Samar College, Inc.

COLLEGE OF GRADUATES
Catbalogan City
Course: M.A. Ed, Elementary Education
Title: Human Ecology and Principles
Term: Second Semester, 2015 2016
Professor: Edgar V. Dolorso
Discussant: Cristina P. Mendoza
Topics: Organizational Culture and Environment
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LEAR N I N G O U T LI N E
The Manager: Omnipotent or Symbolic
Contrast the action of manager according to the omnipotent and symbolic views.
Explain the parameters of managerial discretion.
The Organizations Culture
Describe the seven dimensions of organizational culture.
Discuss the impact of a strong culture on organizations and managers.
Explain the source of an organizations culture.
Describe how culture is transmitted to employees.
Describe how culture affects managers.
Current Organizational Cultural Issues Facing Managers
Describe the characteristics of an ethical culture, an innovative culture, and a
customer-responsive culture.
Discuss why workplace spirituality seems to be an important concern.
Describe the characteristics of a spiritual organization.
The Environment
Describe the components of the specific and general environments.
Discuss the two dimensions of environmental uncertainty.
Identify the most common organizational stakeholders.
Explain the four steps in managing external stakeholder relationships.
The Manager: Omnipotent or Symbolic
Omnipotent View of Management
Managers are directly responsible for an organizations success or failure.
The quality of the organization is determined by the quality of its managers.
Managers are held accountable for an organizations performance yet it is difficult
to attribute good or poor performance directly to their influence on the
organization.
Symbolic View of Management
Much of an organizations success or failure is due to external forces outside of
managers control.
The ability of managers to affect outcomes is influenced and constrained by
external factors.
The economy, customers, governmental policies, competitors, industry
conditions, technology, and the actions of previous managers
Managers symbolize control and influence through their action.

Exhibit 31

Parameters of Managerial Discretion

The parameters of managerial discretion (see Exhibit 3-1) include the organizations culture
and the environment in which the organization exists. However, these parameters dont totally
constrain a manager; managers can and do influence their culture and environment.
The Organizations Culture

Organizational Culture
A system of shared meanings and common beliefs held by organizational
members that determines, in a large degree, how they act towards each other.
The way we do things around here.
Values, symbols, rituals, myths, and practices
Implications:
Culture is a perception.
Culture is shared.
Culture is descriptive.

Exhibit 32

Dimensions of Organizational Culture

The seven dimensions (see Exhibit 3-2) are as follows: (1) attention to detail (degree to
which employees are expected to exhibit precision, analysis, and attention to detail); (2) outcome
orientation (degree to which managers focus on results or outcomes rather than on how those
outcomes are achieved); (3) people orientation (degree to which management decisions take into
account the effects on people in the organization); (4) team orientation (degree to which work is

organized around teams rather than individuals); (5) aggressiveness (degree to which employees
are aggressive and competitive rather than cooperative); (6) stability (degree to which
organizational decisions and actions emphasize maintaining the status quo); and (7) innovation
and risk taking (degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and to take risks).
Strong versus Weak Cultures
Strong cultures key values are deeply held and widely held.
Strong cultures have a strong influence on organizational members.
Factors Influencing the Strength of Culture
Size of the organization
Age of the organization
Rate of employee turnover
Strength of the original culture
Clarity of cultural values and beliefs
Benefits of a Strong Culture
Creates a stronger employee commitment to the organization.
Aids in the recruitment and socialization of new employees.
Fosters higher organizational performance by instilling and promoting employee
initiative.
Research results are suggesting that in organizations with strong cultures: employees tend to
be more committed to their organizations; recruitment efforts and socialization practices are used
to build employee commitment; and there is higher organizational performance. The impact of a
strong culture on managers is that as the culture becomes stronger, it has an increasing impact on
what managers do and constrains their decision-making options as they plan, organize, lead, and
control.
Sources of Organizational Culture
The organizations founder
Vision and mission
Past practices of the organization
The way things have been done
The behavior of top management
Continuation of the Organizational Culture
Recruitment of like-minded employees who fit
Socialization of new employees to help them adapt to the culture
An organizations culture and general way of doing things are largely the result of what it has
done before and how successful it has been doing things that way. The original source of the
culture usually reflects the vision or mission of the organizations founders. (See Exhibit 3-5.)
Exhibit 35 How an Organizations Culture Is Established and Maintained

How Culture is Transmitted

Culture is transmitted to employees through stories (narratives of significant events or
people); rituals (repetitive sequences of activities); material symbols (physical assets
distinguishing the organization like objects, facilities, and other aspects of the physical work
environment); and language (special and unique terms, acronyms, and jargon). These elements

help employees learn what values and behaviors are important as well as who exemplifies
those values.
Culture affects how managers plan, organize, lead, and control. (See Exhibit 3-6.)
Exhibit 36
Managerial Decisions Affected by Culture
Planning
The degree of risk that plans should contain
Whether plans should be developed by individuals or teams
The degree of environmental scanning in which management will engage
Organizing
How much autonomy should be designed into employees jobs
Whether tasks should be done by individuals or in teams
The degree to which department managers interact with each other

Leading
The degree to which managers are concerned with increasing employee job
satisfaction
What leadership styles are appropriate
Whether all disagreementseven constructive onesshould be eliminated

Controlling
Whether to impose external controls or to allow employees to control their own
actions
What criteria should be emphasized in employee performance evaluations
What repercussions will occur from exceeding ones budget
How Culture Affects Managers
Cultural Constraints on Managers
Whatever managerial actions the organization recognizes as proper or improper
on its behalf
Whatever organizational activities the organization values and encourages
The overall strength or weakness of the organizational culture
Current Organizational Culture Issues Facing Managers
Exhibit 37

Suggestions for Managers: Creating a More Ethical Culture

Be a visible role model.

