3 What kind of organizational culture might suit you?There is no one right orga-
nizational culture because individuals vary in the type of cultures with which they
are comfortable. Organizational cultures can be analyzed in terms of their mem-
bers’ friendliness (sociability) and the degree to which their members are task ori-
ented (solidarity). These dimensions combine to create four distinct cultural types:
networked, mercenary, fragmented, andcommunal.
4 Can organizational culture have a downside?Many of culture’s functions are
valuable for both the organization and the employee. Culture enhances organi-
zational commitment and increases the consistency of employee behaviour. Culture
also reduces ambiguity for employees by telling them what is important and how
things are done. However, a strong culture can have a negative effect, such as
Enron’s pressure-cooker culture, which led to the company’s ultimate collapse.
Culture can act as a barrier to change, it can make it difficult to create an inclu-
sive environment, and it can hinder the success of mergers and acquisitions.
5 How do organizations manage change?Kurt Lewin argued that successful change
in organizations should follow three steps: unfreezingthe status quo, movingto a new
state, and refreezingthe new change to make it permanent. John Kotter built on
Lewin’s three-step model to create a more detailed eight-step plan for implementing
change. Another approach to managing change is action research. Action research
refers to a change process based on the systematic collection of data and then
selection of a change action based on what the analyzed data indicate. Some organ-
izations use appreciative inquiry to manage change. Appreciative inquiryseeks to
identify the unique qualities and special strengths of an organization, which can
then be built on to improve performance.
6 Why do people and organizations resist change?Individuals resist change
because of basic human characteristics such as perceptions, personalities, and
needs. Organizations resist change because they are conservative, and because
change is difficult. The status quo is often preferred by those who feel they have the
most to lose if change goes ahead.356 Part 4Sharing the Organizational Vision
Characteristics of Culture
Culture’s Functions
Do Organizations Have
Uniform Cultures?
2 Creating and Sustaining
an Organization’s
Culture
How a Culture Begins
Keeping a Culture Alive
3 Matching People With
Organizational Cultures
4 The Liabilities of
Organizational Culture
Culture as a Barrier to
Change
Culture as a Barrier to
Diversity
Culture as a Barrier to
Mergers and Acquisitions
5 Approaches to
Managing Change
Lewin’s Three-Step Model
Kotter’s Eight-Step Plan for
Implementing Change
Action Research
Appreciative Inquiry
6 Resistance to Change
Individual Resistance
Organizational Resistance
Overcoming Resistance to
Change
The Politics of Change