No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
Managing culture change: Can it ever be ethical?
Abstract
Considers corporate culture management as an area where ethical concern and analysis has been weak. Examines justification of corporate culture management as an essential ingredient for corporate success, and finds little evidence to support a consequentialist ethic. Proceeds to identify areas where ethical issues might arise in the process of corporate culture change, particularly the role of change agents, and the ethical outcomes of the “unfreeze-change-refreeze” process. Illustrates these by reference to two case studies of corporate culture change programmes. Finally, concludes with reflection on potential ethical frameworks for the interpretation and guidance of corporate culture management initiatives. Makes a case for communitarian ethics, and outlines their implications for culture management.
... Hal tersebut sebenarnya telah mendapatkan perhatian dipertengahan 1980-an ketika muncul "pergerakan-pergerakan" yang menempatkan tuntutan bahwa kinerja organisasional yang superior (unggul) berhubungan dengan budaya-budaya yang mempunyai sifat koheren yang kuat, sesuai dengan tipe dan strategi organisasional. Hal ini kemudian terus diperdebatkan bahwa seharusnya terdapat tingkat kesesuaian yang tinggi antara struktur dan budaya organisasi, dan antara budaya dan strategi bisnis (Woodall, 1996). ...
... Inisiatif-inisiatif culture management biasanya dilakukan ketika organisasi harus berhadapan dengan beberapa perubahan besar di dalam lingkungan bisnisnya, bahkan jika culture management dipandang sangat memungkinkan, masih terdapat pertanyaanpertanyaan yang mendasari asumsi-asumsi, tetapi perspektif yang masih terbatas pada budaya adalah di mana kebanyakan penyokong/pondasi perubahan budaya malahan membatasi dirinya sendiri serta membawanya ke dalam permasalahan etika (ethical problems). Frekuensi pertumbuhan masalah ini lebih dari 10 tahun terakhir telah membuat perimbangan-pertimbangan yang berhubungan dengan etika menjadi semacam wacana yang sangat mendesak (Woodall, 1996). ...
... Culture management yang tidak menyadari hal ini dan lebih senang melakukan komitmen satu sisi (menekankan produktivitas/profit, misalnya) akan kehilangan sesuatu yang sangat penting -rasa komunitas dan kepemilikan (sense of community and belonging). Karena itu, persyaratan yang diperlukan haruslah terjadi spin-offs untuk keluarga dan kehidupan pribadi, rekan sejawat dan beban-beban untuk masyarakat secara lebih luas (Woodall, 1996). Kedua, manajemen organisasi harus menciptakan kondisi di mana dialog dapat dengan mudah terjadi. ...
... Hal tersebut sebenarnya telah mendapatkan perhatian dipertengahan 1980-an ketika muncul "pergerakan-pergerakan" yang menempatkan tuntutan bahwa kinerja organisasional yang superior (unggul) berhubungan dengan budaya-budaya yang mempunyai sifat koheren yang kuat, sesuai dengan tipe dan strategi organisasional. Hal ini kemudian terus diperdebatkan bahwa seharusnya terdapat tingkat kesesuaian yang tinggi antara struktur dan budaya organisasi, dan antara budaya dan strategi bisnis (Woodall, 1996). ...
... Inisiatif-inisiatif culture management biasanya dilakukan ketika organisasi harus berhadapan dengan beberapa perubahan besar di dalam lingkungan bisnisnya, bahkan jika culture management dipandang sangat memungkinkan, masih terdapat pertanyaanpertanyaan yang mendasari asumsi-asumsi, tetapi perspektif yang masih terbatas pada budaya adalah di mana kebanyakan penyokong/pondasi perubahan budaya malahan membatasi dirinya sendiri serta membawanya ke dalam permasalahan etika (ethical problems). Frekuensi pertumbuhan masalah ini lebih dari 10 tahun terakhir telah membuat perimbanganpertimbangan yang berhubungan dengan etika menjadi semacam wacana yang sangat mendesak (Woodall, 1996). ...
... Culture management yang tidak menyadari hal ini dan lebih senang melakukan komitmen satu sisi (menekankan produktivitas/profit, misalnya) akan kehilangan sesuatu yang sangat penting -rasa komunitas dan kepemilikan (sense of community and belonging). Karena itu, persyaratan yang diperlukan haruslah terjadi spin-offs untuk keluarga dan kehidupan pribadi, rekan sejawat dan beban-beban untuk masyarakat secara lebih luas (Woodall, 1996). Kedua, manajemen organisasi harus menciptakan kondisi di mana dialog dapat dengan mudah terjadi. ...
Tulisan ini mencoba memberikan kerangka pikir bagi manajemen SDM terhadap perubahan lingkungan bisnis yang akan kita hadapi di masa yang akan datang. Walaupun harapan selalu mengarah kepada kesuksesan, tetapi angkatan kerja dan lingkungan kerja telah berubah secara radikal, sementara kebanyakan struktur kerja tidak berubah dengan cepat. Di dalam penulisan artikel ini, penulis mencoba mengajukan suatu visi mengenai hubungan kerja dengan fleksibilitas dan keinovativan, partnership, dan powersharing terhadap perubahan lingkungan bisnis serta tuntutan pekerjaan yang telah terjadi dewasa ini. Tujuannya adalah suatu lingkungan di mana semua anggota organisasi mempunyai sense of community dan sense of belonging.
... To a certain extent, a culture change process will always be coercive [24,15]. Schein [15] compares the processes needed for an enforced culture change to "brainwashing" techniques used in prisoner of war camps. ...
... Schein [15] compares the processes needed for an enforced culture change to "brainwashing" techniques used in prisoner of war camps. Woodall [24] argues that such a culture change process can only be considered ethical if there is an equitable balance between the degree of coercion used, and the rewards, and other positive spin-offs, for employees. It is also advisable to create communication conditions where employees have an equal say in the new cultural direction [24]. ...
... Woodall [24] argues that such a culture change process can only be considered ethical if there is an equitable balance between the degree of coercion used, and the rewards, and other positive spin-offs, for employees. It is also advisable to create communication conditions where employees have an equal say in the new cultural direction [24]. Involving employees at this planning stage should help to reduce resistance to change. ...
Information has become a vital aspect of most modern businesses and thus has to be protected. This paper focuses on the integration of previous work into the transformative change management process for a generic organizational culture change process in order to make this generic process specific to the fostering of an information security culture. The paper integrates work dealing with the concept of an information security culture, the use of a learning taxonomy in the planning of information security educational programs, and the development of information security educational programs in an e-learning environment, into a transformative change management process "borrowed" from the management sciences. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate how theoretically based work dealing with various aspects of the human factor in information security could be incorporated into more practical processes dealing with this human factor in organizations.
