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CHAPTER TWO MANAGERS, ENTREPRENEURS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE OVERVIEW OF CHAPTER This chapter focuses upon managers and entrepreneurs as feeling, thinking human beings. It opens with a discussion of the similarities and differences between managers and entrepreneurs. This is followed by a description of the enduring personal characteristics that often exert influence upon a manager’s actions and outlook. The chapter closes with a discussion of organizational culture and the role managers and entrepreneurs play in creating it. LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Distinguish between entrepreneurship and management. 2. Describe the various personality traits that affect how managers and entrepreneurs think, feel, and behave. 3. Understand the personal characteristics of entrepreneurs. 4. Explain what values, attitudes, moods, and emotions are and describe their impact on managerial action. 5. Define organizational culture and explain the role managers and entrepreneurs play in creating it. MANAGEMENT SNAPSHOT: PROMOTING EMOTIONAL COMPETENCIES AT AMERICAN EXPRESS Managers at American Express could not understand why more than 60% of clients whose portfolios suggested that they needed life insurance were declining coverage. The company assembled a special team to determine how to help their clients understand the merits of life insurance. What they learned was startling. Potential customers were reluctant to purchase life insurance because of emotional, not financial, issues. To address this problem, management undertook an experiment in which some of the company’s employees received emotional competency training, which taught them to better understand and interpret their own as well as clients’ feelings. Results were so impressive that American Express began to mandate that all new financial advisors receive eight hours of emotional competency training. Questions: 1. How did training in emotional intelligence help American Express improve its efficiency and effectiveness? By helping financial advisors to empathize with their clients and see things from the client’s perspective, the company’s ability to meet their customers’ needs was dramatically improved. Jones, Essentials of Contemporary Management 25 Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture 2. Why might other companies, such as Motorola, be interested in emotional competency training? The ability to understand and effectively respond to the needs of potential and current customers is critical in today’s business competitive environment. Improved emotional competency can contribute significantly to this important organizational goal. LECTURE OUTLINE I. The Difference Between Entrepreneurs and Managers Managers are responsible for overseeing the use of human and other resources to achieve organizational goals effectively and efficiently. Entrepreneurs identify opportunities and take responsibility for mobilizing the resources necessary to produce new and improved goods and services. Entrepreneurs assume a great deal of risk. In spite of the risk involved, 38 percent of men and 50 percent of women in today’s workforce want to be entrepreneurs. Management in Action: Entrepreneurship at Maden Technologies As a soldier in the U.S. army during the Vietnam War, Omar Maden worked on command and control communications technology for artillery and missiles. Because of his strong technical competencies, Maden remained in the Army at the close of the war, became an Army information technology expert, and rose up the ranks to become a major. Upon retiring from the Army, Maden used his personal savings and a home equity loan to launch Maden Technologies, an IT consulting firm. The Army became one of his most important clients. After successfully completing several major projects for them, Maden Technologies became one of the Pentagon’s largest research and development contractors. As it has grown, Mr. Maden has been careful to maintain his company’s entrepreneurial thrust. He is in the process of repositioning his company as a technology service provider to the entire industry and is confident that his company will soon be able to offer enterprise management solutions that are on par with those offered by industry leaders, thus realizing the American Dream. 26 Jones, Essentials of Contemporary Management Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture Entrepreneurship within an Organization Intrapreneurs are managers who identify opportunities for product or service improvements within the organization at which they are employed and take responsibility for managing its development process. When intrapreneurs become dissatisfied because their superiors will not support or fund their new product ideas or development efforts, they sometimes leave their organizations to become entrepreneurs. Sometimes the entrepreneur who initially starts a business will not have the management skills required to successfully grow the business. While some quickly hire expert managers to help them, others do not, and the business suffers as a result. Differences in the personality, values, attitudes, moods, and emotions help to explain why some people are best suited for management, and others for entrepreneurship. II. ENDURING CHARACTERISTICS: PERSONALITY TRAITS Personality traits