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SELF-ASSESSMENTS
SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.1
What Is the Organizational Culture at My Current Employer?
This Self-Assessment measures the organizational culture at students’ employers.
STUDENT QUESTIONS
How would you describe the organizational culture?
Student responses will differ based on their experiences, but they should include cultural types
from the chapter.
Do you think this type of culture is best suited to help the company achieve its strategic goals?
Explain.
Student responses will vary based on response to Question 1.
SUPPLEMENTAL ACTIVITY
Students should be put into groups based on their Self-Assessment scores. Students who scored
the lowest on a particular type of organizational culture should be grouped together.
Students should discuss examples of organizations that would fit well in their assigned culture.
In addition to providing a rationale, students should research the organization online (through its
website or a news outlet) and see what the organization has done to exhibit this type of culture.
Students should present for the class as follows:
What is the name of the organization?
What industry is it in?
What makes you think the assigned culture fits well here (examples should be used)?
Are there any other types of cultures that may work here as well?
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SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.2
Assessing Your Preferred Type of Organizational Culture
This Self-Assessment is intended to help students reflect on the type of organization into which
they would best fit, and, therefore, might lead them to be more successful and satisfied with their
working life.
STUDENT QUESTIONS
1. In rank order, what are your preferred culture types? Are you surprised by the results?
2. Compute the gap between your preferred and actual culture types by subtracting your actual
culture type score (Self-Assessment 8.1) from your preferred type score (Self-Assessment 8.2).
Where are the largest gaps?
3. Make a plan to improve your person–organization fit. Focusing on your two largest culture
types, identify what is causing the gaps. You will find it helpful to look at the survey items that
measure these types.
4. Now use the 12 embedding mechanisms just discussed and suggest at least two things you can
do to improve your level of fit.
SUPPLEMENTAL ACTIVITY
Students should be broken up into four groups with each group representing a particular culture
type. Students who score the lowest on a particular culture should be designated with that
culture.
Each group is to discuss advantages to this type of organizational culture and think of examples
of organizations, industries, etc. that would be compatible with the culture.
Return
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SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.3
Assessing Your Organizational Structure Preference
STUDENT QUESTIONS
1. Do you prefer a more mechanistic or organic structure? What do you think is the cause for this
preference?
2. If you were interviewing for a job, what questions might you ask to determine if the company
is more mechanistic or organic?
Some questions that can be asked include: Is your organization more oriented toward formal
rules and procedures, or informal and adaptive procedures? Do you have formal job
descriptions? Is your operating style more free range or based on sophisticated control systems?
SUPPLEMENTAL ACTIVITY
Students should be put into groups based on their Self-Assessment scores. Students who scored
high on mechanistic should be grouped together and students who scored high on organic should
be grouped together.
The group is to describe why the chosen organization is organic, and benefits to this type of
design.
Groups who scored high on organic should do the same task for a mechanistic organization of
their choosing.
Each group should share with the class and instructor should provide feedback.
Is the chosen organization’s design properly defined?
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GROUP EXERCISES
GROUP EXERCISE #1: DESIGNING AN ORGANIZATION
Objectives
● To experiment with designing and operating an organization.
Introduction1
An organization is a system of consciously coordinated activities of two or more people. There
are four characteristics common to all organizations (hierarchy of authority, coordination of
effort, division of labor, and common goal). Coordination of effort is achieved through
formulation and enforcement of policies, rules, and regulation. Division of labor occurs when the
common goal is pursued by individuals performing separate but related tasks. The hierarchy of
authority is a control mechanism dedicated to making sure the right people do the right things at
the right time. The overall purpose of this exercise is to explore the process of designing an
organization.
Instructions
In this exercise, students form organizations and compete with other organizations. The success
of each organization depends on the group’s objectives, planning, organization structure,
workflow, and quality control.
1. Break students into groups of six. Each group should nominate an observer. The observer is
2. Give the groups the following assignment:
Group assignments: Your company manufactures words into meaningful sentences. Your
company is highly competitive as there is great demand for quality sentences. Your company
therefore focuses on competing in two areas: volume and quality. Market research indicates that
sentences with five words are in high demand. Manufacturing sentences of five or more words
will keep your company on top.
Materials: Give each group one word. The letters in each word serve as materials to produce
new sentences. For example, if the word is “always” you can produce the sentence: “Al saw a
way.”