... In some cases it might be necessary to go through several intermediate " states " to eventually attain the desired ideal state. Culture is extremely stable and any attempt to change it will thus have to start with a disconfirmation process (Schein, 1999b; Woodall, 1996). Employees will have to realize that the current way of doing things is no longer good enough. ...
... The recognition and management of these " change forces " creates the motivation for humans to change (Schein, 1999a, p. 117). The steps needed to get from the current state to the future state should thus cover all the psychodynamic steps of such a transformative change process (Woodall, 1996; Schein, 1999b Schein, , 1999a), as well as the required, formal, educational programs to impart the needed information security knowledge to employees. For the password example these steps could include: To a certain extent, a culture change process will always be coercive (Woodall, 1996; Schein, 1999b). ...
... The steps needed to get from the current state to the future state should thus cover all the psychodynamic steps of such a transformative change process (Woodall, 1996; Schein, 1999b Schein, , 1999a), as well as the required, formal, educational programs to impart the needed information security knowledge to employees. For the password example these steps could include: To a certain extent, a culture change process will always be coercive (Woodall, 1996; Schein, 1999b). Schein (1999b) compares the processes needed for an enforced culture change to " brainwashing " techniques used in prisoner of war camps. ...
Modern businesses operates in an emerging global information society. In this information society it is imperative for modern organizations to take the protection of their information resources seri- ously. This protection of information resources is to a large extent dependent on human co-operated behavior. This human factor is the weakest link in information security, and consists of two inter- related dimensions. Firstly, employees must have sufficient knowledge about information security in order to effectively implement, and maintain, the various information security controls. Secondly, the employees must have the correct attitude towards information security. These two dimensions to the human factor in information security are closely related, and to a degree co-dependent upon each other. It would thus make sense to address these dimensions holistically. This paper combines previ- ously proposed principles and methodologies into a single holistic framework that addresses both the dimensions to this human factor in information security.
... This position is indirectly supported by the extant literature on ethics in organisational change, which reveals a dearth of research despite the fact that much has been written on ethics and business ethics (Van Tonder, 2006). Inadequate attention has been devoted to ethical issues in or associated with change processes in general (Nielsen, Nykodym & Brown, 1991;McKay, 2000;Van Tonder, 2006), but also in terms of specific forms of change such as total quality management (Svensson & Wood, 2005;Vinten, 1998), reform (Enderle, 2001), culture change, change management and the ethical consequences of these for employees (Woodall, 1996). ...
... From a process perspective Mayon-White (1994) directed attention to the ethics of employee participation during change, while Woodall (1996) considered ethical concerns during the stages of unfreezing, change and refreezing of change processes. The ethical implications of change outcomes for employees (McKendall, 1993), the primary ethical nodes during a generic change process (Van Tonder & Van Vuuren, 2004) and the application of ethical principles to a drawn out change process (McKay, 2000) are further illustrative of authors that focused on the ethical dimensions of change processes. ...
Organisational change is one of the most frequently recurring organisational phenomena of our time, yet despite this, organisations are not succeeding in instituting change processes effectively; dismal "change success rates" are recorded. Van Tonder and Van Vuuren (2004) have argued that the adoption of an ethical framework from within which change practices are to be approached and "managed", would significantly reduce the negative consequences of change initiatives. As a first step in this direction, the current study set out to establish the meaning that employees attribute to "ethical" and "unethical" change. Data obtained from a sample of 111 respondents from seven companies were subjected to basic content analysis and key themes extracted. The results indicate a limited understanding of ethics concepts among employees. A clear need for both intensified education and research is indicated.
... A problem with these arguments that stress`communitystress`community' and mutuality is that they focus on achievin g harmony and consensu s. The danger is that all too often the equilibrium of a community of purpose can be disturbed by`greedyby`greedy' employers (Coser, 1974) concerned to push for more, be it by means of`stretchof`stretch' targets and variable pay or in their appetite tòshape' employee values, beliefs and corporate cultures (Woodall, 1996). Furthermore, a community of purpose is always in danger of becoming too paternalistic and narrow in its perspective, and this might present problems for ensuring that values of diversity and difference are able to flourish and grow. ...
... Virtue ethics is at the same time appealing and frustrating. For example integrity is a key issue for HR professionals (Pearson, 1995) and appears in the debate around professional codes of practice in both the UK and US, but academic critics argue that it has been markedly absent in contemporary HRM (Legge, 1995aLegge, , 1995b Woodall, 1996). Also, it is easy to generate laundry lists of competing virtues with little consensus and agreement about why they are included and to whom they apply (employers in general, HR specialists or employees). ...
1 Imperial College Management School
... The intuitively appealing idea of morality as the decisive criterion for an ideal manager then hangs in the balance, and the question of what makes a "good" manager presents a paradox that can be puzzling. While we are not the first to pose the question of managerial ethics in organizational change (Woodall, 1996), our research specifies that managers can get caught in a triangle of their own fairness standards, the fairness expectations of various stakeholders, and strategic efficiency-oriented directives, resulting in demands that strongly deviate from managers' preferred courses of action. ...
Managers tasked with organizational change often face irreconcilable demands on how to enact justice—situations we call justice conundrums. Drawing on interviews held with managers before and after a planned large-scale change, we identify specific conundrums and illustrate how managers grapple with these through three prototypical paths. Among our participants, the paths increasingly diverged over time, culminating in distinct career decisions. Based on our findings, we develop an integrative process model that illustrates how managers grapple with justice conundrums. Our contributions are threefold. First, we elucidate three types of justice conundrums that managers may encounter when enacting justice in the context of planned organizational change (the justice intention-action gap, competing justice expectations, and the justice of care vs. managerial-strategic justice) and show how managers handle them differently. Second, drawing on the motivated cognition and moral disengagement literature, we illustrate how cognitive mechanisms coalesce to allow managers to soothe their moral (self-) concerns when grappling with these conundrums. Third, we show how motivated justice intentions ensuing from specific justice motives, moral emotions, and circles of moral regard predict the types of justice conundrums managers face and the paths they take to grapple with them.
... Değişime hazır bulunuşluğu, örgüt üyelerinin değişim girişimine yönelik olarak direnç gösterme veya destek olma davranışlarının bilişsel bir göstergesi olarak tanımlayarak, kavramın temelinde örgüt çalışanlarında değişimin başarıyla gerçekleşebileceğine yönelik tutum, inanç ve niyetlerin yer aldığını vurgulamışlardır. Woodall (1996)'da değişim ilk aşaması olarak nitelenen çözülme aşamasına benzer anlatımlarda bulunarak, bu süreçte gerçekleştirilmesi planlanan değişimde doğru ve yanlış davranışların neler olduğu, değişime duyulan ihtiyacı belirleyecek kişilerin kimler olduğu, bununla birlikte yenilenmesi istenen örgütsel sistemin, yapı ya da işleyişin ihtiyaca neden cevap veremediği bilgisinin kim tarafından açıklanacağına ilişkin iki kritik sorunun değişimin benimsenmesi için önemine dikkat çekmiştir. ...
