How To Manage Organiztional Culture

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Organizational culture grows out of informal and unofficial ways of doing things. It influences the formal organization by shaping the way employees perceive and react to formally defined jobs and structural arrangements. For example, in a company that promotes the Protestant work ethic, the idea that working hard is the way to get ahead in life, employees are led to view their jobs as critical to personal success and therefore as important, interesting, challenging and in other ways worthwhile. By encouraging employees to perceive success as something to be valued and pursued, these norms also encourage the developments of a need for achievement and motivate hard work and high productivity. Cultural norms and values convey social information that can influence the way people choose to behave on the job. They do so by affecting the way employees perceive themselves, their work and the organization.

Can organizational culture be managed? It might seem that the answer to this question should be no for any of the following reasons:

1. Cultures are so spontaneous, elusive and hidden that they cannot be accurately diagnosed or intentionally changed.
2. Considerable experience and deep personal insight are required to truly understand an organization's culture, making management infeasible in most instances
3. There may be several subcultures in a single organizational culture complicating the task of managing organizational culture to the point where it becomes impossible.
4. Cultures provide organization members with continuity and stability. Therefore members are likely to resist even modest efforts at cultural management or change because they fear discontinuity and instability.

Many organizational behavior experts disagree with these arguments however and suggest that organizational cultures can be managed through the use of the approaches discussed next.

In one approach, symbolic management managers attempt to influence deep cultural norms and values by shaping the surface cultural elements such as symbols stories and ceremonies that people use to express and transmit cultural understandings. Managers can accomplish shaping of this sort in a number of ways. They can issue public statements about their vision for the future of the company. They can recount stories about themselves and the company. They can use and enrich the shared company's language. In this way, managers not only communicate the company's central norms and key values but devise new ways of expressing them.

Managers who practice symbolic management realize that every managerial behavior broadcasts a message to employees about the norms and values of the organization. They consciously choose to do specific things that will symbolize and strengthen a desirable culture. For example, deciding to promote from within and avoid hiring people from outside the firm sends employees the message that strong performance is rewarded by career advancement. This message reinforce cultural norms and values that favor hard work.



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Organization Culture

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Surface Elements of Organization Culture

Element	Description
Ceremonies	Special events in which organization members celebrate the myths, heroes and symbols of their firm
Rites	Ceremonial activities meant to communicate specific ideas or accomplish particular purposes
Rituals	Actions that are repeated regularly to reinforce cultural norms and values
Stories	Accounts of past events that illustrate and transmit deeper cultural norms and values
Myths	Fictional stories that help explain activities or events that might otherwise be puzzling
Heroes	Successful people who embody the values and characters of the organization and its culture
Symbols	Objects, actions or events that have special meanings and that enable organization members to exchange complex ideas and emotional messages
Language	A collection of verbal symbols that often reflects the organization’s particular culture

Ceremonies

Ceremonies are special events that in which the members of  company celebrate the myths, heroes and symbols of their culture.  Ceremonies exemplify and reinforce important cultural norms and values. In sales organizations like Mary Kay and Amway, annual ceremonies are held to recognize and reward outstanding sales representatives. Part of the reason for holding these ceremonies is to inspire sales representatives who have been less effective to adopt the norms and values of their successful colleagues. Whether they personify the "Mary Kay approach" or the "Amway philosophy," the people who are recognized and rewarded in these ceremonies greatly enhance the attractiveness of their companies' cultural underpinnings.

Rites

Often organizational ceremonies incorporate various rites. Rites are ceremonial activities meant to send particular messages or accomplish specific purposes. Rites of passage are used to initiate new members and can convey important aspects of the culture to them. In some businesses, new recruits are required to spend a lot of time with veteran employees and learning about cultural norms and values by listening to these veteran s' stories about their experiences at work. In other companies the rite of passage is merely a brief talk about company rules and regulations delivered by a human resources staff member to newcomers during the first day at work. In the latter case, the rite is more of a formal welcoming and does not really help newcomers learn much about the culture of the firm.

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When employees are transferred or demoted or fired because of low productivity, incompatible values or other personal failings, rites of degradation may draw the attention of others to  the limits of acceptable behavior. 

