NMIMS Global Access

School for Continuing Education (NGA-SCE)

Course: - Organization Culture
Internal Assignment Applicable for June 2023 Examination

ANS 1: - These sets of people have usually worked together for some time and
have a shared history of successfully overcoming problems. Culture, ultimately,
comes about through the behaviour of individuals. Schein defines culture as
everything an organization has learned throughout its history. Culture is not
just how people feel; it is also about how people think and respond to things as
a group. This culture model encourages you to think more deeply about culture
by breaking culture down into levels. This model provides a mechanism or lens
to think about and frame organizational culture.
This model can be applied in practice in the following ways: -
1. Focus on a specific business problem: - Culture only really matters when
there is a problem, much like your personality only matters if there is a
problem. If your organizational culture is adaptive and can change
automatically to new internal and external realities, then you do not have a
problem, and you do not need to fix your culture. If you have a problem,
however, the first step is to spell out the problem as specifically and just as
possible.

2. Engage a group to find out what is causing the problem: - Culture exists in
groups, so this step involves getting a group of your people together who
can get to the bottom of what is causing your business problem. In this step,
you use the culture model to understand how the different levels of culture
apply to your problem.

3. Creating the right environment: - To ensure your group has the best chance
of getting to the root of the problem, create a safe space for their
discussions. Anything someone says in the group discussion should not be
used against them later. It should be a safe place to speak your mind,
question the status quo, speak up to managers.
4. Specify the change goal: - Once your group has identified what is causing
your business problem, ask the question- What would behaviour look like a
year from now if we solved this problem? Answering this question will help
you move away from understanding your problem and towards thinking
about how to solve your problem.

5. Build a change program to rectify: - The change program should include

steps like getting senior management on board and targeting quick wins, so
you start to see results and build momentum fast. Your change program
does not need to be huge in scale. It simply needs to fix your business
problem.

ANS 2: - Individualism- collectivism refers to the strength of the ties that

people have to others within their community. In a collectivist society,
however, people are supposed to be loyal to the group to which they
belong, and, in exchange, the group will defend their interests. The group
itself is normally larger, and people take responsibility for one another's
well-being. Whereas, Power distance refers to the degree of inequality
that exists – and is accepted – between people with and without power. A
high PDI score indicates that a society accepts an unequal, hierarchical
distribution of power, and that people understand "their place" in the
system. A low PDI score means that power is shared and is widely
dispersed, and that society members do not accept situations where
power is distributed unequally.
To create a more inclusive and diverse workplace here are the following
steps a leader can follow: -
1. Be purposeful: - A diverse organization is not necessarily an inclusive
organization. Leaders need to be purposeful about including others who see
things differently from them, which will in turn help them better identify
their own insensible partiality in the workplace.

2. Move beyond sensitive training: - Sensitivity training is an

important part of the solution, but too many organizations use it as a one-
time-use silver bullet that they believe will remove all risk of conscious and
 unconscious bias from their organization. Without the implementation of
positive measures, including a current internal discussion, sensitivity
exercise can easily end up being no more than a time-printed exercise or
experience that likely will not vibrate among employees.

3. Measure Thanks in real time: - A formal gratitude program that is widely

adopted across an organization and aligned directly to company values can
be a powerful tool for justifying insensible bias. It not only increases
appreciation across an organization, but it provides managers with hard
data on who is being most frequently recognized and who is not. By
measuring recognition moments and analysing the data, employers can hold
a mirror to their recognition practices.

4. Democratize recognition: - Companies that democratize recognition

remove the order from performance feedback. Rather than recognition
being only a top-down practice given by one manager, democratization
empowers everyone in an organization, from C-Suite executives to customer
service representatives, to take an active role in recognizing their
colleagues. Whether it is sending a companywide “thank you” email for a
job well done or rewarding an employee through a recognition program,
companies that democratize recognition can harness positivity and
empower all employees to have a voice in their colleagues’ success.