... They employ the cognitive patterns that have brought them success in the past and hope that they keep working. Little is known about how organizations manage the formulation and implementation of processes for selecting, developing, rewarding, and supporting change agents in their role or about the lived experience of change agents and the emotional, ethical, and social issues they encounter (Woodhall, 1996). Cramm (2009) commented that while change management workshops are helpful in learning how to analyze stakeholders, build communication plans, and develop skill and conditions for leading change, "no one ever tells you that to be a good change agent, you have to be willing to die in order to thrive." ...
... They often require employees to learn new concepts, behaviors, attitudes, and skills, some of which the employees do not understand, or, even if the changes are understood, in many cases the employees do not agree with them. Many experts tell organizations to use tougher modes of persuasion when resistance is met in order to execute change programs successfully (Woodall, 1996;Ford et al., 2008;Armenakis & Bedeian, 1999). Moormann (2001) suggests that major organizational changes, to the structure, policies, and practices of an organization, might have a critical impact on employees, and as a result affect their responses to the changes. ...
p>The purpose of this paper is to review the current change management literature that exists on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and then explore the extent to which this literature has responded to the calls for more research in this field. A general and broad search of the literature on change management was made and peer-reviewed articles selected, preferably about the UAE. The findings were then analyzed and a discussion of the literature formed. The aim was to gain some understanding on the direction of change management in the UAE in order to guide future research about change management and to stimulate interest in the topic. The findings show that there is a problem regarding the lack of a research papers on change management in the UAE and the implications for government and business, and decision makers.
</p
... A culture can be fostered through either coercion or education. Woodall (1996) argues that, if used, an equitable balance should exist between the degree of coercion used and the reward given, however, generally coercion should be avoided. Within an organizational context, users can be coerced into following security policies and procedures. ...
The need for information security has moved beyond its traditional organizational boundaries. It is becoming a requirement for all information technology users. Many countries are recognizing this need for their citizens to be cyber aware and secure. Consequently these countries are beginning to implement national cyber security campaigns and efforts. Literature advocates that these campaigns should aim to foster a national (societal) cyber security culture to be truly effective. Currently there are no guidelines for how to foster a cyber security culture at a societal level. One of the elements required in a culture fostering process is education. This education needs to be effectively conducted to have a foreseeable, positive result which is measurable. Therefore a scalable, culture fostering campaign is needed. This paper reports a study of an annual cyber security educational campaign which aims to begin fostering a cyber-security culture amongst the youth in the Nelson Mandela Metropolis in South Africa. The objective of studying this campaign is to establish a baseline campaign from which suitable guidelines for a future campaigns (at any scale) may be abstracted.
... A culture can be fostered through either coercion or education. Woodall (1996) argues that, if used, an equitable balance should exist between the degree of coercion used and the reward given, however, generally coercion should be avoided. Within an organizational context, users can be coerced into following security policies and procedures. ...
Information Security is becoming a necessity for all information users. Suitable delivery and presentation of information security education to these users is therefore becoming increasingly important. Online learning may be a suitable mechanism. It has become a widely used, extensive education format that uses information and communication technology as well as the many resources available on the web. In order to ensure an effective and enjoyable learning experience online education should emulate real-world'classroom education' and be designed in compliance with pedagogy. Brain-compatible education (BCE) is such a pedagogy. BCE has primarily been used in real-world classrooms. This paper examines how generic, online, information security education can be developed in compliance with BCE principles in the Moodle environment.
... Societies and organizations shape values, and there are many persons in the individual life play an important role in shaping their values development by providing guidance about what is right and good (15) . The manipulation of myths and symbols, can often lead to value change, value change is hardly an exact science -even when done under pressure, when behavioral acquiescence will often mask aggressive or hesitant feelings (16) . ...
This paper examines the effect of changing management on employees in Egyptian hotels. A quantitative method is used to collect the required data. The sample consisted of 5 hotels; all of these hotels changed the management company to another one. The research was conducted by surveying 46 employees of food and beverage employees in these hotels. The researchers tested four hypotheses to identify the impact of changing process on the employees' satisfaction, the relations between employees, employees' loyalty, and the employees' performance. SPSS V. 15.0 is used to analyze data, and statistical analysis included Cronbach's alpha and multiple regression analysis. Empirical findings showed that psychological support and equality between the employees have an influence significantly on employees' satisfaction, equality and change of job behaviour have an influence significantly on the relations between employees, Equality and psychological support have an influence significantly on employees' loyalty, and change of job behaviour and equality between the employees have an influence significantly on the employees' performance.
... A number of authors have employed this approach in their work. Woodall (1996), for instance, found this perspective to be effective for managing the process of organizational change. More recently, Kent (2001) argued that the strength of the unfreeze -changerefreeze approach is its simplicity, as this approach provides a clear and concise process for implementing, embedding and sustaining organizational change. ...
Authors have commented on the limited use of theory in the interprofessional field and its critical importance to advancing the work in this field. While social psychological and educational theories in the interprofessional field are increasingly popular, the contribution of organizational and systems theories is less well understood. This paper presents a subset of the findings (those focused on organizational/systems approaches) from a broader scoping review of theories in the organizational and educational literature aimed to guide interprofessional education and practice. A detailed search strategy was used to identify relevant theories. In total, we found 17 organizational and systems theories. Nine of the theories had been previously employed in the interprofessional field and eight had potential to do so. These theories focus on interactions between different components of organizations which can impact collaboration and practice change. Given the primarily educational focus of the current research, this paper offers new insight into theories to support the design and implementation of interprofessional education and practice within health care environments. The use of these theories would strengthen the growing evidence base for both interprofessional education and practice - a common need for its varied stakeholders.
... However, little is known about how organisations manage the formulation and implementation of processes for selecting, developing, rewarding and supporting change agents in their role. Similarly, little is known about thèlived experience' of change agents and the emotional, ethical and social issues raised (Woodhall, 1996). The role of organisational politics in change implementation has been recognised for some time (eg Burns, 1961; Pettigrew, 1973 Pettigrew, , 1985). ...
... When authors broach the subject of ethics in relation to organisational change, it becomes clear that little real attention has been devoted to the issue of ethics in change (Nielsen, Nykodym & Brown, 1991;McKay, 2000). This holds true also for specific forms of change such as total quality management (Svensson & Wood, 2005;Vinten, 1998), reform (Enderle, 2001), culture change, change management and the ethical consequences of these for employees (Woodall, 1996). Notwithstanding these views some attention has been directed at the ethics and change for example the ethical challenges of downsizing (Miller, 1998) and managerial views of the ethicality of downsizing (Lämsä, 1999), but these contributions remain underdeveloped. ...