Rites of enhancement also emphasize the limits appropriate behavior, but in a positive way. Rites of enhancement recognize increasing status or promotion to a new position in a firm and may range from simple promotion to a new position in a firm and may range from simple promotion announcements to intricate recognition ceremonies such as the Mary Kay and Amway ceremonies previously described.

In rites of integration, members of an organization are given the opportunity to express and share the common feelings that bind them together. In rites of this sort, official titles and hierarchical differences are intentionally ignored so that members can get to know each other as people rather than as managers, staff specialists, clerks or laborers. This can take the form of weekly parties, giving employees the opportunity to chat informally over pizza and drinks. Company picnics, golf outings, softball games and holiday parties can also serve as rites of integration.

Rituals

A rite that is repeated on a regular basis becomes a ritual. A ritual is a ceremonial event that continually reinforces key norms and values. The morning coffee break is a ritual that strengthens important workplace relationships. So too, is the annual stockholder meeting held by management to convey cultural norms and values to company shareholders. Just as routine coffee breaks enable coworkers to gossip among themselves and reaffirm important interpersonal relationships, annual stockholder meetings give the company the opportunity to strengthen connections between itself and people who would otherwise have little more than a limited financial interest in its continued well-being.

Stories

Stories are accounts of past events that serve as reminders of cultural values. Often, the stories are familiar to all employees. As organization members tell stories and think about the messages the stories convey, the concrete examples facilitate their later recall of the concepts presented. Stories provide information about/historical events in the development of a company that can improve employees understanding of the present.

In one organization, employees tell a story about how the company avoided a mass lay off when almost every other company in the industry felt forced to lay off employees n large numbers. The company manged to avoid a layoff of 10 percent of their employees by having everyone in the company take a 10 percent cut in salary and come to work in only nine out of ten days. This company experience is called "The 9 Day Fortnight."

The story of The 9 Day Fortnight vividly captures the cultural value that looking after employees' well-being is the  right thing to do. Presumably, employees continue to tell the story among themselves as a reminder that their company will avoid layoffs as much as possible during economic downturns.

Myths

A myth is a special kind of story that provides a fictional but likely explanation for an event or thing that might otherwise seem puzzling or mysterious. Ancient civilizations created myths about Gods and other supernatural forces to explain natural occurrences such as the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon and the formation of thunderstorms. Similarly, the members of an organization sometimes develop fictionalized accounts of the company's founders origins or historical development to provide a framework for explaining current activities in their firm.

Heroes

Heroes are people who embody the values of an organization and its culture. Richard A. Drew was a banjo- playing college dropout working in 3M's  research lab during the 1920s. He helped some colleagues solve a problem with masking tape. Soon thereafter DuPont came out with cellophane. Drew decided he could do better than DuPont and coated the cellophane with a colorless adhesive to bind things together - and Scotch Tape was born. In the 3M tradition, Drew carried the ball himself by managing the development and initial production of his invention. Moving up through the ranks, he went on to become technical director of the company and showed other employees how they could succeed in similar fashion at 3M. Heroes, such as Drew, are concrete examples that make the guiding norms and values of a company readily apparent.

Symbols

Symbols are actions, objects or events to which people have assigned special meanings. Company logos, flags and trade names are symbols. The golden arches of McDonald's is a good example. Symbols represent a conscious or unconscious association with some wider, usually more abstract, concept or meaning. In organizations, symbols may also include official titles such as chief operating officer, or special eating facilities. Official automobiles or airplanes may be given symbolic status. Sometimes even the size of an employees office, or its placements or furnishings have special symbolic value.

Symbols mean more than might seem immediately apparent. Despite the fact that a parking space is just a few square feet of asphalt, it may symbolize its holder's superior hierarchical status or clout. It is the ability to convey a complex message in an efficient economical manner that makes symbols so useful and important.

Language too, is a means for sharing cultural ideas and understandings. In many organizations, the language members use is itself a reflection of the organizations particular culture. For example, at many tech companies, a language of "tech-speak" has developed largely because of the technical background of the people who work in this industry. Whatever the source of a common vocabulary, the fact that such a vocabulary exists attests to the presence and acceptance of a shared set of norms and values.