are particular tendencies to feel, think, and act in certain ways. These individual traits are used to describe the general personality of an individual. It is important to understand a manager’s personality because it influences his or her behavior and approach to management. The Big Five is a group of five general traits that contribute to the composition of an individual’s personality. These five traits are extraversion, negative affectivity, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. Each should be evaluated along a continuum. Extraversion is the tendency to experience positive emotions and moods expressed by affectionate, outgoing, and friendly demeanor. This personality type works well in groups, teamwork, or situations where social skills are needed. Those low on this factor can be highly effective if excessive social interaction is not required. Negative Affectivity is the tendency to experience negative emotions and moods, feel distressed, and be critical of others. Managers high on this trait may often feel angry and dissatisfied and complain about their own and others’ lack of progress. Those who are low on negative affectivity do not tend to experience many negative emotions and are less pessimistic and critical of themselves and others. Jones, Contemporary Management, Third Edition 27 Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture Agreeableness is the tendency to get along well with others. Managers high on this continuum are likeable, tend to be affectionate, and care about other people. Those who are low may be somewhat distrustful of others, unsympathetic, uncooperative and even at times antagonistic. Conscientiousness is the tendency to be careful, scrupulous, and persevering. Managers who are high on this factor are organized and self-disciplined while those who are low may seem to lack self-direction and self-discipline. Openness to experience is the tendency to be original, have broad interests, be open to a wide range of stimuli, be daring, and take risks. Those high on this continuum tend to be entrepreneurs while those low on the scale tend to be more conservative in their planning and decisions making. Other Personality Traits that Affect Managerial Behavior The locus of control trait captures an individual’s beliefs concerning the amount of control they have over what happens to and around them. People with an internal locus of control believe that they are responsible for their own fate and see their own actions and behaviors as being important and decisive determinants of future outcomes. People with an external locus of control believe that outside forces are responsible for what happens to and around them and that their own actions don’t make much of a difference. To be effective, managers must have an internal locus of control. Self-Esteem is the degree to which individuals feel good about themselves and their capabilities. 28 High self esteem is desirable for managers because it facilities their setting and keeping high standards for themselves and gives them the confidence they need to succeed. People with low self-esteem are unsure about their capabilities and question their ability to succeed. Research suggests that people tend to choose activities and goals that are consistent with their levels of self-esteem. Jones, Essentials of Contemporary Management Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture Needs for Achievement, affiliation and power have been extensively researched by psychologist David McClelland. The need for achievement is the extent to which an individual has a strong desire to perform challenging tasks well and to meet personal standards for excellence. People with high levels of this need often set clear goals for themselves and want feedback on their performance. The need for affiliation is the extent to which an individual is concerned about establishing and maintaining good interpersonal relations, being liked and getting along with other people. The need for power is the extent to which an individual desires to control or influence others. Researchers suggest that high needs for achievement and power are assets for firstline and middle managers, and a high need for power is especially important for upper managers. A high need for affiliation is not always desirable within managers because it may cause them to try too hard to be liked by others, at the expense of ensuring a high level of organizational performance. Characteristics of Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs are likely to be high on the personality trait of openness to experience, meaning that they are predisposed to be original, to be open to a wide range of stimuli, to be daring, and to take risks. Entrepreneurs are likely to have an internal locus of control, believing that their own actions will determine and success or failure of a new venture. Entrepreneurs are likely to have a high level of self-esteem, and therefore feel competent and capable of handling most situations. Entrepreneurs are likely to have a high need for achievement, and therefore desire to perform challenging tasks and meet high personal standards of excellence. Jones, Contemporary Management, Third Edition 29 Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture III. VALUES, ATTITUDES, AND MOODS AND EMOTIONS Values, attitudes, moods, and emotions capture how managers experience