Chapter 8 Social Influence, Socialization, and Organizational Culture

Chapter 8 Social Influence, Socialization, and Organizational Culture 8-1 Social Influence in Organizations • As a result of social influence, people often feel or act differently from how they would as independent operators. • This is because in many social settings, and especially in groups, people are highly dependent on others. • This dependence sets the stage for influence to occur. • Two kinds of dependence are information dependence and effect dependence. 8-2 Information Dependence • Reliance on others for information about how to think, feel, and act. • Information dependence gives others the opportunity to influence our thoughts, feelings, and actions via the signals they send to us. • This process is explained by social information processing theory. 8-3 Social Information Processing Theory • Organizational members use information from others to interpret events and develop expectations about appropriate and acceptable attitudes and behaviours. • The effects of social information can be very strong, often exerting as much or more influence over others as objective reality. • Individual behaviour is influenced and shaped by others. 8-4 Effect Dependence (1 of 2) • Reliance on others due to their capacity to provide rewards and punishment. • The group frequently has a vested interest in how individual members think and act. • Group members desire the approval of the group. • These circumstances promote effect dependence. 8-5 Effect Dependence (2 of 2) • Managers have many rewards and punishments available (e.g., promotions, raises, assignment of favourable tasks). • Effects available to co-workers include praise, friendship, and a helping hand on the job. • Lack of cooperation might result in nagging, harassment, name calling, or social isolation. 8-6 The Social Influence Process and Conformity • One of the most obvious consequences of information and effect dependence is the tendency for group members to conform to the social norms that have been established by the group. • There are three different motives for social conformity: – Compliance – Identification – Internalization 8-7 Compliance • Conformity to a social norm prompted by the desire to acquire rewards or avoid punishment. • Compliance is the simplest, most direct motive for conformity to group norms. • It primarily involves effect dependence. 8-8 Identification • Conformity to a social norm prompted by perceptions that those who promote the norm are attractive or similar to oneself. • Information dependence is especially important. • If someone is basically similar to you, then you will be motivated to rely on that person for information about how to think and act. 8-9 Internalization • Conformity to a social norm prompted by true acceptance of the beliefs, values, and attitudes that underlie the norm. • Conformity occurs because it is seen as right, not because it achieves rewards, avoids punishment, or pleases others. • Conformity is due to internal, rather than external forces. 8 - 10 Organizational Socialization • Socialization is the process by which people learn the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours that are necessary to function in a group or organization. • It is a learning process in which new members must acquire information and knowledge, change their attitudes, and perform new behaviours. • The acquisition of information and knowledge is important for newcomers to reduce their high levels of uncertainty about their new job and organization. 8 - 11 Uncertainty Reduction Theory • Newcomers are motivated to reduce their uncertainty so that the work environment becomes more predictable and understandable. • The socialization process—through the provision of information, resources, and interactions with organizational members—helps to reduce newcomers’ uncertainty and facilitate their adjustment and socialization. 8 - 12 Organizational Socialization • Learning during socialization involves four main content areas or domains of learning: – Task – Role – Work group – Organization • One of the goals of socialization is to provide new hires with information and knowledge about their role to avoid problems of role conflict and role ambiguity. 8 - 13 Organizational Socialization • An important objective of organizational socialization is for newcomers to achieve a good fit. • There are three kinds of fit that are important for socialization: – Person-job fit (P J fit) – Person-organization fit (P O fit) – Person-group fit (P G fit) 8 - 14 Organizational Socialization • Person-job (P J) fit refers to the match between an employee’s knowledge, skills, and abilities and the requirements of a job. • Person-organization (P O) fit refers to the match between an employee’s personal values and the values of an organization. • Person-group (P G) fit refers to the match between an employee’s personal values and the values of their work group. 8 - 15 Organizational Socialization • Organizational identification refers to the extent to which individuals define themselves in terms of the organization and what it is perceived to represent. • It reflects an individual’s learning and acceptance of an organization’s culture. 8 - 16 Stages of Socialization • Socialization is an ongoing process that involves three stages. • One of the stages occurs before entry, another immediately after entry, and the last occurs after one has been a member for some period of time. • The first two stages represent hurdles for achieving passage into the third stage. 8 - 17 Anticipatory Socialization • Socialization that takes place before a person becomes a member of a particular organization. • Includes formal and informal experiences. • Organizations vary in the extent to which they encourage anticipatory socialization. • Not all anticipatory socialization is accurate and useful for the new member. 8 - 18 Encounter (1 of 2) • The new recruit encounters the day-to-day reality of organizational life. • Includes formal events such as orientation programs. • Informal aspects include getting to know and understand the style and personality of one’s boss and co-workers. 