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Element

Description

Ceremonies

Special events in which organization members celebrate the myths, heroes and symbols of their firm

Rites

Ceremonial activities meant to communicate specific ideas or accomplish particular purposes

Rituals

Actions that are repeated regularly to reinforce cultural norms and values

Stories

Accounts of past events that illustrate and transmit deeper cultural norms and values

Myths

Fictional stories that help explain activities or events that might otherwise be puzzling

Heroes

Successful people who embody the values and characters of the organization and its culture

Symbols

Objects, actions or events that have special meanings and that enable organization members to exchange complex ideas and emotional messages

Language

A collection of verbal symbols that often reflects the organization’s particular culture

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Organization Culture

Within every formal organization of prescribed jobs and structural relationships lies an informal organization of unofficial rules, procedures and interconnections. This informal organization arises as employees make spontaneous, unauthorized changes in the way things are done. As these adjustments shape and change the formal way of doing things a culture of attitudes and understandings emerges that is shared among coworkers. This culture is a pattern of basic assumptions, discovered or developed to cope with problems of external adaptation and internal integration - that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems.

An organization's culture is thus an informal shared way of perceiving life and membership in the organization that binds members together and influences what they think about themselves and their work.

In the process of helping to create a mutual understanding of organizational life, organizational culture fulfills four basic functions. First, it gives members an organizational identity. Sharing norms, values and perceptions gives people a sense of togetherness that helps promote a feeling of common purpose. Second, it facilitates collective commitment. The common purpose that grows out of a shared culture tends to elicit strong commitment from all those who accept the culture as their own. Third, it promotes organizational stability; By nurturing a shared sense of identity and commitment, culture encourages lasting integration and cooperation among the members of an organization. Fourth, it shapes behavior by helping members make sense of their surroundings. An organization's culture serves as a source of shared meanings to explain why things occur the way they do. By performing these four basic functions, the culture of an organization serves as a sort of social glue that helps reinforce persistent, coordinated behaviors at work.

In Sum

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Organizational Design

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Organizational Design

Introduction

Organizational design is the process of structuring an organization so as to enhance organizational effectiveness in light of the contingency factors the firm faces. As they develop, organizations grow through the stages of inception, formalization, elaboration and transformation.

Paths of Transition - Multi-unit and Virtual Structures

For large organizations that have progressed through the developmental stages, transition to a multi-unit structure is a matter of forming teams and giving them autonomy by decentralizing operations and reducing middle management. Transition to the virtual structure is more dramatic, requiring massive downsizing and the formation of contractural relationships.

For small organizations that have jumped directly from inception or early formalization to transition, adoption of a multi-unit structure means rapid growth through merger or internal expansion. In contrast, movement into a virtual structure requires the identification of prospective contractors and development of contractural relationships. For example, in the 1990s Ron Oklewicz's Telepad, manufacturer of handheld pro-based computers, developed its computer with GVO, an industrial design company in Palo Alto, CA, and collaborated with a battery maker to design a portable power supply. Then it manufactured the product using spare capacity at an IBM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, and contracted with Automatic Data Processing for that firm to act as a payroll agent for its production employees, By forming strategic alliances, joint ventures or other contractural relationships, with various firms, a relatively small company like Telepad can form a temporary business entity with the apparent resources of a much larger organization.

If successful, transitions that take place during the stage of transformation result in post-bureaucratic structures that enable companies to act both large and small at the same time. Through mutual adjustment and decentralization, firms are able to realize extensive flexibility. Through large size, whether real or virtual, firms are able to control the scope of resources needed to accomplish complex tasks in an effective manner. Key to the success of such organizations, are the information-processing networks that tie their members together. In the absence of modern computer equipment, post-bureaucratic structures could not exist.

We are now entering an era that is witnessing the emergence of the virtual manager. Already, many people "commute" to work electronically using computers telephones and email to clock in, clock out, exchange information with headquarters and fulfill all types of managerial duties. In this day and age it is possible that headquarters cease to exist entirely. And thus, a company may consist of a single individual managing by electronic network a collection of contractural relationships that allows the creation, production and distribution of goods or services. This possibility suggests that the next postbureaucratic structure may be no structure at all, at least not in the traditional sense.

