THE ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE IN MERGING PROCESS

Organizational culture in merging process helps to explore the challenges and opportunities in integration process. mergers and acquisitions have a unique potential to transform firms and to contribute to corporate renewal (angwin,2001).


The following figure gives an overview of the different elements that should be taken into account when dealing with organizational culture.

THE ENVIRONMENT

Is cleared that a diverse group of variables has an influence on the organizational culture, the different influencing factors some in the broader and the more direct environment of the organization as visualized as surrounding influences. The organization should be aware of those variables. Some influences are:

·         National culture

·         The evolution of the business

·         Professional associations

·         Stakeholders

http://www.nhorizons.ca/en-change-culture-change.asp

Effective integration can be defined as the combination of firms into a single group, creating joint efforts to achieve goals inside the organization. international mergers arre more likely to bring together people with different values and beliefs about the work place. So, merger implies the reconstruction of a new social indentity.

According to Datta and Grant, 1990 tow organizational integration variables are relevant in the acquisition process:

1. the motive for the acquisition (decision making process): it influences the degree of required interaction between members of each organization.
2. the process of implementation: it proves if the strategy is or not effective if it leads to high levels of tension and conflict

acquisitions selection decisions are driven by financial and strategic considerations

ACCULTURATIVE PROCESS

according to Nahavandi and Malekzadeh, 1988 this process discribes the cultural changes resulting from the interaction of one organizational culture with another.

http://mavilabe.blogspot.com/2011/01/organizational-behavior-national-and.html

QUESTION

According to the case studies (in class and in textbook), what are the practical steps to minimize the feelings of uncertainty normally expected by employees, and also to facilitate the learning process to occur between the two groups of people in their process of cultural and behavioral integration?

the practical steps to minimize the feelings expected by employees are:

• mantaining competitiveness
• Sustaining performance momentum
• Driving employee engagement and commitment in tough times
• Seizing the slowdown as a time to build capability
• Building new skills and capabilities required to win in challenging times
• Maintaining knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the face of extraordinary turnover caused by downsizing
• Sustaining organizational culture
•  Providing essential messages through the downturn
•  Reinforcing one of the most powerful change resources
• Ensuring continued employer attractiveness/employee value proposition
• Shortening time to employee effectiveness
•  Building leaders who can teach leaders
• Ensuring a robust leadership pipeline
• Driving strategic alignment
• Encouraging continued innovation
• and external orientation

SOURCES

• organizational culture: http://www.nhorizons.ca/en-change-culture-change.asp

• Alzira Salama, Wayne Holland, Gerald Vinten (2003) "challenges and opportunities in mergers and aquisitions: three international cases studies-Deutsche bank-bankers Trust; British petroleum-Amoco; ford volvo" journal of European industrial training. vol 27 Iss:6,pp313-321
• cultural change: http://mavilabe.blogspot.com/2011/01/organizational-behavior-national-and.html

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING +MANAGING CHANGE+MANAGING CONFLICT

According to Hubber (1991) organizational learning is about the effective processing, interpretation of, and response to information both inside and outside the organization. This information may be quantitative or qualitative, but in general is explicit and in the public domain. The organization tries out new methods and tactics to get rapid feedback on their consequences in order to be able to make continuous adjustments and adaptations. For this theory, there are a number of dilemmas and problems identified by Levinthal and March (1993) as the between exploration and exploitation in the use of technology, because the former may lead to the development of new strategies and knowledge in the long term and the latter may lead to high profitability in the short term. Organizations have to find the appropriate balance between latter and former.

there are 2 styles of learning:

• Lower-level learning which Duncan (1974) calls "behavioral- level learning”,  that level of learning that is concerned with controlling the firm as it adjusts to the environment – the desired level of learning for routine decisions
• Higher-level learning aims at adjusting overall rules and norms rather than specific activities or behaviors. The associations that result from higher-level learning have long term effects and impacts on the organization as a whole.

http://digital-business-world.blogspot.com/2010/12/organizational-learning-of-chris.html

organizational learning is compounded by 4 phases:

1. The identification of information that seems relevant to learning
2. The exchange and diffusion of knowledge, either from the individual to the collective level or at the collective level itself
3. The integration of knowledge into existing knowledge systems at a collective level, an individual level, or both
4. The transformation of the new knowledge into action and the reapplication of the knowledge into organizational routines

Finally as conclusion organizational learning is a dynamic process that does not happens only through time, but also through different levels or dimensions of the organization. The dynamics is created through the tension between the organizational assimilation of new knowledge developed at individual level (feed-forward), and the use and individual exploration of organizational pre-existing knowledge (feedback).

