Organizational Culture Essay Example for Free

Organizational Culture Essay This essay/assignment is a solution paper on Organizational Culture. It reviews the Hofstede Model and Schein Model as well as tries to understand the the dynamics which influences the occupational cultures. This is a sample paper. The definition of culture remains quite ambiguous with researchers assessing it utilising different methodologies. The common understanding of culture is a way of doing things, or the norm by which a society organizes its tasks. However, the terminology tends to be classified more distinctly when looked upon in the aspect of organizations and their systems of performing actions. Two of the most prominent researchers on this aspect of organizational behaviour are Geert Hofstede and Edgar Schein. Each has presented the concept of organizational culture using a paradigm based on the values and thinking exhibited by the workers of an organization, but has assessed different levels of adaptation and integration that bind this aspect of culture. According to Hofstede, ‘culture is the collective programming of the human mind that distinguishes the members of one group from another. Culture in this sense is a system of collectively held values’. On the other hand, Schein has taken a slightly different approach and states ‘culture is the deeper level of basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of an organization that operate unconsciously and define in a basic â€Å"taken for granted† fashion an organization’s view of its self and its environment’. The common notion among researchers is that every organization exhibits certain values and norms in the business environment and a company will likely end up portraying two things; organizational culture and corporate culture. The former is based on what the company ‘is’, while the latter principle is an embodiment of the vision and character of the company, making up what a company ‘has’. Both Schein and Hofstede showed similarities in their presentation of the concept of organizational culture by applying a focus on the mental assumptions that shape the ideology of culture and give rise to the norms and values that end up being regarded as the primary character of an organization. However, the anthropological approach adopted by them towards organizational culture varied greatly. Hofstede favoured the ‘etic’ or dimensional approach, where the description of behaviour is very neutral and can be applied to various cultures. A key reasoning for this is the linkage he presented between the national culture  prevalent in the business environment that an organization operates in, and its resulting effects on the shaping of the norms that are applied by the organization itself. On the other hand, Schein looked upon organizational behaviour with an ‘emic’ approach, describing the dimensions that affected companies by viewing it from the aspect of a person within the culture. Hofstede undertook an extensive research process within IBM, to understand the behaviour it and its employees exhibited across the many offices it had in the world. His ideology was that organizational behaviour was greatly influenced by national and regional cultural groupings. The conclusion from the research conducted allowed Hofstede to present five characteristics of culture that he believed were exhibited by organizations in one way or form across the world. These included power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity vs. femininity, long vs. short term orientation, and individualism vs. collectivism. Schein’s organizational model looked at culture from the standpoint of an observer and presented three levels to describe the complex workings involved in a company. At the first level were the observable artefacts, pointing to those attributes which could be seen, heard or felt by the observer. The second level was the exposed values, which referred to the professed culture of the organization by its members. At the third level lie tacit assumptions, which are made up of the unseen elements of culture of an organization that become the unspoken rules of the company. While Hofstede’s model of organization culture relies on the tried and tested ideology of cultural theorists by underlying the determination of culture in an organization from core values and assumptions of a given national culture, Schein’s model brings about more functionality to the subject area by delving into a deeper understanding of the factors that influenced the exhibited culture in the organization. Hofstede’s IBM study developed linkages between personality and culture, by relating to individuals as components of societies, and organizations a resultant of both. Schein presented the notion of learning as a part of the organizational culture, and one of the building blocks that courted different operators in its assimilation and establishment. In both models, the common factor remains the individuals who form the organization, and in many ways are responsible for providing the behavioural traits to the company in order to portray a sense of belonging. The divergence in its  initiation relates to the variance held by Hofstede and Schein, with the former attributing the national culture being the driving force, while the latter focuses on the various actors who play a role in the creation of the organizational entity as the contributors to the culture of that establishment. While personality will play a part in the integration between the original and acquired culture, the need for understanding the dynamics which influence the occupational cultures is important in order to become aware of the human factor and its role in the process. References Hofstede, G. McCrae, R. (2004) ‘Personality and Culture Revisited: Linking Traits and Dimensions of Culture’, Cross-Cultural Research, Volume 38, No. 1, pp. 52 – 88 Schein, E. (1996) ‘Culture: The Missing Concept in Organization Studies’, Administrative Science Quarterly, Volume 41, Issue 2, pp. 229 – 240

