Culture Organisation Theory

1. CultureOrganisation Theory & • By Calvin Morrill ~ American Academy of Political and Social Science, Sept 2008 • Presentation by • Ralph Soule & Lai Fong, Yee • HOL 8100: Org Culture, June 2012

2. Historical Backdrop Accidental discovery of Shop Floor Culture (Norms & Sentiments) by Human Relations Scholars Blend of organizational culture frameworks, neoinstitutional analysis, sociology of culture, social movement theory Explorations of Informal & Institutionalized Relations in Organisations Acultural Rationalist Theorizing Turn of 20th Century 1920s Mid 20th Century 1980s to Present Day ? Research Questions Change Boundaries Deviance

3. Outline of Article [1] The Unacknowledged Use of Culture in Early Organization Theory – p. 16 [2] The Discovery of Norms and Sentiments on the Shop Floor: The Rise of Human Relations – p. 19 [3] From Informal Relations and Institutions to Negotiated Orders – p. 21 [4] Systems of Meaning and the Cultural Construction of Rationality: Organizational Culture and Neoinstitutional Frameworks – p. 23 [5] Change – p. 28 [6] Boundaries – p. 31 [7] Deviance – p. 33

4. Unacknowledged Use of Culture In Early Organization Theory 1 19th – early 20th century Emergence of Early Organization Theory … in tandem with Culture played an important yet unacknowledged roles in early Organization Theory Creation of Self-Regulating Markets … as free markets underlie most social institutions • Example: Factory Life, where culture is both threat & resource. • Threat – local practices & workers’ traditions seen as disruptive to rational production. • Resource – value of workers’ considerable knowledge about how factories operate. The Rational Organization The linchpin for realizing & sustaining market society (including state bureaucracies)

5. Unacknowledged Use of Culture In Early Organization Theory 1 These are undeveloped allusions to what’s become known as Organization Culture today ! • Scientific Management • Purest & most famous expression of early applied organization theory; focus on efficient construction of workers tasks • Used “time & motion” studies to harvest traditional work practices, then restructured them into simple task sequences that supervisors or owners could easily control & deploy • Scientifically re-engineered jobs & incentive wages by piece rates Federick Taylor • Principles of Management ~ planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, controlling • Rationalist theory of management • Yet recognized importance of managerial “flexibility” and building “esprit de corps” among “personnel Henry Fayol

6. “ In effect, scientific management stripped organizations of workers’ collective knowledge (while not touching the collective knowledge of managers and owners), only to bring it back, repackaged as “scientifically” constructed procedures. Page 18 1

7. Discovery of Norms and Sentiments on the Shop Floor: Rise of Human Relations 2 As early as 1920s, researchers realized that culture might offer additional resources for accomplishing managerial prerogatives. Hawthorne EffectAT&T, 1924-27 Human Relations 1930s – 40s • Elevated place of workplace norms & sentiments • Scholars included study of norms & sentiments into mainstream organization theory as variable that impact worker productivity • HR softened the hard edges of scientific management-inspired control • Productivity increased even when illumination decreased • Managerial attention lavished on workers made them feel important • These insights laid foundation for Human Relations or HR school

8. From Informal Relations and Institutions to Negotiated Orders 3 Scholars used ethnographic & case-study methods to reveal a complex “underlife” in organizations, containing conflicting values and interests that both subverted and facilitated the achievement of formal goals 1950s-60s: Chicago-style Fieldworkinto informal sides of organizations & negotiated orders Philip Selznick ”Leadership in Administration” • Where people negotiate about meanings, routines, tacit agreements of work • Centres on the construction of meaning in organizations via social interaction • Internal, “unwritten laws” and “informal associations” could expand executive control to achieve official, organizational goals • Job of leadership is to guide the transition from organization to institution so that the ultimate result effectively embodies desired aims and standards. • First version of “Functionalist Institutionalism”

9. “ During good economic times, organization theory heavily accents bare-bones technological rationalism (with an emphasis on tweaking efficiency), but it turns to culture when uncertainties about productivity, worker commitment, and managerial imagination set in. Page 23 3

10. Systems of Meaning, Cultural Construction of Rationality, Neoinstitutional Frameworks 4 Late 1970s to early 1980s 1980s to Present • Two Significant Developments: • Emergence of organizational culture frameworks that emphasized organizations as systems of meaning & symbols; • Fusion of early institutionalism elements + symbolic interactionism + ethnomethodology ~ neoinstitutional theories of organizations focused on the non-rational aspects of organizations (rituals, myths, symbols) • Focus on “constitutive” effects of culture with respect to organizational members’ inner lives (where culture transforms peoples’ identities, restructuring their inner lives): • The meaning they attribute to organizational life; • The construction and maintenance of instrumental social structures.

11. “ Rational instrumental organizations dominate and persist on the contemporary scene not because they are technically superior on some universal, objective criteria but because they conform to a social reality and are deemed legitimate as defined by pervasively shared cultural assumptions. Page 27 4

12. Change 5 = The study of Cultural Organization In contemporary Organization Theory: The study of Culture in Organizations & Q: How does cultural organization change at the micro, organizational and broader (field, institutional) levels? Power Agency Crucial issues of: External, unanticipated shocks (eg disasters, economic downturns, demographic shifts, wars, dramatic legal changes) Exogenous Factors Q: What is the role of collective action and everyday social interaction in shaping these dynamics? How internal dynamics change as a result of socialization practices, managerial action (eg hostile takeovers that alter corporate cultures, reframing of shared beliefs) Endogenous Factors

13. Boundaries 6 Two Types of Boundaries: Symbolic & Social • Eg. Concept of home vs work • How cultural schemes are woven into gendered texture of organization and fields. Cultural Schemes • Eg. Engineering drawings or machines – symbolize occupational jurisdictions of varying statuses • Such artifacts can constrain or facilitate collaboration • Boundary Objects / Trading Zones – where artifacts can be used for meaningful collaboration, exchange and competition (p. 33) Workplace Artifacts

14. Deviance 7 Definition: Organization Deviance~ violations of formal (organizational) design goals and normative expectations … that produce suboptimal outcomes • Watergate scandal • Iran-Contra affair • Space shuttle Challenger disaster • Enron scandal • US subprime mortgage disaster Examples: How are deviance and responses to it culturally constructed? • Multiple Aspects of Deviance • Mistakes • Misconduct • Disasters (which might originate as mistakes or misconduct) Eg. NASA, Challenger disaster – multiple mistakes leading up to launch decision woven into NASA work culture -> neutralized all signs of danger Normalizing Deviance

15. Discussion Questions x x x Question 1 XXXX