Table of Contents

1998
 

Volume Three, Number 3    

Symposium on Organizational Culture: 
Theory, Practice, and Cases (Part II)

Ronald J. Stupak, Symposium Editor

1. Symposium on Organizational Culture: Theory, Practice, and Cases
   Introduction
   Ronald J. Stupak
        
   There is not, and never will be, "one best way" to lead, manage and assist an organization in the areas of strategy, policy, performance, productivity, human relations, or implementation. Organizations are more like nations, clans, and tribes, than they are like rational units, mechanistic entities, or a set of scientific management processes. Consequently, this symposium pushes at the theoretical, process, and operational seams of the previous research and understandings of organizations by focusing-in on organizational culture through a group of articles that move from a theoretical base into a process analytical level, concluding with a set of case/operational examples of organizational culture in action.

2. Organizational Culture and Cost-Containment in Corrections: The Leadership Dimension
   C. Allan Turner
     
   The economic and political realities of the 1990's are forcing public administrators to implement operational changes to cut or contain costs in their organizations. However, cost-containment is a difficult challenge in any organization. Often the changes necessary to control costs directly confront long standing organizational cultures. This article provides insight to the magnitude of the problem by examining the efforts at one federal penitentiary to control the single issue of overtime costs.

   The major premise is that true cost-containment cannot be achieved by superficial procedural changes, but rather must address the underlying behavior of the organization. It is simply not enough to talk about cost-containment, to rearrange boxes on an organization chart, or to implement new procedures. Although these actions may help, they only treat the symptom and not the disease. To achieve lasting cost-containment, the leader/manager's attention must be directed deeper into the soul of the organization. There must be a change in the behavior of the organization. Providing the leadership necessary to change the behavior of an organization is a major challenge in an environment where the behavior of organization members is dictated by a strong, well-entrenched culture. The conclusion of the article is that change required to achieve cost-containment can only occur if the leader/manager understands the culture and context of his or her organization and provides appropriate leadership which motivates organization members to change.

3. The Culture Of Military Organizations: A Participant-Observer Case Study Of Cultural Diversity
   Charles A. Beitz, Jr. and John R. Hook
   
   The relationship between individual personality and organizational culture is a topic typically considered in theoretical terms. This article addresses empirical evidence relating to one aspect of this relationship. It explores the hypothesis that individuals (particularly organizational leaders) attempt to change the culture of their organizations to fit their own personality preferences. Contemporary definitions of culture are presented, and five of the better known mechanisms for categorizing individual personality types are briefly described. Opportunities, motives and anecdotes describing the efforts of individuals to change their organization's culture are presented. The article postulates that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that individuals do attempt (and sometimes succeed) in changing their organizations' culture.

4. Organizational Culture and Nonprofits
   Robert Zdenek
      
   An understanding of organizational culture helps to provide a sense of the hidden and complex aspects of organizational life. In this article, Zdenek considers the role and growth of nonprofit organizations. Drawing on examples of organizational culture from the New Community Corporation, the largest community-based development corporation in the U.S., he argues that shared assumptions about values, meaning, language, symbols, and group norms can create a framework from which the nonprofit can implement its mission and programs.

5. Systematically Describing An Organization's Culture: A Case Study Of The Pima County Arizona, Pretrial  Services Agency
   Neil R. Vance
     
   This article describes how the researcher used Edgar Schein's framework of organizational culture to create a Discussion Guide and research process to describe the organizational culture of a criminal justice agency, (the Pima County, Arizona Pretrial Services Agency) and then discusses which organizational development strategies might be employed to alter that organizational culture. The author concludes that organizational culture is greatly influenced by occupational cultures outside the organization, and these too must be considered for authentic organizational culture change.

6. Downsizing and Organizational Culture
   Thomas A. Hickok
       
   In this article Hickok argues that, ultimately, the most prominent effects of downsizing will be in relation to culture change, not in relation to saved costs or short-term productivity gains. In particular, the author notes three observations in relation to the impact of downsizing on organizational culture. First, it clearly appears that power has shifted away from rank-and-file employees in the direction of top management/ownership. Accompanying this change is a shift in emphasis away from the well-being of individuals in the direction of the pre-eminence and predominance of the organization as a whole. Second, it appears working relationships have changed away from being "familial" in the direction of being more competitive. Third, the employer-employee relationship has moved away from long-term and stable in the direction of short-term and contingent.

   The author suggests five simple question areas that organizational leaders who are interested in probing the moral and spiritual dimensions of downsizing might usefully consider. These include ensuring the fundamental decency of the approach being considered, engaging in appropriate dialogue, thinking through the consequences for those who may be adversely affected, having ready explanations for multiple constituencies, and offering a realistic opportunity for a better future for the organization and the organization’s stakeholders.