MGT380 Week 3 Instructor Guidance

MGT380: Leadership for Organizations

Week 3

MGT380: LEADERSHIP

FOR ORGANIZATIONS

MGT380: Leadership for Organizations

Week 3

WEEK THREE OVERVIEW

Week 3 examines the challenges that leaders face regarding cultural

differences and building and maintaining a corporate culture.

• Dealing with cultural differences in both areas (of building and

maintaining) is challenging because it’s impossible to know everything

when it comes to cultural differences.

• It’s also extremely difficult to influence an organization’s culture unless

there are significant systems of checks and balances in place. We’ll take a

look at the reasons why and how to overcome the barriers.

MGT380: Leadership for Organizations

Week 3

WEEK THREE LEARNING

OBJECTIVES

• Explain why it is important for leaders to be able to manage across cultures and understand cultural differences.

• Analyze how a leader interacts with corporate culture

MGT380: Leadership for Organizations

Week 3

READINGS, REQUIRED

ARTICLE, AND WEBSITE

ReadingsRead the following chapter in An Introduction to Leadership:

1. Chapter 7: Communication

2. Chapter 10: Organizational Culture

MGT380: Leadership for Organizations

Week 3

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE

• Communication is one of the most important aspects of executing organizational strategies. If employees select the right types of communication channels, and the appropriate information to communicate, they can accomplish a great deal in a short time.

However, when dealing with cultural differences we often do not consider the ingrained aspects of communication. We have slang, jargon, idioms and quite a few aspects that set unspoken expectations in the workplace.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

Keep in mind that cultural differences are not always differences in the traditional sense. When we think of multiculturalism we think of a mix of persons from two different countries. However cultural differences can exist within one country (e.g. region to region) or among subgroups within the major culture.

Click here to visit a great website that focusing on various cultural differences from around the world.

CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT

One of the key challenges for leaders is the aspect of cultural engagement. As mentioned in previous slides, this process starts with communication. The goal of communication within organization systems should include:

• Using diversity and inclusion to close cultural gaps.

• Create a unique organizational culture that leverages the cultural diversity in the workplace.

• Create opportunities to learn about various cultures in the workplace. (Llopis, 2016)

Although this isn’t a comprehensive list it is a good start.

Llopis, G. (2016, April 23). Is Diversity Good For Business? Retrieved December 23, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2016/04/23/is-diversity-good-for-business/#1c3614e712e8

WHERE TO START???

Leaders typically have no problem identifying cultural differences. The challenge is in knowing how to frame them and develop a plan based on that information. A good guide to determine a starting point is the Competing Values Framework developed by Robert E. Quinn and John Rohrbaugh in 1983.

Values Based Management Inc. (2016, January 06). Summary of the competing values framework. Abstract. Retrieved December 29, 2016, from Values Based Management, http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_quinn_competing_values_framework.html

Figure 1 – Competing Values Framework. Retrieved December 29, 2016, from http://www.artsjournal.com/fieldnotes/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/CompetingValues2.jpg

CORPORATE CULTURE

THE MAKE-UP OF CORPORATE

CULTURECorporate culture has a tremendous impact on the organization’s ability to accomplish things. This week’s reading will cover the three areas that have the most impact on organizational culture:

1) Artifacts

2) Espoused (or expressed) values

3) Assumptions (Weiss, Ch 10.1, 2015).

No matter the type of the organization, these three areas will always be present.

ARTIFACTS

Artifacts are the visible things that you see in the organization. It’s slogan, marketing materials, logo, etc. Artifacts give the first impression about the organization and gives outsides the first impression of the organization and gives.

Additional examples of organizational artifacts include:

• The company’s handbook

• Traditions (e.g. taking new hires to lunch on the 1st day)

• Employee recognition programs

Organizational artifacts are easy to identify because they are at every level of the organization and they are applied equally.

ESPOUSED VALUES

• The espoused values are the ones that the leaders use to define the organization’s purpose. The espoused values are often rooted in the organizations mission, vision and values statements. These are the things that the organization says that it values, however they may not actually practice what they preach. The values the organization actually puts into practice is known as enacted values.

Additional examples of espoused values:

• The company’s code of ethics

• Corporate Social Responsibility programs

ASSUMPTIONS

The assumptions are the things employees automatically assume about the organization because of their experience and history with it.

Additional examples of assumptions include:

• The expectations from leadership

• The level of employees

• Behavioral expectations

• Acceptable ways of communication

THE FOUNDATIONS OF BUILDING

AN ADAPTABLE CULTURE

WEEK 3 QUIZ

• Ensure that you complete your Week 3 you Quiz by Day 7.

LET’S LOOK AHEAD

Let’s look at the final paper… what to expect… and how to prepare…

CONSIDER WORKING WITH THE

ASHFORD WRITING CENTERAsk your professor to refer you to the Ashford Writing Center (AWC). They are quite helpful and you will benefit from the resources there.

Email your professor and ask for a referral.

STILL HAVE QUESTIONS

ON ACADEMIC WRITING

OR APA FORMATTING?https://awc.ashford.edu/Index.html

ANY

QUESTIONS?

Please post your questions in the Ask the Instructor thread or e-mail your instructor directly.