What refers to the values and norms that are shared among employees of an organization?

"Organizational culture can be defined as the philosophies, ideologies, values, assumptions, beliefs, expectations, attitudes and norms that knit an organization together and are shared by its employees".

According to Edgar Schein (born 1928), a Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, "Organizational culture can be defined as a pattern of basic assumptions- invented, discovered or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration-that has worked well enough to be considered valuable and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems".

The above definitions of organizational culture stress on the sharing of norms and values that guide the organizational members' behaviour. These norms and values are clear guidelines as to how employees are to behave within the organizational and their expected code of conduct outside the organization.

Organizational culture is another framework within which the behaviours of the members take place. Though culture, as derived from Anthropology, is defined in so many ways and, therefore, includes a variety of factors, organizational culture is defined more precisely. For example, organizational culture has been defined as follows :

"Organizational culture is the set of assumptions, beliefs values and norms that are shared by an organization's members".

Thus, organization culture is a set of assumptions, that the members of an organization share in common. Such assumptions may be in the form of internally-oriented characteristics like belief, values, attitudes, feelings, personality types and so on known as abstract elements of the culture; or externally-oriented characteristics like products, buildings, dresses, etc., knows as material element of the culture. Prof. Vijay Sathe, Harvard Business School, has exemplified some common things to demonstrate the components of organizational culture.

♦ Shared things (e.g., the way people dress).

♦ Shared saying (e.g., let's go down to work).

♦ Shared actions (e.g., a service-oriented approach).

♦ Shared feelings (e.g., hard work is not rewarded here).

Every organization, being a social entity, develops within it a cultural system with some unique modes of behaviour. These unique modes distinguish an organization from others.

Organizational culture is an idea in the field of Organizational studies and management which describes the psychology, attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values (personal and cultural values) of an organization. It has been defined as "the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization."

This definition continues to explain organizational values also known as "beliefs and ideas about what kinds of goals members of an organization should pursue and ideas about the appropriate kinds or standards of behavior organizational members should use to achieve these goals. From organizational values develop organizational norms, guidelines or expectations that prescribe appropriate kinds of behavior by employees in particular situations and control the behavior of organizational members towards one another."

Organizational culture is not the same as corporate culture. It is wider and deeper concepts, something that an organization 'is' rather than what it 'has'.

Corporate culture is the total sum of the values, customs, traditions and meanings that make a company unique. Corporate culture is often called "the character of an organization" since it embodies the vision of the company's founders. The values of a corporate culture influence the ethical standards within a corporation, as well as managerial behavior.

Senior management may try to determine a corporate culture. They may wish to impose corporate values and standards of behavior that specifically reflect the objectives of the organization. In addition, there will also be an extant internal culture within the workforce. Work-groups within the organization have their own behavioral quirks and interactions which, to an extent, affect the whole system. Roger Harrison's four-culture typology and adapted by Charles Handy, suggests that unlike organizational culture, corporate culture can be 'imported'. For example, computer technicians will have expertise, language and behaviors gained independently of the organization, but their presence can influence the culture of the organization as a whole.

Subcultures

Culture is universal in man's experience but each local manifestation of it is unique. Within the larger society, a considerable variation in behaviour patterns and belief actually exists. There are four categories of behaviour within a social system. These are :

(i) The universals, to which there is universal conformity.

(ii) The specialities, which permit commitments to the values of subsystems that are n incompatible with those of the whole.

(iii) The alternatives, which provide flexibility in behaviour.

(iv) The individual peculiarities, which involve experimental behaviour and represent the source innovation in the culture.

The existence of specialities, or subsystems of values, with the total culture has special significance to the organization. Though every organization, being a part of the society, is itself a microcosmic culture within the large setting, it is possible to view the existence of specialities in the organization as a separate subculture. This can be viewed along two different planes. One is vertical and internal, concerning the single organization from top to bottom, the second is horizontal and external, cutting across many organizations. Both of these can be labelled as separate cultures. The vertical type can be described as the institutional subculture and the horizontal type as the professional subculture.

Institutional Subculture

Every organization, being a social entity, develops within it a cultural system with some unique modes of behaviour. How unique these mode of behaviour and beliefs are will vary a great deal according to the total internal environment of the organization. Internal environment is a set of attributes specific to a particular organization that may be induced from the way the organization deals with its members and its external environment. Many factors constitute such an environment, ecological factors and the nature of work being the most important as they determine the character and commitment by individual participants. Ecological factors and the nature of work specify the traits in a particular institution's subculture. Since the behavioural pattern of every institutional subculture is different it requires a seperate organization and management pattern.

