4. SOCIAL SYSTEMS & ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Understanding Social System Social System – is a complex set of business relationships interacting in many ways. When people a work group they become part of that organization’s social system. It is the medium by which they relate to the world of work. The variables in an organizational system operate in a degree of working balance called social equilibrium.

1)

Social Equilibrium

A system is said to be in social equilibrium when there is a dynamic working balance among the interdependent parts. Equilibrium is the dynamic concept not a static. There is constant movement in every organization, but it occurs in such a way that the system’s working balanced is retain. The system is like a sea in which there is a continuous motion, but the seas’ basic character changes very little. When minor changes occur in a social system, they are absorbed by adjustments within the system and equilibrium is retained. But when major changes or a series of rapid change may throw an organization out of balance, seriously reducing its vigor until it can reach a new equilibrium. When it is in disequilibrium, its parts are working against one another instead of harmony.

2)

Functional and Dysfunctional Actions

We can say that a change in the organization is considered functional when it is favorable for the system. When every body agrees on the changes made. When a change is unfavorable for a system, it is said to be dysfunctional. A major management task is to appraise changes in the social system to determine their possible functional or dysfunctional effects, so that appropriate responses can be made.

3)

Psychological and Economic Contract

When employees an organization they make an unwritten psychological contract with it. Psychological contract – define the conditions of each employees’ psychological involvement with the system. Employees agree to give a certain amount of work and loyalty but in return they demand more than economic reward from the system. They seek security, treatment as human beings, rewarding relationship with people, and in fulfilling expectations.

Employee

Employer

Psychological Contract

Economic Contract

Employees: a) If expectations are met:  High job satisfaction  High performance b) If expectations are not met ● Low job satisfaction  Low performance  Possible separation

Employer: a) If expectations are met:  Employee retention  Possible promotion b) If expectations are not met ● Corrective action Discipline  Possible separation

If the organization honors only the economic contract and not the psychological contract, employees tend to have low job satisfaction and performance because their expectations are not met. If both their psychological and economic expectations are met, they tend to be satisfied, stay with the organization and become high performer. Management responds in a similar way to the economic and psychological contracts that it sees. It expects responses such as high performance continuum quality improvement, commitment to the organization, and friendly services to the customers. When these results occur, an employee is retained and may earn a promotion. However, if cooperation and performance do not meet expectations, our reactive action and even termination may occur.

SOCIAL CULTURE Whenever people act in accordance with the expectation of others, their behavior is social. Culture is the conventional behavior of a society, and it influence all the actions even though it seldom enter the conscious thought.

Social culture are often portrayed as consistent within a nation, thereby producing a so-called national culture. At the simplest level, national cultures can be compared on the bases on how their relate to each other accomplish work, and respond to change. However, there can be distinctive social culture within a nations, as well as, seen in the tragic dispute between people of various ancestry within the former country of Yugoslavia.

People learn to depend on their culture. It gives them stability and security, because they can understand what is happening in their cultural community and know how to respond while in it. However, the one culture dependency may also place intellectual blinders on employees, preventing them from gaining the benefits of exposure to people from other cultural background. Cultural dependency is further compounded under conditions involving the integration of two or more culture into the workplace. Employees need to learn to adopt to other to capitalize on the opportunities the present, while avoiding possible negative consequences.

1)

Cultural Diversity Employees in almost organization are divided into subgroup of various kinds. Formation of group is determine by two broad sets of conditions. First, job related (organizationally created) differences and similarities, such as type of work, rank in the organization, and physical proximity to one another, sometimes,, cause people to align themselves into group. However, a second set of non-job related conditions (those related to culture, ethnicity, socioeconomics, sex, and race) primarily from and individual’s personal background; these conditions are highly important for legal, moral and economic reasons.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) An early attempt to deal with cultural diversity at work and fair treatment for employees are through federal and states legislation. Equal Employment Opportunity is the provision of equal opportunities to secure jobs and earn rewards in them, regardless of conditions unrelated to job performance. EEQ laws prohibit discrimination on factors other than job performance. In response, many organizations voluntarily developed affirmative action plans, in which they adopted nondiscrimination policies, reviewed their personnel practices and monitored their programs. Affirmative action programs, designed to opportunities for qualified peo0le, hae three major goals: * To provide redress for past (societal) discrimination. * To correct current discrimination. * To pursue greater diversity as a valuable objectives.