  

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Organizational Environment

Enacting Environmental Change

An organization's environment consists of everything outside the organization. Suppliers, customers and competitors are part of an organization's environment, as are the governmental bodies that regulate its business, the financial institutions and investors that grant it funding, and the labor market that provides it with employees. In addition, general factors such as the economic, geographic and political conditions that impinge on the firm, are part of its environment. 

Environmental Change

Environmental change concerns the extent to which conditions in an organization's environment change unpredictability. At one extreme, an environment is stable if it does not change at all or if it changes only in cyclical and predictable ways. An example of a stable environment is the one that surrounds many of the small firms in Amish communities throughout the mid-western United States. Amish religious beliefs require the rejection of modern conveniences, such as automobiles, televisions and gasoline-powered farm equipment. So Amish blacksmiths, carpenters, farmers and livestock breeders have conducted business in much the same way for generations. Another stable environment surrounds firms that sell Christmas trees. The retail market for cut evergreen trees is predictably strong in November and December but weak at other times of the year.

At the other extreme, an environment is dynamic when it changes over time in an unpredictable manner. Because the popular style of dress changes so frequently in North America, the environment surrounding companies in the fashion industry is quite dynamic. Similarly, the environment surrounding companies in the consumer electronics industry has changed dramatically. New products create entirely new markets.

Enacting a Favorable Environment

Sometimes environmental coordination and information-processing requirements are as much the consequence of an organization's actions as they are the result of unchanging external forces. Consider the happy plight of Levi's, the San Francisco based manufacturer of casual clothing. Following a 1992 study commissioned by the company that found that businesses were growing increasingly receptive to casual attire in the office, Levi's began a direct mail campaign to corporate human resource directors in which it pitched the company's Dockers brand as a fashionable yet relaxed alternative to the traditional dresses-and-suits code of attire. As a follow-up, Levi's shot a "how to dress business casual" video, which it distributed to over 7,000 companies, and began conducting fashion seminars for various corporations and trade associations in the United States

and Canada.

Once dependent on the faddish market for denim jeans and accessories, Levi's is now a major player in the comparatively stable market for office apparel. Organizations as diverse as Charles Schwab and Company, Nationwide Insurance and The New England Employee Benefits Council have sent employees to Levi's presentations, and Levi's has built a database of attendees for use in future promotions. The company's earnings shot up like a rocket. in an industry that was other wise languishing. Dockers shops sprouted up in regional malls and outlet centers to respond to rapidly growing demand, Levi's enacted an environment that has favored the company for years, and will probably continue to do so for the years to come.

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Organizational Effectiveness

Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.

Peter Drucker

Organizational Effectiveness

by

Charles Lamson

Organizational effectiveness, the ultimate aim of organizational design, is a measure of an organization's success in achieving its goals and objectives. Goals and objectives might include targets pertaining to profitability, market share, growth, product quality, efficiency, stability or other similar outcomes. An organization that fails to accomplish its goals is ineffective because it is not fulfilling its purpose.

A successful organization must satisfy the demands of the various constituency groups that provide it with resources it needs to survive. For example, if a company satisfies customers' demands for desirable goods or services, it will probably continue to enjoy its customers' patronage. If it satisfies its supplier's demands for payment in a timely manner, the suppliers will probably continue to provide it with needed raw materials. If it satisfies the employees' demands for fair pay and satisfying work it will probably be able to retain its workers and recruit new employees. If it satisfies stockholder demands for profitability, it will probably have continued access to equity funding. If a firm fails to satisfy any one of these demands, its effectiveness will be weakened because the potential loss of needed resources, such as customers or employees, threatens its survival. 

Effectiveness differs from organizational productivity. The concept of productivity does not take into account whether a firm is producing the right goods or services. A modern company producing more glass milk bottles than ever before is certainly productive but it is also ineffective because most milk companies sell their products in plastic jugs. Effectiveness differs from efficiency. Organizational efficiency means minimizing the raw materials and energy consumed by the production of goods and services. It is usually measured as the ratio of inputs consumed to units of output produced---for instance, the number of labor hours required to manufacture a bicycle. Efficiency means doing the job right---producing what ought to be produced in light of the goals, objectives, and constituency demands that influence a company's performance.