MANAGING CHANGE:

according to Kavitta Singh (2009) change is a process of moving from present state to a desired state that individuals, or groups undertake in response to dynamic internal and external factors that alter current realities.

change can influence and modify important aspects of an organization as  technology, structure and strategy.

http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/Needs/Framework/Pages/default.aspx

QUESTION:

SOURCES:

• Organizational learning and the learning organization http://books.google.com.co/books id=pF2pcrSa49IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=learning+organization&hl=es&ei=_Nh_Tfm5IsG_tgfhwNTICA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

• types of organizational learning figure: http://digital-business-world.blogspot.com/2010/12/organizational-learning-of-chris.html

• (source: Curado, C. (2006). Organizational learning and organizational design. The Learning Organization, 13(1), 25. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/215656843?accountid=45662). http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.eafit.edu.co/docview/215656843/12E409843FC450CC40E/2?accountid=45662
• Deal T. and Kennedy, A. (1982). a corporate cultures. Adision-wesley.
• managing change: http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/Needs/Framework/Pages/default.aspx

MANAGING DIVERSITY

according to Cox, 2001 diversity is the variation of social and cultural identities among people existing together in a defined employment or market setting. 

 Groups made up of diverse personnel do a better job of analyzing and attacking problems (ibid). 

VALUING DIFFERENCES:

means recognizing and appreciating that individuals are different, that diversity is an advantage if it is valued and well managed, and that diversity is not to be simply tolerated but encouraged, supported and nurtured (Jamieson and O’Mara 1991). 

diversity management

A way of creating an environment that will enable all people to use full potential to

accomplish the mission. diversity has misunderstandings as:

• communication style
• trust
• accents
• stereotypes
• values and beliefs

http://www.valleywater.org/Careers/DiversityDefined.aspx

Managing Diversity: Contemporary Business Issues

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qusp7A8u3Mw

DEMOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY, CONFLICT AND WORK GROUP OUTCOMES AND INTERVENING PROCESS THEORY:

with respect to members' demographic backgrounds can have a powerful effect on both turnover from the group and on the group's performance on cognitive tasks (i.e., "thinking" tasks that involve generating plans or ideas, solving problems.

according to Lisa Hope Pelled within a work group, diversity

or making decisions). While such diversity tends to increase turnover, its effects on cognitive task performance are more mixed, sometimes enhancing performance and sometimes

impairing it. An understanding of how diversity leads to these outcomes may help managers enhance work group effectiveness.

QUESTION

Since diversity is a source of competitive advantage, what could be the recruitment strategies to effectively target to diverse groups? What would be the consequences of ignoring diversity?

the recruitment strategies to effectively target to diverse groups is to arrange a effective communication style, believe and trust in each opinion and idea, being open-mind talking about regional aspects, evidence stereotypes, determine common experiences strong values and beliefs of each group.

the consequences of ignoring diversity are:

• the organization is missing different perceptions
• in a group task, the members can not develop an effective work
• similar personalities arrange ineffective solutions and problems inside the group
• the same structure of leadership creates lacy workers and non creactive works
• different accents can create misunderstandings in a common task

SOURCES

• 
  

  Cox Jr., T. (2001) Creating the multicultural organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
• managing diversity figure: http://www.valleywater.org/Careers/DiversityDefined.aspx
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qusp7A8u3Mw
• Demographic Diversity, Conflict, and Work Group Outcomes: An Intervening Process Theory

  Lisa Hope Pelled Organization Science Vol. 7, No. 6 (Nov. - Dec., 1996), pp. 615-631  Published by: INFORMS  Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2635051

 

DECISION MAKING AND ETHICAL BEHAVIOR

Is known that decision-making involve people of different cultures and also this concept differ in the tendency to cooperate with others and to determine the cultural explanation for all the differences presented in a decision-making process.


Exists a mixed-motive game that is a situation in which an individual faces a conflict between maximizing collective interests named defection maximizing collectives interests named cooperation; in the other hand we find cultural individualism known that consists of closely linked individuals who see themselves as independent of collectives, cultural collectivism consists of linked individuals who see themselves as part of one or more collectives and finally cultural cooperation among members.


https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgreP9DK8Qo4Y8vZ_5fOw_trOV_NXauHimijwecHvfMoXM3rzHHW2YdQHDFkZLlcSjx-tEUkH3BjCVYk8I9RZRYjT3q04ltgt2dttwnrIY1Tc4oXGxpspyUx8QqY2Mro0AfrZxxW_yfvYPF/s1600/respect-individualism-collectivism.jpg

There are four combinations of self:

1. horizontal individualism: maximize self interest or self goal
2. horizontal collectivisim: interdependent
3. vertical individualism: cooperation varies as function of the extent to which their personal outcomes would be maximized.
4. vertical collectivism: cooperation varried in 2 dilemmas group outcomes-maximized

The decision making process consists in, first recognize the problem or need, then identify the objective of decision, you gather and search about the situation and establish alternatives to solve the problem, then you evaluate each course of action and finally you implement the decision and follow up.

