Reference no: EM131057574

Module - SLP

Organizational Structure and Culture

For the SLP assignment, you will explore some aspects of an organization's culture, at least as you see it. (Select an organization you have worked with, if possible.) Since the concept of organizational culture is open to many interpretations and classifications, this assessment offers a slightly different approach from your background reading on organizational culture.

Required Reading

Debra WoogMcGinty and Nicole C. Moss have compiled a short corporate culture survey aimed at identifying characteristics of workplaces. The categories of workplace description that it generates are fairly self-explanatory.

Assignment

When you have completed the assessment think about it for a minute, and how it compares to the Academy, Baseball Team, Fortress, and Club cultures described by McNamara in the Background reading. Then prepare a 2- to 3-page paper addressing:

- Your scores on the McGinty/Moss assessment and whether or not they fit your general expectations or constitute a surprise in some ways. Interpret the results of the assessment in terms of your own experience, either to confirm or to question the results. Compare your findings with the McNamara categories.

- The degree to which the McGinty/Moss assessment and the McNamara information tell you similar or dissimilar things about your organization.

- Do the assessment and the McNamara categories help improve your managerial understanding and/or skills? What can you infer from the assessment results about how your organization's culture fits or doesn't fit with you? What (if anything) can you do to make your interaction with the culture more effective?

- Provide your opinion on whether or not the questions asked help you understand the organization and how you cope with it. Do they accurately assess what is needed to analyze a company's culture?

- Include the actual results to the survey in an Appendix section in your paper.

SLP Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated using the criteria as stated in the SLP rubric. The following is a review of the rubric criteria:
Assignment-Driven: Does the paper fully address all aspects of the assignment? Is the assignment addressed accurately and precisely using sound logic? Does the paper meet minimum length requirements?

Critical Thinking: Does the paper demonstrate graduate-level analysis, in which information derived from multiple sources, expert opinions, and assumptions has been critically evaluated and synthesized in the formulation of a logical set of conclusions? Does the paper address the topic with sufficient depth of discussion and analysis?

Business Writing: Is the essay logical, well organized and well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are section headings included? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding, or is justification/support instead conveyed through excessive use of direct quotations?

Effective Use of Information: Does the submission demonstrate that the student has read, understood and can apply the background materials for the module? If required, has the student demonstrated effective research, as evidenced by student's use of relevant and quality (library?) sources? Do additional sources used provide strong support for conclusions drawn, and do they help in shaping the overall paper?

Citing Sources: Does the student demonstrate understanding of APA Style of referencing, by inclusion of proper citations (for paraphrased text and direct quotations) as appropriate? Have all sources (e.g., references used from the Background page, the assignment readings, and outside research) been included, and are these properly cited? Have all sources cited in the paper been included on the References page?
Timeliness: Has the assignment been submitted to TLC (Trident's learning management system) on or before the module's due date?

What is My Corporate Culture
Corporate culture is a complex subject. Yet analyzing your company's culture can help you create a plan to improve it.
This 15-question survey has been developed to serve as a starting point for your analysis.
Answer each true/false question according to what is true most of the time. And answer based on how your organization actually acts -- not how you would like it to be.
True/False Questions
(I have answered all the Questions)
1. I know how my projects contribute to the success or failure of our organization. (True)
2. Management here makes lots of announcements to employees. (True)
3. I have colleagues from a wide variety of professional and personal backgrounds. (True)
4. In this organization, people who are not ready to be promoted after a certain length of time at their level are generally encouraged to leave. (False)
5. Departments or teams compete with each other for our organization's resources. (False)
6. When people are not getting along here, it's a long time before we directly address the issue. (False)
7. When it's time for me to learn a new skill, training is readily available at no cost to me. (True)
8. When the boss tells us to "jump!" we ask "how high?" (False)
9. It takes a long time for this organization to address customer concerns. (False)
10. Many employees expect to work at this organization for their whole careers. (True)
11. Senior management says the door is always open -- and they mean it. (True)
12. It is fun to work here. (True)
13. We have three or fewer layers of management. (True)
14. We have performance reviews less than once a year. (True)
15. Compensation and benefits are relatively low here. (True)
Go to the next page to score your quiz.
Count your "True" responses in each third of the quiz (questions 1- 5, 6-10, 11-15). The section in which you have answered "True" the most times corresponds to the culture type your organization most closely matches. If you have the same number of "True" responses in more than one section, your culture matches this combination of types. On the next page, you'll find a list of primary advantages and potential pitfalls of each one.
Related Links - Corporate Culture
- The Culture Wars
- Guide to Improving Your Communication Skills

For questions 1-5:
If you had the most "True" responses in this set of questions, your company has a Deliberative/Traditional culture.
Advantages:
- This culture tends to be intellectual and thoughtful.
- People in this type of organization often consider issues carefully prior to making a change.
- The organization likely has many formal systems, yet flexibly forms and reforms teams in accordance with immediate client needs.
- This cultural type regularly hires groups of new employees, generating a valuable flow of diverse talent with fresh perspectives.
- Senior management communicates frequently to employees.
Pitfalls:
- Although plenty of communication usually flows from the top of this organizational type, management often does not indicate interest in feedback from all levels. Beyond making announcements from management, ask for regular feedback so you don't miss critical information and/or valuable innovations from your staff.
- Be careful that your organization doesn't discuss change for so long that you miss important opportunities to change for the better.
- Be aware of the cultural implications of fostering competition within a company. Internal competition may create resentment that drives costly turnover.
Related links:
- You want a fast-reacting, adaptable corporation?
- Tips to Match a New Recruit's Perspective with Workplace Culture
- Match Your Interview Questions to Your Culture
For questions 6-10:
If you had the most "True" responses in this set of questions, your company has an Established/Stable culture.
Advantages:
- This organization has most likely been around for a long time and/or is a family business. These organizations tend to have solid institutional memories, so they are likely not to waste resources by repeatedly "reinventing the wheel".
- This type of company has processes in place to address most situations.
- Organizations of this type tend to cultivate employees by encouraging development through mentoring programs and/or formal training opportunities.
- This culture type is known for compensating its people relatively well.
Pitfalls:
- Typically this type of organization struggles to handle conflict well, often becoming either conflict avoidant or "command and control." If your organization tends to be conflict avoidant, it may be time to address those problems that are out of hand, or that have been out of hand in the past.
- "Command and control" style leadership may yield feelings of disconnectedness among employees. Consider assessing employee morale immediately.
- Overall, this culture type tends to be wary of turnover, so take a careful look at your organization and consider whether it's holding on to people who might best be let go.
- While established systems can be a positive sign of organizational health, make sure your processes are focused toward addressing customer needs in a timely matter. If your processes impede rapid resolution of customer problems, rework them right away.

