Article 1:

Group psychology
Social identification and internalization

Session 4
Organizational culture
Edgar H. Schein 2004

Illustrates ho the concept of culture helps to illuminate organizational situations

Taking a cultural perspective, learning to see the world through cultural lenses; perceive
and decipher the cultural forces that operate in groups, organizations and occupations
Whether or not a culture is bad, good, functionally effective orm not depends not
on the culture alone, but in the relationship of the culture to the environment in which
it exists
Culture points us to phenomena that are below the surface, that are powerful in their
impact, but invisible and to a considerable degree unconscious; in that sense, culture is
to a group, what personality or character is to an individual; we can see the behavior
that results, but not the forces underneath, that cause such a behavior, just as our
personality and character guide and constrain our behavior, so does the culture huide
and constrain the behavior of members of a group through shared norms that are held
in that group
Personality/character can be seen as the accumulation of cultural learning that an
individual has experienced in the family, school, community and occupation; culture is
within us as individuals and constantly evolving as we join and create new groups that
eventually create new cultures
Concept of culture is abstract, but its behavioral and attitudinal consequences are very
concrete
We recognize cultural differences at ethnic and national level, but find them ouzzling at
the group, organizational level
Being a doctor or other professional involves not only learning the technical skills but
also adoption of certain values and norms that define our occupation
Leadership creates and changes cultures, while management and administration act
within a culture
Defining characteristic of a group- shared history; any social unit with some kind of
shared history will have evolved a culture, with the strength of the culture dependent
on the length of its existence, stability of groups membership
 Besides concepts as norms, behavior patterns, rituals, traditions, culture adds several
other critical elements: structural stability, depth, breadth, patterning or integration
o Structural stability: when something is cultural, it is not only shared, but also
stable, as it defines the group, culture survives even when some members
depart, culture is hard to change because group members value stability -it
provides meaning and predictability
o Depth: culture is the deepest, often unconscious part of a group and is therefore
less tangible and visible than other parts: when something is more deeply
embedded it also gains stability
o Breadth: once it has developed it covers all of a groups function, it influences all
aspects of how an organization deals with its primary task, various environments
and internal operations
o Patterning or integration: patterning or integration of the elements into a larger
paradigm that ties together the various elements and that lies at a deeper level;
culture somehow implies that rituals, climate, values and behaviors tie together
into a coherent whole
Culture forms through spontaneous interaction in an unstructured group gradually
leading to patterns and norms of behavior that become the culture of the group; in
more formal groups, an individual creates the group or becomes its leader, the leader
will have cerain visions, goals, values, beliefs and assumptions om how things should be
and he will initially impose these on the group, but it doesnt automatically produce
culture; only if the resulting behavior leads to success( group accomplishes its task and
members feel good about relations to each other), wil the founders beliefs and values
be confirmed and recognized as shared; the group will then again act on these beliefs
and if it continues to be successful wil conclude as culture
Culture= accumulated shared learning of a given group, with a history of shared
experience within the group, that turns some stability of membership, given such
stability and a shared history, the human need for consistency and meaning will cause
the various shared elements to form into patterns culture
The heart of culture will be revealed only when members gain permanent status and are
allowed into inner circles of the group in which group secrets are shared
Any group with stable membership and shared history will have developed some level of
culture
Socialization process: rules and norms are taught to newcomers in a socialization
process that is itself a reflection of culture
Once culture exists they determine the criteria for leadership and thus who will or will
not be a leader
 Session 5
Interest, Conflict and Power
Gareth Morgan 1996

Employees recognize that their rights as a citizen and as a paid employee are in conflict
with each other
As a citizen in a democratic society he is free to hold his own opinion, make his own
decisions and be treated as an equal; as an employee he is denied these rights
Understand organizations as political systems
Managers frequently talk about authorithy power and superior-subordinate relations
Organizations as systems of government that vary according to the political principles
employeed
Recognizing that an organization is intrinsically political, ways must be found to create
order and direction among people with potentially diverse and conflicting interests
The political method cand also be used to unravel the politics of day-to day
organizational life
The idea of politics stems from the view that, where interests are divergent , society
should provide a means of allowing individuals to reconcile their differences through
consultation and negotiation
Many organizations are ruled by authoritarian managers who wield considerable power
as a result of their personal characteristics, family ties or skill in building influence and
prestige within th eorganization
Many organizations have autocratic tendencies and characteristics
The word authocracy signifies the kind of absolute and often dictatorial power
associated with ruling by oneself
In autocracies and democracies the pattern of power and authority is fairly stable and
clearly defined, in technocracies it is often in flues as different individuals and groups
rise and decline in power along with the value of their technical contributions
Exhibit 6.1 Organizations and modes of political rule
Insert table 1