their jobs as individuals. Values describe what managers are trying to achieve through work and how they think they should behave. Attitudes capture their thoughts and feelings about their specific jobs and organizations. Moods and emotions encompass how managers actually feel when they are managing. Terminal and Instrumental Values A terminal value is a personal conviction about lifelong goals or objectives. An instrumental value is a personal conviction about desired modes of conduct or ways of behaving. Terminal values often lead to the formation of norms, which are informal rules of conduct for behaviors considered to be important within an organization. Examples might include behaving honestly or courteously. A person’s value system identifies what a person is striving to achieve and how they want to behave. Milton Rokeach, a leading researcher in the area of human values, identified 18 terminal values and 18 instrumental values that, when placed in rank order, will describe a person’s value system. Although much of Rokeach’s research was based in the United States, it can describe the values of people from other cultures as well. Managing Globally: Values of the Overseas Chinese The “Overseas Chinese” is a term used to refer to the more than 55 million Chinese citizens working outside of China. They manage much of the trade and investment in all of East Asia (except for Korea and Japan) and are expanding beyond Asia to Europe and the United States. They are prominent and generally quite successful in businesses such as real estate and investing in countries like Singapore and Malaysia. One distinguishing characteristic of the Overseas Chinese is their values. Above all else, they seem to value hard work, ambition, strong family ties, family security, responsibility, selfcontrol and competence. They are not risk-adverse, and use boldness and creativity as guiding principles. Respect, admiration, and social recognition are also important to these entrepreneurial managers. Many of their business deals are conducted through networks of managers who have developed close relationships and connections built on trust, respect and admiration over the decades. Such relationships are called guanxi. Similarly, xinyong, having a good reputation and a good credit rating, is an asset that is valued by many Overseas Chinese managers. 30 Jones, Essentials of Contemporary Management Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture Attitudes An attitude is a collection of feelings and beliefs. A manager’s attitude affects how they approach their job. Two of the most important attitudes in this context are job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Job Satisfaction is the collection of feelings and beliefs that managers have about their current job. Managers who are high on job satisfaction generally like their jobs, feel that they are being treated fairly, and believe that their jobs have many desirable features or characteristics. Managers who tend to be satisfied with their jobs are more likely to perform organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). OCBs are behaviors that are not required but contribute to organizational efficiency, effectiveness, and gaining a competitive advantage. Satisfied managers are also less likely to quit. A growing source of dissatisfaction for many lower and middle level managers is the threat of unemployment and increased workloads that results from downsizing. Organizational commitment is the collection of feelings and beliefs that managers have about their organization as a whole. Organizational commitment can be especially strong when employees and managers truly believe in the organization’s values. Managers in other countries have different opportunities and rewards and face different economic, political, or sociocultural forces. Therefore, differences in the levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment are likely, when comparing foreign managers to those in the U.S. Moods and Emotions A mood is a feeling or state of mind. Personality traits and current circumstances often determine a person’s mood. Emotions are more intense than moods, are more short-lived, and are usually linked to a specific cause. Research on how moods affect the behavior has just begun. Results are inconclusive. Jones, Contemporary Management, Third Edition 31 Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture Emotional Intelligence (EI) Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand and manage one’s own moods and emotions, as well as the moods and emotions of others. Managers with high levels of EI are able to prevent their emotions from getting in the way of making effective decisions. EI helps managers perform the interpersonal roles of figurehead, leader, and liaison. IV. RGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Organizational culture is the set of shared values, norms, and standards for behavior and expectations that influences the ways in which individuals, groups, and teams interact with each other and cooperate to achieve organization goals. One can think of an organization’s culture as its personality. How Managers Influence Organizational Culture The personal characteristics of entrepreneurs play a significant role in the creation of their company’s organizational culture in a variety of ways. Management researcher Benjamin Schneider developed a model called the Attraction-Socialization-Attrition (ASA), which posits that entrepreneurs tend to hire employees whose personalities are similar to their own. Therefore, many employees in the organization tend to have similar personalities, resulting in a dominant personality profile that shapes the organization’s culture. 