Michael Katreeb 5/16/2011 Dr.

Cleek

Outsider to Insider: What Makes You Able to Integrate What causes an outsider to become an insider at a job one might ask? In order for a person to be up to speed on the inside track, a person must learn the organizational socialization process which involves three stages of socialization and the outcomes of socialization. The stages are: the anticipatory socialization, the encounter, and finally the change and acquisition.1 We will look at this closely through the example of the 1995 movie titled Babe.2 Before Babe even started to become a sheep pig, he had to learn the realism of his expectations about his new job and the farm life (organization), the anticipatory socialization stage. Fly gave Babe information on the culture or how things were run at the farm. This gave Babe a sense of what was expected of him though things were backwards for him and the farmer considering he was a pig and not a dog. At first, Babe was stressed, because a lot was expected from him, but since Fly told him all his duties that he had to perform it lightened his load, so to speak. The individual congruence between Babes abilities and his job demands as a sheep pig were not equally matched. 3 The fact was that the job was supposed to be done by a dog not a sheep. This made it difficult for Babe to fit into the sheep dog group. Even Babes values did not at first match the values of the other sheep dogs until they learned to adjust their own values value congruence. If their values had matched early on, then Babe would not have wanted to quit in becoming a sheep pig, and Babe would have adjusted better to the farm. 4 In Babes encounter, we find that he started off as a normal pig, but somehow ended up as a sheep pig. His first step was to learn all the things necessary to become a sheep pig. He had to learn that he had to take charge of the sheep in order to become like the other sheep dogs. He watched what Fly and Rex did to round up the sheep to get them where their boss (farmer) wanted them. The same is true when you first start a job. You have to learn what your peers are doing to see what the boss wants from you. The boss would not expect for you to start your first day of work as if you knew what you were doing, so the same was true for Babe. He had to get comfortable with getting the sheep to do what he wanted which meant being bold, something that was foreign to Babe. The task demands for Babe were quite difficult at first because it was something he had never done before.2 It was also difficult, since Rex was adamant about the way sheep dogs tasks were to be done, and there was not room for creativity. This made it hard for Babe because being a sheep pig meant being a dictator in a sense to the sheep through biting, barking, or insulting. Babe found it difficult in his new position as sheep pig to perform the task demands. At first, he was failing as a sheep pig, and it was not until he discovered how to communicate with the sheep that he

became a successful leader. This was a challenge for Rex, who was a real sheep dog, to conform to a new creative way of communicating with the sheep as he never thought it was possible. Over time Rex realized this was the most successful way, so in a sense he had to relearn how to be a sheep dog all over again. The role demands placed on Babe were not easy for him to understand, and it made him feel ambiguous as to what he was supposed to do as a sheep pig.2 The farmer just wanted him to round up the sheep when he called Babe to do so. Rex sent mixed messages to Babe about how to round up the sheep. The farmer was not concerned about how Babe rounded up the sheep just that he was able to accomplish the task. Rex and Fly did make fun of Babe at first because he was not able to round up the sheep. This should have made Babe accept the norms and values of the farm. However, Babe did not accept the values and norms, in fact, he changed them by communicating respectfully with the sheep. The interpersonal demands of the farm were evident to Babe as he learned how to become a sheep pig.2 Babe felt the politics of the farm by how things were supposed to be done a certain way. With leadership style, Babe could see that Rex was more or less a dictator who ruled with a swift attack if you stepped out of line. The leadership style affected the way the group worked as a whole, so Babe was getting pressure from everyone to be a sheep pig the way Rex wanted. It is very true that once Babe started doing his job as a sheep pig it was very different then when he was learning about the job, and his expectations of the job. In the change and acquisition, Babe began to master his job as sheep pig. He finally started to master how to be a sheep pig when he learned how to communicate with the sheep. Babe managed the task of rounding up the sheep quicker than Rex or Fly by communication, proving how proficient he was. The sheep showed him that if he could communicate respectfully with them he could ask anything he wanted, and they would do it. Babe was also successful not only with the sheep, but with Rex and Fly. He showed them at the sheep dog competition that communicating respectfully would win every time. Babe negotiated his role as a lead sheep pig not just a follower by winning the sheep dog competition. Babe finally became an insider at the farm, not the outsider he was so used to. The outcomes of socialization as Babe learned was his accomplishment of becoming socialized through good performance, high job satisfaction, and the intention to remain at the farm as a sheep pig. He showed low levels of distress symptoms by mastering his job as a lead sheep pig.5 Babe also became very committed to the farm by not giving up on becoming a sheep pig which he not only become a sheep pig, but a lead sheep pig. This showed how Babe had been successful of socialization. Babes influence on the farm and changing how things were done are clear indicators to acquiring socialization. 2

As we have learned by studying the aspects of the three stages of socialization and the outcomes of socialization through Babe, we can say that Babe is a good example of how to socialize. He went through the anticipatory socialization, the encounter, and finally the change and acquisition at the farm as he learned how to become a lead sheep pig. Babe not only socialized, but changed things that needed changing. We can learn from Babe on how to be successful at organizational socialization.

D. L. Nelson, Organizational Socialization: A Stress Perspective, Journal of Occupational Behavior 8 (1987): 311324. 2 Babe. Dir. C. Noonan. By C. Noonan, C. Cavanaugh, M. Margolyes, and R. L. Browne. Prod. G. Miller and D. Mitchell. Perf. J. Cromwell and M. Szubanski. [s.n.], 1995. Videocassette. 3 D. L. Nelson and J. C. Quick, Organizational Socialization, ORGB2 (2011): 263 265. 4 J. Chatman, Matching People and Organizations: Selection and Socialization in Public Accounting Firms, Administrative Science Quarterly 36 (1991): 459 484. 5 N. J. Allen and J. P. Meyer, Organizational Socialization Tactics: A Longitudinal Analysis of Links to Newcomers Commitment and Role Orientation, Academy of Management Journal 33 (1990): 847-858.