Structural Alternatives

The extent to which an organization is effective is strongly influenced by its structure. For each firm, only one type of structure will have the greatest possible effect on its ability to attain goals. To clarify the fundamental differences among the various types of structures, alternatives are sometimes classified along a dimension whose values range from mechanistic to organic.

At one extreme, purely mechanistic structures are machine-like. They permit workers to complete routine, narrowly-defined tasks designed according to the dictates of the efficiency perspective in an economical manner, but they lack flexibility. Extremely mechanistic structures are centralized and have tall hierarchies. They are also characterized by large amounts of formalization, standardization and specialization.

In contrast, purely organic structures are like living organisms in that they are flexible and able to adapt to changing external conditions. In such structures, the empowerment and quality perspectives on job design have greater influence on the way tasks are developed and performed, allowing employees more control over their work and affording the organization increased adaptability. However, because of their flexibility, organic structures lack the single-minded focus required to perform routine work efficiently.

The different parts of extremely organic structures are connected together by decentralized networks in flat hierarchies. The emphasis placed on horizontal relationships means a reduction in the number of vertical layers required to process information and manage activities. In addition organizations with organic structures typically rely more on mutual adjustment than on formaliziation, standardization and specialization. For this reason, computerized information networks take on importance as tools enabling coordination and communication among interdependent tasks.

A particular structure may be mechanistic in some respects and organic in others. The more mechanistic  the structure, the more efficient but less flexible it will be. The more organic the structure, the more flexible but less efficient it is. These differences in efficiency and flexibility can be traced partly to the mechanisms used to coordinate work activities. Standardization incorporates low long-term costs and is thus the basis of mechanistic efficiency. Mutual adjustment on the other hand is quite flexible and is therefore the source of organic flexibility.

Differences in the efficiency and flexibility of mechanistic and organic structures are also attributable to differences in centralization, a characteristic that varies independently of the degree to which a structure is bureaucratic. On the one hand, the greater centralization of mechanistic structures encourages efficient specialization, with centralized decision-makers gaining ever-growing expertise in decision making. On the other hand the greater decentralization of organic structures facilitates adaptive responses, because decentralized decision makers located throughout an organization can lead its parts in several different directions at once. IBM's move to decentralize back in the 80s and 90s illustrates this point. IBM was so centralized that decisions about the design manufacture and sales of personal computers were made by the same headquarters managers who made decisions about larger mainframe computers and midsize mini-computers. 

Comparison of Mechanistic and Organic Structure

Mechanistic Structures

Organic Structures

Tasks are highly specialized. It is often not clear to members how their tasks contribute to accomplishing organizational objectives Tasks remain rigidly defined, unless formally altered by top management Specific roles, rights, duties, and technical methods are defined for each member Control and authority relationships are structured in a vertical hierarchy Communication is primarily vertical between superiors and subordinates Communication is mainly in the form of instructions and decisions issued by superiors, performance feedback and requests for decisions sent by subordinates Loyalty to the organization and obedience to supervisors are insisted upon

Tasks are broad and interdependent. The relation of task performance to attainment for organizational objectives is emphasized Tasks are continually modified and redefined by means of mutual adjustment on the part of task holders Generalized roles (acceptance of the responsibility for overall task accomplishment) are defined for each member Control and authority relationships are structured in a network of both vertical and horizontal connections Communication is both vertical and horizontal, depending on where needed information resides Communication takes the form of information and advice Commitment to organizational goals is more highly valued than is loyalty or obedience

end

Mechanistic Structures

Organic Structures

• Tasks are highly specialized. It is often not clear to members how their tasks contribute to accomplishing organizational objectives
• Tasks remain rigidly defined, unless formally altered by top management
• Specific roles, rights, duties, and technical methods are defined for each member
• Control and authority relationships are structured in a vertical hierarchy
• Communication is primarily vertical between superiors and subordinates
• Communication is mainly in the form of instructions and decisions issued by superiors, performance feedback and requests for decisions sent by subordinates
• Loyalty to the organization and obedience to supervisors are insisted upon