1. This tendency can also occur in large organizations. 2. This tendency can impair organizational effectiveness, if not controlled. In addition to personality, a manager’s values, attitudes, moods, emotions, and emotional intelligence shape organizational culture. 1. Research suggests that attitudes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment can be impacted by the influence of others. 2. Research also suggests that spending time with people who are excited and enthusiastic can increase one’s own levels of excitement and enthusiasm. 32 Jones, Essentials of Contemporary Management Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture MANAGEMENT INSIGHT: How to Create a High-Performing Organizational Culture Herb Kelleher, the flamboyant founder and current board chairman of Southwest Airlines likes to have fun while providing superior customer service to his company’s customers. Its founder’s personality is reflected in Southwest’s organizational culture, which also values fun and high quality customer service, as well as commitment to employees, empowerment, high performance, and an entrepreneurial spirit. Southwest is one of the most profitable companies in the airline industry and ranked fourth in Fortune’s Magazine’s “100 Best Places to Work For.” The company’s ability to develop a unique, high-performing culture that distinguishes it from its competitors has been a major contributor to its success. Because a special effort is made to attract and select only those applicants who will fit into its culture, it would be hard to imagine the company hiring any one who is overly critical or grouchy. With a committed workforce in place, Kelleher and his managers then developed a variety of policies and procedures that consistently reinforce that company’s norms and values to ensure that organizational performance remains strong. V. SUMMARY AND REVIEW Lecture Enhancer 2.1: BIRTH ORDER AND PERSONALITY Birth-order guru Kevin Leman, Ph.D. says he can explain how a simple understanding of birth order enhances the chance of success in business. In his book, “The Birth Order Book,” Leman profiles three birth-order positions. The firstborn tends to be a perfectionist, conscientious, list maker who doesn’t like surprises. The only child has similar, yet often more intense personality traits. The middle child is a master negotiator who never had his parents to himself, and endured hand-me-downs. The good news is he can compromise, share and negotiate. Leman describes the baby of the family as manipulative, social, outgoing, and a natural salesperson. She is the child who got her siblings in trouble while she was cute, helpless and got away with murder. A fourth birth-order position, identified by Michael Maniacci, a clinical psychologist and member of the faculty at the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, is the second born. The second born tends to be more rebellious, non-conforming and independent than the middle child. After reading these descriptions, most either buy into the birth-order concept as a perfect description of their family or discount it. Either way, Leman says, there are other birth-order rules that impact children’s development. Jones, Contemporary Management, Third Edition 33 Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture Sex of children is an important variable in the birth-order equation. “If there are three daughters and a last-born son, the son may possess the characteristics of the firstborn, rather than the baby,” Leman says. Maniacci says: “In my practice, I’ve found the greater the sex differentiation between the parents, the less children of the opposite sex compete with each other. That impacts birthorder roles. “In a family with a firstborn boy and a second born girl, if both parents work, both wear pants, and equally share housework tasks, the girl is more likely to be a rebellious second born. There is not much distinction between being a girl and a boy. Conversely, if Dad has short hair and Mom has long, and Mom stays at home and Dad works, the boy holds the role of the oldest born male and the girl the oldest born female.” If there is a five-year age gap between the children, you can draw a line and start another family with a whole new set of firstborns and middles, Maniacci says. Physical differences play a role too. If the oldest child is physically or psychologically challenged, the second child usually takes on the role of the firstborn. Other experts caution that understanding and using birth order is anything but simple, and many variables mold personality. Experts generally agree interpreting birth order can be complicated and only presents part of the picture. But Leman says, “As a psychologist, I have not found a more practical tool for understanding human dynamics than birth order.” Lecture Enhancer 2.2: THE BIG THRILL PERSONALITY Another facet of personality is one’s tolerance for risk taking. Some individuals have a kind of psychological urge to reach beyond the status quo and seek out novelty, change, and