ANS 3: - a) Culture Models to improve organizational performance are: -

1. Communicate with your employees: - Communicating with your
employees is the first step in adopting a healthy work culture. You
should discover what employees like or dislike about the work process,
leadership, and environment. You should also find out what motivates
team members and redesign the existing work culture that is not serving
these needs. Similarly, it would help if you encouraged employees to
engage more in decision-making. If you can get employees to feel great
working with you, then there is a high chance you will notice an increase
in productivity.
2. Encourage creativity and innovation: - A company that encourages
employees to be risk-takers, creative, or innovative will likely experience
more growth. A single idea may be all you need to take the company to
the next level, and it could be sitting in an employee’s head. You can
make a difference in your organizational culture by encouraging
employees to undertake personal tasks that align with the company’s
goals.

3. Create a diverse workplace: - Companies like Microsoft did not just

become influential overnight. Diversity is a major park of organizational
culture. You can incorporate diversity by creating a fun and inclusive
workspace where workers from different walks of life can collaborate on
impactful projects. By encouraging an equitable onboarding process,
you can create a diverse company culture that encompasses all
employees and gives them a sense of belonging.

4. Hire employees with similar values: - To promote a long-lasting and

successful organizational culture, hiring workers with similar values is
one practice you should take seriously. You cannot sustain a positive
work culture if new hires think and act differently from existing
employees. Hiring based on qualifications or talent is not enough. You
should also pay attention to your worker’s personal beliefs and
principles, like honesty, innovation, passion, and creativity.

5. Leverage individual Strengths: - One of the best work culture best

practices is leveraging each employee and their specific strengths. For
instance, the company writer may be better off as a marketing
consultant. You can utilize this skill rather than delegating a particular
role to an employee simply because they applied for it. When your
employees utilize their strengths more, you will discover a jump in
productivity.

ANS 3 b) Leaders can use these models to create a positive workplace

environment: -
1. Set clear organizational goals: - Outline the objectives of each team so
employees have tangible results to work toward. Not only will this help
guide individual performance, but it will encourage collaboration between
 team members. Make sure there is room for feedback to adjust quotas and
KPIs when needed. For example, if a team is continually reaching their
objectives without breaking a sweat, you might want to modify their target
goals to push production further.

2. Promote the organization’s goals: - In addition to setting departmental

goals, make sure every employee is clear on the organization’s long-term
objectives. This will help individuals cultivate a sense of professional
purpose. Having a source of motivation beyond quarterly quotas will
demonstrate the value each role has toward achieving the company’s
mission.

3. Promote diversity and inclusivity: - Create a positive, inclusive work

culture by welcoming individuals from all backgrounds and celebrating their
differences. Encourage employees to share their pronouns with the rest of
the team to promote inclusive language and consider establishing a
committee to contribute to diversity initiatives. Work with the HR
department to make diversity a part of your recruitment strategy and
ensure diversity and inclusion continue to be foundational elements as your
organization grows.

4. Prioritize respect: - Every individual should feel valued and heard,

irrespective of their status within the company. Interns offer a much greater
advantage than being representatives for busy work, and new employees
bring a fresh perspective. You never know where the next big idea will come
from, so let every employee have a seat at the table and feel allowed to
share their thoughts.

5. Create an employee recognition program: - Recognize and reward

employees for achieving outstanding results. Doing so will encourage
employees to continue performing at impressive levels, and make them feel
valued within the company. It will also motivate their peers to up their
game, development a work culture of friendly competition that leads to
high performance.
6. Accept and utilize your employee’s feedback: - In fact, try to change your
perspective on feedback. Rather than considering it to be telling of
something you are doing wrong, think of it as the opposite your employees
care so much about the organization and its success that they are trying to
help make it better. They are choosing to bring their pain points to your
attention and it gives you the opportunity to fix them instead of the
employee stewing over them and eventually leaving the company out of
frustration.

7. Be flexible: - Life happens and things will get in the way. Employees should
not fear consequences for taking time to manage other emergencies or
responsibilities outside of work. For example, if an employee is struggling to
balance work with their family life, try to figure out a compromise that
allows them to be productive at work without sacrificing their personal life.

8. Be transparent: - Engaged employees invest their full selves into the success
of the company, and they deserve your leadership team’s trust.
Promote transparency and open communication between department
heads, management, and team members. Doing so will create a positive
work culture where employees feel heard and valued.