Professional Subculture

There is a system of beliefs which forms around professional and vocational identifications. Those who are engaged in vocations which require special training and knowledge tend to be members of professional subcultures. The development of professional culture has important implication for organization as there is often a conflict between the institutional subculture with one set of values and professional subculture with another. People belonging to a particular profession may owe loyalty or allegiance to the profession and enforce demands on the organization by invoking sanctions from the profession. They often place the values of the professional subculture above the institutional subculture. That is why professionals tend to stay in an organization for a shorter time as compared to people having strong belief in institutional subculture who tend to stay in an organization for longer time.

Thus, cultural conflict is almost inevitable in an organization because of the existence of various subcultures in it. Two types of subcultures-one built on loyalty and belief in the institution and the other on a commitment to one's profession-often produce such conflict. However, it may be emphasized that these configurations of culture occur at no particular organization axis. Rather, they arise as people feel the necessity to identify with a particular social system.

There can be a dominant culture as well as subcultures throughout a typical organization. Moreover, over the years number of organizational cultures have been identified. A few of these are as follows :

Dominant Culture and Subcultures

A dominant culture is a set of core values shared by a majority of the organization's members. When we talk about organizational culture, we generally, mean dominant culture only. The dominant culture, is a macro view, that helps guide the day to day, behaviour of employees.

A sub-culture is a set of values shared by a small minority of organization's members. Sub-cultures arise as a result of problems or experiences that are shared by members of a department or unit of the organization. In the sub-culture, the core values of the dominant culture are retained but modified to reflect the individuals unit's distinct situation. For example, the marketing department may have its own sub-culture, the purchase department may have its own sub-culture depending upon the additional values which are unique to these departments only.

It is necessary for every organization to have a dominant culture because if there are only numerous sub-cultures, the value of organizational culture as an independent variable will lessen and the concept of Shared Behaviour will no longer be effective. Moreover, if sub-culture come into conflict with the dominant culture, these will weaken and undermine the organization.

But, many successful firms have found that most sub-cultures help the members of a particular group deal with the specific day to day problems with which they are confronted. These members may also support many, if not all, of the core values of the dominant culture.

Strong Culture and Weak Culture

Organizational culture can be strong or weak. Strong culture is said to exist where staff respond to stimulus because of their alignment to organizational values. In such environments, strong cultures help firms operate like well-oiled machines, cruising along with outstanding execution and perhaps minor tweaking of existing procedures here and there.

Conversely, there is weak culture where there is little alignment with organizational values and control must be exercised through extensive procedures and bureaucracy.

Where culture is strong—people do things because they believe it is the right thing to do—there is a risk of another phenomenon, Groupthink. "Groupthink" was described by Irving L. Janis. He defined it as "... a quick and easy way to refer to a mode of thinking that people engage when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when members' strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternatives of action." This is a state where people, even if they have different ideas, do not challenge organizational thinking and therefore there is a reduced capacity for innovative thoughts. This could occur, for example, where there is heavy reliance on a central charismatic figure in the organization, or where there is an evangelical belief in the organization's values, or also in groups where a friendly climate is at the base of their identity (avoidance of conflict). In fact group think is very common, it happens all the time, in almost every group. Members that are defiant are often turned down or seen as a negative influence by the rest of the group, because they bring conflict.

Innovative organizations need individuals who are prepared to challenge the status quo—be it groupthink or bureaucracy and also need procedures to implement new ideas effectively. A strong culture will have the following features :

(i) Strong values and strong leadership.

(ii) A strong culture is always widely shared. Sharedness refers to the degree to which the organizational members have the same core values.

(iii) A strong culture is intensely held. Intensity refers to the degree of commitment of the organization's members to the core values.

A strong culture will have a great influence on the behaviour of its members because high degree of sharedness and intensity create an internal climate of high behavioural control. A work culture is just the reverse of strong culture in every aspect.

The benefits of strong culture are reduced turnover and positive employee attitude. A strong culture demonstrates high agreement among members about what the organization stands for. Such unanimity of purpose builds cohesiveness, loyalty and organizational commitment. As a result turnover is low and employees have a positive attitude towards the organization the opposite will happen if the culture is weak.