excitement. Psychologist Frank Farley, of the University of Wisconsin, has spent twenty years examining what he calls the Type T (thrill-seeking) personality. According to Farley’s theory, Big T types are high-profile individuals who seek excitement and stimulation wherever they can find it or create it. For some the thrills are mostly physical. For others they’re mental. The degree of risk that individuals are willing to assume spans a broad continuum. Big T personalities, those who continually live on the edge, are at one end of the scale. Little t’s, who cling to certainty and predictability, are at the other. Most people fall somewhere in the middle. But Farley believes it’s the Big T segment, a group that makes up an estimated 10 to 30 percent of the American population, that holds the key to America’s future. “Type T’s are the people who are likely to have enormous impact on society,” he says. “They are the great experimenters in life; they break the rules.” 34 Jones, Essentials of Contemporary Management Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture Whether male or female, risk-taking individuals tend to be what Farley calls “transmutative thinkers,” adept at shifting from one cognitive process to another, and from the abstract to the concrete and vice versa. Thrill seekers are happiest in jobs that provide change, excitement, and an ample outlet for their creativity. They are often drawn to careers in advertising, journalism, or in the brokerage business, where novelty and uncertainty are a given. Whether individuals seek risks or avoid them affects not only their own job performance but also boss-employee relationships and co-worker production. An organization with too many risk takers can spell trouble. So can one top-heavy with cautious, security-minded individuals. A synergistic mix is best. If it’s the thrill-seeking visionaries who drive a company with their ideas, it’s their more pragmatic peers who help implement those concepts. Finally, says Farley, “people who are the most successful realize that if they’re going to take risks, they’re going to fail once in a while.” MANAGEMENT IN ACTION Notes for Topics for Discussion and Action 1. Discuss why managers who have different types of personalities can be equally effective and successful. There is no single “right” or “wrong” personality trait for being an effective manager; rather, effectiveness is determined by a complex interaction between characteristics of managers (including personality traits) and the nature of the job and organization. Furthermore, personality traits that contribute to the managerial effectiveness in one situation may actually hinder the effectiveness in another situation. 2. Interview a manager in a local organization. Ask the manager to describe situations in which he or she is especially likely to act in accordance with his or her values. Ask the manager to describe situations in which he or she is less likely to act in accordance with his or her values. (Note to Instructor: Student answers will vary based on the manager’s value system and experiences.) The text defines values as what managers are trying to achieve through work and how they think they should behave. Posing this question to potential strangers can be tricky, since people are sometimes quite guarded about their values and are not eager to discuss them with others. You may want to suggest that students interview a manager that they already know. Jones, Contemporary Management, Third Edition 35 Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture 3. Can managers be too satisfied with their job? Can they be too committed to their organizations? Why or why not? The text defines job satisfaction as the feelings and beliefs people have about their current jobs. Organizational commitment is defined as the collection of feelings and beliefs people have about their organizations as a whole. These attitudes are especially strong when managers truly believe in their organization’s values. The threat of increased workloads or unemployment from downsizing may impede high levels of commitment among employees. 4. Assume that you are a manager of a restaurant. Describe what it is like to work for you when you are in a negative mood. (Note to Instructors: Student answers will vary based on their personalities.) The text identifies characteristics of a negative mood as feelings of distress, fearful, scornful, hostile, jittery or nervous. Student responses should focus around the way they behave when feeling these emotions, and how their behavior would impact others. 5. Why might managers be disadvantaged by low levels of emotional intelligence? Social skills are increasingly important in organizations today. People frequently work in teams. High levels of emotional intelligence enable managers to interact more effectively subordinates and superiors within the organization, as well as with external customers. 1.When are ethics and ethical standards especially important in organizations? Ethics and ethical standards are important at all times. However, they become especially important when managers are making decisions that will impact organizational stakeholders, such as customers, employees, investors, suppliers, or community members. 7. Why might managers do things that conflict with their own ethical values? Unfortunately, greed is sometimes a factor. Enormous pressure to meet unrealistic sales or profit goals or feeling obligated to conform to the behavior of others may also be contributing factors. 