            

• Tasks are broad and interdependent. The relation of task performance to attainment for organizational objectives is emphasized
• Tasks are continually modified and redefined by means of mutual adjustment on the part of task holders
• Generalized roles (acceptance of the responsibility for overall task accomplishment) are defined for each member
• Control and authority relationships are structured in a network of both vertical and horizontal connections
• Communication is both vertical and horizontal, depending on where needed information resides
• Communication takes the form of information and advice
• Commitment to organizational goals is more highly valued than is loyalty or obedience

Mechanistic Structures

Organic Structures

• Tasks are highly specialized. It is often not clear to members how their tasks contribute to accomplishing organizational objectives
• Tasks remain rigidly defined, unless formally altered by top management
• Specific roles, rights, duties, and technical methods are defined for each member
• Control and authority relationships are structured in a vertical hierarchy
• Communication is primarily vertical between superiors and subordinates
• Communication is mainly in the form of instructions and decisions issued by superiors, performance feedback and requests for decisions sent by subordinates
• Loyalty to the organization and obedience to supervisors are insisted upon

            

• Tasks are broad and interdependent. The relation of task performance to attainment for organizational objectives is emphasized
• Tasks are continually modified and redefined by means of mutual adjustment on the part of task holders
• Generalized roles (acceptance of the responsibility for overall task accomplishment) are defined for each member
• Control and authority relationships are structured in a network of both vertical and horizontal connections
• Communication is both vertical and horizontal, depending on where needed information resides
• Communication takes the form of information and advice
• Commitment to organizational goals is more highly valued than is loyalty or obedience

Professionalization

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Introduction

Professionalization is the process whereby managers hire people to perform certain work for which useful;written specifications do not exist, and in some cases, cannot be prepared. Professionals are people who develop work-related knowledge skills and abilities in training programs conducted outside the employing organization. For example, teachers learn how to teach in schools of education and medical doctors acquire their skills in medical schools  Business professionals develop their expertise in business in colleges and universities. Professionals learn the rules and standards of conduct needed to perform their jobs during the professional training process.




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Thursday

I had outpatient surgery this morning.

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I am now home, drinking coffee.

I AM TIRED.

I am going to bed early tonight.


I will dream of Jupiter and it's glorious moons.

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Group Development (Go Watch Some More TV and Eat Another Box of Twinkies You Fat Delusional Cunt)

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Wednesday

Introduction

12:20 PM

As groups develop, members modify formally prescribed group tasks, clarify personal roles, and negotiate group norms. These developmental processes tend to advance through four stages: initiation, differentiation, integration and maturity.

1. Initiation is a stage of uncertainty and anxiety. New or potential members focus on getting to know each other's personal views and abilities. In the beginning they are likely to discuss neutral topics like the weather and news that have little bearing on the group's purpose. As they gain familiarity and begin to feel more comfortable, members turn to discussing general work issues and each person's probable relationship to the formally prescribed task of the group. Attention now concentrates on determining which behaviors should be considered appropriate and what sorts of contributions people should be expected to make to the group. Members may also try to choose a leader.
2. Differentiation conflicts are likely to erupt as members try to reach agreement on the purpose, goals and objectives of the group. Sorting out who will do what - and when where, why, and how - and what reward members will receive for their performance often proves to be extremely difficult.
3. Integration comes after having weathered the integration stage, group members must resolve conflicts over other crucial issues. Integration focuses on reestablishing the central purpose the group in light of the structure of roles developed during differentiation. The task of the group may come to be defined in informal terms that modify the group's formal purpose and reflect the experience and opinions of group members.
4. Maturity is the final stage of group development. In this stage members fulfill their roles and work toward obtaining group goals. Many of the agreement reached about goals, roles and norms may take on formal significance, being adopted by management and documented in writing. Formalizing these agreements help to ensure that people joining the group at this stage will understand the group's purpose and way of functioning.

