WEEK 8A: CULTURE & SOCIALIZATION
Stages of Socialization
1. Anticipatory (Pre-Arrival):
Ex. job fair, career fair, handshake, psychological contract, listening to
boss talk about job
Nothing bad has happened yet
Employees begin with certain expectations about organization and job
May be unrealistic
If unmet will result in dissatisfaction, turnover, etc.
2. Encounter:
Employee has started new job
Ex. Orientation Program (policies, procedures, job duties, benefits,
meeting coworkers etc.)
Inconsistencies between expectations and reality emerge
Cognitive dissonance occurs
Benefits of a good orientation program:
o Shows organization values to employee
o Reduces employee anxiety and turnover
o Reduces start-up costs
o Clarifies job and organizational expectations
o Improves job performance
3. Change (Settling in):
Inconsistencies start to get worked out
Employee begins to identify with organization
Transition from being an “outsider” to feeling like an “insider”
Usually involves taking on new attitudes, values, behaviours to align
with organization’s
Misalignment:
o Employee starts to conform and do not like it
o Causes dissatisfaction and turnover
Socialization Tactics (people processing)
1. Collective vs. Individual
Collective: the group of new recruits go through the same set of
experiences
Individual: going to process the recruits one by one; almost in
isolation; want to have unique socialization process for each person
2. Formal vs. Informal
Formal: put recruits through experiences that are tailored just for the
newcomers
Informal: all new employees get the same type of socialization
(everyone in organization)
3. Sequential vs. Random Sequential: organization will specify a given set of steps leading to
target role
Random: so sequence whatsoever; no order; check-list has to be done
but no order
4. Serial vs. Disjunctive:
Serial: experienced members groom the newcomers for a certain role;
following someone’s footsteps
Disjunctive: no footsteps to follow in; new position; want them to do
position in a different way
5. Investiture vs. Divestiture:
Investiture: wishes to use and build upon the person’s skill, values,
attitudes; they like how you are and do not try to change you; just try
to grow
Divestiture: hiring you for your malleability; stripping away you
The “Strong Culture” Concept
Advantages
(1)Coordination:
o Facilitate communication and coordination
o Finance is listening to marketing; everyone working together;
subcultures mesh into one
(2)Conflict Resolution:
o Sharing core values can resolve conflicts
o Strong-cultured organizations are able to resolve conflict because at
their core they are all working toward the same thing
(3)Financial Success: when the culture supports the concrete pieces the assets
of that get translated to the bottom line
Disadvantages
(1)Resistance to Change:
o Damage a firm’s ability to innovate
o Strong people are resistant to change; cannot think outside the box
because too focused on what they are focused on
(2)Culture Clash:
o Strong cultures can mix badly when a merger or acquisition occurs
What are the seven socialization steps that strong-cultured organizations put
their people through?
(1)Selection: short-term pain for long-term gain (spend a lot of time on the
selection process)
(2)Hazing: like frosh week
(3) In the trenches training: throw you into role early
(4)Rewards and promotions: compensate very well and career-path you
(5)Continuously expose you to the corporate culture (immediately and
continuously exposed to the culture; know the values) (6)Organizational folklore: storytelling, rights and rituals
(7)Role models: mentors, footsteps to follow
WEEK 8B: LEADERSHIP
Transformational vs. Transactional Leadership
Transformational:
o Natural born leaders
o Arouse intense feelings
o Inspirational
o Rely on personal sources of power
o Charisma
Transactional:
o Motivate by exchanging rewards for services
o Manager-like role
House’s Path-Goal Theory
Path-Goal Theory: concerned with situations under which various leader
behaviors are most effective
The Theory:
o Most important activities of leaders are those that clarify the paths to
various goals of interest to employees
o Goals can include: promotion, sense of accomplishment, pleasant
work climate
o Opportunity to achieve goals promotes job satisfaction, leader
acceptance, high effort
o Effective leader forms a connection between employee goals and
organizational goals
Leader behavior seen as unnecessary or unhelpful will be resented
Must make rewards dependent on performance
Must make sure employees have clear picture of how to achieve rewards
Leader Behavior
Directive behavior:
o Schedule work, maintain performance standards, let employees know
what is expected
o Identical to initiating structure
Supportive behavior:
o Friendly, approachable, concerned with pleasant interpersonal
relationships
o Identical to consideration
Participative behavior: consult with employees about work related matters
and consider opinions
Achievement-oriented behavior: o Encourage employees to exert high effort and strive for goals
o Express confidence that employees can reach goals
Situational Factors
(1)Employee characteristics:
o Different types of employees need/prefer different forms of
leadership:
o Employees who are high need achievers work well under
achievement-oriented leadership
o Employees who prefer being told what to do directive leadership
o Leaders have to tailor behaviors to needs, abilities, personalities of
(2)Environmental factors:
o Tasks are clear and routine employees perceive directive
leadership as redundant and unnecessary
o Tasks are challenging but ambiguous employees appreciate
directive and participative leadership
o Employees with frustrating and dissatisfying jobs want supportive
behavior
What is the ideal amount of yellow in the brain of a leader?
