Culture Clash: The Corporate Socialization Process Meets Non-Congruent Organization Subcultures
The literature on organization socialization suggests characteristics associated with strong organization culture. Key among these is a socialization process that emphasizes well-defined roles, rules, routines, and values; reinforcement with intrinsic and extrinsic reward systems; and conditionin...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
2002
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1610 |
| _version_ | 1826198051389177856 |
|---|---|
| author | Fine, Charles H. Novak, Sharon (Economist) |
| author_facet | Fine, Charles H. Novak, Sharon (Economist) |
| author_sort | Fine, Charles H. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The literature on organization socialization suggests characteristics
associated with strong organization culture. Key among these is a socialization
process that emphasizes well-defined roles, rules, routines, and values;
reinforcement with intrinsic and extrinsic reward systems; and conditioning
experiences. That literature also suggests that an organization exhibiting a
strong culture and socialization process will likely elicit participant behavior that
is highly congruent with the espoused values and objectives stated by the
organization.
This paper uses a case study of General Motors' Saturn Corporation to
suggest an enrichment of this theory. We argue that Saturn fulfills all the
requirements of a strong culture and socialization process yet we find patterns of
behavior seemingly at odds with the espoused values and objectives articulated
in the environment. Co-existing with and within the strong corporate culture at
Saturn, we found work group subcultures whose socialization processes can be
just as strong as those at the corporate level but whose values suggest individual
behaviors that conflict with those espoused at the corporate level.
These observations lead us to suggest a model of culture-influenced
behavior that explicitly addresses the existence of distinct subgroup cultures.
Interestingly, the workgroup subcultures that generated behaviors at odds with
the outcomes desired at the corporate level were encouraged by exactly those
reward systems designed by Saturn to reinforce the espoused values of
consensus decision-making at the workgroup level. Such observations
underscore the complexity and subtlety involved in designing coherent
organization-wide cultures and reinforcing mechanisms. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:58:05Z |
| id | mit-1721.1/1610 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:58:05Z |
| publishDate | 2002 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/16102019-04-12T16:33:46Z Culture Clash: The Corporate Socialization Process Meets Non-Congruent Organization Subcultures Fine, Charles H. Novak, Sharon (Economist) socialization General Motors' Saturn Corporation culture corporate The literature on organization socialization suggests characteristics associated with strong organization culture. Key among these is a socialization process that emphasizes well-defined roles, rules, routines, and values; reinforcement with intrinsic and extrinsic reward systems; and conditioning experiences. That literature also suggests that an organization exhibiting a strong culture and socialization process will likely elicit participant behavior that is highly congruent with the espoused values and objectives stated by the organization. This paper uses a case study of General Motors' Saturn Corporation to suggest an enrichment of this theory. We argue that Saturn fulfills all the requirements of a strong culture and socialization process yet we find patterns of behavior seemingly at odds with the espoused values and objectives articulated in the environment. Co-existing with and within the strong corporate culture at Saturn, we found work group subcultures whose socialization processes can be just as strong as those at the corporate level but whose values suggest individual behaviors that conflict with those espoused at the corporate level. These observations lead us to suggest a model of culture-influenced behavior that explicitly addresses the existence of distinct subgroup cultures. Interestingly, the workgroup subcultures that generated behaviors at odds with the outcomes desired at the corporate level were encouraged by exactly those reward systems designed by Saturn to reinforce the espoused values of consensus decision-making at the workgroup level. Such observations underscore the complexity and subtlety involved in designing coherent organization-wide cultures and reinforcing mechanisms. MIT's International Motor Vehicle Program and Project Delta at the Sloan School of Management. 2002-09-03T20:12:16Z 2002-09-03T20:12:16Z 2002-09-03T20:12:17Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1610 en_US 39649 bytes application/pdf application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | socialization General Motors' Saturn Corporation culture corporate Fine, Charles H. Novak, Sharon (Economist) Culture Clash: The Corporate Socialization Process Meets Non-Congruent Organization Subcultures |
| title | Culture Clash: The Corporate Socialization Process Meets Non-Congruent Organization Subcultures |
| title_full | Culture Clash: The Corporate Socialization Process Meets Non-Congruent Organization Subcultures |
| title_fullStr | Culture Clash: The Corporate Socialization Process Meets Non-Congruent Organization Subcultures |
| title_full_unstemmed | Culture Clash: The Corporate Socialization Process Meets Non-Congruent Organization Subcultures |
| title_short | Culture Clash: The Corporate Socialization Process Meets Non-Congruent Organization Subcultures |
| title_sort | culture clash the corporate socialization process meets non congruent organization subcultures |
| topic | socialization General Motors' Saturn Corporation culture corporate |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1610 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT finecharlesh cultureclashthecorporatesocializationprocessmeetsnoncongruentorganizationsubcultures AT novaksharoneconomist cultureclashthecorporatesocializationprocessmeetsnoncongruentorganizationsubcultures |