DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Describe three different types of organizational cultures. When would each be most and least
effective for a research and development company dependent on employee innovation?
Dominating conflict cultures have open confrontations are accepted as well as heated arguments and
threats (e.g., The Digital Equipment Corporation). Collaborative conflict cultures are active and
2. Do you think that culture is important to organizational performance? Why or why not?
Yes. Culture is important to organizational performance because it is a source of competitive
3. How do you learn about prospective employers’ cultures? How important is a company’s
culture to you when you decide to apply or to accept a job offer?
You learn about prospective employers’ cultures by talking to current employees and studying the
4. Which of the four conflict management cultures would be the best fit for you? Why?
I prefer the collaborative conflict culture because it is active and agreeable. Employees actively
5. What can companies do to create and reinforce a culture of inclusion?
Companies can create a culture of inclusion by effectively managing diversity to bring out the best in
each employee, allowing them to contribute maximally to the firm’s performance.
6. In what ways can the influence of the founder of an organization be assessed after that founder
is no longer a part of the organization?
A founder influences and shapes a firm’s culture. The culture may endure forever if reinforced
7. How are technology and innovation interrelated?
Technology is a tool to facilitate innovation. One use of technology is the use of intranets to keep
employees connected, communicating, and focused on the corporation’s objectives. Technology also
8. What current examples can you identify to reflect radical, systems, and incremental
innovations?
Students may think of other examples but cell phones could be considered a radical innovation as
they have spurred an entire industry and changed the way people receive communication. An
9. Describe how you might go about taking advantage of an existing organizational culture.
Student’s answers will vary due to the request for a personal response. There should be some
mention of first fully understanding the current culture: its values, and behaviors or actions those
values support. This deep understanding usually only comes through experience. Once this
GROUP EXERCISE – Culture of the Classroom
Learning Objective: This exercise will help students appreciate the fascination as well as the difficulty
of examining culture in organizations.
Summary: Each group analyzes the organization culture of a college class. Students in most classes that
use this book will have taken many courses at the college they attend and therefore should have several
classes in common.
Task: Divide the class into groups of four to six on the basis of classes the students have had in
common.0
00. Each group should first decide which class it will analyze. Each person in the group must
have attended the class.
00. Each group should list the cultural factors to be discussed. Items to be covered should
include:0
0. Stories about the professor.
0. Stories about the exams.
0. Stories about the grading.
0. Stories about other students.
0. The use of symbols that indicate the values of the students.
0. The use of symbols that indicate the values of the instructor.
3. Students should carefully analyze the stories and symbols to discover their underlying
meanings. They should seek stories from other members of the group to ensure that all
aspects of the class culture are covered. Students should take notes as these items are
discussed.
4. After twenty to thirty minutes of work in groups, reconvene the entire class and ask each
group to share its analysis with the rest of the class.
Follow-Up Questions
1. What was the most difficult part of this exercise? Did other groups experience the same
difficulty?
2. How did your group overcome this difficulty? How did other groups overcome it?
3. Do you believe your group’s analysis accurately describes the culture of the class you
selected? Could other students who analyzed the culture of the same class come up with a
different result? How could that happen?
4. If the instructor wanted to try to change the culture in the class you analyzed, what steps
would you recommend that he or she take?
VIDEO EXERCISE
The Environment and Corporate Culture at Recycline
Summary: Thanks to Eric Hudson’s perceptive scanning of the external environment in the mid-1990s,
recycled products firm Recycline discovered an opportunity others missed.
Hudson broke into the natural product arena with an innovative toothbrush made from recycled materials
—a bold decision in 1996. Hudson named his first product the Preserve Toothbrush, and Recycline was
born. Today, Preserve products can be found at top retail chains including Target, Whole Foods, and Wal-
Mart. Recycline believes that customers are getting wise to the “green-washing effect” in which
businesses cultivate a superficial green image without the substance to back it up. A close look at
Recycline’s internal culture confirms that Hudson’s company is authentically green. But Recycline’s
organizational culture isn’t just green—it’s effective.
1. What are some visible aspects of Recycline’s culture that reflect the company’s values and
commitment to green issues?
Visible aspects include some of the following: casual dress code, including flip-flops and
2. What role do leaders play in shaping Recycline’s organizational culture? Explain.
Cultural leadership is essential for establishing and maintaining culture. Leaders at Recycline shape
3. Could Recycline easily change its organizational culture if the green products market
encounters a backlash? How would management know if a permanent change in culture has
occurred?
Changing organizational culture is difficult. Since core assumptions are the deepest level of culture
To change a company’s culture, leaders must make big adjustments to reward systems, goals, leader
behaviors, artifacts, and organizational structures. Kurt Lewin’s force field analysis model identifies a
The primary way for management to determine if a cultural shift has occurred is by looking at
Now What?
Imagine attending a meeting with your boss and two coworkers to discuss declining sales for a previously
popular product. A competitor introduced a similar but better product that has been taking your market
share. The company knew about the competitor’s product, but underestimated the threat.
Happy Time Toys wants to make sure it recognizes potential threats faster in the future. What do you say
or do? Go to this chapter’s “Now What?” video, watch the challenge video, and choose a response. Be
sure to also view the outcomes of the two responses you didn’t choose. One of the stated solutions is to
conduct a competitor analysis and an after action review (AAR). This is a structured review or debriefing
process that is used to analyze positive and negative outcomes of an action. The steps include analyzing:
(a) what should have happened; (b) what actually happened; and (c) how the systems or process can be
improved. A competitor analysis is related but focuses on an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses
of current and potential competitors.
OB Concepts Applied: resistance to change; after action review; organizational learning; ethics
Discussion Questions
1. In what ways might culture influence how responsive Happy Time Toys is to competitor
threats?
If the company has a story about another time when they succumbed to a competitor’s threat the
employees may be able to recognize an impending threat. The thought of placing spies in competitor
2. How are ethics illustrated in these videos? What is the best way to ensure decisions are made
ethically?
Ethics is a code of moral principles and values that governs behavior with respect to what is right or
However, spying on competitors violates the company’s ethics code. Culture matters to organizations
because it influences employees’ ethical behavior through formal organizational structures like a
3. Based on the chapter, what other suggestions would you make to change the culture to enhance
responsiveness to the environment and why would you suggest them?