Use the
Organizational Culture
Assessment Instrument
(OCAI) to assess your organizational culture based on the competing
values framework. Answer each the questions twice. In the first column,
allocate the points based on how the organization actually is now. In the
second column, answer the questions based on how you would like the
organization to be.
Once you have answered
the questions, you can plot your answers on the
OCAIPlot Diagram
.
Comparing your actual
versus desiredOCAIplots may also provide another input to your
understanding of how well you
fit
in your organization.
Which of these culture types best describes your organization? A Continuum of Organizational Cultures Sam Chand has developed a Continuum of Organizational Cultures based on his analysis and consulting work with churches. Although his context is a church, these cultural characteristics are generalizable to all kinds of organizations. Inspiring Cultures are characterized as follows: · The leaders of these organizations give clear direction, but they aren't authoritarian; they value the input of every person. Authority is decentralized. · Leaders cultivate an atmosphere of trust and respect. · People throughout the organization believe that what they do each day really matters-to themselves, to their teams, to the organization, and to their constituents. They come to work each day with a compelling sense of purpose, a sense of they are involved in a cause much bigger than themselves. · These organizations have high, yet realistic expectations. They set high goals, train people, give them the resources they need, stay connected throughout the process, and encourage them to succeed. · Creativity is rewarded, and failures are viewed as stepping stones of growth. In fact, failure is seen as an essential part of the process of innovation, not a fatal flaw. · There are few, if any, turf battles, so communication flows up and down the organizational chart and between departments. · Top leaders retrain or replace leaders who cannot provide a positive work environment for their teams. · There is a powerful synergy between relationships and organizational goals. The organization invests significantly and systematically in creating and building a healthy culture. · Leaders regularly celebrate success throughout the organization, and they even celebrate those who leave and find success elsewhere. · These organizations are a magnet for job applicants. They have their pick of the best and the brightest. Accepting Cultures are characterized as follows: · The overall atmosphere is very positive, but there are a few topics that are taboo, or there are a few incompetent leaders who remain in the job too long. These unresolved issues and problematic leaders are the bumps and potholes that create tension. In many cases, the difficulties remain isolated in the departments were those poor managers lead. For the people on these teams, the environment may be quite negative, while the rest of the organization thrives. · Generally, most people in the organization are supportive of each other's roles and goals. Communication is a strength, and people don't feel the need to defend their turf. · Some difficult decisions are avoided instead of addressed expeditiously. For instance, leaving a poor leader in place too long erodes the trust and drive of those who serve in that department. · Most people who work in these organizations think they are the organization is the one of the best ones they've ever experienced. They love the blend of clear goals and strong relationships, and they are highly motivated to do their best. The senior leaders in these organizations invest in developing people and the culture. If they were more assertive about taking care of problems in the culture, they could be even more successful. · These organizations enjoy a strong reputation, so they attract a lot of applicants. However, the new hires who are placed under incompetent leaders are deeply disappointed. Stagnant Cultures are characterized as follows: · The leadership team sees staff members as production units, not people. The staff members are valuable when-and only when-they produce. All praise is based on performance, very little if any on character. · Staff members tolerate their leaders, but they don't trust or respect them. They still do their work, but only the most ambitious invest themselves in the success of the organization. · The only heroes are the top executives, and the employees suspect that the top leaders are making a bundle, or at least receiving lots of accolades, at their expense. The employees resent this. · Without trust, respect, and loyalty, people feel compelled to defend their turf, hang on to power, and limit communication. In this atmosphere, relatively small problems quickly escalate. · Complaining becomes the staff members pastime. Things aren’t quite bad enough to prompt open rebellion, but a few disgruntled people are thinking about it! · The leadership team isn't happy with the lack of enthusiasm and declining productivity, so they treat staff as if they were wayward teenagers. They try anything to control them: anger, leading, threats, rewards, ignoring them, micromanaging them. But nothing works. · With only a few exceptions, people become clock-watchers and check-cashers, caring little for the leader's vision. The whole organization lives in the status quo of lethargy. · To correct the problem, the leaders may send people to seminars or hire consultants, but the top people aren’t willing to take responsibility and make significant changes. It's always somebody else's fault. · These organizations usually attract people with low expectations and low motivation, but they may attract a few who believe their personal mission is to bring life to the organization. These individuals usually give up after a few months. Discouraging Cultures are characterized as follows: · It's all about the top people: their prestige and their power. They act as though everybody else in the organization exists only to make them more successful, and most of the staff members deeply resent it. · People spend as much time trying to survive the power struggles, protecting themselves from more hurt, and analyzing the top people's pathology as they spend doing their work. Employees become fiercely loyal to a supervisor who protects them, but they actively seek to undermine any perceived adversary. · As the benchmarks of success decline, the top leaders become more authoritarian and threatening. They demand compliance and loyalty, and they defy anyone who disagrees with them or even offers another opinion. · The leadership team often tries to remedy the problems, but with the wrong analysis in the wrong solutions. They seldom look in the mirror to find the culprit. Instead, the blame is always put on incompetent or unmotivated people throughout the organization, but