25-Feb-19

LEARNING OUTLINE
Follow this Learning Outline as you read and study this chapter.
The Manager: Omnipotent or Symbolic
Chapter •Contrast the action of manager according to the omnipotent and
symbolic views.

3 Managing the External •Explain the parameters of managerial discretion.

The Organization’s Culture
Environment and the •Describe the seven dimensions of organizational culture.
Organization’s Culture •Explain the source of an organization’s culture and how that culture
continues.
•Describe how culture is transmitted to employees.

3–2

2 3

LEARNING OUTLINE
FOLLOW THIS LEARNING OUTLINE AS YOU READ AND STUDY THIS
CHAPTER.
Current Organizational Issues Facing Managers
•Describe the characteristics of an ethical culture, an innovative
culture, and a customer-responsive culture.
•Discuss why workplace spirituality seems to be an important
concern.
L E A R N I N G O U T L I N E (cont’d)
Follow this Learning Outline as you read and study this chapter.
•The Environment (cont’d)
•Describe the components of the specific and general environments.
•Discuss the two dimensions of environmental uncertainty.
•Identify the most common organizational stakeholders.

•Describe the characteristics of of a spiritual organization. •Explain the four steps in managing external stakeholder relationships.

3–3 3–5

4 5

The Manager: Omnipotent or Symbolic? The Manager: Omnipotent or Symbolic?

• Omnipotent View of Management
• Managers are directly responsible for an organization’s success or
failure.
• The quality of the organization is determined by the quality of its
managers.
• Managers are held most accountable for an organization’s
• How much difference does a manager really make in how an performance yet it is difficult to attribute good or poor performance
organization performs? directly to their influence
on the organization.
• People differ in answering this question and two views to the answer of
this question exist. These are known as Omnipotent view and Symbolic
view

3–6 3–7

6 7

1

The Manager: Omnipotent or Symbolic?
• Omnipotent View of Management • Symbolic View of Management
• This view is consistent with the stereotypical picture of the take-
charge business executive who overcomes any obstacle in seeing that
the organization achieves its goals.
• And this view isn’t limited to business organizations. It also explains
turnover among college and professional sports coaches, who are
considered the “managers” of their teams.
• Coaches who lose more games than they win are
usually fired and replaced by new coaches who are
expected to correct the poor performance.
3–8
8 9
The Manager: Omnipotent or Symbolic?
• Symbolic View of Management
• Managers symbolize control and influence through their action. How?
• Developing plans, making decisions, and engaging in other managerial
activities to make sense out of random, confusing, and ambiguous
situations.
• Role managers play in organizational success or failure is limited.
3–10
10 11
The Organization’s Culture
• W. L. Gore & Associates, a company known for its innovative and high-quality
fabrics used in outdoor wear and other products, understands the importance
of organizational culture.
• Since its founding in 1958, Gore has used employee teams in a flexible,
nonhierarchical organizational arrangement to develop its innovative products.
• Associates (employees) at Gore are committed to four basic principles
articulated by company founder Bill Gore:
• fairness to one another and everyone you come in contact with;
• freedom to encourage, help, and allow other associates to grow in
knowledge, skill, and scope of responsibility;
• the ability to make your own commitments and keep them; and
• consulting other associates before taking actions that could affect the
company’s reputation.
3–12
12 13
25-Feb-19
The Manager: Omnipotent or Symbolic?
• Much of an organization’s success or failure is due to external forces
outside of managers’ control.
• The ability of managers to affect outcomes is influenced and constrained
by external factors.
• The economy, customers, governmental policies, competitors, industry
conditions, technology, and the actions of previous managers.
3–9
Parameters of Managerial Discretion
• In reality, managers are neither all-powerful nor helpless.
• Their decisions and actions are constrained.
• External constraints come from the organization’s environment and
internal constraints come from the organization’s culture.
3–11 Exhibit 3.1
The Organization’s Culture
• After a visit to the company, one analyst reported that an associate
told him, “If you tell anybody what to do here, they’ll never work for
you again.”
• That’s the type of independent, people-oriented culture Bill Gore
wanted.
• And it works well for the company—it’s earned a position on Fortune’s
annual list of “100 Best Companies to Work For” every year since the
list began in 1998, one of only three companies to achieve that
distinction
3–13
2
 25-Feb-19