8. How can managers ensure that they create ethical organizational cultures? First and foremost, managers can create an ethical organizational culture by serving as role models, since the behavior of leadership is a strong determinant of organizational culture. Management can also create a code of ethics and make sure that it is taken seriously. 36 Jones, Essentials of Contemporary Management Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture Notes for Building Management Skills Diagnosing Culture 1. What values and norms are emphasized in this culture? Although student answers will vary, they should reflect the terminal and instrumental values identified by Rokeach earlier in this chapter. 2. Who seems to have played an important role in creating the culture? Although student answers will vary, most should cite the organization’s founders and leaders. Sometimes organizational members can also influence culture. 3. How does the culture address the needs of organizational members? Norms derived from the organization’s culture provide members with guidelines to determine what types of behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable. It may also help organizational members to refine or affirm their personal value system. Notes for Small Group Breakout Exercise 1. Develop a list of options and potential courses of action to address the heightened competition and decline in profitability that your company has been experiencing. (Note to instructors: student answers will vary based on their experiences.) Possible options include: Employ a consultant to help management determine additional ways to cut costs. Implement a hiring freeze and reduce workforce through attrition. Build employee motivation to increase performance levels by providing incentives linked to performance, issuing "star-performer" awards, and holding parties or arranging activities for employees. Increase marketing and advertising efforts to improve sales. Lay-off employees. 2. Choose your preferred course of action and justify why you will take this route. (Note to instructors: Student answers will vary.) The option of layoffs should be chosen only if the slowdown of work is so severe that the company cannot keep its workers occupied or if the company is facing a financial crisis, such as bankruptcy. In this case, the only way to save the company and protect the majority of stakeholders is by downsizing. Jones, Contemporary Management, Third Edition 37 Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture 3. Describe how you will communicate your decision to employees. Since rumors are rampant, it is important to communicate with all employees in a clear and timely manner. Top management needs to increase the employees' sense of security and confidence concerning its commitment to resolving the situation. Because the stakes are high and people's jobs are on the line, any decision should be communicated in a faceto-face meeting. If layoffs are being announced, one-on-one meetings should be held with terminated employees to assure them that decisions were based on objective criteria. Specific information regarding severance pay and related issues must also be clearly communicated. Notes for You’re the Management Consultant This is a management situation in which emotional intelligence (EI) will play an important role. Highly creative people sometimes view and interpret situations and occurrences very differently than more pragmatic ‘business types.’ This may an example of two very different types of people who have not learned to effectively communicate with each other. First, you might conduct a group discussion with the creative staff in which they are allowed to voice their concerns. Then, you might meet with management to determine if they are aware of the creative staff’s concerns and if they are clearly understood. Once this communication blockage has been eroded, management can begin addressing the creative staff’s issues by making appropriate additions or changes to current policies and procedures. Also, both groups should participate in ongoing EI training to enhance their ability to effectively communicate with each other. MANAGING ETHICALLY 1. It is important that companies make every effort to hire employees whose values, personality, and interests fit with their organizational culture. However, reliance upon personality and inventory tests is an ineffective means of evaluating such factors. Because of their measurement error and validity problems, these tests could mistakenly screen out those candidates who are best suited for the job. Managers in charge of hiring may think these tests are a quick and easy substitute for a thorough interviewing process, but will regret their decision later. 2. When candidates apply for a job, they generally assume that they will be evaluated and compared to other applicants in a fair, nonbiased manner. The use of such tests violates that trust, thus representing an ethical breach. 