TOPICAL RESOURCES
1. For more on the Southwest Airlines model see “The Southwest Airlines Way:
Using the Power of Relationships to Achieve High Performance” by J. Gittell
(McGraw-Hill, 2002).
2. For more on the competing values framework see “Diagnosing and Changing
Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework” by K. S.
Cameron and R. E. Quinn (Jossey-Bass, 2011).
3. An interesting account of leadership, culture, and ethics can be found in
“Restorying a Culture of Ethical and Spiritual Values: A Role for Leader
Storytelling” by C. Driscoll and M. McKee in Journal of Business Ethics, 2007,
Vol. 73(2), pp. 205-217.
Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–27
4. New research that shows that outstanding performance is the product of practice
and mentorship is discussed in “The Making of an Expert” by E. Anders et al. in
Harvard Business Review, 2007, Vol. 85(7/8), pp. 114-121.
5. A synthesis of the most commonly used general dimensions of organizational
culture are discussed in “A Framework for Linking Culture and Improvement
Initiatives in Organizations” by J. Detert, R. Schroeder, and J. Mauriel in
Academy of Management Review, 2000, Vol. 25(4), pp. 850-863.
6. Compelling insights into the value of a carefully managed culture are presented
in “Building Motivational Capital through Career Concept and Culture Fit: The
Strategic Value of Developing Motivation and Retention” by R. Larsson et al. in
Career Development International, 2007, Vol. 12(4), pp. 361-381.
7. Further information on social networks and mentoring is found in
“Reconceptualizing Mentoring at Work: A Developmental Network Perspective”
by M. Higgins and K. Kram in Academy of Management Review, 2001, Vol.
26(2), pp. 264-288.
VIDEO RESOURCES
1. Changing the corporate culture is the focus of the video “Leadership and the New
Science” (CRM Films).
2. Employee interviews are used to exemplify organizational culture in the video
“Organizational Culture and Climate” (Insight Media).
3. On June 7, 2010, the CBS news program “CBS Sunday Morning” aired a profile
about Zappos titled “Zappos Delivers Happiness.” As of July of 2011, a link to
the video was available at: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6554219n
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Assume you wanted to learn more about a company where you want to work
someday to determine if there is a good PE fit. How can you learn more about
an organization’s culture? What elements of organization culture or PE fit are
likely to be most important for you?
2. Of the four cultural styles presented in Figure 3-3, which one would be your
preferred culture? Explain why.
3. Assume you just started working at a new company. What could you do to
improve the quality of your socialization process? How could you enhance your
developmental networks at your new employer?
Chapter 03 – Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring
3–28
4. How important will mentoring be in your career? How can you ensure you create
a win-win mentoring relationship for you and your mentor?
SUPPLEMENTAL EXERCISE 1: REALISTIC JOB PREVIEW OF YOUR SCHOOL
APPLICATION
This exercise asks students to write a realistic job preview of their own university or
college. The “Abridged College Characteristic Index” may be used as a class handout.
Students individually complete the survey regarding the climate at their institution. In
order to get a measure of reliability of each statement, students (either in groups or as a
class) should come to agreement regarding whether a particular statement is true of the
institution (e.g., through majority vote). Next, each student can write a realistic job
preview (RJP) about his or her school. Students are encouraged to paraphrase and
elaborate upon the statements in the survey, rather than simply restating items from the
survey. The narrative should provide a realistic (with both positive and negative
aspects) essay about life at college.
* * *
ABRIDGED COLLEGE CHARACTERISTICS INDEX
Indicate whether the statements below are true (or generally true) or false (or generally
false) with regard to your school.
_____
1.
The school has an excellent reputation for academic freedom.
_____
2.
Students are free to cut classes at their own discretion.
_____
3.
There are many facilities and opportunities for individual creative activity.
_____
4.
The school helps everyone get acquainted.
_____
5.
Students are not allowed to attend class without shirts, in bare feet, etc.
_____
6.
Graduation is a pretty matter-of-fact, unemotional event.
_____
7.
The history and traditions of the college are strongly emphasized.
_____
8.
Students quickly learn what is done and not done on this campus.
_____
9.
Students are expected to work out the details of their own program in
their own way.
_____
10.
Students here are encouraged to be independent and individualistic.
3–29
_____
11.
This school is regarded as a good place to meet future business or
marriage partners.
_____
12.
There is a lot of apple-polishing around here.
_____
13.
There is a lot of fanfare and pageantry in many of the college events.
_____
14.
Students are encouraged to criticize administrative policies and teaching
practices.
_____
15.
Many of the professors are actively engaged in writing.
_____
16.
Most of the professors are dedicated scholars in their fields.
_____
17.
Most courses require intensive study and preparation out of class.
_____
18.
Faculty members put a lot of energy and enthusiasm into their teaching.
_____
19.
There is a lot of emphasis on preparing for graduate work.
_____
20.
The professors really push the students’ capacities to the limit.
_____
21.
Class discussions are typically vigorous and intense.
_____
22.
Most courses are a real intellectual challenge.
_____
23.
Students often see and talk with the professors outside of class.
_____
24.
Faculty members often call students by their first names.
_____
25.
Education for leadership is strongly emphasized.
_____
26.
The professors go out of their way to help you.
_____
27.
Faculty members encouraged students to work on research projects.
_____
28.
Frequent tests are given in most courses.
_____
29.
Professors usually take attendance in class.
_____
30.
Faculty members always wear coats and ties on the campus.
_____
31.
Students almost always wait to be called on before speaking in class.
_____
32.
Everyone knows the easy courses to take and the tough ones to avoid.
_____
33.
It is fairly easy to pass most courses without working very hard.
_____
34.
Personality, pull, and bluff get students through many courses.
_____
35.
Students address faculty members as “professor” or “doctor.”
_____
36.
Long, serious, intellectual discussions are common among the students.
_____
37.
There are so many things to do here that students are busy all the time.
3–30
_____
38.
Students set high standards of achievement for themselves.
_____
39.
There is considerable student interest in the analysis of value systems
and ethics.
_____
40.
Students commonly share their problems.
_____
41.
Student organizations are very open and friendly.
_____
42.
Students are very serious and purposeful about their work.
_____
43.
Students spend a lot of time together at snack bars, taverns, and in one
another’s rooms.
_____
44.
Preparing for the job market receives a lot of time and attention by
students.
_____
45.
Nearly everyone here has a date for the weekends.
SUPPLEMENTAL LECTURETTE 1: COLLEGE CULTURE APPLICATION
After your students have completed the abridged college characteristics measure in
groups or as individuals use this material to lead a discussion on culture. This
discussion has the potential to be rich because students will have been thinking about a
concrete example of culture which most likely evokes strong opinions. Most, if not all,
college students have gripes about their school. At the core of their complaints, more
often than not, is a cultural aspect of the school.
This conversation is flexible and can take any direction the instructor prefers, but
common elements that should get attention are:
• What are the values of this school?
• How are the values of the school shaped by the students and the community?
• What are the norms observed by the faculty and the students?
• What are some of the unspoken assumptions at this school?
• How does this school socialize students?
• How does this school provide mentorship for students?
• What would students change about the school?
• How would they make these changes?