The Organization’s Culture Dimensions of Organizational Culture

• Organizational Culture
“A system of shared meanings and common beliefs held by organizational
members that determines, in a large degree, how they act towards each
other.”
• How is this system developed?
• In most organizations, these shared values and practices have
evolved over time and determine the following:
• “The way we do things around here.”
• Values, symbols, rituals, myths, and practices
• Implications:
• Culture is a perception.
• Culture is shared.
• Culture is descriptive.
3–14 3–15
Exhibit 3.2

14 15

Dimensions of Organizational Culture Dimensions of Organizational Culture

• An organization using these seven dimensions gives a composite picture

of the organization’s culture.
• In many organizations, one cultural dimension often is emphasized more
than the others and essentially shapes the organization’s personality and
the way organizational members work.

• Example: at Sony Corporation, the focus is product innovation

(innovation and risk taking). The company “lives and breathes” new
product development and employees’ work behaviors support that goal.
• In contrast, Southwest Airlines has made its employees a central part of
its culture (people orientation).

3–16 3–17
Exhibit 3.3

16 17

Dimensions of Organizational Culture Contrasting Organizational Cultures

Dimension Organization A Organization B

Attention to Detail High Low

Outcome Orientation Low High
People Orientation Low High
Team Orientation Low High
Aggressiveness Low High
Stability High Low
Innovation and Risk Taking Low High
3–18 3–19
Exhibit 3.4

18 19

3
 25-Feb-19

Strong versus Weak Cultures Strong versus Weak Cultures

• Factors Influencing the Strength of Culture
• Size of the organization
• Age of the organization
• Rate of employee turnover
• Strength of the original culture
• Clarity of cultural values and beliefs

3–20 3–21
Exhibit 3.5

20 21

Benefits of a Strong Culture Organizational Culture

• Creates a stronger employee commitment to the organization.
• Aids in the recruitment and socialization of new employees.
• Fosters higher organizational performance by instilling and
promoting employee initiative.
• Sources of Organizational Culture
• The organization’s founder: Vision and mission
• Past practices of the organization: The way things have been done
• The behavior of top management
• Continuation of the Organizational Culture
• Recruitment of like-minded employees who “fit”
• Socialization of new employees to help them adapt to the culture

3–22 3–23

22 23

How an Organization’s Culture Is Established How Employees Learn Culture

and Maintained
• Stories
• Narratives of significant events or actions of people that convey the
spirit of the organization
• Rituals
• Repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the
values of the organization
• Material Symbols
• Physical assets distinguishing the organization
• Language
• Acronyms and jargon of terms, phrases, and word meanings specific
to an organization

Exhibit 3.6
3–25
3–24

24 25

4
 25-Feb-19

How Culture Affects Managers Managerial Decisions Affected by Culture

• Cultural Constraints on Managers
• Whatever managerial actions the organization recognizes as proper or
improper on its behalf
• Constraints are rarely explicit (written down).
• Managers quickly learn what to do and not do in their organization.
Simple rule for getting ahead in an organization:
Find out what the organization rewards and do those things.

3–26 3–27
Exhibit 3.7

26 27

Suggestions for Managers:

Organization Culture Issues
Creating a More Ethical Culture
• Creating an Innovative Culture
• Challenge and involvement—Are employees involved in, motivated by,
• Be a visible role model.
and committed to the long-term goals and success of the organization?
• Communicate ethical expectations. • Freedom—Can employees independently define their work, exercise
discretion, and take initiative in their day-to-day activities?
• Provide ethics training.
• Trust and openness—Are employees supportive and respectful of each
• Visibly reward ethical acts and punish unethical ones. other?
• Idea time—Do individuals have time to elaborate on new ideas before
• Provide protective mechanisms so employees can discuss taking action?
ethical dilemmas and report unethical behavior without fear.