The Rules:
● A letter in the word can be used more than once in a sentence, (see the example above)
but only once in a word.
● A generated word can only be used once in the same sentence. For example, you cannot
say: “Al was way, way, way.”
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● A generated word can be used more than once in different sentences.
4. Give the groups 15 minutes to plan their organizational structures and practice making
words.
5. Once planning time is complete, give the group 20 minutes to generate as many acceptable
6. When time is up, groups pass their sentences to the front of the room. As the instructor, you
7. Tally the points and determine which organization is the winner.
Questions for Discussion
1. What was effective within each organization?
2. How did the winning group design its organization?
3. What was the winning group’s strategy?
4. What has this exercise taught you about the effectiveness of organizations?
Source:
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GROUP EXERCISE #2: ESTABLISHING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND STRUCTURE
Objectives
● To learn more about organizational structures.
● To consider the relationship between organizational culture and structure.
Introduction
As we learned in this chapter, an organization’s culture consists of a system of shared beliefs and
Instructions
Break into groups of five or six people. Your first task is to start your own organization. Your
organization can be anything from a baseball team to a car company to a bank. Once you have
determined what type of organization your group wants to create, the group needs to establish the
Questions for Discussion
1. What are your organization’s values? Explain why they were chosen.
2. Map your organization’s values using the competing values framework presented in your
textbook. What type of culture have you created?
3. How do the values and culture of your organization correspond to its structure? Explain.
4. How did your organization chart change once your company reached 300 employees?
What type of structure does this chart represent? Explain.
5. Do you believe your organization is more mechanistic or organic? Explain.
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CAREER CORNER GROUP EXERCISES
BUILDING THE COMPETENCY OF SELF-AWARENESS
Learning Objective
• To enhance students’ career readiness competency of self-awareness.
Introduction
The overall purpose of this exercise is to give students an opportunity to sharpen the career
readiness competency of self-awareness. This competency provides them with a realistic view of
their strengths and weaknesses relative to a specific job and context, and it provides them with
Instructions
1. Instructor should briefly review Figure 8.2 on the Competing Values Framework (CVF)
with the class. Here is a slide:
CAREER
READINESS
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If this is an online class, instructor can post this slide online for students to view.
2. Students should be provided with 10 minutes to individually research a company. They
can utilize the Internet and do a quick Google search on a well-known organization. Their
3. Students should rate the extent to which the organization possesses the cultural
characteristics from the CVF on a scale from 1 (very little) to 5 (very strong). They
4. In an interview, students can confirm the above conclusions about fit by asking a
recruiter targeted, behavior questions. These questions need to focus on identifying what
Examples: they can assess whether or not a company possesses a clan culture by asking
“Are employees encouraged to be more autonomous or participative/collaborative when
trying to accomplish their goals? Can you give me one example?” They can assess
culture by asking about the reward system. “Are employees rewarded based on
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individual or group performance?” Individual performance suggests more of a market
5. Students should take 10 minutes and develop three questions. Once 10 minutes has
elapsed, students should form dyads and then ask a partner for feedback on the developed
questions. The first student starts by telling his or her partner what type of culture he or
she would prefer to work in. With this information in mind, the student then describes the
Tips for online and large in-person classes:
Online classes: You can utilize discussion boards to execute this part of the exercise. Students
can be paired, and each student would post what he or she has discovered about his/her chosen
ONLINE
CLASS
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Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Here is a slide that can be utilized to provide students with instructions:
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UBER CONTINUE CASE
Chapter 8: Planning
This part of the Uber continuing case focuses on Chapter 8 and covers principles related to
organizational culture and structure. This continuing case’s real-world application of
management knowledge and skills is designed to help students develop critical-thinking ability
and realize the practical power of sound managerial skills for solving problems.
The case includes five multiple-choice questions and two essay-based questions. The essay-
based questions can also be used in-class to spur discussion:
1. Today, is Uber more of a mechanistic or organic organization? Why?
2. Were Uber’s espoused and enacted values in sync under Kalanick? How about now with
Khosrowshahi as CEO?
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MANAGER’S HOT SEAT VIDEO
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE: CHURNING OUT A NEW CULTURE
I. Introduction
Churnout is a successful online retailer that was forced to oust its previous CEO because he
instigated poor workplace behavior. The new CEO is adamant that change is needed, and fast.