In democracies the power may be excersed through representative forms of

management, where different stackeholders are formally represented in decision
making processes, as in systems of codetermination or coalition government and in
forms of worker or shareholder control, may be also exercised directly through
participative forms of rule where everyone shares in the management process
Political principal: in healthy systems of government those in power should be held in
check by some form of opposition; many people concerned with rights of labor fear that
 direct involvement in the management process creates a situation that co-opts or
incorporates and hence reduces the power of dissent; By being a part of a decision
making process, one loses ones right to oppose the decisions made
Employees rights can be best protected through associations such as labor unions or
professional bodies that adopt an oppositional role in order to shape policy without
ownin it
Analyze the organizational politics in a systematic way by focusing on relations between
interests, conflict and power; organizational politics arise when people think differently
and want to act differently; this diversity creates a tension that must be resolved
through political means ; many ways in which this can be done: autocratically:well do it
this way, bureaucratically: were supposed to do it this way, technocratically: its best
this way and democratically: how shall we do it?; the coiche depends on the power
relations between the actors involved

Analyzing interests

Conceive interests in 3 interconnected domains relationg to ones organizational task,

career amd personal life; task interests are connected with the work one has to
perform; employees bring to the workplace aspirations and visions as to what their
future may hold career interests that may be independent of the job performed; they
also bring personalities, private attitudes, values, preferences and beliefs from outside
work extramural interests to shape the way they act in relation to job and career
insert diagram

Make work as consistent with personal preferences as possible; many people manage to
achieve considerable degees of overlap between competing aims and aspirations,
shaping their general task in a way that allows them to achieve all their aims at once;
while others have to content with compromise positions
Begin to relate to their work through their own personal concerns and detect the
motivating factors that underpin the varied styles of careerism, gamesmanship, task
commitement, rigidity that lend the politics of organizarional life its detailed character
By following ones personal inclinations, the drama aof organizational life is shaped by a
political script
his charismatic personality allowed him to use the organization to express himself
through a strategy that combined task, career and extramural interests in a coherent
way
In contrast with the view that organizations are integrated rational enterprises pursuing
a common goal, the political metaphor encourages to see organizations as loose
networks of people with divergent interst who gather together for the sake of
expendiency (making a living, developing a career)
 Coalitions arrive when groups get together to cooperate in relation to specific
issues,events, decisions or to advance specific values an ideologies; organizations fit in
this definition of coalition in the sense that they comprise groups of managers, workers,
shareholders, customers and other formal and informal groups with a stake in the
organization but whose goalse differ; organization as a coalition of diverse stakeholders
is a coalition with multiple goals
Organization require a minimal degree of consensus to function; this allows the organization to
survive while recognizing the diversity of the aims and aspiations of its members

Understanding conflicts

Conflict arises whenever interests collide; organizations usually see it as a dysfunctional

force
Conflict will always be present in organization; may be personal, interpersonal or
between rival groups; built into organizational structuers, roles, attitudes and arise over
a scarcity of resources
Politicking is also latent in the horizontal relations between specialist units and within
multidisciplinary teams; people begin to identify with the responsabilities and objectives
associated with their specific role in a way that often leads them to value achievement
of these responsabilities over and above the achievement of wider organizational goals;
Exploring power