3–28 3–29

28 29

Organization Culture Issues (Cond) Organization Culture Issues (Cond)

• Creating an Innovative Culture (Contd)
• Playfulness/humor—Is the workplace spontaneous and fun?
• Conflict resolution—Do individuals make decisions and resolve issues
based on the good of the organization versus personal interest?
• Debates—Are employees allowed to express opinions and put forth
ideas for consideration and review?
• Risk taking—Do managers tolerate uncertainty and ambiguity, and are
employees rewarded for taking risks?
• Creating a Customer-Responsive Culture
• Hiring the right type of employees (ones with a strong interest in serving
customers)
• Having few rigid rules, procedures, and regulations
• Using widespread empowerment of employees
• Having good listening skills in relating to customers’ messages
• Providing role clarity to employees to reduce ambiguity and conflict and
increase job satisfaction
• Having careful, caring employees willing to take initiative

3–30 3–31

30 31

5
 25-Feb-19

Organization Culture Issues (Cond) Spirituality and Organizational Culture

• Workplace Spirituality
A spiritual culture that recognizes that employees have both a mind and a
spirit seek to find meaning and purposes in their work, and desire to
connect with other employees and be part of a community.
Spiritual organizations are concerned with helping employees develop
and reach their potentials. They are also concerned with addressing
problems created by work life conflicts.
•

3–32 3–33
Exhibit 3.8

32 33

Spirituality and Organizational Culture Benefits of Spirituality

•Characteristics of a Spiritual Organization
• Strong sense of purpose • Improved employee productivity
• Focus on individual development • Reduction of employee turnover
• Trust and openness • Stronger organizational performance
• Employee empowerment • Increased creativity
• Toleration of employees’ expression (expression of feelings) • Increased employee satisfaction
• Increased team performance
• Increased organizational performance

3–35
3–34

34 35

Defining the External Environment

The External
• External Environment
Environment
• External environment includes the forces and institutions outside the
organization that potentially can affect the organization’s
performance.
• Components of the External Environment
• Specific environment: external forces that have a direct and
immediate impact on the organization.
• General environment: broad economic, socio-cultural, political/legal,
demographic, technological, and global conditions that may affect an
organization.

3–36 3–37 Exhibit 3.9

36 37

6
 25-Feb-19

How the Environment Affects Managers How the Environment Affects Managers
There may three ways environmental factors may pose constraints and There may three ways environmental factors may pose constraints and
challenges for managers: challenges for managers:

❑ Jobs and Employments:
Availability of Jobs: Managers may have to go through cutting
down jobs and increasing jobs to match with economic upturn and
downturns.
Way Jobs are Created: Depending on the type of workforce
availability and task requirements, managers may have to choose
between regular and flexible working hours, mutual and
authoritative models, etc.
❑ Environmental Uncertainty: The extent to which managers have
knowledge of and are able to predict change their organization’s
external environment is affected by:
Complexity of the environment: the number of components in an
organization’s external environment.
Degree of change in environmental components: how dynamic or
stable the external environment is.

3–38 3–39

38 39

Environmental Uncertainty Matrix How the Environment Affects Managers

There may three ways environmental factors may pose constraints and
challenges for managers:

❑ Stakeholder Relationships
Stakeholders
Any communities in the organization’s external environment that are affected
by the organization’s decisions and actions
For example, stakeholders of MTV include viewers, music celebrities,
advertisers, affiliate TV stations, public service groups, and others.
Why Manage Stakeholder Relationships?
It can lead to improved organizational performance.
It’s the “right” thing to do given the interdependence of the
3–40
Exhibit 3.10
organization and its external stakeholders.3–41

40 41

Managing Stakeholder Relationships

Organizational Stakeholders
1. Identify the organization’s external stakeholders.
2. Determine the particular interests and concerns of the external
stakeholders.
3. Decide how critical each external stakeholder is to the organization.
4. Determine how to manage each individual external stakeholder
relationship.

3–42 3–43
Exhibit 3.11

42 43

7
 25-Feb-19

Thank YOU!
44

44