8th edition

Steven P. Robbins
Mary Coulter

The Manager: Omnipotent or Symbolic?

Omnipotent (all-powerful) View of Management
Managers are directly responsible for an
organizations success or failure.
The quality of the organization is determined by the
quality of its managers.
Managers are held most accountable (considered
responsible) for an organizations
performance yet it is difficult to
attribute (to connect) good or poor
performance directly to their influence
on the organization.
Page 49

32

The Manager: Omnipotent or Symbolic?

Symbolic (representative) View of Management
Much of an organizations success or failure is due to
external forces outside of managers control.
The ability of managers to affect outcomes is
influenced and constrained (limited) by external factors.
The

economy, customers, governmental policies,

competitors, industry conditions,
technology, and the actions of
previous managers

Managers symbolize (represent) control

and influence through their action.
33

The Manager: Omnipotent or Symbolic?

Actions of managers according to the omnipotent
and symbolic views:
Omnipotent view: Actions include anticipating change;
exploiting opportunities; correcting poor performance;
leading organizations toward their goals.
Symbolic view: Actions include developing plans; making
decisions; engaging in activities for the benefit of
stockholders, customers, employees and the public.

Managerial discretion (freedom to act independently):

Managers are neither powerless nor all-powerful. Although
they operate within constraints imposed by the
organizations culture (internal constraints) and the
environment (external constraints), they can still influence the
organizations performance.
Page 50

34

Parameters of Managerial Discretion

Exhibit 3.1
35

The Organizations Culture (character)

Organizational Culture
A system of shared meanings and common beliefs held by
organizational members that determines, in a large degree, how
they act towards each other.
The way we do things around here.
Values, symbols, rituals (usual behavior), myths (beliefs), and
practices.
Implications (meanings):
Culture is a perception (based on what
is seen, heard or experienced)

Culture is shared (described by all

in similar terms)

Culture is descriptive (it describes

rather than evaluates)

Page 51
36

Dimensions of Organizational Culture

Seven dimensions (principles, components) capture the
essential meanings of an organizations culture. One
or more of these dimensions may be emphasized in various
degrees of importance, which gives the organization its
distinctive personality (character).
Attention to Detail
Outcome Orientation
People Orientation
Team Orientation
Aggressiveness (being fearless and enterprising)
Stability (being free from change)

Status quo = maintaining the

existing situation

Innovation and Risk Taking

Page 51

37

Dimensions of Organizational Culture

Exhibit 3.2
38

Strong versus Weak Cultures

Strong Cultures
Are cultures in which key values are deeply held (strongly committed to)
and widely shared (accepted and applied by everyone).
They Have a greater influence on employees than do weak cultures
Employees are more committed than those in organizations with
weak cultures
Strong cultures promote high performance.

Factors Influencing the Strength of Culture

Size of the organization
Age of the organization
Rate of employee turnover (that have to be replaced)
Strength of the original culture
Clarity (easy to understand) of cultural values and beliefs
Page 52

39

Organizational Culture
Sources of Organizational Culture
The organizations founders (those who started the business)
Their

vision or mission and the image they project of what

the organization should be.

Past practices of the organization

The

way things have been done before

The behavior of top management

E.g.

Their focus on aggressiveness or treating employees as

family.

How the Organizational Culture Continues

Recruitment of like-minded employees who fit
Socialization of new employees to help them adapt to the
culture.
Page 53

310

How an Organizations Culture Is Established

and Maintained

Exhibit 3.4
311

How Employees Learn Culture

Stories
Telling stories of significant events or actions and people that show the
spirit of the organization, presented in print or videos.

Rituals
Repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the values
of the organization. E.g. Morning physical exercises or singing as it is
done in Japan.

Material Symbols
Physical assets distinguishing the organization. E.g. Type of
automobiles, of furniture, the size of offices, dress code.

Language
Acronyms (word forms), characteristic language, use of terms, phrases,
and word meanings specific to an organization.
Page 55

312

How Culture Affects Managers

Cultural Constraints that affect Managers
Managerial actions that the organizational culture
recognizes as proper or improper (right or wrong)
Organizational activities that the culture values and
encourages
The strength or weakness of the organizational
culture
Simple rule for getting ahead in an organization:
Find out what the organization rewards and do those things.