Power is the medium through which conflicts of interest are ultimately resolved;it
influences who gets what, when and how
Some view power as a resource, others view it as a social relation characterized by some
kind of dependency
Definition of power offered by American political scientist Robert Dahl. Who suggest
that power involves an ability to get another pesona to do something that he or she
would not otherwise have done
Sources of power in organizations
1. Formal authority: form of legitimized power that is respected and acknowledged by
those with whom one interacts, arises when people recognize that a persona has a right
to rule some area of human life and that it is their duty to obey; legitimate authority has
been underpinned by one or more of these characteristics: charisma, tradition, rule of
law
a. Charismatic authority arises when people respect the special qualities of an
individual and see those qualities as defining the right of the individual to act on
their behalf
 b. Traditional authority arises when people respect the custom and practices of the
past and vest authority in those who symbolize and embody these traditional
values
c. Bureaucratic or rational legal authority arises when people insist that the
exercise of power depends on the correct application of formal rules and
procedures; most obsious type of formal authority is bureaucratic, typically
associated with the position one holds
2. Control of scarece resources: all organizations depend for their continued existence on
an adequate flow of resources: money, materials, technology, personnel, supplier etc;
an ability to exercise control over any of these resources can provide an important
source of power within and between organization;scarcity and dependence are the keys
to resrouce power; as Jeffrey Pfeffer has suggested, the use of such power is critically
linked with ones ability to control the discretionary use of funds; most of financial
resources available to an organization are committed to sustain current operations; if a ;
power rests in controlling resources on which the organization is dependent for current
operations or for creating new initiatives; ones power can be increased by reducing
ones dependence on others
3. Use of organizational structure, rules. Regulations and procedures: are viewed as
rational instruments intended to aid task performance. A political view of these
arrangements suggests that in many situations they are often best understood as
reflections of a struggle for political control; job descriptions can be used by employees
to gain control, to define what they are not prepared to do: not part of my job, rules and
regulations can prove to be two-edged swords; the formal purpose of rules is to protect
employees, customers, but also the creators(if an accident happens, investigation can
be done to compare practice against the regulations)
4. Control of decision processes: an ability to influence the outcomes of decision making
processes is a source of power.
a. By influencing decision premises one can control the doundations of decision
making-preventing crucial decisions from being made and fostering those that
one actually desires; understandings of problems can act as straightjackets,
preventing us from seeing other ways of formulating basic concerns and finding
alternative courses of action
b. Control of decision making pricess is more visible than a. how should a decision
be made? Who is involved? When?
c. Influence the issues and objectives to be addressed and the evaluative criteria to
be employed; preparing the reports an dcontributing to the discussion on which
the decision will be based
5. Control of knowledge abd ibformation:by controlling these key resources a person can
systematically influence the definition of organizational situations and can create
patterns of dependency; technology can be used to increase the power of those at the
periphery or local levels of the organization by providing them with more immediate,
 comprehensive and relvant data relating to their work, facilitating elf control rather than
centralzed control; knowledge and information can be used to weave patterns of
dependency; by possessing the right information at the right time, by having exclusive
access to key data or by demonstrating the ability to synthesize facts in an effective
manner, members can increase power; tendency in organizations to routinize valued
skills and abilities whenever possible and also to break down dependencies on specific
individuals and departments by acquiring ones own expert;
6. Control of boundaries: boundary- interface between different elements of organization;
one gains access to critical information places ina particularly powerful position to
interpret what is happening in the ouside world and help define the organizational
reality; boundary management can help integrate a unit with the outside world or it can
be used to isolate that unit so it can function in an autonoumus way; boundary
transactions often characterized by competing strategies for control and countercontrol
7. Ability to cope with the uncertainty: discountinuous or unpredictable situations in one
part of organizations ihave considerable impricalions for operations elsewhere;
Uncertainty is of two kinds: environmental (markets, finance, sources of raw material)
and operational(machinery), which empowers maintenance staff; the degree of power
that accrues to people depends on two factors: the degree to which their skills are
substitutable, the ease with which they can be replaced and the centrality of their
functions ; organizations try to avoid uncertainty by buffering or through processes of
routinization
8. Control of technology: instrument of power, enhancing the ability of humans to
manipulate, control and impose themselves on their environment; provides its users
with an ability to achieve amazing results in productive activity and with an ability to
manipulate this productive power and make it work effectively for their own ends;
organization dependent on some form of core technology for converting organizational
inputs into outputsl the kind of technology employed influences the patterns of
interdependence within an organization and hence the power relations between
different individuals and departments; introduction of new technology can alter the
balance of power increase the power of one group at the expense of
anotherdevelop into a hot political issue; people manipulate and control technology
just as twist and turn rules technology, designed to direct and control the work
becomes a tool of workers control
9. Interpersonal alliances, networks and control of informal organization: friends in high
places, sponsors, mentors, coalitions of people prepared to trade support and favors to
further their individual ends; successful networking requires an ability to see beyond
immediate issues and find ways of trading help in the present for promises in the future,
mutual dependency and exchange; highly informal and to a degree invisible, can
become institutionalized in enduring forms such as project teams, networks may be
internal or external.informal group leader may become as powerful an influence on
their network or group as any manager, can cultivate dependencies
10. Control of counterorganization: establishment of control of counterorganizations, eg.
Trade unions; the strategy of excercising countervailing power provides a way of
influencing organizations where one is not part of the established power structure,
balancing power relations, for many people at lower levels. The only effective way that
they can influence their work like
11. Symbolism and the management of meaning: ones ability to persuade others to enact
realities that further the interests one whishes to pursue, democratic leaders influence
is far more subtle and symbolic, managing the meanings and interpretations assigned to
a situation, the leader wields a form of symbolic power that exerts a decisive influence
on how people perceive their realities and the way they act
a. Use of imagery:images, language, symbols, stories, rituals can be used in shaping
powr relations in organizational life: encourage the idea that the organization is
a team, problems opportunities and challenges, shape patterns of corporate
culture and subculture will help them achieve desired aims and objectives,
b. The use of theather: physical settings, appeareances and styles of behavior can
add to their power: situations speak louder than workds- express power
realtions within organization; appeareances- rules of dress, unwritten
requirements for successdul progress to higher ranks, distinguish people in
organizations based on their choice of fashion, style of behavior can also
symbolize power:e.g being late for a meeting, symbolism can enhance power;
using impression management to influence the systems of meaning
surrounding them
c. Use of gamesmanship: seeing organization as a game to be played according to
their own sets of unwritten rules
12. Gender and the management of gender relations:organizations are dominated by
gender related values that bias organizational life in favor of one sex over another; glass
ceiling effect: women can see opportunities at the top of organizations, but the path is
often blocked by gender biases; ; the links between the male stereotype and the values
that dominate many ideas about the nature of organization are striking: eg:
organizational are encouraged to be rational, analytical, tough, aggressive and so are
man; women who wish to operate in this kind of world attempt to foster these values,
they are seen as breaking the traditional female stereotypetrying to play a man role,
gender biases are also found on the language, rituals, stories that shape an
orgnaizations culture: general conversations, day to day ritual can serve to include or
exclude
Insert exhibit 6.4. Traditional male and female stereotypes