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Potential Benefits of EEQ

Equal citizens access to jobs

Reinforcement of social objectives

Better use of labor force

EEQ

Higher family earnings

Higher national output

Better self-image for citizens

Most useful contributors to society

2)

Social Culture Values

The Work Ethic. For many years the culture of much of the western world has emphasized work as a desirable and fulfilling activity. This attitude is also strong in parts of Asia, such as Japan. The result of the cultural emphasis is a work ethic for many people, meaning that they view work as the very important and as a desirable goal in life. They tend to like work and derive satisfaction from it. They usually have a stronger commitment to the organization and to its goal than do other employees. This characteristics of the work ethic make it highly appealing to employees. The research indicates that two conditions can be safely reached. First, the proportion of employees with a strong work ethic varies sharply among sample groups. Differences depends on factors such as personal background, type of work performed, and geographical location. The range is quite broad, with the proportion of employees in different jobs who report that work is a central life interest extending from 15 to 85 percent.

A second condition is that the general level of the work ethic has declined gradually over many decades. Not only the younger employees not as ive of the work ethic, but the level of that young people once exhibited has dropped substantially. This decline carriers serious application for industrial productivity, specially international competition intensities. Social Responsibility. Every action that organizations take involves costs as well as benefits. In recent years, there has been a strong social drive to improve the cost benefit relationship to make it possible for society to gain benefits from organizations and for the benefits to be fairly distributed. Social responsibility is the recognition that organizations have significant influence on the social system and tht this influence must be properly considered and balanced in all organizational actions.

The present of strong social values such as social responsibility has a powerful impact on organizations and their actions. It leads them to use a socioeconomic model of decision making, in which both social costs and benefits are considered along with the traditional economic and technical values/ Organizations take a broader view of their role within a social system, and accept their interdependence with it. ROLE A role is a pattern of actions expected of a person in activities involving others/ Role reflects a person’s position in the social system, with its accompanying rights and obligations, power and responsibility. In order to be able to interact with one another, people need some way of anticipating others’ behavior. Role performs this function in the social system.

A person has roles both on the job and away from it. One person performs the occupational role of worker, the family role of parent, the social role of club president, and many others. In those various roles, a person is both buyer and seller, supervisor and subordinate, and giver and seeker of advice. Each role calls for different types of behavior. Within the work environment alone, a worker may have more than one role.

1)

Role Perception Activities of managers and workers alike are guided by their role perception, that is, how they think, they are supposed t act in their own roles and how others should act in their roles. Since managers perform many different roles, they must be highly adoptive (exhibiting role flexibility) in order to change from one role to another quickly. Supervisors especially need to change roles rapidly as they work with subordinates and superiors and with technical and non-technical activities.

When two people, such as a manager and an employee, interact, each one needs to understand at least three role perceptions. For a manager, the three roles are as follows: First, there is the manager’s role perception as required by the job being perform (A). Then there is the manager’s perception of the role of the employee being ed (B). Finally, there is the manager’s perception of his or her role as likely to be seen by the employee (C). Obviously, one cannot meet the needs of others unless one can perceive what they expect. Three related role perceptions (D, E, and F) exist from the employee’s perspective, with dramatic differences (from the manager’s perception) possible – especially in the direct comparisons such as A-D, B-E, and C-D. The key is for both parties to gain accurate role perceptions for their own roles and for the roles of the other. Reaching such ab understanding requires studying the available job descriptions, as well as opening up lines of communication to discover the other’s perceptions. Unless roles are clarified and agreed upon by both parties, conflicts will inevitably arise.

