SOCIAL SYSTEM

AND
ORGANIZATIONAL
CULTURE

Report on Human Behavior in Organization by Jun Panelo

Learning Objectives
Discuss the concept of Social System
Understand the Social Culture, Social Culture Values,
and Cultural Diversity in an organization
Discuss the work ethics, role, status and its effect in
the social system
Explain organizational culture and its effect
Social System
is a complex set of human relationships
interacting in many ways

Within a single organization, the social system includes all the people in it and their
relationships to one another and to the outside world.

Why Complex?
Why Complex?
1. Behavior of one affects the behavior of
others
2. It is an open system
Types of Social System In terms of
working balance

Equilibrium Disequilibrium

when there is a
dynamic working
balance among its
interdependent parts
When the
Despite constant change and
movement in every organization, interdependent parts
the systems working balance can system are working
still be retained.
against each other
Types of Social System In terms of
the effects to the system/individual

Functional Effect Dysfunctional Effects

The effect of change The effect of change

creates favorable for creates unfavorable
the system and/or for the system and/or
individuals individuals

Individuals can be creative, Individuals can be tardy, absent

productive, and enthusiastic and frequently, unwilling to use their
actively seek to improve the quality talents, and resistant to
of the organizations product or organizational changes.
service
Reason for functional and dysfunctional
effects in an Organization
Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction of:

ECONOMIC CONTRACT- where time, talent, energy

are exchanged for wages, hours and reasonable
working conditions.

PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT the conditions of

each employees psychological involvement-both
contributions and expectations- with the social system
 The Result of the Psychological Contract &
The Economic Contract

Employee: Employee:
Expected Gains If expectations are met:
Intended Psychological Job satisfaction
Contributions Contract High performance
(unwritten) Loyalty
If not:
The opposite
+

Employer: Economic Employer:

Expected Gains If expectations are met:
Contract Employee retention
Rewards offered
(Employee Possible promotion
Contract) If not:
Corrective Action;discipline
Possible separation
Psychological contract builds upon the
concept of exchange theory
Whenever a continuing relationship exists between two
parties, each person regularly examines the rewards
and costs of that interaction. In order to remain
positively attracted to the relationship, both parties must
believe that a net positive ratio (rewards to costs) exists
from their perspective.
SOCIAL CULTURE
Social Culture
Social Culture is an environment of human-
created beliefs, customs, knowledge and
practices
SOCIAL- is the behaviour of people when they
act in accordance with the expectations of others
CULTURE-is the conventional behaviour of her
society and it influences all her actions even
though it seldom enters her conscious thoughts
Culture differences
Some of the ways in which culture differ includes:
Patterns of decision making

Respect for authority

Treatment for females

Accepted leadership styles

Effect of Culture in Social Society:

Knowledge of social cultures is especially important
because managers need to understand and appreciate the
backgrounds and beliefs of all members of their work
unit.
Cultural Diversity
Job related-(organizationally Non job related-
created) (arise primarily from individuals
personal background)

Types of work Ethnicity

Rank Culture
Physical proximity Socioeconomic
to one another Sex
race
Can a cultural diversity be a threat to a harmonious social
system?
Reducing the Culture Diversity
Differences need to be recognized, acknowledged,
appreciated, and used to collective advantage.
Culture adaptability Employees need to learn to adapt
to others in order to capitalized on the opportunities they
present, while avoiding possible negative consequences.
Avoid culture dependent People tend to depend on their
culture and become blind, preventing them from gaining
the benefits or exposure to people from other cultural
backgrounds.
Avoid discrimination and prejudice to others culture.
 Prejudice and Discrimination
15

Prejudice- means prejudgment, and

unjustifiable and usually negative attitude
toward a group--often a different cultural, ethnic
or gender group. It is a mixture of beliefs
(overgeneralized - stereotypes), emotions
(hostility, envy, or fear), and predispositions to
action (to discriminate).
Discrimination- means unfair treatment of
a person or group on the basis of prejudice.
 Prejudice and Discrimination
16

Like prejudice, Verbal expression

discrimination also Avoidance
exists at different Exclusion
levels of intensity: Physical abuse
Extermination
SOCIAL CULTURE
VALUES
Social Culture Values
Work ethics Social Responsibility

a standard of conduct Is the recognition that

and values for job organizations have
performance significant influence on the
Views work as very social system and that
important thing in life influence must be properly
Have a strong considered and balanced in
commitment to the all organizational actions.
organization and to its Cost and benefit
goals relationship
 Work Ethic
The importance of developing a strong
work ethic and how the work ethic you
develop will impact your future as an
employee.
 Top 10 Work Ethics
Attendance Productivity