Communicate ethical expectations.
Provide ethics training.
Visibly reward ethical acts and punish unethical ones.
Provide protective mechanisms so employees can discuss ethical dilemmas and report
unethical behavior without fear.
Creating a Customer-Responsive Culture
Hiring the right type of employees (ones with a strong interest in serving
customers)
Having few rigid rules, procedures, and regulations
Using widespread empowerment of employees
Having good listening skills in relating to customers messages
Providing role clarity to employees to reduce ambiguity and conflict and increase
job satisfaction
Having conscientious, caring employees willing to take initiative

A culture that is most likely to shape high ethical standards is high in risk tolerance, low to
moderate in aggressiveness, and focuses on means as well as outcomes. An innovative culture is
characterized by the following: challenge and involvement, freedom, trust and openness, idea
time, playfulness/humor, conflict resolution, debates, and risk-taking.
A customer-responsive culture has six characteristics: employees who are outgoing and
friendly; few rigid rules, procedures, and regulations; widespread use of empowerment;
clear roles and expectations; and employees who are conscientious in their desire to
please the customer.

Creating a Customer-Responsive Culture

Hiring the right type of employees (ones with a strong interest in serving
customers)
Having few rigid rules, procedures, and regulations
Using widespread empowerment of employees
Having good listening skills in relating to customers messages
Providing role clarity to employees to reduce ambiguity and conflict and increase
job satisfaction
Having conscientious, caring employees willing to take initiative
Spirituality and Organizational Culture
Workplace Spirituality
The recognition that people have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by
meaningful work that takes place in the context of community.
Characteristics of a Spiritual Organization
Strong sense of purpose
Focus on individual development
Trust and openness
Employee empowerment
Toleration of employees expression
Benefits of Spirituality
Improved employee productivity
Reduction of employee turnover
Stronger organizational performance
Increased creativity
Increased employee satisfaction
Increased team performance
Increased organizational performance
Workplace spirituality is important for the following reasons: employees are looking for
ways to counterbalance the stresses and pressures of a turbulent pace of life; people are looking
for involvement and connection that they often dont find in contemporary lifestyles; aging baby
boomers are looking for something meaningful in their lives; and for some people, organized
religion hasnt fulfilled their needs.
Spiritual organizations tend to have five characteristics: strong sense of purpose, focus on
individual development, trust and openness, employee empowerment, and toleration of employee
expression.
The Environment

 Forces and institutions outside the organization that may affect organizational
performance.
The specific environment (those external forces that have a direct impact on managers
decisions and actions and are directly relevant to an organizations goals) includes customers,
suppliers, competitors, and pressure groups.
Customers- absorbs organizations outputs
Suppliers- provide material and equipment
Competitors- provide similar services/products
Pressure groups- special-interest groups
The general environment (those broad external forces that affect the organization) includes
economic, political/legal, sociocultural, demographic, technological, and global conditions. (See
Exhibit 3-9.)
Economic conditions- interest rates, changes in disposable income, and stage of the business
cycle
Political/legal conditions- federal, provincial and local governments and general stability
Socio-cultural conditions- expectations of society (values, customs, and tastes)
Demographic condition- trends in the physical characteristics of a population
Technological condition- most rapidly changing aspect of the general environment
Global conditions- increasing number of global competitors and consumer markets

Exhibit 39

The External Environment

Environmental Uncertainty
The two dimensions of environmental uncertainty include degree of change (stable or
dynamic) and degree of complexity (simple or complex). (See Exhibit 3-11.)
Exhibit 311
Environmental Uncertainty Matrix

Stakeholder Partnership
Stakeholders are any constituencies in the organizations environment that are affected by the
organizations decisions and actions. The most common ones are customers, social and political
action groups, competitors, trade and industry associations, governments, media, suppliers,
communities, shareholders, unions, and employees. (See Exhibit 3-12.)

Exhibit 312

Organizational Stakeholders

Stakeholder Management
The four steps in managing stakeholder relationships are (1) identifying the
organizations stakeholders; (2) determining the interests or concerns these stakeholders
might have; (3) deciding how critical each stakeholder is to the organizations decisions
and actions; and (4) determining how to manage those stakeholders.
Approach to a stakeholder group based on the importance of the group and the degree of
the environmental uncertainty

Boundary Spanning- linking the organization's internal networks with external sources of
information;
-Interacting to gather and dessiminate information
Scanning and Monitoring the environment- activity that explores the organizational environment
for weak signals of future developments. It has the objective to detect trends, issues, events,
advancements and ideas at an early stage before they affect the sector/industry in which an organization
operates.

Thank you.