Strong culture is said to exist where staff respond to stimulus because of their alignment to organizational values. In such environments, strong cultures help firms operate like well-oiled machines, cruising along with outstanding execution and perhaps minor tweaking of existing procedures here and there.

Conversely, there is weak culture where there is little alignment with organizational values and control must be exercised through extensive procedures and bureaucracy.

Where culture is strong—people do things because they believe it is the right thing to do—there is a risk of another phenomenon, Groupthink. "Groupthink" was described by Irving L. Janis. He defined it as "...a quick and easy way to refer to a mode of thinking that people engage when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in group, when members' strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternatives of action." This is a state where people, even if they have different ideas, do not challenge organizational thinking and therefore there is a reduced capacity for innovative thoughts. This could occur, for example, where there is heavy reliance on a central charismatic figure in the organization, or where there is an evangelical belief in the organization's values, or also in groups where a friendly climate is at the base of their identity (avoidance of conflict). In fact group think is very common, it happens all the time, in almost every group. Members that are defiant are often turned down or seen as a negative influence by the rest of the group, because they bring conflict.

Innovative organizations need individuals who are prepared to challenge the status quo—be it groupthink or bureaucracy and also need procedures to implement new ideas effectively.

The limitations of strong culture are that it will lead to "group think", collective blind pots and resistance to change and innovation.

Mechanistic and Organic Cultures

In the mechanistic type of culture, the values of bureaucracy and feudalism are exhibited. People restrict their careers to their own specializations only and organizational work is concerned as a system of narrow specialism. It comprises of a traditional form of organization where the authority flows from the top level of the organization to the lower levels. Communication channels are also well defined and prescribed.

The main limitation of this method is that though the people are loyal to their departments but interdepartmental rivalry and animosity is always there. This sort of culture resists any type of change as well as innovations.

Organic culture is just the contrast of mechanistic culture. There are no prescribed communication channels, departmental boundaries, hierarchies of authority or formal rules and regulations. In this form of culture more stress is on flexibility, consultation, change and innovation. There is free flow of communication-both formal and informal. Much emphasis is laid on team work and task accomplishment.

Authoritarian and Participative Cultures

In authoritarian culture, power is centralized in the leader and all the subordinates are expected to obey the orders strictly. Discipline is stressed and any disobedience of orders is severely punished to set an example for the others. This culture is based on the basic assumption that the leader knows what is good for the organization and he or she always act in the organizational interests. This type of culture discourages professionalization because professionals consider themselves as equals.

The participative culture is based on the assumption that when all the people working in the organization participate in the decision making, they are likely to be more committed to the decisions rather than to those decisions which are imposed on them by one authoritarian leader. Group problem solving always leads to better decision because several minds working together are considered better than one mind working alone. If we discuss something new, points and information emerge, which help in the decision making.

National Culture (N.C.) and Organizational Culture (O.C.)

Organizational culture is always in influenced by culture of land. That is if there is a clash between the O.C. and the N.C., the O.C. generally prevails. For example, any company operating in India, whether Indian or foreign observes the local culture. Natural culture is more important than organizational culture. For example, Companies declare the same holidays, celebrate the same festivals and organise the same cultural activities as reflected by the Indian ethos.

Characteristics of Organizational Culture

The following characteristics help us to understand the nature of organizational culture better. When we mix and match these characteristics, we get the basis of culture :

1. Individual Autonomy : The degree of responsibility, freedom and opportunities of exercising initiative that individuals have in the organization.

2. Structure : The degree which the organization creates clear objectives and performance expectations. It also includes the degree of direct supervision that is used to control employee behaviour.

3. Management Support : The degree to which managers provide clear communication, assistance; warmth and support to their subordinates.

4. Identify : The degree to which members identify with the organization as a whole rather than their particular work group or field of professional expertise.

5. Performance Reward System : The degree to which reward system in the organization like increase in salary, promotions etc. is based on employee performance rather than on seniority, favouritism and so on.

6. Conflict Tolerance : The degree of conflict present in relationships between colleagues and work groups as well as the degree to which employees are encouraged to air conflict and criticisms openly.

7. Rise Tolerance : The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative, aggressive and risk taking.

8. Communication Patterns : The degree to which organizational communications are restricted to the formal hierarchy of authority.

9. Outcome Orientation : The degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve these outcomes.

10. People Orientation : The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the impact of outcomes on people within the organization.