30 -40 percentile (below 50) for a healthy brain and a good leader
Know the difference between:
Neutralizers of Leadership: factors in the work setting that reduce a leader’s
opportunity to exercise influence
Substitutes for Leadership: factors in the work setting that can take the place
of active leadership, making it unnecessary or redundant
WEEK 9: POWER, POLITICS, & ETHICS
Five Bases (Types) of Individual Power
(1)Legitimate Power:
Power derived from a person’s position or job in an organization
Formal title, the right to give orders
Ex. present of the company
(2)Reward Power:
Power derived from the ability to provide positive outcomes and
prevent negative outcomes
Person possesses resources/capabilities to give material rewards and
recognition
Ex. employee works overtime because wants boss to promote them
(3)Coercive Power:
Power derived from the use of punishment and threat
Controlling people through fear Organization does not give this but tolerates it
Ex. employees arrive to work 15 minutes early because they know
that their boss will freak out if they are late
(4)Referent Power:
Power derived from being well-liked by others
People do things for you because they admire you
Person has charisma
This can be earned but not given
Ex. people will do a favour for you because you are such a nice person
(5)Expert Power:
Power derived from having special information or expertise that is
valued by an organization
Person is perceived to be highly experienced and highly trained
Can sway opinions and behaviours of those who are less experienced
Has two components:
1. Status: credentials, letters behind name (ex. PhD, MBA)
2. Information: does the person know what they are talking about
Structural source of power:
o Something that the organization gives to the person
o Ex. power to punish, coerce, etc.
o First three are structural
Personal sources of power:
o Not given to person by organization
o Comes from the individual
o Last two are personal Empowerment
Giving people the authority, opportunity, and motivation to take initiative
and solve organizational problems
Giving people the freedom and ability to make decisions and commitments
Puts power where it is needed to make it effective (requires a healthy ego)
People who are empowered have a strong sense of self-efficacy
Degrees of Empowerment
• No Discretion:
o Routine, repetitive, tasks assigned
o Operate according to rules rather than initiative
• Participatory Empowerment:
o Autonomous work groups
o Given some authority
• Self-Management:
o Full decision-making power
o Management has faith in employees carrying out organizational
missions and goals
Characteristics of Empowered People
(1)Self-determination:
Free to choose how to work
Not micro-managed
(2)Sense of meaning:
Their work is important to them
They care about what they are doing
(3)Sense of competence:
Confident about their ability to do their work well
Know they can perform well
(4)Sense of impact:
Believe they can have an influence on their work unit
Others listen to their ideas
An Alternative View: How do subunits obtain power?
Subunit power: the degree of power held by various organizational subunits
(such as departments
Reasons A Subunit Could Gain Power
1) Scarcity of Resources: subunits with resources will gain power
2) Uncertainty: during ambiguity, chaos, change subunit that can decrease
uncertainty will gain power
3) Centrality: some subunit that is central to the workflow could be given power
if something goes wrong 4) Substitutability: the more non-substitutable you are the more power you
have
Four Components of Corporate Social Responsibility
Economic:
o To be profitable
o Required of business society
Legal:
o Obey all laws, adhere to all regulations
o Required of business by society
Ethical:
o Avoid questionable practices
o Expected of business by society
Philanthropic:
o Be a good corporate citizen
o Desired/expected of business by society
WEEK 10: CONFLICT AND STRESS
Causes of Organizational Conflict
(1)Group Identification and Intergroup Bias:
o We-they phenomenon
o My goals, objective, agenda are more important than yours
o Fighting across perspectives when it comes to why we are here andw
hat we are supposed to be doing
(2)Interdependence:
o Sequential: need someone’s work in order to do your work (if they are
late yours will be late too/cannot do it properly)
o Reciprocal: dependent on each others work
(3)Difference in Power, Status, and Culture:
o Conflict because two cultures or subcultures are clashing
o Ex. “I am an engineer and you are not so I know best”
(4)Ambiguity:
o Conflict becau
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