Social Issues Essay -- essays research papers

Is Mcdonaldization Inevitable? George Ritzer’s, Mcdonaldization of Society, is a critical analysis of the impact on social structural change on human interaction and identity. According to Ritzer, Mcdonaldization â€Å"is the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as rest of the world† (Ritzer, 1). Ritzer focuses on four foundations of Mcdonaldization: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. These are the commandments of any rationalized corporation. However, they are not carried out from the point of view of the consumer. Efficiency, for example, may entail the placing of great inconveniences upon a consumer for the sake of efficient management. Calculability may involve hiding certain information from the consumer. Predictability and control may involve a company's ability to predict and control consumer behavior, not the consumer's ability to predict what kin d of product or control what kind of service he gets. Ritzer calls such breakdowns "the irrationality of rationalization." Ritzer points out the irrationality of rationality, as all of the supposed benefits of Mcdonaldized systems backfire: waiting in long lines, suspect quality, little or no customer service, little or no customer service, the illusion of large quantities for low prices, and severely limited selection of choice. Throughout Mcdonaldization of Society, Ritzer describes Mcdonaldization as largely negative and often destructive. While Mcdonaldization is rapidly taking over American society and spreading to the rest of the globe, it is not something unjustly imposed on the American people. The consumerist culture of America has groomed the public to seek efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. These principles grow in importance and value in contemporary America. Even when given the choice to avoid a Mcdonaldized establishment or product, peopl e will flock to it. I agree with Ritzer’s analysis of a Mcdonaldized society, but I feel that Ritzer has failed to provide any real solutions to the Mcdonaldization process. I will support Ritzer’s analysis of the Mcdonaldization process, but also show that it is inevitable and essential in the American society to have a rationalized system. Ritzer stresses that â€Å"Mcdonaldization† does not just refer to robotlike assemb... ...ety, companies are looking to maximize profits and managers are looking to maximize sales. Employers want efficiency and predictability from their workers. They want to be able to control their employees. With so much of the day spent at work and commuting, the only way people can get everything done everyday is to rely on time saving methods. With increasing productivity and development comes an increasingly rationalized system. Regardless of who benefits or to what extent, the universal result is homogenization. Rationalized systems have a pronounced tendency to squash individual tastes, niche markets, small-scale enterprise and personalized customer service. Differences are leveled, wrinkles smoothed, knots cut off -- convenience at the expense of character. An overwhelming sameness develops, along with a decrease in responsiveness. The system that seeks to mimic a machine becomes a machine, incapable of making exceptions or taking risks. I believe that the greatest loss is th at most people know of no other society than the rationalized society and therefore cannot even hope to deviate from it. For good or for bad, our social destiny is to live in such prepackaged settings.