Impact of Organizational Culture

Organizational culture, being unique and distinctive, prescribes some specific modes of behaviour for its members. These modes of behaviour, then, affect the entire behavioural processes. Though such behavioural processes may have different dimensions, they ultimately create impact on objective setting, work ethic, motivational pattern and organizational processes.

1. Objective Setting : Culture moulds people and people are the basic building blocks of the organization. Therefore, it must reflect, at least in part, the objectives of its members, particularly those who are the key decision makers. Thus, for one organization, the objective may be profit maximization, but the same objective may be unworthy, mean and petty for other organizations.

2. Work Ethic : Ethic relates to conformity to the principles of human conduct. According to common usage, moral, good, right, honest, etc. are more or less used as synonymous to ethical act. Work ethic in an organization is derived from its culture. Thus, corporate culture determines the ethical standards for the organization as a whole and its individual members.

3. Motivational Pattern : Culture interacts to develop in each person a motivational pattern. Culture determines the way people approach their jobs and even life in general. If organization culture is geared towards achievement, people will find it quite motivating and put their outmost energies for the work. In its absence, high achievement-oriented people develop frustration and desert the organization. Therefore, organizational culture should be achievement oriented.

4. Organizational Processes : Various organizational processes like planning, decision making, controlling, etc., are determined by the organizational culture because these processes are carried out by the people in the organization. Bhattacharya has analysed the cultures of various professionally-managed companies including multinationals as well as family-managed companies in India to find out how cultures affect organizational processes. The analysis is presented in Table 20.1.

Developing Sound Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is a long-term proposition which must satisfy the members' needs values and match with the cultural requirements of the society at large of which the organization is a part. Therefore, the organization has to develop a value system which is conductive to both individuals in it and social values. In fact, this phenomenon has been realized world wide. For example, Sumantra Choshal states that :

"Worldwide, managers are recognizing that while process reengineering, financial restructuring and strategic repositioning are important means to corporate renewal, the bedrock of competitiveness ultimately lies in the behaviour of people. To stimulate initiative, trust, commitment and co-operation within the organization and in its external relationship, top-level managers are increasingly recognizing that the shaping and embedding of or sub-organizational values are perhaps their most important challenges".

Based on researches, Collins and Poras have provided following guidelines for developing suitable organizational culture.

Table 20.1: Impact of Culture on Two Different Groups of Organizations

Dimensions of corporate culture

Professionally managed companies

Family managed companies

1. Nature of desired managerial skill

Emphasis on professional qualification and rank

Emphasis on demonstrated skills, depth and quality and knowledge

2. Actual

performance

Emphasis on conformity to organizational values loyalty and relative fit with the position

Emphasis on originality of action and thinking innovation and up-gradation of knowledge and skills

3. Style of planning and decision making

Emphasis on information gathering, bureaucratic mode of function, risk aversion and non-entrepreneurial

Emphasis on selective information usage, intuitive and qualitative decision making of entrepreneurial nature

4. Management systems adopted

Emphasis on use of elegant, scientific, sophisticated and rational system

Emphasis on reliance on business sense and no frills, systems geared to quick action

5. Nature of management control

Comprehensive, formal and written reporting

Emphasis on primary use of verbal reporting and remedial action

1. Preserve core ideologies while allowing for change;

2. Stimulate progress through challenging objectives, purposeful evolution and continuous self-

improvement;

3. Encourage experimentation and accept mistakes;

4. Accept paradox while rejecting 'either or thinking';

5. Create alignment by translating core values into goals, strategies and practices; and

6. Grow new managers internally by promotion from within.

How to Keep the Culture Alive?

Once a culture is created, there are practices within organization that help to keep it alive. Some important practices which help to sustain the culture are as explained below:

1. Selection : The first such practice is the careful selection of candidates. Standardised procedures should be used to hire right people for right jobs. Trained personnel interview the candidates and attempt to screen out those whose personal styles and values do not fit with the organization's culture. By identifying the candidates who can culturally match the organizational culture, selection helps sustain culture to a large extent.

Additionally, the selection process provides to the applicants, information about the organizational culture. If the applicants perceive a conflict between their values and values of the organization, they can themselves decide not to join the organization.

2. Top Management : The actions of top management also have a major impact on the organization's culture. Through what they say, how do they behave senior executives establish norms that filter through the organization as to whether risk taking is desirable, how much freedom managers should give to their subordinates, what is the appropriate dress code, what actions will pay off in terms of pay raise, promotions and other rewards and the like.