8 - 19 Role Management • The new member begins to actively manage their role in the organization. • Might modify one’s role to better serve the organization. • Must balance the organizational role with non-work roles and family demands. • Begins to internalize the norms and values that are prominent in the organization. 8 - 20 Unrealistic Expectations and the Psychological Contract • People join organizations with expectations about what membership will be like and what they expect to receive in return for their efforts. • Expectations are often unrealistic and agreements between new members and organizations are often breached. 8 - 21 Psychological Contract • Beliefs held by employees regarding the reciprocal obligations and promises between them and their organization. • An employee might expect to receive bonuses and promotions in return for hard work and loyalty. 8 - 22 Psychological Contract Breach • Employee perceptions that the organization has failed to fulfill one or more of its promises or obligations in the psychological contract. • Psychological contract breach is a common occurrence and is related to affective reactions, work attitudes, and work behaviours. • There are three different motives for social conformity: – Compliance – Identification – Internalization 8 - 23 Methods of Socialization • Organizations differ in terms of who does the socializing, how it is done, and how much is done. • Most organizations make use of the following methods of socialization: – Realistic job previews – Employee orientation programs – Socialization tactics – Mentoring 8 - 24 Employee Orientation Programs • Programs designed to introduce new employees to their job, the people they will be working with, and the organization. • Health and safety issues, terms and conditions of employment, and information about the organization, such as its history and traditions. • They also convey and form the psychological contract and teach newcomers how to cope with stressful work situations. 8 - 25 Realistic Orientation Program for Entry Stress (ROPE S) • An orientation program that is designed to help newcomers cope with stress. • Newcomers learn how to use cognitive and behavioural coping techniques to manage workplace stressors. 8 - 26 Socialization Tactics • The manner in which organizations structure the early work experiences of newcomers and individuals who are in transition from one role to another. • There are six socialization tactics. • They can be grouped into two separate patterns of socialization that are called institutionalized socialization and individualized socialization. 8 - 27 Institutionalized Socialization • Institutionalized socialization consists of the collective, formal, sequential, fixed, serial, and investiture tactics. • A formalized and structured program of socialization that reduces uncertainty and encourages new hires to accept organizational norms and maintain the status quo. 8 - 28 Individualized Socialization • Individualized socialization consists of the individual, informal, random, variable, disjunctive, and divestiture tactics. • A relative absence of structure that creates ambiguity and encourages new hires to question the status quo and develop their own approach to their role. 8 - 29 Socialization Tactics • The tactics have also been distinguished in terms of the context in which information is presented to new hires; the content provided to new hires; and the social aspects of socialization. 8 - 30 Collective Versus Individual Tactics • When using the collective tactic, a number of new members are socialized as a group, going through the same experiences and facing the same challenges. • The individual tactic consists of socialization experiences that are tailor-made for each new member. 8 - 31 Formal Versus Informal Tactics • The formal tactic involves segregating newcomers from regular organizational members and providing them with formal learning experiences. • Informal tactics do not distinguish a newcomer from more experienced members and rely more on informal and onthe-job learning. 8 - 32 Sequential Versus Random Tactics • With a sequential tactic, there is a fixed sequence of steps or stages leading to the assumption of the role. • With the random tactic, there is an ambiguous or changing sequence of events. 8 - 33 Fixed Versus Variable Tactics • With a fixed tactic, there is a timetable for the newcomer’s assumption of the role. • If the tactic is variable, there is no time frame to indicate when the socialization process ends and the newcomer assumes their new role. 8 - 34 Serial Versus Disjunctive Tactics • The serial tactic refers to a process in which newcomers are socialized by experienced members of the organization. • The disjunctive tactic refers to a socialization process where role models and experienced organization members do not groom new members or “show them the ropes.” 8 - 35 Investiture Versus Divestiture Tactics • The divestiture tactic involves experiences that are designed to humble new hires and strip away some of their initial self-confidence. • The investiture tactic affirms the incoming identity and attributes of new hires rather than denying and stripping them away. 8 - 36 Mentoring • A mentor is an experienced or more senior person in the organization who provides a junior person guidance and special attention, such as giving advice and creating opportunities to assist them during the early stages of their career. • Mentoring is a type of developmental relationship that produces benefits for a protégé’s work and/or career. 8 - 37 Career Functions of Mentoring • The career functions of mentoring provide careerenhancing benefits and include: – Sponsorship – Exposure and visibility – Coaching and feedback – Developmental assignments 8 - 38 Psychosocial Functions of Mentoring • The psychosocial functions help develop the newcomer’s self-confidence, sense of identity, and ability to cope with emotional traumas that can damage a person’s effectiveness. They include: – Role modelling – Providing acceptance and confirmation – Counselling 8 - 39 Formal Mentoring Programs • Mentoring relationships have often been informal without the direct involvement of the organization. • Formal mentoring programs are organizationally sponsored programs in which seasoned employees are recruited as mentors and matched with protégés. • They have become increasingly popular and are now provided by many organizations. 