Assignment-Driven: Does the paper fully address all aspects of the assignment? Is the assignment addressed accurately and precisely using sound logic? Does the paper meet minimum length requirements?
Critical Thinking: Does the paper demonstrate graduate-level analysis, in which information derived from multiple sources, expert opinions, and assumptions has been critically evaluated and synthesized in the formulation of a logical set of conclusions? Does the paper address the topic with sufficient depth of discussion and analysis?
Business Writing: Is the essay logical, well organized and well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are section headings included? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding, or is justification/support instead conveyed through excessive use of direct quotations?
Effective Use of Information: Does the submission demonstrate that the student has read, understood and can apply the background materials for the module? If required, has the student demonstrated effective research, as evidenced by student's use of relevant and quality (library?) sources? Do additional sources used provide strong support for conclusions drawn, and do they help in shaping the overall paper?
Citing Sources: Does the student demonstrate understanding of APA Style of referencing, by inclusion of proper citations (for paraphrased text and direct quotations) as appropriate? Have all sources (e.g., references used from the Background page, the assignment readings, and outside research) been included, and are these properly cited? Have all sources cited in the paper been included on the References page?

What is My Corporate Culture
Corporate culture is a complex subject. Yet analyzing your company's culture can help you create a plan to improve it.
This 15-question survey has been developed to serve as a starting point for your analysis.
Answer each true/false question according to what is true most of the time. And answer based on how your organization actually acts -- not how you would like it to be.

For questions 1-5:
If you had the most "True" responses in this set of questions, your company has a Deliberative/Traditional culture.

Advantages:

- This culture tends to be intellectual and thoughtful.

- People in this type of organization often consider issues carefully prior to making a change.

- The organization likely has many formal systems, yet flexibly forms and reforms teams in accordance with immediate client needs.

- This cultural type regularly hires groups of new employees, generating a valuable flow of diverse talent with fresh perspectives.

- Senior management communicates frequently to employees.

Pitfalls:

- Although plenty of communication usually flows from the top of this organizational type, management often does not indicate interest in feedback from all levels. Beyond making announcements from management, ask for regular feedback so you don't miss critical information and/or valuable innovations from your staff.

- Be careful that your organization doesn't discuss change for so long that you miss important opportunities to change for the better.

- Be aware of the cultural implications of fostering competition within a company. Internal competition may create resentment that drives costly turnover.

For questions 6-10:

If you had the most "True" responses in this set of questions, your company has an Established/Stable culture.

Advantages:

- This organization has most likely been around for a long time and/or is a family business. These organizations tend to have solid institutional memories, so they are likely not to waste resources by repeatedly "reinventing the wheel".

- This type of company has processes in place to address most situations.

- Organizations of this type tend to cultivate employees by encouraging development through mentoring programs and/or formal training opportunities.

- This culture type is known for compensating its people relatively well.

Pitfalls:

- Typically this type of organization struggles to handle conflict well, often becoming either conflict avoidant or "command and control." If your organization tends to be conflict avoidant, it may be time to address those problems that are out of hand, or that have been out of hand in the past.

- "Command and control" style leadership may yield feelings of disconnectedness among employees. Consider assessing employee morale immediately.

- Overall, this culture type tends to be wary of turnover, so take a careful look at your organization and consider whether it's holding on to people who might best be let go.

- While established systems can be a positive sign of organizational health, make sure your processes are focused toward addressing customer needs in a timely matter. If your processes impede rapid resolution of customer problems, rework them right away.

For questions 11-15:

If you had the most "True" responses in this set of questions, your company has an Urgent/Seat of the Pants culture.

Advantages:

- This culture type features a positive work environment, with tight bonds among employees.

- It is likely that an aspect of your organization's mission includes responding to crisis. People care deeply about the firm's mission and work hard to achieve the organization's goals.

- Employees who frequently hurry to beat the clock can create great results in a short time, provided that quality is a strong value in your organization.

- These organizations tend to have a flat structure that fosters communication and collaboration among employees and speeds the decision-making process.

Pitfalls:

- Caution: minimum rewards (both tangible and intangible) and minimum feedback are common to this culture type. Rewards and recognition are important not only to generate loyalty but also to foster collaboration.

- The constant rush to get things done quickly can lead to burnout and increase the ever-present danger of losing talent.

- Although this type of culture generally features frequent upward communication and grassroots change, top-down communication tends to be inadequate. Beyond staying accessible, take time to share important messages and expectations with your entire staff to keep them motivated and moving in the right direction.

- Making decisions under intense time pressure may lead to a reduction in the quality of your products or services.

This Paper must be written in APA format. Must be 3-4 Pages Long. It must have a least 2 Cited Reources and Reference Page.

Headings need to be within the paper to give smooth transition and make certain that the paper is understandable.