3. Socialisation : The organization may have done a very good job in the recruitment and selection of the employees, but sometimes the employees are still not indoctrinated in the organization's culture. Since these persons are not familiar with the organization's. Therefore, it is very essential for the organization to help the new employees adapt to its culture. This adaptation process is called 'Socialisation'.

Socialisation as a concept consists of the following three stages :

(i) Pre-arrival : This stage encompasses all the learning that occurs before a new member joints the organization.

(ii) Encounter : The second stage, the new employee sees what the organization is really like and confronts the likelihood that reality and expectations may diverage.

(iii) Metamorphosis : In the third stage, the relatively long lasting changes take place. The new employee masters the skills required for his or her new roles and makes the adjustment to his or her work group's values and norms.

The following diagram explains how culture is kept alive in the organization.

How is Culture Learned by Employees

The employees can learn the culture of the organization through various means. The most effective among these are as explained below :

1. Stories : Employees learn the organizational culture through the stories which circulate through many organizations. These stories related to the sacrifices of the founders, rags to riches successes, difficult initial years of the organization and crisis periods in the later years and how the organization coped with these periods. These stories anchor the present in the past and provide explanations and legitimacy for current practices.

2. Rituals : Rituals refer to any practice or pattern of behaviour repeated regularly in a prescribed manner. Key values of the organization, most important goals and most important people are reflected in rituals. Repeated activities help the employees in learning the culture of the organization. Now-a-days, in the educational institutions particularly, the schools, one of the practices which is religiously followed by the students and the faculty members is to conduct prayers every morning. In addition, every festival is celebrated with religious fervor, with everybody participating in great enthusiasm.

A ritual followed by Maruti Udyog is that every morning, all the employees start their day with assembling and doing yoga.

3. Material Symbols : Material symbols of a particular organization conveys to the employees, the organizational culture. Most important material symbols are the layout of corporate headquarters, the types of automobiles the top executives are given, the presence or absence of a corporate aircraft, size of the officers elegance of furnishings, executive perks, dress attire, etc. These symbols convey to the employees who and what is important and the kind of the behaviour that is appropriate.

4. Language : The language used by the organization and the units within organizations, can identify members of a culture or sub-culture. The newcomers who learn this language give their acceptance to the culture and in doing so, help to preserve it. The organizations sometimes develop their own terminology which acts as a common denominator which units members of a given culture. New employees are frequently overwhelmed with this terminology, but after may be six months on the job, they also become fully part of this language.

Examples: Some acronyms commonly used in ad agencies are: (i) Pronot Which means quickly, (ii) Cool Everything is fine, (iii) Account Client, (iv) Promo Promotion and (v) MB Monday Morning Blues etc.

Changing Organizational Culture

Sometimes an organization determines that its culture is unfavourable to the organizational effectiveness and it has to be changed. For example, if there is a change in the external environment, the organization must adapt itself to the changing conditions or it will not survive. Though it is very difficult to change the old cultures, but it is something which the management cannot do without. The following conditions must be present only then a cultural change can take place :

Fig. 20.1: Delineates how culture is created and sustained through various forces.

Fig. 20.2: How Organizational Cultures formed and Sustained.

1. A Dramatic Crisis : Any dramatic crisis in the organization like a major financial set back, loss of a major customer, or a technological breakthrough by a competitor may force the management to look into the relevance of the existing culture.

2. New Top Leadership : If some top executives leave the organization and new leadership takes over, they may provide an alternatives set of key values or a new culture. This new leadership may be more capable of responding to the crists.

3. Young and Small Organization : When the organization is new and its size is small, it will be easier for the management to change the culture.

4. Weak Culture : Weak cultures are more amenable to change than strong ones. The higher the agreement among the members on the organizational values, the more difficult it will be to change.

If the above mentioned conditions which support the cultural are present, the following suggestions can be considered for implementing the change :

(i) The top management people should become the positive role models. They should set the examples through their own behaviour.

(ii) As employees learn the culture through stories, symbols and rituals, the old stories, rituals and symbols should be replaced by creating new ones which are currently in vogue.

(iii) Adding new members, particularly at the higher level, is a powerful strategy to change the culture, provided the new members bring in new culture.

(iv) The socialisation process should be redesigned to align with the new values.