Despite the fact that organisational change is one of the most frequently recurring organisational phenomena of our time, organisations do not succeed at instituting change processes effectively and dismal change "success rates" are recorded. Van Tonder and Van Vuuren (2004) suggested that the adoption of an ethical framework would significantly mitigate the implicit risk of change practices and reduce the negative consequences of such change initiatives. The literature on ethical change practices however is exceedingly sparse and offers little guidance to management on how to conduct change practices ethically. This study argues that the King II report on corporate governance indirectly yet substantially informs issues of governance, risk and ethics in change management and provides a useful point of departure for establishing ethical change practices.
... Research in the public sector across several States and territories in Australia has revealed HRM practitioners reported that their jobs entail increased frequency and complexity of ethical dilemmas (Shacklock 2002). That research firmly supports this view of the moral complexity of HRM work in other literature (Fisher 1999, Fisher 2000, Legge 1995a, Legge 1995b, Miller 1996, Schwoerer, May and Rosen 1995, Stone 1998, Velasquez 1998, Winstanley 2000, Winstanley and Woodall 2000a, Winstanley and Woodall 2000b, Woodall, 1996) and more recently in the Australian 7 context (Ardagh and Macklin 1996, Ardagh and Macklin 1998a, Ardagh and Macklin 1998b). Shacklock (2002) designed a survey questionnaire to investigate the nature of HRM practices within the Australian public sector in respect of ethical decision-making and the extent to which ethics plays an important role in the work of HRP. ...
This paper adds a new dimension to the implications of Australia's ageing workforce -- the impact upon human resource practitioners (HRPs) in terms of the likely increasing ethical dilemmas they will face. Predictions of a labour shortfall of skilled workers means that organisations will need to employ more older workers than previously. However, the empirical research reported in this paper on ethical decisions made by human resource management practitioners (HRPs) in key HRM areas suggests they are faced with increasing ethical dilemmas (in terms of both frequency and complexity). Literatures from both the human resource management and organisational ethics fields are presented, arguing that the future will be difficult for HRPs as the workforce continues to age. The ethical dilemmas involved in such decisions and practices will place HRPs in an ever more difficult and complex situation. This has implications for the successful management of internal workforces for organisations, and for HRM in general. Yes Yes
https://mersz.hu/nemeth-a-vallalkozoi-let-illuzioi-a-vallalkozoi-magatartas-elmeletei/
https://mersz.hu/nemeth-illusions-of-entrepreneurship-theories-of-entrepreneurial-behaviour/
A szervezeti kultúra hatása a szervezeti teljesítményre
Plato’s programme for establishing his ideal state involved propagating two foundation myths for it, described by Socrates as a “noble lie”, which were designed to persuade its citizens to embrace the classes of society to which they had been assigned, and their roles within them, contentedly and in harmony with their fellow citizens. Because most citizens were judged incapable of understanding the truth about the most important matters, the rulers of the ideal state were authorised to tell them whatever stories, true or false, would induce them to behave well. Advocates of the management of corporate culture similarly emphasise the potency of story-telling and myth-making in inducing employees to adopt the beliefs, values and assumptions that corporate leaders consider desirable for both corporate performance and employee wellbeing. There are similarities between Plato’s programme for his ideal state and the programmes recommended by advocates of the management of corporate culture. There are also similarities between them in the ethical questions that they raise. Do corporate leaders have the moral authority to shape people’s beliefs, values and assumptions in the ways that these programmes entail? Are the outcomes to which those programmes lead really beneficial for all those who are affected by them? Even assuming that those outcomes are beneficial, how likely are the strategies proposed for realising them to be successful? Literature that explores these ethical issues is sparse, and this paper argues that it is doubtful whether any of these questions can be answered decidedly in the affirmative.
This paper discusses economic and ethical issues that bring about certain limitations in human resource management as one of the basic organizational functions, through which the organization’s relationship with employees is expressed. The aim of this paper is to point out the ethical dimension of human resource management as a key organizational function, which has economic, but at the same time ethical responsibilities. In elaborating this problem, we started from the basic assumption that human resource management as an organizational function and theoretical concept should balance between economic and ethical requirements, which depends on the attitudes of managers as decision makers. In addition to the analysis of the existing literature in this field, an empirical research was conducted to verify the stated assumptions on the basis of a survey questionnaire, which explored the attitudes of managers. The results were processed by statistical methods in the SPSS program. The significance of this paper derives from the importance of employees for the organization and the sensitivity of the human dimension of the organization in relation to the economic one. Bad condition in human resources management in BiH and Serbia, as the countries on which our research is focused, with unfavorable situation on the labor market, low level of perception of needs by managers and knowledge (professionalism) required for experts in this field to achieve necessary influence and affirm an effective concept and practice, opens opportunities for unethical actions of organizations. Unethical practices can be generated by ignorance, employers ’greed for quick profits, and weak institutional influence. High distance of power is an unfavorable cultural factor that encourages the arbitrariness of individuals and prevents social control of the behavior of organizations. In these wanderings and undefined directions of institutional development, in these countries there is room for corruption, poor law enforcement (incomplete reform of the judicial system), insufficiently defined protection of private property, strong influence of political parties in all spheres of life, political and economic connection, significant share of state property, etc. On the ground of egalitarian culture, high social inequality and impoverishment of the majority of the population is created, which negatively affects education, health and distracts attention from the civic control of the government. Therefore, in the research we started from the assumption that the primary evaluation of the human and social function of business and employees as a purpose, not a means, positively affects the ethical practice of human resource management, which we tested over the average response of respondents employed in different positions in the organization. The results obtained are presented in the paper. Keywords: Business Ethics, Ethics, Employees, Economics, HRM, Organization.
Corporate disasters arising from ethical failures have irreversibly eroded the public’s trust in organisations. Predictably, executives’ public commitments to ethical practices are now routinely viewed with scepticism. Although this obscures the identification of organisations’ authentic ethical orientation, organisational change practices can reveal this ethical orientation i.e. function as ‘windows’ on corporate ethics. Extending earlier work by Van Tonder, it is argued that organisational change practices have an implicit propensity for risk and harm, substantially ‘fit’ with ethical frameworks and are consequently amenable to analysis on a range of ethical parameters. Employing ethics heuristics adapted for organisational change, Quaker Oats’ acquisition of Snapple is analysed to reveal how change practices function as ‘windows’ on corporate ethics. The implications for management are briefly considered.
SUMMARY
The hypotheses formulated in the dissertation sought answers to a complex question - the entrepreneurial phenomenon. Because of its interdisciplinarity, this was a great commitment of me. The breakthrough point where I have thought to find my responses were in the field of economics psychology / behaviour economics, so I needed broad new interdisciplinary knowledge making both the approach and the explanations complex.
Although the thesis was written this year (2017), yet for the past decade, I have been researching the questions and the answers of this topic via readings and researches. I tried to investigate the relevant findings of economics, system theory, entrepreneurship and economic psychology.
In the course of reviewing the topics of my scientific lectures (30+) and writings of the past decade, they all brought me a little closer to the main statements of the dissertation now completed. I recall several exciting and enjoyable moments of reading, learning and professional debates, the results of which I hope are welcomed by my colleagues and my fellow researchers.
In my dissertation, I have reviewed a considerable amount of literature, the reason for which is, as I have stated above, that I have summarised basic concepts of several fields of science, supplemented with the most recent literature. I have summarised literature review in four major chapters that can each be linked to the given hypothesis and can lead the reader to conclusions.
Four hypotheses were formulated in the dissertation:
H1: I have assumed, for the basic pillar of the entrepreneurial ecosystem that the so-called hard elements, such as infrastructure, legal and commercial regulatory conditions, government support, capital and money market conditions are nonetheless important, but the quality of the ecosystem will be more determined by the so-called soft factors. Behind these soft factors lie management capacity, resulting from school and out-of-school entrepreneurial training, social-societal values and thus culture, which provides the courage, the relaxed conditions for experimentation and a significant social support (guard-net) for the re-start after the failure.
H2: I have identified the reconsideration of the business-process approach as a second challenge. Based on literature and my observations, I intended to demark the stage of brainstorming more precise than the position of the currently accepted entrepreneurial approaches does. I think that the entrepreneurial process itself is essentially a short stage in the corporate life cycle that is preceded by brainstorming and then followed by the growth phase, which is again followed by the consolidated organisational cycle.
H3: Thirdly, I have stated that very few meet the accepted entrepreneurial definitions based on literature and my experience. All this led me to look at the entrepreneurial roles and their related competences and common personality characteristics. Here, a secondary goal has been identified which might create a new business category that prototypes the expectations of classical entrepreneurial definitions. It was named that is, Non-Conventional Organizations (NCO) (together with my fellow research partner, Zoltán Csigás).
H4: Last but not least, based on my experiences, my previous research and literature I have formulated an organisational competence profile description that describes the survival minimums of organisations (I have named them the KO criteria). Over the last sixty years, we have learned a lot about the organisations' excellent operational capabilities, but the phenomena that make a company excellent may not be helping it to survive. Now, the first level is to keep the organisation alive at the ever-increasing competition. I sought these minimum criteria, what they might be.
I have formulated my hypotheses on three levels and seeking for the way of evidencing. The highest level was the social-societal approach where I tried to find answers regarding the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The question was what criteria and conditions of the ecosystem are needed to make the members of the ecosystem successful. I retained my hypothesis here, since I was able to justify with strong data that there is indeed a relationship between the quality of the entrepreneurs and the ecosystem profile.
At the middle level (organisational level), I have applied a minimalist approach. I was looking for critical organisational features that make organisations survive. I reversed the message of excellence models. I believe that the recipe for success could lead to far, but if we did not solve the mandatory tasks before, then it is pointless to talk about this very high quality level. Here, too, I have found organisational phenomena that are essential to be displayed in the competence inventory of the organisation (dynamic capacity, organisational two-handedness). In addition, I have identified an organisational phenomenon profile that is novel not regarding its elements, but in its system-level approach. These elements were called KO criteria. In the study, I included as the starting point an organisational model created with my previous research associates (COVΛ model).
At the bottom, at the micro level, I was dealing with the individual, the entrepreneur. I have reviewed the validity of entrepreneurial definitions and have identified that life cycle phases of businesses should be shaped differently. Here, my basic conclusion is that the brainstorming phase should be separated from the enterprise shaping stage and it should be demarked from the growth phase as well as from the later consolidated corporate phase.
Entrepreneurial process
Invention➡What is this?➡Chaos and Growth ➡Consolidation
Most important actor and its most important role
Inventor / Idea Man➡Entrepreneur / Producer➡Crisis /
Change Manager ➡Manager
35. Figure 1: The main actor of a high-level entrepreneurial process. The author's own work
I have identified the tasks to be solved for the organisational stages, the competences needed for the solution, and competences regarding the roles (Figure 35). I have dealt with roles in point of enterprises, the display of which has a significant influence on the operation of businesses. I declare that the particular entrepreneurial role can be captured by a personality profile and a competence pattern rather than an average entrepreneur.
During the study, I worked with a new methodology that was named 'post mortem'. This is basically, as it is in its name, an ex post, post-event evaluation of a particular phenomenon. I have looked at the cease of non-operating companies (n = 388), and have concluded results of their aggregated data.
Based on research in the literature and my experiences, I attempted to supplement Lewin's basic formula (B=f(P,E), where the external environment (E) and the internal psychic (P) define behavioral (B) functions (f)) by entrepreneurship (Be=fe {(De,E)×exe}).
As a scientific novelty, I see the results of the accomplished work in a eight smaller steps, as reported in the chapter on scientific innovations (5.2).
This thesis is a milestone, an important stage in my research and the cognitive process in which I have been fortunate to be actively involved in more than a decade...
The problem of human factors in the field of Information Systems Security has been approached from different angles. At the beginning of this century the concept of Information Security Culture (ISC) became very popular among Information Systems (IS) researchers. Various ISC theories and frameworks have been produced on how to manage human behaviour and therefore avoid mistakes that cause security breaches within organisations. Unfortunately, the amount of security incidents is not declining but quite the contrary. We suggest that IS scholars should take a new approach in investigation of this problem; that is, the study of ISC should not be separated from other aspects of culture as prior research suggests that the various aspects interact and influence each other. In particular, the concept of national culture in so far as it applies to IS security culture has been practically dismissed by prior research while it is an important factor to consider in the modern global world. Along with national culture, the concept of organisational culture should be also included as organisational culture is a key to a company's success.
Das Marketing ist seinem Anspruch, ein gesamtunternehmerisches Führungskonzept zu sein, bis heute nicht gerecht geworden. Ursache dafür ist u. a., dass der Aspekt der Implementierung von Marketingstrategien - ungeachtet seiner großen Bedeutung - in der wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Literatur bisher stark vernachlässigt wurde. Da eine marktorientierte Führungskonzeption sich in der Regel nur dann voll entfalten kann, wenn sie mit den herkömmlichen Organisationsverhältnissen bricht und in ein umfassendes Wandlungskonzept integriert wird, sind die Strukturen, Prozesse, Systeme und Kulturen in Unternehmen im Gleichklang einer systematischen Reorganisation zu unterwerfen. Auf dieser Grundlage entwickelt Dietrich von der Oelsnitz direkt umsetzbare Handlungsempfehlungen für die planvolle Gestaltung des marktorientierten Unternehmenswandels. Besondere Beachtung wird dabei mikropolitischen Promotionsaufgaben geschenkt.
Organisational values are a powerful and potentially important stabilising influence on ensuring strategic success (Howard, 1998). Van Kemenade et al. (2008) proposed that organisations need to achieve equilibrium between an external and an internal orientation whilst ensuring the correct balance between flexibility and control. Berger and Milem (2000) suggested that, unless equilibrium and balance are achieved, instability will undermine the achievement of performance goals as a consequence of an inability to define and implement an appropriate strategy. Quinn et al. (1996) also believe the issue of internal-external orientation and process control-flexibility are critical influencers of organisational vision. These concepts provided the basis of the Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) model developed by Cameron and Quinn (1999). Kleihnen et al. (2009) subsequently validated the use of the model for assessing the values of leaders and employees in public sector situations.
Corporate disasters arising from ethical failures have irreversibly eroded the public's trust in organisations. Predictably, executives' public commitments to ethical practices are now routinely viewed with scepticism. Although this obscures the identification of organisations' authentic ethical orientation, organisational change practices can reveal this ethical orientation i.e. function as 'windows' on corporate ethics. Extending earlier work by Van Tonder, it is argued that organisational change practices have an implicit propensity for risk and harm, substantially 'fit' with ethical frameworks and are consequently amenable to analysis on a range of ethical parameters. Employing ethics heuristics adapted for organisational change, Quaker Oats' acquisition of Snapple is analysed to reveal how change practices function as 'windows' on corporate ethics. The implications for management are briefly considered.
This study explores and describes the rationales and the approaches employed by organizational members in order intentionally to sabotage, impede, or otherwise delay management-espoused market-oriented change programs. The objective is to develop theory through supplying grounded insights into how and why executives, managers, and employees resist attempts to improve the market focus of their company. Analysis of 174 field interviews uncovered four main rationales for resisting market-oriented change. Further, a continuum of intentional efforts to sabotage market-oriented culture change is presented and five key responses explored and described. These findings are discussed and implications for theory and practice forwarded.
Purpose
– This paper aims to report the efforts to reverse a dire research output trend at a Ghanaian Business School, following a similar effort at a business school in New Zealand in the 1990s. African universities are often challenged by resource constraints, ageing faculty and low compensation regimes. The consequences of these challenges are particularly felt in the area of the research output of faculty members in the business and management area. The problem of low research output has been written about by management scholars who lament the weak showing of African management faculty in reputable journals and top-notch conference presentations.
Design/methodology/approach
– This is a qualitative and phenomenological study of an applied intervention. Using a combination of open-ended questionnaires as well as open forums attended by faculty members of the business school, views, perceptions and opinions on factors mitigating research and issues on research culture were collected and analysed. Descriptive analyses were used to collate the dominant views and frequency of mention of such views.
Findings
– Using the descriptive accounts of faculty of the Business School, the research finds that a research-oriented culture expressed through factors such as leadership, institutional support, articulation or otherwise of relevant values have significant impacts on research output.
Research limitations/implications
– Based on the impacts reported here, this paper advances an intervention model to assist efforts towards improving the research culture and scholarly outputs in business schools in Africa. The paper also proposes a conceptual and research framework for examining and influencing the organisational and research culture of universities in Africa.
Originality/value
– This paper is perhaps the only attempt to examine research culture in an African business school. It suggests that the research culture in a business school or faculty can be developed, reinvented or influenced and that research in African universities will not “just happen”, it has to be carefully planned for, nurtured and built into the fabric of university culture. This has significant implications for the growing effort to bring African scholarship in the management areas up to the point where it can more directly impact management thinking.
The creation of a ‘quality culture’ has been identified as a central feature of the Government's approach to managing the new NHS. Is this a realistic aim?
This article examines the role of mission statements in this enterprise, and questions the effectiveness of some attempts at culture management. Has the mission (statement) been accomplished?
The problem of human factors in the field of Information Systems Security has been approached from different angles. At the beginning of this century the concept of Information Security Culture (ISC) became very popular among Information Systems (IS) researchers. Various ISC theories and frameworks have been produced on how to manage human behaviour and therefore avoid mistakes that cause security breaches within organisations. Unfortunately, the amount of security incidents is not declining but quite the contrary. We suggest that IS scholars should take a new approach in investigation of this problem; that is, the study of ISC should not be separated from other aspects of culture as prior research suggests that the various aspects interact and influence each other. In particular, the concept of national culture in so far as it applies to IS security culture has been practically dismissed by prior research while it is an important factor to consider in the modern global world. Along with national culture, the concept of organisational culture should be also included as organisational culture is a key to a company's success.
Motivation theories in the management and organizational behavior literature represent researchers’ attempts to understand the processes that cause people to act productively in the context of the employment relationship, for the benefit of their employers (Miner Organizational behavior, performance and productivity New-York: Random-House 1988). These theories attempt to develop tools that will enable managers to make their employees’ behavior cost-effective and directed toward the achievement of the organization’s goals. From this perspective, motivational and marketing practices are quite similar, especially if we compare motivational and advertising practices. The goal of both is to propel people into behaving in a way that will benefit the organization. This paper examines what the well-developed criticism of advertising and marketing practices can teach us about the use of motivational practices in work organizations. Following Bishop’s (Business Ethics Quarterly 10: 371–398, 2000) framework of the moral issues raised by ads, this paper critically investigates the moral meaning of classic motivational theories and practices and their implications for both theoreticians and practitioners.
‘You are the only person you have any right to try and change, which is just as well, because you are the only person you have got any hope of changing’ (Barker 1998).The aims of this study are to explore the ethical dimensions of creating shifts in values, attitudes and behaviours in order to meet the challenges of increasing diversity in communities and workforces. The theoretical approach taken was based on ‘capabilities’ (Cornelius and Gagnon 2000), social opportunities and instrumental freedoms (Sen 1999) and virtue ethics and excellence (Winstanley and Woodall 2000). The design of the intervention was based on a humanistic, experiential approach to intervention (Rogers 1969). The methodology of the case study was to design and deliver a series of experiential workshops for a division of a police force. The workshops aimed to surface and challenge existing values and behaviours, in order to facilitate a shift in perception that would translate into greater equality both in internal working relationships and in external service delivery. The conclusion from this study is that an ethics-based approach can be effective in increasing equalities in the workplace and in the delivery of service to communities.
While a number of studies have been conducted into individual employee cognitions and organizational performance, few studies have examined the combined effect of a range of cognitions. This gap in extant knowledge is particularly apparent in the retail sector where store performance and consequently company profitability are largely dependent on the relationship between shopfloor workers and customers. This paper presents the results of a study into the performance implications of work-oriented cognitions of shopfloor workers in the retail sector. The paper presents a series of analyses which find that the performance of individual stores is affected, to varying degrees, by a range of cognitions. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the study and highlighting the issues which merit further research attention.
It has been well established within the literature that the successful implementation of quality relies heavily upon the human factor. Most leading firms now recognise that a higher quality service and improved competitiveness will result from increased attention to people issues within the organization. It is held that the implementation of any quality initiative should embrace a participatory management style, address the issue of changing attitudes and culture, employee involvement and empowerment together with investment in training, development and learning. To date, limited research attention has been given to the challenges involved in operating such practices in working contexts such as healthcare. This is significant given that it is the 'softer' issues of managing the quality dynamic that are coming to the fore in healthcare organizations. This paper seeks to explore and address such deficiencies and reports a review of key developments in this area. It concludes by outlining current research developments within the healthcare industry in Ireland and poses important questions for future quality implementation within the Irish healthcare sector.
The management, manipulation or interference in organizational culture has become central to many theories and prescriptions of management. However, despite frequent prescriptions to manage culture in diverse national contexts, little empirical evidence has been forwarded in contexts other than the UK and the US. The current study is designed to overcome the limitations of existing studies through the critical review of culture management in a novel context—in this case, Greek food retailing. The aim is to provide empirical evidence regarding the fact and fantasy of Hellenic culture management. The paper begins with a brief overview of organizational culture literature and in particular culture management studies. After an explanation of the research design and methodology adopted, the analysis of a culture change effort study is presented and discussed. Four main findings emerge regarding: (1) the context of the change, (2) the espoused and perceived rationale for culture management, (3) the nature and process of the change programme and (4) the perceived impact of these changes on the organisation and its members. The paper culminates with a series of conclusions and implications of interest to both theorists and practitioners.
Purpose
By examining the literature on the ethical dilemmas of H/RM practitioners, the paper aims to put an “H” in H/RM.
Design/methodology/approach
Analysing the significant contribution which H/RM scholars have made in studying the ethical dilemmas of H/RM practitioners, the paper builds a view of an H/RM practitioner as a “conscientious HR manager” loosely connected to an ethical dilemma, a “Rubik's Cube”. Using these linguistic devices to simplify others scholarly work, the paper introduces a complex autopoietic system to provide a more “connected knowing” of ethical dilemmas and the “H” in H/RM.
Findings
Generalising from this analysis, the paper connects a social sub‐system (H/RM) with a living human system.
Research limitations/implications
Naturalistic “grounds” for launching a normative critique of H/RM that celebrates humans as social and biological animals are provisionally outlined.
Originality/value
The paper adapts Capra's complex autopoietic system to present a normative critique of H/RM from the Darwinian left.
This paper is concerned with recent attempts to appropriate normative ethics as a medium for engaging critically with the practice and theory of human resource management (HRM). Focusing particularly on arguments for justice and rights in the workplace, the limits of foundationalist critiques of HRM are explored. The discussion suggests a future direction for the critical study of HRM in the present economic and political conjuncture. Critical scholars of HRM are invited to give further consideration to their aims and objectives and the manner of their intervention in current debates, in a discussion which highlights the importance of politically and rhetorically sensitised management scholarship.
This article highlights the fact that in an attempt to cope with the turbulence and hostility which characterize their operating environments, many public sector organizations have embarked upon far-reaching programmes of unsettling strategic change. These programmes often exhibit features of disintegration. Additionally they are frequently formulated by senior managers in isolation from organizational members, who are then expected to implement them without question or consultation. This article argues that such approaches to change management are unlikely to bring about the desired transformation. Rather, using a case study of one public sector organization in the Republic of Ireland, it is argued that organizations are more likely to experience the required metamorphosis where the change commences at the periphery and is led by relatively junior front line staff, with senior management practitioners acting as facilitators of organizational transformation.
This book is unique in that it will appeal to practitioners, policy makers, and commissioners in health and social care practice and education who buy in to the principles of service user engagement, but who find it hard to know how to progress the practicalities. Based on the set up and running of the unique and very successful Comensus project, this practical and accessible text will provide a framework for building authentic and sustainable community engagement in health and social care education and practice.
In April this year a Conference on Ethical Issues in Contemporary Human Resource Management was held at the Management School, Imperial College, London, and jointly sponsored by the British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA) and the UK Chapter of the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN-UK). We are indebted to the organisers of the Conference, Dr Diana Winstanley, Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Imperial College Management School, Dr Jean Woodall, Reader in Human Resource Management at Kingston Business School, and Professor Edmund Heery, Professor of Human Resource Management at Cardiff Business School, for the following overview of the ethics agenda emerging for modern HRM as this figured in contributions to the Imperial College Conference. All the papers delivered at the Conference are obtainable from Dr Diana Winstanley, Imperial College Management School, 53 Prince's Gate, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2PG, tel: (44)(0) 171-594-9114.
In this paper we review recent UK literature on HRM and ethics and suggest that implicit in many accounts is a perception of a ‘moral hole’ appearing within the employee relations landscape which is based on external, reflective observations of HRM policies and practices. We argue that the investigation of HRM and ethics could be broadened by locating HRM and ethics research more explicitly within the social and cultural realities of organizations and their employees. Finally, we outline and illustrate what a social constructivist approach might add to research in this field and how it might provide insights that help bridge the gap between theory and practice.
Human resource development (HRD) professionals are increasingly incorporating technology into their work activities. However, research that examines the ethics in the use of technology by HRD professionals is still underrepresented in the literature. This article first conducts a PEST (political, economic, social-cultural, and technological) analysis by examining a number of important general and specific trends that affect the use of technology in HRD. It then discusses some implications with regard to these trends and their impacts on HRD practices.
This paper is a brief but critical survey of some theories of organizational culture. It outlines the theories of culture borrowed from anthropology by social scientists interested in 'complex organizations', and locates these theories in an historical debate regarding their 'proper' use. The paper argues the need for a conceptual distinction between culture and social structure, and asserts that the culture of organizational life cannot be analyzed in terms of a universal unitary concept. The argument concludes by suggesting 'conceptual tools' for interpreting culture — symbol, ideational systems, myth and ritual — and how they might be used in analysis.
This article questions whether a core objective
of HRM – to manage organisational culture – is
feasible, other than at a most superficial level.
On the basis of an in-depth case study analysis
the authors argue that the dominant values of
society at large are implicated in what appears to
be the spontaneous formation and character of
occupational cultures. The article raises the
question of whether spontaneously occurring
“cultures of excellence” are gratuitously hijacked
by self-serving managerial groups, happy to co-opt
the sub-culture of work groups when it works
to their advantage.
Although management of culture has been declared a needed instrument for strengthening organizational control and producing improvement, it cannot be done until change underlying the values is understood. Plans to change those, in turn, require a better appreciation of how the values themselves are constructed. Those who urge the direct management of corporate culture often fail to appreciate that the deep-seated values, beliefs, and assumptions underlying that culture can rarely be engaged by such an approach. If it is culture that must be changed, most agree that the process must start with top management rethinking its current values and deciding to be guided by other orientations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The article subjects the assumptions and prescriptions of the ‘Corporate Culture’literature to critical scrutiny. the body of the article is devoted to teasing out the distinctive basis of its appeal compared with earlier management theory. It is seen to build upon earlier efforts (e.g.‘theory Y’) to constitute a self-disciplining form of employee subjectivity by asserting that ‘practical autonomy’is conditional upon the development of a strong corporate culture. the paper illuminates the dark side of this project by drawing attention to the subjugating and totalitarian implications of its excellence/ quality prescriptions. to this end, parallels are drawn with the philosophy of control favoured by the Party in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Specifically, the paper critiques the ‘doublethink’contention that autonomy can be realized in monocultural conditions that systematically constrain opportunities to wrestle with competing values standpoints and their associated life projects.
This paper assesses the potential of organisational culture as a means for improving ethics in organisations. Organisational culture is recognised as one determinant of how people behave, more or less ethically, in organisations. It is also incresingly understood as an attribute that management can and should influence to improve organisational performance. When things go wrong in organisations, managers look to the culture as both the source of problems and the basis for solutions. Two models of organisational culture and ethical behaviour are evaluated. They rest on different understandings of organisational culture and the processes by which ethics are enhanced. Firstly, the prevailing approach holds that creating a unitary cohesive culture around core moral values is the solution to enhancing ethical behaviour. Both the feasibility and desirability of this approach, in terms of ethical outcomes, is questioned. The second model queries the existence of organisational culture at all, arguing that organisations are nothing more than shifting coalitions of subcultures. In this second model, the very porousness of the subcultures provides a catalyst for the scrutiny and critique of norms and practices. Such diversity and debate is construed as potentially a better safeguard for ethical behaviour than the uniformity promised by the unitary, strong culture model.
Five ethical dilemma categories faced by organizational development interventionists and client systems are presented. Relationships between the change agent and the client system are explored, utilizing the Katz and Kahn (1966) role theory perspective. Appropriate roles for both change agents and client systems are discussed in relation to the stages of change, using a process/relational model; and 31 specific ethical dilemmas are discussed in relation to their impact on the OD process.
This article evaluates managers' attempts to shape their corporate cultures in relation to two aspects of fairness in employment relationships: job security and equitable treatment. Both of these aspects are becoming particularly important given the revisions to the traditional employment-at-will doctrine. Statements of corporate values are increasingly being recognized as creating contractual obligations, while concepts of equitable treatment have also been expanded. An appreciation of fairness principles is becoming more important to managers since courts and juries are integrating ethical and societal values into legal judgments about employment relationships.
This article makes the case for the contribution of the cultural theory of Sloterdijk and the tradition of philosophical anthropology on which it is based to an understanding of the processes of culture formation in organizations. Rather than see culture formation as the model of an autonomous self which sacrifices or gives up this autonomy as a result of identification with the organizational culture, or retains it by resisting or distancing from the culture, the article argues that we should see organizational selves as engaged in processes of askēsis, understood as ‘systems of spiritual exercises, … practised in collectives of personalised regimes’ (Sloterdijk, 2009: 12), the aim of which is the fulfilment of the imperative ‘you must change your life!’ (Sloterdijk, 2009). The article illustrates the application of the theory to the formation of ‘secessionist’ cultures, cultures devoted to the pursuit of radical ascetic aims, by outlining the mechanisms of askēsis in contemporary organizations: the splitting of the self into ‘willing’ and ‘unwilling’ elements which are in constant ‘endo-rhetorical’ dialogue; the imitation of exemplars of ascetic behaviour, or the ‘perfectionist vita’; ‘conversion’ to the organizational culture, whether as a sudden experience or as a gradual process, and organizational cultures understood as ‘cultures of observance’, the aim of which are to encourage the employee to scrutinize habitual behaviour and change this behaviour in line with the ideals of the secessionist culture. The end point of askēsis is reached when the employee conceives organizational life itself as a continual ‘test’ of commitment and will.
It is argued that management seek to close the
gap between their employees’ requisite and actual
performance, not only by mechanisms of
“primary” control but also by imposing their own
belief systems as a “strong” culture. However,
such belief systems are never successfully
transmitted beyond the boundaries of
management to the intended recipients, resulting
in management’s ultimate isolation. Evidence is
presented to support this proposition.
Discusses 3 ethical "goods" (individual freedom, privacy, and self-esteem) and explores 4 approaches to organizational development (survey feedback, team building, laboratory training for interpersonal skills and personal growth, and confrontational) in relation to each specific good. The competition between freedom and equality, which often results in the mistaken identification of participation instead of freedom as the desired end among managers, is described. Guidelines for such procedural matters as the handling of information and the conduct of group sessions are presented to minimize violations of individual goods and subsequent defensive responses from organizational members. (90 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Partly as a consequence of the popularity of the ‘excellence’ literature of the early 1980s, there was a widespread acceptance that ‘corporate cultural change’ was one of the effective mechanisms within a strategic HRM approach to people management. However, recent research into imposed cultural change programmes in the late 1980s raises doubts about their effectiveness as change mechanisms, as management control devices and as contributors to business performance. This article engages in the current debate concerning the aims, design and implementation of cultural change but goes on to question the relevance of such an idea for organisations in the context of the 1990s. the article extends the many debates within the HRM and corporate culture literature by contextualising them within the emerging features of organisations in the 1990s.
The premise of this paper is that planned organizational change, commonly known as organizational development, induces compliance and conformity in organizational members and thereby increases the power of management. These consequences occur because organizational development efforts create uncertainty, interfere with the informal organization, reinforce the position of management, and further entrench management purposes. These consequences occur regardless of the intentions of management and regardless of whether the goals of the organizational development intervention were achieved. Instead of examining these consequences, practitioners and theorists have engaged in self-deception and depoliticized the practice of induced organizational change by creating a field known as Organizational Development.
1st Issued as Paperback Bibliogr. s. 267-275
Sumario: Part one contains a set of models, or frameworks, for the better understanding of people and organizations. Part two looks at some key and current organizational issues in the light of the concepts introduced in part one. Part of the intention is to demonstrate how the theories can be applied to the practices. Part three is a guide about the sources of the ideas, concepts and theories.
How to describe your organization
- R Harrison
The unravelled fabric - and how to knit it up: mixed motives among the new communitarians
- G. Himmelfarb
HRM: meaning, metaphor, and morality
- T Keenoy
- P Anthony
Corporate Culture and Organizational Effectiveness
- D R Dennison