Exists some models of decision-making as the rational one that shows how individuals should behave, bounded rationality which suggest that there are limits for decisions and finally there is garbage can model which affirms that decisions are random; also in the decision-making theory exists risk aversion and the risk taker.
According to the lecture individual differences affect decision-making with characteristics as intuition and creativity, but some cultural differences in the process influence:
problems selected
time orientation
importance of logic and rationality
belief in the ability to solve problems
preference  for collecting decision-making


http://www.homelifedreams.ca/join_us_for_sucess.html
Although ethical behavior is an important aspect in organizations as acting in ways consistent with one´s personal values and the commonly values of the organization and society; there are three ethical theories:

1. consequential theory: emphasizes the consequences of results of behavior
2. rule-based theory: emphasizes the character of the act itself rather than its effects
3. character theory:emphasizes the character, personal virtues and integrity fo the individual

The cognitive moral development has a process of madurity in terms of making ethical decisions the fisrt one is premoral level (avoid punishment and serve inmediate interest), the second one the conventional level (live up to friend´s expectation and observe societal laws) and the other is pricipled level (principles of justice and right, and self-selected ethical principles). To conclude there are some qualities for ethical decision-making as the competence to indentify ethical issues and evaluate the consequences of the courses of action; the self-confidence to find different opinions about the issue and decide what is right in terms of a situation and the willingness to make decisions when all that needs can not be known and the ethical issue has not established solutions.


http://blogs.nature.com/nanomech/2007/04/14/environmental-chemistry-in-review


QUESTION:
¿what are the impacts of culture in terms of mixed-motive decision-making?
The impacts of culture are that not always people in society are interested in maximizing personal and collective interests due to it creates competitive between people and generates less cooperation in different situations as conflict, persuing profit and regulatory policies to improve each one benefits to keep their selfs in a higher level into a competition or simply in daily life.
An other important impact is that mixed-motive creates that workers or managers in a decision-making process try to avoid reliable information and intentions in organizational behavior, therefore this situation makes that internal factors in the organization does not work and run in the right way to achieve goal and common tasks inside a group.
Finally this decision-making creates a worse perception of each values and attitudes inside the organization, because they are demostrating a false image in order to develop tasks and decide in a process to compete between its members.

SOURCES:

• http://www.actionm.com/problem_solving_decision_making.aspx
• https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgreP9DK8Qo4Y8vZ_5fOw_trOV_NXauHimijwecHvfMoXM3rzHHW2YdQHDFkZLlcSjx-tEUkH3BjCVYk8I9RZRYjT3q04ltgt2dttwnrIY1Tc4oXGxpspyUx8QqY2Mro0AfrZxxW_yfvYPF/s1600/respect-individualism-collectivism.jpg
• http://www.homelifedreams.ca/join_us_for_sucess.html
• http://blogs.nature.com/nanomech/2007/04/14/environmental-chemistry-in-review

The corporation

Multinational corporations seemed to threaten governmental prerogatives, it disminishes the relative power of individual enterprises and reduces their effective autonomy, this is due to the growth of foreign direct investment  (FDI), it provides to MNCs greater direct impact on domestic production, employment and and other indicators.

Due to the MNCs are more diverse and diffuse, corporate national identities are less restricted by the political limitations of state boundaries; besides, changes in  the relatioship between MNCs and nation-states make them to be closer to interdependence and globalization. Contemporary MNCs have created a powerful influences in the global economy.
http://www.celsias.com/article/california-town-takes-nestle-over-water-rights/


In the other hand capitalism has changed its traditional process of production, it means that the new way to broke barriers and create connectivity among countries has  made that policies, economies and social changes has other important aspects to improve and exploit, therefore as MNCs exist and it has created its own regulations and ways to make progress through devasting and explointing the society, the environment and the financial resources. In this sense the entire world can percieve that those owners are being like psychopaths devasting our natural and basic resources  not thinking in their social responsabilities in the moment they create a corporation; the corporation as legal institution has to follow a certain regulatory policies in order to avoid social disparities and scaricites of resources.