The Complex Web of Manager-Employee Role Perceptions

Manager Managers; Perception of own role

A

D

Employee Employee’s perception of manager’s role

Manager’s perception of employee’s role

B

E

Employee’s perception of own role

Manager’s perception of the manager’s role as seen by the employees

C

F

Employee’s perception of the employee’s role as seen by the manager

2)

Mentors Where can employees get information regarding their work related roles so that they will have accurate role perceptions? In addition to traditional sources of information, such as job descriptions and orientation sessions, many organizations have formal or informal mentorship program A mentor is a role model who guides another employee (a protégé) by sharing valuable advice on roles to play and behaviors to avoid. Mentors teach, advice, coach, , encourage, act as sounding boards, and sponsor their protégés so as to expedite their career progress. The advantages of successful mentoring programs include stronger employee loyalty, faster movement up the learning curve, better succession planning through development of replacements, and increase level of goal accomplishment. Some organization actually assign protégés tp various mentors, but this practice can create problems of resentment, abuse of power, and unwillingness to serve. Mentors are usually older, successful themselves, and respected by their peers (influential). They also must be willing to commit time and energy to help another person move up the corporation ladder, be able to communicate effectively, and share ideas in a nonthreatening fashion, and enjoy one-on-one development of others. Mentors are often not the employee’s career progress. Their detachment from a supervisors role also allows them to be more objective about its strength and weaknesses observed with a protégé.

3)

Role Conflict When others have different perceptions or expectations of a person’s role, that person tends to experience role conflict. Such conflict makes it difficult to meet one set of expectations without rejecting another. A company president faced role conflict, or example, when she learned that bot the controller and the personnel director wanted her to allocate the new organization planning function to their department.

4)

Role Ambiguity When role are inadequately defined or are substantially unknown, role ambiguity exists, because people are not sure how they should act in situations of this type. When role conflict and role ambiguity exist, job satisfaction and organizational commitment will likely decline. On the other hand, employees tend to be more satisfied with their job when their roles are clearly defined by job description and statements of performance expectations. A better understanding of roles helps people know what others expect of them and how they should act. If any role misunderstanding exists when person interact, then problem are likely to occur.

STATUS Status is the social rank of a person in a group. It is a mark of the amount of recognition, honor, and acceptance given to a person. Within groups, differences in status apparently hve been recognized ever since civilization began. Whenever people gather into groups, status distinction are likely to arise, because they enable people to form the different characteristics and abilities of group member.

Individuals are bound together in status system, or status hierarchies, which define their rank relative to others n the group. If they become seriously upset over their status, they are said to feel status anxiety. Loss of status – sometimes called “losing face” or status deprivation – is a serious event for most people, it is considered a much more devastating condition, however, in certain societies. People therefore become quite responsible in order protect and develop their status.

Since status is important to people, they will work hard to earn it. If it can be tied to action that further he company’s goals, then employees are strongly motivated to their company.

1) Status Relationship High-status people within a group usually have more power and influence than those with low status. They also receive more privileges from their group and tend to participate more in group activities. They interact more with their peers than with those f lower rank. Basically, high status gives people an opportunity to play a more important role in an organization. As a result, lower-status tend to feel isolated from the mainstream and to show more symptoms that higher ranked .

2)

Status Symbols

The status system reaches its ultimate end with status symbols. These are the visible, external things that attach to a person or workplace and serve as evidence of social rank. They exist in the office, shop, warehouse, refinery, or whenever work groups congregate. They are most in evidence among different levels of managers, because each successive level has the authority to provide itself with such confidence just a little different from those of people lower in the structure.

3)

Sources of Status

The sources of status are numerous, but in a typical work situation several sources are easily identified. Education and job level are two important sources of higher status. A person’s ability, job skills, and type of work also are sources of status.

Other sources of status are amount of pay, seniority, age, and stock options. Pay, economic recognition and an opportunity to have more of the amenities in life, be able to travel. Seniority and age often earn for their holder certain privileges, such as first chance of vacation dates, or the respect of co-workers for their longevity at work. Method of pay (hurly versus salary) and working conditions also provides important status distinctions, such as distinguishing blue collar and white collar work.

4)

Significance of Status Status is significant to organizational behavior in several ways. When employees are consumed by the desire for status, it often is the source of employees problem and conflicts that management needs to solve. It influences the kinds of transfer that employees will take, because they don’t want a low-status location or job assignment.

It helps determine who will be an informal leader of a group, and it definitely serves to motivate those seeking to advanced in the organization. Some people are status seekers, wanting a job of higher status regardless of other working conditions. These people can be encouraged to qualify themselves to high status job so that they will feel rewarded.. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Social (national) culture cerate the whole ranging context in which organizations operate. It provides the complex social system of laws, values, and customs in which organizational behavior occurs.