However, she is facing resistance from a senior leader in the company based on the way she wants
to go about changing Churnout’s organizational culture. Senior leadership is meeting to discuss
how to move forward and there is a lot of tension in the room.
II. Learning Objectives
2. Analyze the connection or disconnection between espoused and enacted values.
4. Understand organizational socialization.
III. Scenario Description:
Scene Set-up: Julia, Ben, Mandy and Patrick are in Churnout’s boardroom for an executive
meeting.
Scene Location: Executive Boardroom
Profile:
Summary: Julia has recently taken over as CEO of Churnout because her predecessor,
Lincoln, was forced out of the company due to allegations of creating a hostile work
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culture under Lincoln contributed to its current success. Julia disagrees with Ben’s
approach and wants to begin the process of culture change at Churnout as soon as possible,
no matter what it takes.
IV. Discussion of Theory
Competing Values Framework
• Julia and Ben have different views of the company culture (clan vs. market), and both are
quite extreme in these views.
Espoused Versus Enacted Values
• During Lincoln’s tenure, espoused and enacted values did not match. Espoused values are
what an organization explicitly states (such as the formal statement Julia wants to draft).
Enacted values are what are actually exhibited. The organizational value under Lincoln
had a mismatch, which Julia is trying to change. This is the point that is really important
to Mandy. She doesn’t care what the values are, just that they match.
Culture Change
Organizational Socialization
• Patrick alludes to the need for a fresh perspective from new employees and Julia
• Ben feels this is all a purge and is quite resistant.
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ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: MERGING CORPORATE DIFFERENCES
I. Introduction
Two major banks have merged to create First National Bank, but the merger has hit some bumps.
Each bank had a different organizational structure and processes for everyday transactions before
merging. Senior management is now meeting to discuss what structure should be used at the new
bank, and major disagreements have shown themselves.
II. Learning Objectives
1. Demonstrate how an organization’s structure can impede its success.
3. Evaluate Burns and Stalker’s mechanistic and organic environments.
III. Scenario Description:
Scene Set-up: Francisco, Charlotte and Dean are meeting in Francisco’s office.
Scene Location: Bank President and CEO’s office
Profile:
• Francisco Medina – President & CEO
• Charlotte Hill – VP of Retail Banking
• Dean Sanders – Chief Operating Officer
Summary: National Bank and First American Bank merged to form First National Bank.
National Bank is quite a mechanistic organization while First American is more organic.
The vice president of retail banking comes from First American Bank and is not used to
centralized authority, many rules and procedures, and formalized communication. The
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IV. Discussion of Theory
Centralized Versus Decentralized Authority
• National Bank – centralized authority
• First American Bank – decentralized authority
• Post-merger bank is First National Bank and the two authority types are clashing
Organizational Structures
• Matrix structure – problematic for branch managers reporting to both retail banking
district manager and central operations officer
Mechanistic Versus Organic Organizations
• National Bank – mechanistic
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APPLICATION-BASED ACTIVITY
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE: SIDE EFFECTS INCLUDE HARASSMENT AND BULLYING
I. Introduction
HydroHealth is a nutritional supplement company. Its culture has been plagued by allegations of
harassment and bullying toward some employees and the CEO needs the help of a consultant to
help fix the organizational culture. The student will play the role of this consultant and will assist
the CEO and VP of human resources on how to move forward.
II. Learning Objectives
1. Understand the differences among organizational cultures, based on the competing values
framework.
3. Analyze effective methods of culture change based on a presented scenario.
III. Scoring Dimensions
The following theoretical concepts from the chapter are covered and scored in the simulation:
Theoretical Concepts
Percentage of Simulation
Clan culture
20%
Adhocracy culture
10%
Hierarchy culture
20%
Market culture
20%
Process of culture change
30%
IV. Follow-up Activity
Students can be assembled into groups of 4 to 5 in order to create a HydroHealth Standards of
Conduct document that will cover the following:
• What standards of behavior are expected in the workplace?
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• Are there certain rules that pertain to Internet and social media use as well?
• How should grievances be handled?
Students should pay close attention to the Employee Complaint Log when addressing the types of
behavior that will not be tolerated at HydroHealth:
This activity can also be completed in an online course via the use of discussion boards. Students
should first be asked to complete the Application-Based Activity, then should be put in online
groups. The above bullets can be listed for them and they can also be provided with the Employee
Complaint Log.