313

Managerial Decisions Affected by Culture

Planning
The degree of risk that plans should contain
Whether plans should be developed by individuals or teams
The degree of environmental scanning in which management
will engage
Organizing
How much autonomy (independence) should be designed into
employees jobs
Whether tasks should be done by individuals or in teams
The extent of interaction (acting together) between department
managers

Exhibit 3.5a
Page 58

314

Managerial Decisions Affected by Culture

Leading
The degree to which managers are concerned with increasing
employee job satisfaction
What styles of leadership are appropriate
Whether all disagreementseven constructive onesshould
be eliminated
Controlling
Whether to impose external controls or to allow employees to
control their own actions
What criteria (basis for comparison) should be used when
evaluating employee performance
What consequences will occur from exceeding ones budget
Exhibit 3.5b
315

Suggestions for Managers: Creating a More

Ethical Culture
Be a visible role model.
Communicate ethical expectations (tell what is right and
wrong).
Provide ethics training.
Visibly reward ethical (honorable) acts and punish
unethical ones.
Provide protective mechanisms so employees can
discuss ethical dilemmas (problems) and report
unethical behavior without fear.
Exhibit 3.6
Page 59

316

Organization Culture Issues

Creating an Ethical
Culture
High in risk tolerance
Low to moderate
aggressiveness
Focus on means as
well as outcomes

Creating an Innovative
Culture
Challenge and
involvement
Freedom
Trust and openness
Idea time
Playfulness/humor
Conflict resolution
Debates
Risk-taking
317

Organization Culture Issues (contd)

Creating a Customer-Responsive Culture
Hiring the right type of employees (ones with a strong
interest in serving customers)
Having few rigid rules, procedures, and regulations
Using widespread (general) empowerment of employees
Having good listening skills in relating to customers
messages
Providing role clarity to employees to reduce ambiguity
(lack of clarity) and conflict and increase job satisfaction (clearly
define responsibilities so as to eliminate confusion)

Having conscientious, caring employees willing to take

initiative
Page 60

318

Spirituality and Organizational Culture

Workplace Spirituality
The recognition that people have an inner life (deep feelings and
emotional states) that nourishes (provides) and is nourished by
meaningful work that takes place in the context of community.
Employees are looking for ways to cope with stress and
pressures in their lives.

Characteristics of a Spiritual Organization

Strong sense of purpose (important role)
Focus on individual development
Trust and openness
Employee empowerment (authorizing decision making)
Toleration (acceptance) of employees expression (allowing people
to express feelings and be themselves)
Page 61

319

Benefits of Spirituality
Improved employee productivity
Reduction of employee turnover
Stronger organizational performance
Increased creativity
Increased employee satisfaction
Increased team performance
Increased organizational performance

320

Defining the External Environment

External Environment
The forces and institutions outside the organization
that potentially can affect the organizations
performance.

Components of the External Environment

Specific environment: external forces that have a
direct and immediate impact on the organization (e.g.
customers, suppliers, competitors).

General environment: broad economic, sociocultural (e.g. religion, lifestyles, technology), political/legal,
demographic (e.g. gender, age, education, income),
technological, and global conditions that may affect
the organization.
Page 63

321

The External
Environment

Exhibit 3.8
322

How the Environment Affects Managers

Environmental Uncertainty
The extent to which managers have knowledge of and
are able to predict change in their organizations external
environment is affected by:

Dimensions in Environmental Uncertainty

Complexity

of the environment: the number of

components in an organizations external
environment.

Degree

of change in environmental components:

how dynamic or stable the external environment is.

Page 68
323

Environmental Uncertainty Matrix

Exhibit 3.10
324

Stakeholder Relationships
Stakeholders
Any constituencies in the organizations external
environment that are affected by the organizations
decisions and actions

Why Manage Stakeholder Relationships?

It can lead to improved organizational performance.
Its the right thing to do given the interdependence of
the organization and its external stakeholders.

Page 70
325

Organizational Stakeholders

Exhibit 3.11
326

Managing Stakeholder Relationships

1. Identify the organizations external stakeholders (which
groups might be affected by decisions?).
2. Determine the particular interests and concerns of the
external stakeholders (e.g. product quality, financial issues).
3. Decide how critical each external stakeholder is to the
organization (some are more critical than others).
4. Determine how to manage each individual external
stakeholder relationship (depending on how critical the
stakeholder and how uncertain the environment are).
Page 71
327

C H A P T E R R E V I E W 1/3
The Manager: Omnipotent or Symbolic (slide 4)
Contrast the actions of managers according to the
omnipotent and symbolic views.
Explain the parameters of managerial discretion.

The Organizations Culture (slides 8, 9, 10, 12)

Describe the seven dimensions of organizational culture.
Discuss the impact of a strong culture on organizations
and managers.
Explain the source of an organizations culture and how
that culture continues.
Describe how culture is transmitted to employees.
328

C H A P T E R R E V I E W 2/3
Current Organizational Issues Facing Managers

(slides 17, 18,

19)

Describe the characteristics of an ethical culture, an innovative

culture, and a customer-responsive culture.
Discuss why workplace spirituality seems to be an important
concern.
Describe the characteristics of a spiritual organization.

329

C H A P T E R R E V I E W 3/3
The Environment (slides 21, 23, 26, 27)
Describe the components of the specific and general
environments.
Discuss the two dimensions of environmental uncertainty.
Identify the most common organizational stakeholders.
Explain the four steps in managing external stakeholder
relationships.

330