38 Jones, Essentials of Contemporary Management Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture CASE FOR DISCUSSION Case Synopsis: PROMOTING POSITIVE ATTITUDES AND ETHICAL VALUES AT MEDTRONIC Medtronic is an organization where employees are satisfied with their jobs, committed to the organization, and embrace ethical values. The company manufactures medical devices designed to lessen pain, improve health, and extend life. Because of Medtronic’s strong culture, employees perform at a high level, are satisfied with their jobs, and are committed to their organization. Bill George, the recently retired Chairman and CEO, and other top managers at Medtronic go to great lengths to show their commitment to the highest ethical values and standards for patient care. Recruiting top scientists who possess the drive to excel and presenting them with the opportunity to invent new products that will improve the quality of life for others ensures both job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Medtronic managers also seek to develop positive attitudes and moods by addressing employees’ needs to reduce stress and balance work and family demands. 1. Why are many of Medtronic’s employees satisfied with their jobs and committed to Medtronic? Medtronic employees are satisfied and committed because they enjoy working in an environment that reinforces and sustains the positive values, attitudes and ethical standards that they already possessed. Medtronic employees find deep meaning in their work of saving and extending the lives of others through medical devices. 2. What role does management play in promoting satisfaction at Medtronic? Managers at Medtronic have developed an organizational culture that allows employees to take great pride in their work and its contribution to the well being of society. Initiatives such as inviting users of Medtronic devices to visit the company to share their stories of improved health with employees and bestowing medallions engraved with some of the company’s core values upon new employees consistently reinforce the norms and values that contribute to high levels of job satisfaction and commitment. 3. If Medtronic was in another industry completely unrelated to healthcare, do you think the company would continue to have the same organizational culture? Why or why not? Because organizational culture is primarily determined by the values, attitudes, and behaviors of its leaders, it would be possible to maintain this same culture in another industry. Jones, Contemporary Management, Third Edition 39 Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture 4. What kinds of employees might not like working at Medtronic? Why? Persons who lack drive or an interest in helping others may not fit comfortably into Medtronic’s culture due to incompatibility of values and attitudes. BUSINESS WEEK CASE IN THE NEWS Case Synopsis: FIDELITY: HERE COMES ABBY This case introduces us to Abby Johnson, a third generation descendent of the family that runs Fidelity Investment’s $1.4 trillion financial empire. Abby currently holds the number three slot, behind her father and the COO. She is responsible for overseeing the company’s 280 mutual funds, and at age 41, is the most powerful woman in U.S. finance. Most Fidelity watchers expect her to succeed her father, who is 72, when he retires. Abby puts in an average 10-hour workday and spends most of her free time with her young daughters. She is described as one of the world’s most self-effacing billionaires who was taught to avoid the limelight and let the results speak for themselves. Only recently did she trade in her old Dodge for a luxury automobile. When asked about Abby’s work ethic, “she put her nose to the grindstone and got into the mud with the rest of us,” according to a former colleague. Another colleague says that Abby shares her father’s “intense, paranoid drive to make sure the standards of excellence at Fidelity are unattainable by any other fund family.” In personal dealings, she is described as quick with a smile, exceedingly polite, articulate, and reserved. She is the opposite of her father, who can be vindictive, and avoids micromanaging her employees. 1. How would you characterize Abby Johnson’s personality? How does her personality influence her behavior at Fidelity? She appears to be high on agreeableness and conscientiousness and low on negative affectivity. She has an internal locus of control, healthy self esteem, and a high need for achievement. These personality traits would explain her pleasant manner, commitment of excellence, strong work ethic, and willingness to serve as her father’s successor. Her low need for power and affiliation explain Abby’s reserved, self-effacing demeanor and lack of vindictiveness. 40 Jones, Essentials of Contemporary Management Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture 2. How would you characterize Abby Johnson’s values, attitudes, and moods? How do they influence the way in which she manages at Fidelity? It is evident that Abby holds many of the values on Rokeach’s list of instrumental values, including ambitious, capable, polite, and self-controlled. They explain her intense drive and why she is gentle, never barks orders, and prefers to listen. She also appears to enjoy a high level of job satisfaction and is strongly committed to the organization, which accounts for her willingness to perform organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), such as working long hours. Jones, Contemporary Management, Third Edition 41 Chapter Two Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Organizational Culture 42 Jones, Essentials of Contemporary Management