The shift from hierarchical to flat , networked forms of organization is creating a

major political shift that favors what have been traditionally seen as female stules of
management
Insert Exhibit 6.5 Some strategies for the management of gender relations
13. Structural factors that define the stage of action: hardly anyone admits to having real
power; everyone feels in some degree hemmed in either by forces within organization
or in terms of requirements posed by environment; distinguish between the surface
manifestations and the deep structure of power; view o fdeep structure of power leads
us to recognize the importance of factors such as economics, race and class relations in
determining role we occupy withing organizations and the knd of opportunity structure
and power to which we have access
14. The power one already has: power is the route to power, use power to acquire more;
powered used in a judicious way takes the form of an investment and like money, often
becomes useful on a rainy day; honey-pot characteristic of power: the presence of
power attracts and sustains people who wish to feed off that power and actually serves
to increase the power holder;s power, power, like honey, is a perpetual source of
sustenance and attraction among fellow bees; empowering aspect of power: when
people experience progress or success, they are often energized to achieve further
progress and success; experience of success becomes a transforming force as they
realize tha one victory can lead to another
15. The ambiguity of power: asymmetrical patterns of dependence, one person becomes
dependent on another in an unbalanced way

Managing pluralist organizations

pluralist frame of reference, it emphasizes the plural nature of the interests,

conflicts and sources of power that shape organizational life
The pluralist vision is of a society where different groups bargain and compete for a
share in the balance of power and use their influence to realize Aristotles ideal of
politics: a negotiated order that creates unity out of diversity
Some organizations function like unitary teams, ithers as vibrant political systems
with the kind of pluralist politics discussed, others as battlefields where rival groups
engage in ongoing warfare
Unitary characteristics found in organizations that developed a cohesive culture
based on respect for managements right to mange
These 3 frames of reference serve as organizational ideologies
These ideologies may emerge and be used as a management tool as a means of
shaping the organization to conform with the image that best suits specific ends
Each frame of reference leads to a different approach of management
Unitary manager tend to see formal authority as the only legitimate source of power
and rarely acknowledge the right or ability of other to influence the management
procees, conflict seen as source of trouble, unwanted intrustion
Insert Exhibit 6.6 Unitary, pluralist and radical frames of reference

Using the model in exhiit 6.6 assess the general pattern of interests, conflict and power gain a
useful initial grasp on the character of the political system