Inside the organization lies another powerful force for determining individual and group behavior. Organizational cultures the set of assumptions, beliefs, values, norms that are shared by an organization’s . This culture may have been consciously created by its key , or it may have simply evolved across time. It represents a key element of the work environment in which employees perform their jobs. Tis idea of organizational culture is somewhat intangible, for we cannot tell or touch ir , but it present and pervasive. Organizational culture are important to a firm’s success for several reasons. They give an organization identity to employees – a defining vision of what the organizations represents. They are also an important source of stability and continuity to the organization, which provides a sense of security to its .

More than anything else, perhaps, culture helps stimulate employee enthusiasm for their tasks. Cultures attract attention, convey a vision, and specially honor high producing and creative individuals as heroes. By recognizing and motivating these people, organizational cultures are identifying them as role models. Characteristics of Cultures Organizations like fingertips and snowflakes, are unique. Each has its own history, kinds of communication, systems and procedures, mission statements and visions, story and myths which, in their totality, constitute its distinctive culture. Cultures are relatively stable in nature, usually changing only slowly overtime.

Most organizational cultures have historically been implicit rather than explicit. More recently, though, organization have begun their intended cultures, and many top leaders see one of their major roles as speaking out about the kind of environment they would like to create within their firms. A final defining characteristic of most cultures is that they are seen as symbolic representations of underlying beliefs and values. Over time, an organization’s culture becomes perpetuated by its tendency to attract and retain people who fit its values and beliefs. Just as people may choose to move to a certain region because of geographic characteristics such as temperature, humidity, and rainfall, employees who will gravitate toward the organizational culture they prefer as a work environment. This results in a good fit of employer and employee.

Characteristics of Organizational Cultures

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Distinctive Stable

Implicit Symbolic No one type is best Integrated Accepted A reflection of top management Subcultures Of varying strengrh

Measuring Organizational Culture Systematic measurement and comparison of cultures is difficult at best. Others have used interviews and open-ended questionnaires in an attempt to assess employee values and beliefs. In other cases, examination of corporate philosophy statements has provided insight into the espoused culture (the beliefs and values that the organization states publicly). Another approach is to survey employees directly and seek their perceptions of the organization’s culture. One of the most interesting methods is to become a member of the organization and engage in participate observation. This approach allows direct sensing from the perspective of a member who is experiencing the culture.

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 when they wan to please others, gain approval, and learn about their new work environment. Organizations anxious to have the new employee fit in, and therefore an intentional approach that helps make this happen is used by many firms. Collectively, these cultural communication acts may be lumped under the umbrella of organizational socialization, which is the continuous process of transmitting key elements of an organization’s culture to its employees. These approaches help share the attitudes thoughts and behavior of employees. Viewed from the organization’s perceptive organizational socialization is like placing an organization’s fingerprints on people or stamping its own genetic code on them.

Managers are encouraged to engage in storytelling as a way to forge a culture and build organizational identity. Good stories tap into emotions of an audience and have proven to be powerful ways to create shared meaning and purpose. Stories convey a sense of tradition, explain how past problems have been solved, convey personal frailty through tales of mistakes made and learned from, and enhance cohesion around key values. A reciprocal process emerges when changes occur in other other direction. Employee s can also have an active impact on the nature of organization’s culture and operation. Individualization occurs when employees successfully exert influence on the social system around them at work by challenging the culture or deviating from it.

When people t a work group, they become part of that organization’s social system. It is the medium by which hey relate to the world of work. The variables in an organizational system operate in a working balance called social equilibrium, individuals make a psychological contract that defines their personal relationship with the system. When they contribute to the organization’s success, we call their behavior functional. The broad environment that people live in is their social culture. People need to accept and appreciate the value that a diversity of cultural backgrounds can contribute to the success of an organization. Other important cultural factors include the work ethic and corporate attitudes toward social responsibility.

Role is the pattern of action expected of a person in activities involving others. Related ideas are role perception, mentors, role conflict, and role ambiguity. Status is the social rank of a person in a group and it leads to status systems and possibly status anxiety. Status symbols are sought as if they were magical herbs, because they often provide external evidence of status for their possessors. Organizational cultures reflect the assumptions and value that guide a firm . They are intangible but powerful influences on employee behavior. Participants learn about their organization’s culture through the process of socialization and influence through individualization. Organizational culture can be change, but the process is time consuming.

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