Group Productivity

People are more productive when working in groups than when working alone. However, a large body of research indicates that groups of individuals working together are sometimes less productive than the same number of people working alone. Often this falloff in productivity can be avoided if managers work to reduce their negative effects of various obstacles to group productivity.

Obstacles to Group Productivity

Process loss is the difference between what a group actually produces and what it might theoretically produce. It is caused by a variety of obstacles to group productivity, the most influential of which are production blocking, group-maintenance activities and social loafing.

Production blocking occurs when people get in each other's way as they try to perform a group task. For example, when one member of a moving van crew carries a chair through a doorway and another member waits to carry a box of clothing through the same doorway.

In order for a group to function effectively, its members must fulfill the requirements of several group-maintenance roles. The roles include encouragers, people who enhance feelings of warmth and solidarity within the group by praising, agreeing with and accepting the ideas of others. Harmonizers minimize the negative effects of conflicts among the group members by resolving disagreements fairly, quickly and openly, and relieving interpersonal tension. Standard setters raise questions about group goals and goal attainment and set achievement standards with which group members can evaluate their performance.

Social loafing can also cause process loss. Social loafing is the result of the choice made by some members of a group to take advantage of others by doing less work, working more slowly or in other ways decreasing their own contributions to group productivity. According to economists, social loafing makes sense from a loafers perspective if the rewards the group receives for productivity are shared more or less equally among all group members. A loafer can get the same rewards that everyone else gets but without having to expend the same personal effort.

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Group Dynamics and Team Effectiveness

Formation and Development of Groups

by:

Charles Lamson

A group is a collection of two or more persons who interact with one another in such a way that each person influences and is influenced by the others. The members of a group draw important psychogical distinctions between themselves and people who are not group members. Generally, they

• Define themselves as members
• Are degined by others as members
• Identify with one another
• Engage in frequent interaction
• Participate in a system of interlocking roles
• Share common norms
• Pursue shared and interdependent goals
• Feel that their member ship in the group is rewarding
• Have a collective perception of unity
• Stick together in any confrontation with other groups or individuals

These distinctions provide the group with boundaries and a sense of permanence. They lend the group a distinct identity and seperate it from other people and other groups. They also contrib8iute to group effectiveness, the ultimate aim of group activities. A group is effective when it satisfies three important criteria:

1. Production output.The product 0of the group's work must meet or exceed standards of quantity and quality defined by the organization. Group productivity is a measure of  this product.
2. Member satisfaction. Membership in the group must provide people with short-term satisfaction and facilitate their long-term growth and development. If it does not , members will leave and the group will cease to exist.
3. Capacty for continued operation. The interpersonalk processxes the group uses to complete a task should maintain or enhance members' capacity to work together. Groups that do not cooperate cannot remain viable.

An effective group is thus able to satisfy immediate demands for performance and member satisfaction while making provisions for long-term survival.

Whether a group is able to achieve these often conflicting goals depends on the closely related processes of group formation and group development.

The End

Happy Monday

                                        

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The Beginning

Norms

4:22 PM

The expectations that make up roles and shape interpersonal relations are called norms. In a classroom setting, norms exist that direct students to sit down and wait for the instructor to begin the day's activities. Norms may also direct students to participate in class discussions and exercises and to contribute to group case discussions. Without such norms each class meeting would require the instructor to reestablish basic rules of behavior and an agenda for the day. As a result, there would be much less time for the learning activities on the day's agenda.

When role occupants choose to accept all these norms, the conformity is marked by a tendency to try to fit in with others in a loyal but in a non-creative way. People who conform to all norms are the caretakers of the past. So long as tasks remain unchanged and the work situation remains stable, conformity can facilitate productivity and performance. However, it can endanger long-term survival if tasks or the surrounding situation changes significantly.



The Middle



Divestiture socialization ignores or denies the value of the individual's personal identity or characteristics. The organization in this case wants to tear new members down to nothing then rebuild them as completely new and different individuals. Some organizations require either explicitly or implicitly that recruits sever old relationships, undergo intense harassment from experienced members and engage for long periods of time in doing the dirty work of the trade (work that is associated with low pay and low status). Some organizations may even force each new member to take on a new name. The organization promotes these ordeals in the belief that those who emerge from them will lose their sense of personal identity and become strongly committed to the organization's mission and objectives. In contrast, investiture socialization affirms the value to the organization of the recruit's particular characteristics. This type of socialization implies that rather than wanting to change the new member, the firm hopes that the recruit will change the organization. Under these conditions the organization may try to make the recruit's transition process as smooth as possible.


