Unit 6: Organizational Culture, Diversity, and Managing Change
Change is a surprisingly difficult process for firms. When two large companies merge, it can take a couple of years to reorganize and many more years before the two respective cultures truly merge. This transition process can be especially challenging if the cultures are very different. For example, suppose a bank from the south purchases a bank based in the northeast. In that case, the two different banking styles could wreak havoc within the organization, as the southern company may rely on customer service and slow growth. In contrast, the northern bank may prefer an aggressive strategy. Such mergers happen regularly, and OB specialists are involved in the process from the start.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 7 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- analyze corporate structures and explain how and why organizations divide their tasks;
- describe organizational change, analyze methods and appropriate skills for accomplishing successful organizational changes; and
- articulate the importance of cultural diversity in the workplace.
6.1: Business Culture
In cases like this one, the structure of a firm's management is just as important as its culture. Will the two banks continue to operate with a decentralized format, or will they have all of senior management in one location? What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing it one way or another? And of course, the most difficult aspect of managing change is implementing it in the first place. Humans are naturally resistant to change; making changes in an organization is no exception.
Watch this video for some examples regarding the impact of corporate culture on managing organizations and innovation. Think about your capacity for creative thinking and how you can bring this skill to the workplace.
Read this chapter for an in-depth look at how to manage demographic and cultural diversity. First, we will consider what constitutes diversity, as well as the benefits of managing it. We will attempt to describe the challenges of managing a diverse workforce, including multicultural workforces and those organizations with diverse demographics. We will conclude with a discussion on diversity and ethics and how standards of ethics may vary depending on culture, age, gender, and other traits. While reading this chapter, think about what you bring to the workplace. What unique demographical or cultural attributes do you possess? How do these characteristics affect your values and management style? What steps can you take to understand, work with, and manage those with different characteristics than you?
Watch this video for an overview of three aspects of organizations that affect their functioning. Organizational culture is one of the three essential aspects, along with the environment and technology.
Watch this video. After you watch, reflect on the diversity strategies of your organization and how your organization can become more diverse.
6.2: Corporate Structure
This video discusses organizational structure. See if you can determine which design makes the most sense for the main functions of the organization. How and why does the organization divide its tasks? How does the organization coordinate activities among these tasks? As you watch, consider the concepts of division of labor, hierarchy of authority, span of control, line versus staff positions, and level of centralization.
6.3: Changing the Organization
Watch this video to determine why organizations change, what can be changed, how organizations change, and how difficult it is to implement change within an organization. You will examine some methods and skills needed for accomplishing change. Finally, you will learn why many people within organizations resist change and how you, as a manager, can utilize specific tactics to help overcome this common resistance.
Read this chapter to learn more about successful change implementation. As we learned earlier, resistance to change is widespread. Organizational change often is met with discomfort and concern. Think about what strategies you can use to enable change within an organizational culture while mitigating resistance.
6.4: The Changing Landscape of Organizations
We will conclude our class with a final subunit on the changing landscape of organizations. We begin this subunit with a presentation about the latest trends in organizational behavior research. Earlier in the course, we touched upon several of the key research trends, including workplace bullying. This presentation also considers other current issues, such as generational differences, workplace incivility, and work-life balance. As you review this presentation, think about your generation and the traits that describe it. Do you share these traits? Have you experienced incivility or bullying in your workplace? If so, how did this experience affect your performance? Finally, what is the responsibility of the organization to foster work-life balance? How well is your organization doing in this regard?
The previous presentation introduced you to one emerging trend in OB research - generational differences in the workplace. Read this article to get a closer look at the challenges of understanding and managing the multiple generations in many organizations. As you read, compare the workplace characteristics of each generation. Look for overlap, as well as for differences. What kind of experiences have you had with various generations? As a manager, how can you better manage the vast age and generational differences within your workplace to meet organizational goals successfully?
This chart provides a quick reference regarding the differences among the various generations in today's workforce. This is an excellent one-screen summary of what you've read in the previous article. Focus on the left-hand column for each factor that most people consider important in the workplace. Then, move across the grid to compare the different expectations and responses.
Unit 6 Assessment
- Receive a grade
Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.
- This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
- You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
- You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.