Organizational Behavior (Stephen Robbins)

Chapter 10 Organizational Culture and Change 363

OBAT WORK

From Concepts

to Skills

How to “Read” an Organization’s Culture

The ability to read and assess an organization’s culture can
be a valuable skill.^62 If you are looking for a job, you will
want to choose an employer whose culture is compatible
with your values and in which you will feel comfortable. If
you can accurately assess a prospective employer’s culture
before you make your decision, you may be able to save
yourself a lot of grief and reduce the likelihood of making a
poor choice. Similarly, you will undoubtedly have business
transactions with numerous organizations during your pro-
fessional career. You will be trying to sell a product or ser-
vice, negotiate a contract, arrange a joint venture, or you
may merely be seeking out which individual in an organiza-
tion controls certain decisions. The ability to assess another
organization’s culture can be a definite plus in successfully
completing these pursuits.
For the sake of simplicity, we will approach the problem
of reading an organization’s culture from that of a job appli-
cant. We will assume you are interviewing for a job. Here is
a list of things you can do to help learn about a potential
employer’s culture:

• Observe the physical surroundings. Pay attention to
  signs, pictures, style of dress, length of hair, degree of
  openness between offices, and office furnishings and
  arrangements.


• With whom are you meeting? Just the person who
  would be your immediate manager? Or potential col-
  leagues, managers from other departments, or senior
  executives? Afterwards, based on what they revealed,
  to what degree do people other than the immediate
  manager have input into hiring decisions?


• How would you characterize the style of the people
  you met? Formal? Casual? Serious? Jovial?


• Does the organization have formal rules and regula-
  tions printed in a human resource policy manual? If so,
  how detailed are these policies?


• Ask questions of the people you meet. The most valid
  and reliable information tends to come from asking the
  same questions of many people (to see how closely
  their responses align) and by talking with boundary
  spanners. Boundary spannersare employees whose

work links them to the external environment. This

includes jobs such as human resource interviewer,

salesperson, purchasing agent, labour negotiator, pub-

lic relations specialist, and company lawyer.

Questions that will give you insights into organizational

processes and practices might include the following:

• What is the background of the founders?


• What is the background of current senior managers?
  What are their functional specializations? Were they
  promoted from within or hired from outside?


• How does the organization integrate new employees?
  Is there an orientation program? Training? If so, could
  you describe these features?


• How does your manager define his or her job success?
  (Amount of profit? Serving customers? Meeting dead-
  lines? Acquiring budget increases?)


• How would you define fairness in terms of reward
  allocations?


• Can you identify some people here who are on the
  “fast track”? What do you think has put them on the
  fast track?


• Can you identify someone who seems to be considered
  a deviant in the organization? How has the organiza-
  tion responded to this person?


• Can you describe a decision that someone made here
  that was well received?


• Can you describe a decision that did not work out
  well? What were the consequences for the decision
  maker?


• Could you describe a crisis or critical event that has
  occurred recently in the organization? How did top
  management respond? What was learned from this
  experience?

Assessing Skills

After you’ve read this chapter, take the following Self-

Assessments on your enclosed CD-ROM: