MODULE 6

CULTURE
MEANING:
Definition:
 Characteristics of culture:
• Culture is learned. It is not biological; we do not inherit it. Much of
learning culture is unconscious. We learn culture from families, peers,
institutions, and media. The process of learning culture is known
as enculturation.
• Culture is shared. Because we share culture with other members of
our group, we are able to act in socially appropriate ways as well as
predict how others will act. Despite the shared nature of culture, that
doesn’t mean that culture is homogenous (the same).
• Culture is based on symbols. A symbol is something that stands for
something else. Symbols vary cross-culturally and are arbitrary. They
only have meaning when people in a culture agree on their use.
Language, money and art are all symbols. Language is the most
important symbolic component of culture.
• Culture is integrated. This is known as holism, or the various
parts of a culture being interconnected. All aspects of a
culture are related to one another and to truly understand a
culture, one must learn about all of its parts, not only a few.
• Culture is dynamic. This simply means that cultures interact
and change. Because most cultures are in contact with other
cultures, they exchange ideas and symbols. All cultures
change, otherwise, they would have problems adapting to
changing environments. And because cultures are
integrated, if one component in the system changes, it is
likely that the entire system must adjust.
IMPORTANCE OF ORGANISATION CULTURE :
• The culture decides the way employees interact at their workplace.
• Helps in promoting healthy competition at the workplace.
• The culture of an organisation represents certain predefined policies
which guide employees and give them a sense of direction at the
workplace.
• It creates a brand image of the organisation.
• It brings all the employees on a common platform
• The work culture unites the employees from different backgrounds
• Culture enhances professionalism
• Implementation of policies
• Promotes healthy relationship
• Culture extracts the best out of team member
 Meaning
• Organisational change is the process by which
organizations move from their present state to
some desired future state to increase their
effectiveness
• Organizations change their structures and work
environment to remain competitive in the domestic and
world markets. The world is constantly changing and so
are organizations. Business organizations are open
systems.
• They continuously interact with the environment and
adapt to environmental changes necessary for their
survival and growth. Not only should enterprises adapt
to the changes, they should also anticipate the changes
and incorporate them in their plans and budgets.
 Definition of Change Management

• Change management is a systematic approach that includes

dealing with the transition or transformation of
organizational goals, core values, processes or technologies.
• The purpose of every organizational change management
 initiative is to successfully implement strategies and
methods for effecting change and helping people to accept
and adapt to change.
• As organizational changes in the agile workplaces happen
daily, change management and 
change communication teams have become crucial
performance drivers for many companies. 
• Changes are necessary if organisations want to:
• (i) Be adaptive to environmental conditions,
• (ii) Compete in the domestic and international markets,
• (iii) Improve their performance, and
• (iv) Enter into mergers and acquisitions.
• “Organisation change is any substantive modification to
some part of the organisation”. Change may be required
for the organisation as a whole or for some part of the
organisation; work force, departmentation, span of
control, machinery, technology etc.
 Features of Organisational Change:

• Change is characterized by the following

features:
• 1. Movement from one state of balance to
another:
• Change involves moving from the existing state
of balance to a new level of equilibrium. It
disturbs the old equilibrium and develops a new
equilibrium where new ways of working
become part of the system.
 2. In whole or parts:

• It may involve change in some parts of the

organisation (technology, structure or people)
or the organisation as a whole. Even if change
is introduced in part of the organisation, it
affects the entire organisation.
 3. Pervasive:

• The process of change is not restricted to one

organisation or one country. It is a worldwide
phenomenon. The whole world, all countries,
every organisation, its members and all
individuals change their pattern of working.
However, the nature and magnitude of change
is different for different organisations.
• 4. Responsive to environmental factors:
• Change is affected by factors external and internal to
the organizations.
• 5. Continuous process:
• Change is not a one-time process. Organisations keep
changing their policies to survive and grow in the
competitive markets. While some changes are minor
and get absorbed in the system through internal
adjustments, major changes are introduced through
change agents.
• 6. Essential activity:
• Change is not a force that organisations may or may not
respond to. If organisations want to survive, change has to be
accepted by them. They can, however, plan the change or react
to change. The former approach to change is conducive to
organisational development and growth.
• 7. Change agents:
• Change is initiated by change agents. Change agents can be
internal or external to the organisation. Internal change agents
can be top executives of the organisation. External agents are
outside experts or advisors appointed by executives to initiate
the change process.
 Forces/Factors responsible for change in
organisations
External Forces:
• Demographic
• Social and Political Pressures
• Globalization
• Economics
• Competition
• Technology
• Legislation
 Internal Forces
• Problem of manpower
• Crisis
• Employee Expectations
• Work Environment
• Reduction of Impact
• Management change
• Organizational Restructuring
• Innovation from External and Internal Sources
Process of Organisational Change:
 
• Kurt Lewin observed that people generally do
not accept change and if they accept it, they
tend to revert to the original behaviour after
some time. To make change have lasting
impact, it should become part of their attitudes
and value system. Lewin suggested a three step
model to initiate change in organisations and
behaviour of individuals and groups.
 1.Unfreezing:

• Unfreezing makes the need for change inevitable to

members so that they become ready to accept the change.
• It develops in people a belief that present system of working
is undesirable and change is desirable.
• It motivates people to move from the old and traditional
ways to new and modern ways of working.
• The driving forces overpower the restraining forces and
people, therefore, do not resist change. They welcome
change and participate in its implementation.
• People analyse the present situation, discuss the problems
and recognise the need for change. It infers that their
current thinking is unfrozen, conventional methods of
working are discarded and new methods appropriate to the
environmental demands are adopted.
 2. Changing or Moving:

• Once people are ready to accept the change,

change is initiated by learning new ways of
doing things. New information is collected,
new concepts are developed, members are
trained to implement the concepts and
present perspectives and attitudes are
changed.
 3. Refreezing:

• Though change is desirable, people generally

resist change. Despite learning new ways of
doing things, they tend to revert to old
behaviour after working in the changed
environment for some time. Refreezing
attempts to make change permanent till there
is need to reintroduce change.
 This can be done in the following ways:

• (a) Managers motivate the subordinates to

accept change as a permanent feature by relating
changed behaviour with reward system.
• (b) Managers understand the needs of people
and relate them with organisational needs.
Fulfillment of organisational goals is viewed as a
means of fulfilling individual goals.
• (c) Managers understand the reasons why people
resist change and overcome their resistance.
 Resistance to change
• People often resist change when the
individuals feel that their freedom is
threatened and give a negative reaction to the
same
 Sources of resistance to change:
• Organisational resistance
• 1. Threat to expertise
• 2. Group inertia
• 3.limited focus to change
• 4.Structural inertia
• 5.Threat to established resource allocation
• 6. Threat to established power relationships
 Individual resistance
• Economic forces
• Security
• Habit
• Selective information processing
• Fear of the unknown
 Managing Resistance to change
3 Key strategies instrumental in managing
resistance to change are
>Communication
> Involvement
> Sympathy and support
• Do change management right the first time
• Expecting resistance
• Formal address
A. prepare for change
B. Managing change
C. Implementing change
• Identify the root cause
• Engage appropriate resistance mangers
 Approaches of organizational culture:
• Action research approaches of organization
It is a useful method for facilitating
organizational change by collaborating and
involving the client in the entire process of
diagnostic ,problem identification, experiential
learning and problem solving process
Advantages of Action research Approach

• Facilitates a learning cullture

• Key involvement of senior leaders and various
stakeholders
• Facilitates collaboration
• Results in performance improvement in all
areas
 Appreciative Inquiry (AI)Approaches:

• AI was developed at weatherhead school of

management at Case western reserve
university.It was based on research by David
cooperrider and Ronald Fry.
• It seeks a positive approach than a problem
solving approach
 Appreciative Inquiry’s 5 D Cycle
• Define:what is the topic of inquiry?
• Discover:Appreciation of the best of the
organisation
• Dream:Imagining what could be
• Design:What should be
• Delivery:creating what will be