Differences between you as owner and a corporation:

http://www.bcscredit.com/incorporating_tab/c_corporation.php

Each factor that has influenced MNCs running as economic indicators, social impact and technological progress created externalities for them as some extra costs ans benefits that come from external activities involve in the corporation but do not influence the final price, finally the corporation has be commited with limited liability due to increase their market, avoid social campaings and create new products and technology but calculating which factor and elements can affect whole society.
Corporation externalities:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCGTD5Bn1m0

According to the documentary there is an important and influential person that has oppened to society the opportunity to express their ideas and opinions about MNCs impact, he is Michael Moore a controversial but defender person, is fighting for justice, concience, human rights, liability and honesty in the real world of MNCs, he is showing to the world that as is very important to create, expand markets and evolve also is important to get those factor as key tools to corporations act as preventors and defenders actors as the most important ones in this process of innovation and progress in this century.
Impact of corporations in natural resources:

http://in.reuters.com/article/2010/09/21/idINIndia-51634020100921

QUESTION
¿as a legal organizational model, how does the rise of corporations influence the aspects of culture in persuing profit?
The rise of corporations influences the aspects of culture in the way that is the principal actor in this process, so is affected by the lack of reliability infront the community as direct consumers and their own workers, second the corporation violate laws, legal policies and passes over their workers to persue profits by showing a artificial image to the society as legal actors.

SOURCES

• http://www.celsias.com/article/california-town-takes-nestle-over-water-rights/
• http://www.bcscredit.com/incorporating_tab/c_corporation.php
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCGTD5Bn1m0
• http://in.reuters.com/article/2010/09/21/idINIndia-51634020100921
• Kline, john M. 2006. "MNCs and surrogate severeignty." Brown journal of world affaires 13, no 1:123-133
• documentary about MNCs

Motivation

Work performance is influenced by motivation factors, as one person wants to do something to be different and distinguised  from others being satisfied by opportunities and personal growth. Maslow as an author found that people have needs as physiological  ones, security and safety, social needs, self-steem and self-actualization, so the theory explains that if a need is already satisfied the person pass to a next level because he or she has created additional needs to be  accomplished but the inferior need continue to exist even the different needs or priorities that people have; In the other hand we find Fredrick´s theory, explaining that  people feel satisfied and dissatisfied as two factors, the first one becomes of professional activities and responsabilities and the second one is related to the organization´s context as its policies, salary and conditions.
Financial factors influence motivation:

http://accidental-hr.com/managing/employee-motivation-new-secrets/

Also Douglas Mcgegor explains other theories related with motivation separating workers two groups of theories:

• X theory: are the workers that do not take responsabilities, try to avoid work and do not accept changes, so those persons have to be pressed to work and performe.
• Y theory: are the workers that take responsabilities and consider normal some efforts to get excellent work, so those workers are not pressed to do so. 

I known that the wish of achieve something and the expectations are the ones who create motivation. actually, there are some theories that offer the motivational techniques:

• The expectancy theory: it says that there is a closed relation between motivation, performance and the results in your work.
• The goal setting theory: explains that if a person has established specific objectives those will offer positive performance even if the goal is so difficult.
• The equity theory: talks about the same or equal treatment will motivate employees
• The theory of group personality and group needs:  according to this theory each individual has different personalities but in certain groups they can share similar needs.

Balance or imbalance in the mind of individual:

http://www.laynetworks.com/Theories-of-Motivation.html

According to all the theories mencioned before we can conclude that there is an important relation between the exisiting types of needs as individual, task and team needs, each one influence one another, therefore the positive results and performance in the organization depends on this interaction.
there is a fifty-fifty rule which explains that "a big part of motivation lies within a person while a substantial part lies outside and beyond its control".(Aider, 2006).
the European Index affirms that motivation, satisfaction and loyalty are related to people´s perception of  job and work environment, some drivers to perception are:
reputation: is the perception of the knowledge of the organization
senior management: is th eperception of the direction of the organization and people involved in.
cooperation: is the interaciton between people in the organization and out side the organization.
daily work: how people perceive all the activities and conditions in workplace.
total remuneration: all the elements related with performance and compensation that people receive.
development: acquisition of competences.

According to some theories there is some motivational competences:

http://www.google.com.co/imgres?imgurl=http://www.healthyvegetariandiet.co/wp-content/uploads/self_motivation_6x4.png&imgrefurl=http://www.healthyvegetariandiet.co/wp-content/uploads/&usg=__kbOFSLOAYjN540qtyU3fvsaTIE0=&h=324&w=432&sz=27&hl=es&start=39&zoom=1&tbnid=MG5Jy-Mrdc_uQM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=173&ei=t4B5TYrwEJS-tgeS2NXOBQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmotivation%26hl%3Des%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D587%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C718&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=863&vpy=298&dur=3518&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=157&ty=153&oei=WX95Tdz4M8O9tgeBpLy6BQ&page=3&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:39&biw=1276&bih=587

QUESTION:
¿ in multicultural organizational contexts what could be a good strategy to keep people motivated towards a common task?