ABC, Inc. Case Study Analysis Essay

Carl Robins, a junior recruiter for ABC, Inc, with only a limited amount of experience, commendably retained 15 new employees in April. The newer employees were hired to work for Monica Carrolls, the Operations Supervisor. Carl Robins set up new recruit’s orientation to begin 06- 15 with the objective of having the new employees working by July. On 15 of May. Monica Carrolls called Carl about fixing several issues for the new employees, such as policies, drug tests, and manuals. He stated to Monica that everything would be in place and it would all be completed by the deadline. When Carl started reviewing June, the new employee file, He found numerous of issues. Some applications were unfinished, drug screenings were not done, and orientation manuals were not completed and missing pages, while the room for training had been held in reserve for technology services. Issues When Carl’s had his first recruitment training, he encountered many difficulties that need to be brought to the senior recruiters to resolve these issues. Incomplete employee applications Mandatory drug screening was not arranged Employee transcripts were not on file Inadequate orientation manuals Shortage of orientation manuals, Resource scheduling conflicts. Carl has to address the issues at hand in order to have the new recruit’s working by July, so he must move expeditiously. He must move swiftly in order to inform the new employees and make it stat that they finish their employment applications and confirm his or her transcripts on file. Subsequently, Carl has to arrange appointments through the clinic for all  the new recruits for the obligatory drug screen and have the results sent over right away. At this point, Carl must evaluate the orientation manuals to its entirety and make sure there are a substantial amount of copies for all the recent recruits. Carl has to harmonize with technology services to come up with a solution to share the training room. If that is not feasible, Carl must find another fitting location for the new hire training class. These issues seem like simple problems with quick and easy solutions, but clearly show problems with the current hiring process that need to be addressed to keep similar issues from arising in the future. An entry level recruiter should work directly with more experienced recruiters during the first recruitment process. Skill, putting forth the effort, and practicing will go a long way in overcoming these types of issues. ABC, Inc must develop a helpful to do list or procedure to follow for hiring new employees. It must be explained to the employee and the recruiter exactly what must be completed before and after the hiring process. The checklist should cover not only hiring procedures, but also in-processing and merging into the company. ABC, Inc also needs to develop a training center; with company policies, orientation manuals, and other training materials should be complete and readily available at all times. In the intent of saving money and breathing space, it is suggested that at least one physical copy of each reference should be available, while digital copies are kept on file and can be easily apprehended when necessary. Company management solution should be established to p revent spare reservations for the same resources. This can be a simple database or reservation system that is easily accessible by all employees who will be responsible for scheduling resources. Findings/ Considerations ABC, Inc’s efforts to hire new employees, handling and attempting to solve these problems could raise more problems. Foremost, easy solutions could entail a significant financial investment to get the new employees hired on time. For instance, the clinic may charge extra for last minute drug screens or for expediting the results. If the orientation manuals cannot be reproduced internally or the training cannot be conducted on company  property, the cost of out-sourcing would be much higher than normal. Proper implementation of the long-term solutions may also incur some initial expense; however the increased efficiency will be a great benefit to ABC, Inc in the long run. It is also important to note that an inefficient and complicated hiring process may eventually detract from the company’s image and ability to attract worthy employees Conclusion As stated previously, this was a relatively easy problem to fix, however it exposed deeper issues and could present a significant expense to ABC, Inc to resolve all the problems in time to meet the July goal. It is recommended that Carl Robins and ABC, Inc take the initiative to implement all of the short and long-term goals. In doing so ABC, Inc will insure that this problem will be eliminated in the future. References Case study www.Studymode.com Case study analysis Comm215 www.writework.com Writing a Case study Analysis http://college.cengage.com/business/resources/casestudies/students/writing.ht

King Lear Egg-as-crown Metonymy - 1175 Words

In metonymy†¦ the literal term for one thing is applied to another with which it has become closely associated because of a recurrent relationship in common experience. Thus â€Å"the crown† or the scepter can be used to stand in for a king. (Abrams’ Glossary of Literary Terms, 98) In the play King Lear by William Shakespeare, the Fool compares King Lear’s Crown to an egg. Shakespeare’s use of metonymy to replace the crown with an egg implies that Lear’s kingship is fragile and brittle, on the verge of breaking at any moment. We find through the narrative of the play that this is indeed true; King Lear’s kingdom crumbles due to his foolish mistakes. King Lear’s first mistake of laziness and selfishness leads to the banishment of†¦show more content†¦Then let fall your horrible please, (III, ii, 15-20) In this quote, Lear voices that he never treated his daughters with unkindness during his Kingship, and believes he does not deserve the treatment he is receiving. Lear’s life is filled with deceit and bad things are to come. â€Å"Canst thou blame him? /His daughters seek his death.† (III, iv, 165-166) says Gloucester. The kingdom loses its foundation as Lear’s authority slips away. The second crack occurs when Lear loses his sanity. He loses his mind when he discovers his daughters’ betrayal and realizes the mistake he made in banishing his only true and loyal daughter. The disgraced king appears in Act IV, Scene vi with a â€Å"crown† of wildflowers on his head. The impromptu crown depicts King Lear’s mental state, â€Å"I would not be thee, Nuncle: thou hast pared they wit o’both sides and left nothing I’th’middle.† (I, iv, 190-193). Not only does this quote demonstrates Lears lack of sanity, but explains the scene of the quote and correlation to the flower crown. The kingdom falls apart and plunges into anarchy as the French army led by Cordelia attacks England. The egg, and King Lear finally shatter in half when Lear discovers that Cordelia is captured and killed. He cries: I might have