( ) Reward system establish and reinforce specific cultural behaviours and therefore, a change in culture can be initiated and supported by change in corporate reward systems.

(vi) Unwritten norms and beliefs should be replaced with formal rules and regulations that are tightly enforceable.

(vii) Extensive use of job rotations should be made to shake current subcultures.

(viii) Change in the top management can have significant impact on others in the organization, because he may be, in a real sense, the personification of the culture.

(ix) Change in culture will be comparatively easy if peer group consensus is got through uses of employee participation and creation of a climate with a high level of trust. Even if all the above suggestions are implemented, it will not result in an immediate change in culture. Cultural change is lengthy process, but still it is not impossible to achieve.

Social Systems, Culture and Individualization

A social system is a complex set of human relationships interacting in many ways. Within an organization, the social system includes all the people in it and their relationships to each other and to the outside world. The behavior of one member can have an impact, either directly or indirectly, on the behavior of others. Also, the social system does not have boundaries...it exchanges goods, ideas, culture, etc. with the environment around it.

Culture is the conventional behavior of a society that encompasses beliefs, customs, knowledge and practices. It influences human behavior, even though it seldom enters into their conscious thought. People depend on culture as it gives them stability, security, understanding and the ability to respond to a given situation. This is why people fear change. They fear the system will become unstable, their security will be lost, they will not understand the new process and they will not know how to respond to the new situations.

Individualization is when employees successfully exert influence on the social system by challenging the culture.

Too little socialization and too little individualization creates isolation. Too high socialization and too little individualization creates conformity. Too little socialization and too high individualization creates rebellion

While the match that organizations want to create is high socialization and high individualization for a creative environment. This is what it takes to survive in a very competitive environment...having people grow with the organization, but doing the right thing when others want to follow the easy path.

This can become quite a balancing act. Individualism favors individual rights, loosely knit social networks, self respect and personal rewards and careers. It becomes look out for number 1! Socialization or collectivism favors the group, harmony and asks "What is best for the organization?" Organizations need people to challenge, question and experiment while still maintaining the culture that binds them into a social system.

Quality of Work Life

Quality of Work Life (QWL) is the favorableness or unfavourableness of the job environment. Its purpose is to develop jobs and working conditions that are excellent for both the employees and the organization. One of the ways of accomplishing QWL is through job design. Some of the options available for improving job design are:

• Leave the job as is but employ only people who like the rigid environment or routine work. Some people do enjoy the security and task support of these kinds of jobs.

• Leave the job as is, but pay the employees more.

• Mechanize and automate the routine jobs.

• And the area that OD loves - redesign the job.

When redesigning jobs there are two spectrums to follow - job enlargement and job enrichment. Job enlargement adds a more variety of tasks and duties to the job so that it is not as monotonous. This takes in the breadth of the job. That is, the number of different tasks that an employee performs. This can also be accomplished by job rotation.

Job enrichment, on the other hand, adds additional motivators. It adds depth to the job - more control, responsibility and discretion to how the job is performed. This gives higher order needs to the employee, as opposed to job enlargement which simply gives more variety. The benefits of enriching jobs include:

• Growth of the individual

• Individuals have better job satisfaction

• Self-actualization of the individual

• Better employee performance for the organization

• Organization gets intrinsically motivated employees

• Less absenteeism, turnover and grievances for the organization

• Full use of human resources for society

• Society gains more effective organizations

There are a variety of methods for improving job enrichment:

Skill Variety: Perform different tasks that require different skill. This differs from job enlargement which might require the employee to perform more tasks, but require the same set of skills.

Task Identity: Create or perform a complete piece of work. This gives a sense of completion and responsibility for the product.

Task Significant: This is the amount of impact that the work has on other people as the employee perceives.

Autonomy: This gives employees discretion and control over job related decisions.

Feedback: Information that tells workers how well they are performing. It can come directly from the job (task feedback) or verbally form someone else.

Organizational Behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals and groups act in organizations. It does this by taking a system approach. That is, it interprets people-organization relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organization and whole social system. Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human objectives, organizational objectives and social objectives.

As you can see from the definition above, organizational behavior encompasses a wide range of topics, such as human behavior, change, leadership, teams, etc.

What refers to a set of values beliefs and norms that are shared by an Organisation members?

What are values and norms in an organization?

What refers to the core values that are shared by a majority of the organizational members?

What is a shared system of meaning among employees?