Designing Socialization Programs

The strategy chosen in designing a socialization program depends on the goals of that program. If the goal is to bring about a custodianship response, a group or an organization is best served by a strategy that is collective, sequential and serial,and involves divestiture. Such a strategy will ensure that every socialization recipient starts at the same place and receives the same experiences in the same order. If the goal is to promote innovation, a group or an organization is better served by the opposite strategy, which provides a unique and individualized program for each recipient, and places value on each recipient's particular personality, characteristics and style.


Quality of Interpersonal Role Relationships

Given the importance of role relationships within organizations, it is critical to have a framework whereby the quality of these relationships can be judged and enhanced. Equity theory is a theory of social exchange that describes the process by which people determine whether they have received fair treatment in their relationships.


Equity and Social Comparisons

Equity theory holds that people make judgments about relational fairness by forming a ratio of their perceived investments They then compare this ratio to a similar ratio reflecting the perceived costs and benefits of some other person . Equity theory does not require that outcomes or inputs be equal for equity to exist. Those receiving fewer desirable outcomes than someone else may sill feel fairly treated if they see themselves as contributing fewer inputs than the other person. The key to achieving perceived fairness despite unequal outcomes is that the methods used to translate inputs into outcomes must be seen as fair - a concept referred to as procedural justice. For example, the highest scorer on a professional basketball team may be paid more than a player who sits on the bench but most people would still feel that the team's management is treating both players fairly because of differences in their inputs. 

Equity theory provides a simple framework for understanding how people decide whether or not they are being treated fairly in their relationships. Yet even with this simple framework it is difficult to achieve widespread perceptions of equity in organizations for two reasons. First, equity judgments are based on individual perceptions of inputs and outcomes and the perception of the same inputs and outcomes may differ markedly from one person to the next. For instance, some CEOs might perceive that their inputs are deserving of a multiimillion dollar salary, whereas the general public might perceive the situation differently. Second, it is difficult to predict who will be chosen as the reference person. Any change in policy that is targeted to one group may, in an unforeseen way, spill over and create perceived inequity in another group. For example, in the late 1980s many organizations put in place family-friendly policies that enhanced the benefits package and time off provisions for working parents. However, by the mid-1990s, organizations were seeing a backlash from single workers without children who felt work policies were unfair. As one worker noted, "It's downright discriminatory for an employer to offer more or better benefits because you have children."

Responses to Inequity

Perceptions of inequity create unpleasant emotions. When people feel they are receiving a greater share of outcomes than they deserve, they may feel guilty. Perceiving oneself as coming up short in the equity comparison results in anger. Whether the emotion is guilt or anger, the tension associated with inequity motivates the person to do something to reduce the inequity and the response can manifest itself in different ways. First, the individual might alter personal inputs. For example, one study found that, in a decision-making team, If team members perceived that their opinions were not being given any weight, they stopped contributing to the group's discussion. A second response to inequity is to try to alter personal outcomes. Individuals who feel they are relatively underpaid according to the market may demand raises and threaten to leave or strike.

A third way to respond to inequity is to use what is called cognitive distortion, that is rationalizing the results of one's comparisons. For example, people can distort their perceptions of outcomes. In one equity study, people who were underpaid for a particular task justified this underpayment by stating that the task they were working on was more enjoyable than the task being performed by the overpaid, even though their tasks were identical.

A fourth way to restore equity is to take some action that will change the behavior of the reference person. Workers who in the eyes of their peers perform too well on piece-rate systems often earn the derogatory title of "rate-buster." Research has shown that if name-calling of this sort fails to constrain personal productivity, more direct and forceful tactics may be invoked. Finally, if all else fails, a person can secure equity by leaving an inequitable situation altogether. Turnover and absenteeism are common means are common means of dealing with perceptions of unfairness in the workplace.

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