ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Required
Material
A good place to start is this interactive tutorial:
Organizational
culture. (2014). Pearson Learning Solutions. New York,
NY.
After reviewing the tutorial, dig deeper into this
topic with the following readings:
Piccolo, R. & Bardes, M. (2011). Chapter 13:
Cultural due diligence. In Baker, H. (Ed.)Art of Capital Restructuring, John Wiley & Sons. Hoboken, N.J Available in Trident Online
Library (go to Additional Library Sources, EBSCO eBook Collection, type
inArt of
Capital Restructuring in the Summon search box).
Rao, P. (2010). Organisational culture and
effectiveness.Organisational
Behaviour. Global Media, Mumbai.Available from Trident
Online Library (typeRao
Organisational Behaviour in the Summon search
box).
Required Case
Assignment Reading
Bird, A. (Mar. 13, 2011). Southwest: Corporate
culture combines work, play. The
Post and Courier.[ProQuest]. Available in
Trident Online Library (typeSouthwest: Corporate culture combines work, play in the Summon search box).
Dissecting the Kochtopus. (Jun. 7, 2014).The Economist, 411, 76.
[ProQuest]. Available in Trident Online Library (typeDissecting the Kochtopus in the Summon search box).
Klein, D. (2012). Creating cultures that lead to
success: Lincoln Electric, Southwest Airlines, and SAS Institute. Organizational Dynamics 41(1), 35-39 Note: you only have to read the middle portion of the
article concerning Southwest Airlines and not the whole article] Available
in Trident Online Library, Science Direct (typeKlein Creating cultures that lead to success in Summon search box).
Whatley, H. (2013). Principles and dimensions of
market-based management.Independent Journal of Management & Production. 4(1), 126-135. Available in Trident Online Library ProQuest (typeWhatley Principles and dimensions of market-based
management in Summon se
Assignment
Overview
Signature
Assignment—Written Communication Skills
Southwest Airlines and Koch Industries are both
known for their distinctive organizational cultures, and both have been highly
successful and profitable companies. Southwest Airlines is known as a
“fun” place to work where socialization and humor in the workplace are strongly
encouraged. Koch Industries, on the other hand, has a culture defined by
the principles of “market-based management” where performance and revenue
growth is emphasized.
Do some background reading on the cultures behind
Southwest Airlines and Koch Industries. While doing your research, keep
strongly in mind the characteristics of organizational cultures discussed in
the background materials such as team-oriented, people-oriented,
outcome-oriented, etc. Here are some articles to get you started on your
research that will give you some background about the cultures at these two
organizations:
Klein, D. (2011). Creating cultures that lead to
success: Lincoln Electric, Southwest Airlines, and SAS Institute. Organizational Dynamics 41(1), 35-39 [Available in Science Direct. Note: you only
have to read the middle portion of the article concerning Southwest Airlines
and not the whole article]
Bird, A. (Mar. 13, 2011). Southwest: Corporate
culture combines work, play. The
Post and Courier.[Proquest]
Whatley, H. (2013). Principles and dimensions of
market-based management.Independent Journal of Management & Production, 4(1), 126-135. [Proquest]
Dissecting the Kochtopus. (Jun. 7, 2014).The Economist, 411, 76.
[Proquest]
Case
Assignment
When you are finished with your research, write a
four to five page paper addressing the following issues:
1. Describe the
organizational culture of Southwest Airlines the best you can using the
characteristics of organizational culture discussed in Rao (2010)
and Piccolo and Bardes (2011). These include but are not
limited to detail-oriented, team-oriented, innovative, aggressive,
outcome-oriented, and people-oriented. Be specific as you can regarding
which characteristics of organizational culture that you read about in the
background materials apply to Southwest and which ones do not.
2. Describe the
organizational culture of Koch Industries the best you can using the
characteristics of organizational culture discussed in Rao (2010)
and Piccolo and Bardes (2011).
3. Now suppose
Koch Industries decided to purchase Southwest Airlines. Compare and
contrast the two cultures, and explain what kind of challenges do you think
they would face in merging the two cultures. Also, explain what steps you
think would need to be taken in order to prevent culture clashes between the
two organizations. Use concepts from Rao (2010) or Piccolo and Bardes (2011) as
part of your recommendations on steps to take to avoid culture clashes.
Assignment
Expectations
· Answer the assignment questions directly
· This assignment has been selected as a signature assignment to assess
written communication skills. A different rubric will be used for this
assignment that emphasizes written communication skills.
· Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don’t go off on
tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials
· Make sure to use reliable and credible sources as your references.
Articles published in established newspapers or business journals/magazines are
preferred. If you find articles on the internet, make sure it is from a
credible source.
· Reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and
in-text citations. See theStudent
Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13-14 on in-text citations. Another resource is the “Writing
Style Guide, which is found under “My Resources” in the TLC
portal.