Character Organizational Skills

Team Work Communication

Appearance Cooperation

Attitude Respect
Work Ethics Declination
The general level of the work ethic has declined gradually
over many decades. Reasons:
1. Leisure ethic a high priority placed on personal
gratification
2. Desire for intimacy an emphasis on close personal
relationships
3. Entitlement a belief that people should receive
benefits without having to work
4. Changes in social policy and tax laws reduced
incentives to work
5. Blossom of instant wealth phenomenon
ROLE

What is a role?
Role

is a pattern of actions expected of a

person in activities involving others
It reflects a persons position with its
accompanying
Rightsand obligations
Power and responsibility
 Roles perform by an employee

A leader An adviser A staff person

A Committee A specialist A golfer

chairperson

A follower A worker A club president

A stockholder A consumer An accountant

A spouse A subordinate A student

A parent A musician And more!!

Function of a role in the social system
As for managers since they perform many different roles, they
must be highly adaptive in order to change from one role to another
quickly.
As for employees must be properly defined through job
description so as to gain accurate role perceptions to others and
avoid role conflict and role ambiguity.
Role conflict different perceptions or expectations of a persons role
Role ambiguity when roles are inadequately defined or are substantially
unknown. A role misundertanding.
Role of mentorship program Mentor, a role model who guides
another employee by sharing valuable advice on roles to play and
behaviors to avoid. The advantages of sucessful mentoring programs
include stronger employee loyalty, faster movement up the learning
curve, better succession planning through development of
replacements, and increased level of goal accomplishments.
STATUS
Status is social rank of a person in a
group
The amount of the recognition, honor, esteem, and
acceptance given to a person
Importance of Status in the Social System
Status is very important to an individual, they will work
hard to earn it. People, therefore, become quite responsible in
order to protect and develop their status. If it can be tied to
actions that further the companys goals, then employees are
strongly motivated to support their company.
 Status Relationship
(Effect of Status)
High status people
More influential
Received more privileges

More participative in group activities

Interact more

Opportunities for a better role in an organization

Status Symbols and Sources
are the visible, external things that attach to a
person or workplace and serve as evidence of
social rank (Examples: Uniforms, privileges given,
job title, office designed, etc)
are most in evidence among different levels of
managers
Sources of status; persons ability, job title, type of
work done, amount of pay, seniority, age, stock
option, etc)
Significance of Status

Status is significant to organizational behavior in

several ways:
1. Positive Effect Some people are status seeker,
wanting a job of high status regardless of other
working conditions. These people can be
encouraged/motivated to qualify themselves for
high-status jobs so that they will feel rewarded.
2. Negative Effect - When employees are consumed
by the desire for status, it often is the source of
employee problems and conflicts that
management needs to solve.
ORGANIZATIONAL
CULTURE

What is it?
Organizational Culture
set of shared values and norms that characterize a
particular organization
set of shared mental assumptions that guide
interpretation and action in organizations by defining
appropriate behavior for various situations. (Ravasi and
Schultz (2006) )
Examples: An organization known for their fun work
environment, an organization known for being too
generous to its employees, an organization known with
a high employee-turnovers, an organization known with
high competitive/intellectual employees, an
organization known with international employees, etc.
Importance of OC
Gives an organizational identity to employee
Provides a sense of security to its members
Helps newer employees interpret what goes on
inside the organization
Helps stimulate employees enthusiasm for their tasks
Culture attracts attention, convey a vision, and typically
honor high-producing and creative individuals as heroes.
By recognizing and rewarding these people,
organizational cultures are identifying them as role
models to emulate.
Characteristics of Cultures
Each organization cultures are unique, has its own
history, patterns of communication, systems and
procedures, mission statements and visions, stories and
myths
Cultures are relatively stable in nature, usually
changing only slowly over time
Cultures are seen as symbolic representations of
underlying beliefs and values. (Stories and slogans
that portray corporate ideals)
There is no best culture for all firms
Communicating and Changing
Culture
If organizations are to consciously create and manage
their cultures, they must be able to communicate them to
employees, especially the newly hired ones. (People are
generally more willing to adapt and learn when they want
to please others, gain approval and learn about their new
work environment.)
Through organizational socialization that continuously
transmitting key elements of organizations culture to its
employees.
Individualization affects the organization
(Individualization occurs when employees successfully exert
influence on the social system around them at work by
challenging the culture or deviating from it.)
 Case Study

Tell something about the case in relation with the concept of Social
Security and Organizational Culture.
 Social System and
Organization Culture

Thank you for listening.