these are the only ones who are willing to stay employed there. Leaders may ask that members to go to seminars and workshops, and they may even hire consultants from time to time, but they seldom listen to any outside input. · When these leaders communicate a new vision, nobody cares. They’ve heard it before, and they don't trust that anything will be different this time. · These organizations attract malcontents, sycophants, and desperate people who can't find a job anywhere else. Toxic Cultures are characterized as follows: · Leaders create a “closed system,” so any advice and creative ideas from the outside are suspect from the start. These systems breed bad ideas, bad behaviors, and bad values in the organization over and over again. · Individual rights and dignity of staff members are surrendered to the powerfully elite. People are expected to do as they're told-nothing less and nothing else. The organization's leaders believe they “own” every employee. They have exceptionally high expectations of workers, but the offer them little or no autonomy to make decisions. · Fear becomes the dominating motivational factor of the organization, and those who choose to stay meekly comply. Many, though, are too afraid to leave. They've noticed that when people even think about leaving, they're severely criticized for being disloyal. Turf battles are the accepted sport of the organization, and open warfare becomes normal. Suspicion and resentment poison lines of communication, so even the simplest directive becomes a weapon area · Leaders delegate responsibility but fail to give authority to people to fulfill their roles. · Creativity and risk-taking have long vanished because these traits threaten the status of the bosses as the only ones who know anything. In this environment, pathology is rewarded and health is punished. · Ethical, financial, or sexual lapses may occur, but staff members are expected to turn a blind eye. The leaders constantly look over their shoulders to see if they've been caught · These organizations run off good people, and they attract only the naïve or External Focus and Differentiation 1 Flexibility and Discretion 20.8 30 34.1 20 30 50 22.5 24.1 Stability and Control ! UONEISAU] PUB SNOO,] [RUIN] INTEGRATIVE REFLECTIVE ESSAY #2 Managing Complex Organizations Baca Mares - 900893634 2 Table of Contents Introduction ……………………………………… 1 Organization Culture Assessment Instrument …………………………………… 3 Dominant Characteristics ……………………………………… 3 Organizational Leadership ……………………………………… 4 Management of Employees ……………………………………… 4 Organizational Glue ……………………………………… 5 Strategic Emphases ……………………………………… 5 Criteria of Success ……………………………………… 5 Organizational Culture Assessment Summary ……………………………… 6 OCAI Plot – Now ……………………………………… 8 OCAI Plot – Preferred ……………………………………… 9 OCAI Results ……………………………………… 10 MARTIN’S THREE PERSPECTIVE ……………………………… 10 ETHICAL CLIMATE ……………………………………… 11 CONCLUSION ……………………………………………… 12 3 INTRODUCTION The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) was developed by Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn at the University of Michigan, a research method to assess organizational culture. This assessment was especially powerful and educational for me in that I have recently took over as the CEO of the legal consulting firm that I work for. After having spent 3 years as the Chief Strategy Officer, I am now in the unique position to apply these exercises as not only an employee but as a governing executive. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT (OCAI) In the next few pages, you will see the various scores for each of six aspects of culture: 1) Dominant characteristics, 2) Organizational leadership, 3) Management of employees, 4) Organization glue, 5) Strategic emphases, and 6) Criteria of success, and how they compare presently to how I would prefer them to score moving forward. Dominant characteristics When looking at the various scores in this aspect, what jumps out the most is how the organization, at its present state, is a very personal place. I would have previously embraced this and felt this was a positive trait, but life has taught me the need to compartmentalize and focus on work, more than emotions. This does contradict a few things that I have learned along the way in this course, such as the need to empathize with employees, but I do feel that a line must be set, and boundaries established. Right now, the employees are being treated like an extended family and many are abusing this work philosophy at the sake of production and execution. 4 Organizational leadership When looking at the various scores under this aspect, two major points were raised as to what I am hoping to establish with the company. For one, I feel there needs to be more discipline and structure from the top down. This also means that leadership needs to stop with risk taking and innovation and focus on stability and what actually works and has been working. Even if this means we stop growing. In the past year, our company was growing exponentially. Every month the firm grew in size and profitability. That said, you can begin to see that we are dangerously headed to a point where the wheels may fall off if we don’t stabilize and perfect what has already made us successful. I understand that this decision will not be the most popular one, but I am confident that this will be the most prudent decision as we move forward. We have been taking risks left and right blindly and it is time to take a step back and work on the foundation that will propel us forward with stability earmarked by our ethics and values as a company. Management of Employees When managing our employees, this is the aspect where I feel the most change must be made. I feel that we must steer away from the individual risk-taking and freedom and start building a culture of stability and predictability. I need the employees to find security in their positions while also pushing them with rewards for production due to high demands and hard driving competitiveness. I feel that currently a lot of employees have been “flying blind” and this will, sooner or later, burn us. While these decisions might find some opposition from employees who don’t like oversight or supervision, this will be welcomed from employees who need more guidance and structure. 5 Organization Glue As the numbers in the assessment show, currently there seems to be too much emphasis on aggressiveness and unilateral decision-making. We must slow down this mentality and start creating an environment of trust and loyalty to not only each other but our clients. Commitment must be evident that we will go the extra mile for each other. Together, we will move forward in a prudent away that will reap rewards for everyone, but they must trust the system. Strategic Emphases When looking at the Strategic Emphases aspect, there were two