In multicultural organizations an strategy to keep people motivated is to satisfy some people needs and recognize each challenge that they face in work environment in a common task  with people of different cultures. Cultural diversity makes stronger the worthness of the organization, because offer different opinions, experiences, values and beliefs that create a group of common characteristics which offer a big
portfolio of personalities to achieve the task that was assigned. Also the manager needs to recognize and resolving disputes between workers due to implement formal structures and formule plan for change in order to improve the task that has been developed, but is known that cultural diversity is effective if groups are assigned different tasks and are independent.
concluding with a motivational video:

http://www.laynetworks.com/Theories-of-Motivation.html

SOURCES:

• http://accidental-hr.com/managing/employee-motivation-new-secrets/
• http://www.laynetworks.com/Theories-of-Motivation.html
• http://www.laynetworks.com/Theories-of-Motivation.html
• MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lMvxO50OAcY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
• Viorel, lefter, Manolescu Aurel, Marinas cristian Virgil, and Puia Ramona Stefania. 2009. "EMPLOYEES MOTIVATION THEORIES DEVELOPED AT AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL." Annals of the university of Oradea, economic science series 18, no.4: 324-328

Organizational behavior- national and organizational culture

http://www.campusexplorer.com/colleges/major/237A2414/Management/94991E52/Organizational-Behavior-Studies/

As the author says an organization is a structured social system compound by groups and individuals working together in order to achieve some objectives, it has four components as structure, task, people and technology that helps to get inputs as matrial and capital, and outputs as pruducts and services. In the other hand, an organizational behavior is the study of individual behavior and group dynamics, this provides some tools to learn to analyze, understand and describe different organizations, therefore, organizational behavior has levels as communication, structure and work attitudes.
Also the human behavior has internal factors to understand behavior and the external ones is outside the person. in the context exists the formal organization as a legitimate and official part of the system and the informal one as the unofficial part. Talking  about changes in an organization is very important to take into account the threats and opportunities of those changes if will create crisis, decrease your profits and sales or just create the entrance of new competitors but the organization can success with positive response in the international marketplace using the TQM (total quality management) to improve some aspects or six sigma to apply strategies, in order to fight against the enterprise´s challenge, it has to improve workforces in the context of globalization applying skill and knowledge.

http://bm2day.com/page3.htm

In terms of organizational culture exists some internal factors that influence decision making as:
resources as staff, technology, plant and financial.
strategies
history
policies

Culture is the the the way that mind can distinguish one person of another, the concept can be learned as we interact with other members, receive rewards, cause and avoid conflict. in the other hand, we have the assumptions that we make about how should we behave known as values and the indicators that motivates behavior  in the group as belief concept and finally the cross-cultural manager needs personal skills to manage a group that is diverse in culture, known as cross cultural and international management, the skills should be associated with:
culture
formuling and implementing plants
recognition and resolving disputes
motivation and rewards systesm
stablishing and implementing formal structure


Also the cultural diversity gives to the company an advantage  due to the capacity to provide opportunities and difficulties to different people and cultures that can offers more benefits. those groups succeed because their cooperation, respect of each other, the ability to exchange alternatives and being tolerant; however, some companies ignore this diversity and therefore they get an inefficient workforce.

QUESTION:
  ¿Why is managing organizational behavior in changing times challenging?

Organizational behavior is managing changing times
because it is an essential factor to the organization to work in the way they are looking for, orginize their workforces and workteams in a formal structure to find greater results and realize which aspects of each person make the company to run in a better way to achieve their goals and create opportunities in the market. Find an ideal organizational behavior brings advantages as work performance, workers integration, acceptance of cultural diversity and learn how to manage some differences between actual behavior in the organization where people are more likely to change, compete and confront anyone. Nowadays, organizations are conformed by people rised in a new era where everyone challenge each other even their owner or manager and where people are more prepared and each day they increase their knowlege.

SOURCES

• http://www.campusexplorer.com/colleges/major/237A2414/Management/94991E52/Organizational-Behavior-Studies/
• http://bm2day.com/page3.htm
• http://www.nhorizons.ca/en-change-culture-change.asp
• Nelson D.L organizational behavior: science, the real world and you. south western college publication 7 edition. chapter 1
• Mead richard 2004. international management: cross-cultural dimensions london: blackwell publishing. chapter 1
• Sin Kit I, organizational behavior presentation