8 - 40 Developmental Networks • Groups of people who take an active interest in and actions toward advancing a protégé’s career by providing developmental assistance. • A protégé can have multiple developers from inside and outside of the organization and include people from different hierarchical levels of the organization. • A newcomer is more likely to obtain different types of support and a broader range of career outcomes. 8 - 41 Newcomer Proactive Socialization Behaviours (1 of 2) • The process through which newcomers play an active role in their own socialization through the use of proactive socialization behaviours. • Two of the most important proactive behaviours: – Feedback seeking: Requesting feedback about one’s work and job performance. – Information seeking: Seeking information about one’s work tasks, roles, work group, and organization. 8 - 42 Newcomer Proactive Socialization Behaviours (2 of 2) • Newcomers can acquire information by requesting it, by asking questions, and by observing the behaviour of others. • Newcomers rely primarily on observation, followed by interpersonal sources (e.g., supervisors and co-workers). • They seek out task-related information the most followed by role, group, and organization information. 8 - 43 Newcomer Proactive Socialization Behaviours: Research Evidence • Newcomers who engage in proactive behaviours more frequently are more likely to obtain the corresponding proactive outcomes (e.g., more feedback-seeking results in obtaining more feedback). • Proactive behaviours and outcomes are positively related to proximal (e.g., fit perceptions) and distal (e.g., job satisfaction) socialization outcomes. • Environmental as well individual factors influence newcomers’ proactive behaviours. 8 - 44 Organizational Culture • The course of socialization both depends on and shapes the culture of the organization. • An organization’s culture can have a strong effect on the attitudes and behaviour of employees. • Culture is so important that many employees place more emphasis on a strong organizational culture than on their compensation. • What exactly is an organizational culture? 8 - 45 What Is Organizational Culture? (1 of 2) • Informally, culture can be thought of as an organization’s style, atmosphere, or personality. • Culture provides uniqueness and social identity to organizations. • Organizational culture consists of the shared beliefs, values, and assumptions that exist in an organization. 8 - 46 What Is Organizational Culture? (2 of 2) • These shared beliefs, values, and assumptions determine the norms that develop and the patterns of behaviour that emerge from these norms. CULTURE  NORMS  BEHAVIOUR • Several other characteristics of culture are important. 8 - 47 Subcultures • Can an organization have several cultures? • An organization can have several cultures or what are known as subcultures. • Subcultures are smaller cultures that develop within a larger organizational culture that are based on differences in training, occupation, or departmental goals. 8 - 48 The “Strong Culture” Concept • A strong culture is an organizational culture with intense and pervasive beliefs, values, and assumptions. • A strong culture provides great consensus concerning “what the organization is about” or what it stands for. • In weak cultures, beliefs, values, and assumptions are less strongly ingrained or less widely shared across the organization. • Weak cultures are fragmented and have less impact on organizational members. 8 - 49 Organizations with Strong Cultures • Some organizations that are generally agreed to have strong cultures: – Hilti (Canada) Corp.: Can-do attitude (“Gung-Ho!”). – Google Canada: Innovation and entrepreneurship. – Shopify: Collaboration and innovation. 8 - 50 Assets of Strong Cultures • Organizations with strong cultures have several potential advantages: – Coordination – Conflict resolution – Financial success 8 - 51 Coordination • The overarching values and assumptions of strong cultures can facilitate communication and coordination. • Different parts of the organization can learn from each other and can coordinate their efforts. 8 - 52 Conflict Resolution • Sharing core values is a powerful mechanism that helps to resolve conflicts. • The core value will often suggest an appropriate dispute resolution mechanism. 8 - 53 Financial Success • Strong cultures contribute to financial success and organizational effectiveness when the culture supports the mission, strategy, and goals of the organization. • WestJet Airlines: One of the most profitable airlines in North America and consistently ranked as having one of the most admired corporate cultures in Canada. 8 - 54 Liabilities of Strong Cultures • Strong cultures can be a liability under some circumstances: – Resistance to change – Culture clash – Pathology 8 - 55 Resistance to Change • A strong culture can prove very resistant to change and can damage a firm’s ability to innovate. 8 - 56 Culture Clash • Strong cultures can mix badly when a merger or acquisition pushes two of them together under the same corporate banner. 8 - 57 Pathology • Some strong cultures can threaten organizational effectiveness simply because the cultures are, in some sense, pathological. • Cultures based on beliefs, values, and assumptions that support infighting, secrecy, and paranoia. 8 - 58 The Founder’s Role • Many cultures, especially strong cultures, reflect the values of an organization’s founder. • Top management strongly shapes an organization’s culture. • The culture usually emulates what top management “pays attention to.” 8 - 59 Socialization Steps in Strong Cultures (1 of 2) • Step 1: Selecting Employees • Step 2: Debasement and Hazing • Step 3: Training “in the Trenches” • Step 4: Reward and Promotion • Step 5: Exposure to Core Culture • Step 6: Organizational Folklore • Step 7: Role Models 8 - 60 Socialization Steps in Strong Cultures (2 of 2) • It is the consistency among these steps and their mutually reinforcing properties that make for a strong culture. • Walt Disney Company is a good example of an organization that uses many of these steps. 8 - 61