Organizational Cultural Norms Research Articles

The politicization of CIA intelligence: Four cases compared

The political activism of current and former employees of the Central Intelligence Agency before and during the presidency of Donald Trump has been widely observed but not compared to previous episodes of politicization of intelligence by CIA personnel. Organizational cultural norms that long proscribed political activism by CIA employees eventually encouraged it. Societal trends account for some of the evolution, but much reflects purposeful engineering by President Barack Obama and his appointees. These changes, amplified by President Joe Biden, are likely to lead to renewed activism in the future—damaging national security and public confidence in the CIA.

Embracing Neuro-Inclusivity Within Physician Assistant/Associate Education: Challenging Organizational Cultural Norms and Navigating Communication Challenges.

Effective communication in health care education is essential for creating an inclusive learning environment. This manuscript examines the crucial role of communication in physician assistant/associate (PA) education, particularly in the context of neurodiverse individuals, who constitute approximately 20% of the global population. A groundbreaking study by Nouri et al reveals a 3.1% overall disability prevalence among US practicing physicians, emphasizing the necessity for a comprehensive understanding of diversity in the health care profession. Considering the intersectionality of marginalized identities, this research sheds light on potential challenges health care providers face, underscoring the importance of promoting inclusivity and support for neurodiverse individuals in the PA profession. The increasing presence of neurodivergent students in postsecondary institutions, despite academic strengths, holds relevance for PA education. Recognizing the barriers and stigmas associated with neurodiversity is crucial for fostering inclusive environments within PA programs and sponsoring institutions. This manuscript explores the challenges faced by neurodiverse individuals in PA education and proposes strategies for cultivating a neuroinclusive culture through effective communication. With a focus on celebrating and using the strengths of all learners, regardless of neurodiversity, the overarching goal is to contribute to a paradigm shift in PA education, enriching the educational experience for students, educators, and support staff.

Worry at work: How organizational culture influences anxiety

Organizational culture profoundly influences how employees think and behave. Established research suggests that the content, intensity, consensus, and fit of cultural norms act as a social control system for attitudes and behavior. We adopt the norms model of organizational culture to elucidate whether organizational culture can influence how employees experience emotions. We focus on a pervasive emotion, anxiety. We propose four important pathways that link organizational culture with anxiety. First, we propose that when norm content is result-oriented, employees must strive for challenging goals with specific targets under time pressure, and are more likely to experience anxiety. Second, when norm intensity is weak, employees do not internalize norms and they engage in deviant behaviors that increase uncertainty and promote anxiety. Third, a lack of consensus about norms commonly creates conflict between factions within an organization and increases anxiety. Fourth, when there is a mismatch between employees’ values and organizational norms and values, the misfit engenders anxiety. Taken together, different features of organizational cultural norms can independently and multiplicatively influence the magnitude of anxiety, which has constructive or destructive effects on performance.

Worry at work: How organizational culture promotes anxiety

Organizational culture profoundly influences how employees think and behave. Established research suggests that the content, intensity, consensus, and fit of cultural norms act as a social control system for attitudes and behavior. We adopt the norms model of organizational culture to elucidate whether organizational culture can influence how employees experience emotions. We focus on a pervasive emotion, anxiety. We propose four important pathways that link organizational culture with anxiety. First, we propose that when norm content is result-oriented, employees must strive for challenging goals with specific targets under time pressure, and are more likely to experience anxiety. Second, when norm intensity is weak, employees do not internalize norms and they engage in deviant behaviors that increase uncertainty and promote anxiety. Third, a lack of consensus about norms commonly creates conflict between factions within an organization and increases anxiety. Fourth, when there is a mismatch between employees’ values and organizational norms and values, the misfit engenders anxiety. Taken together, different features of organizational cultural norms can independently and multiplicatively influence the magnitude of anxiety, which has constructive or destructive effects on performance.

'Not in the room, but the doctors were': an Australian story-completion study about consumer representation.

Current mental health policy requires consumer involvement in all levels of health service management (i.e. planning, implementation, delivery and evaluation). However, current models often limit consumers to 'representation' roles that are criticized for silencing consumer views. This study compares understandings of consumer representatives' and health professionals' participation in decision-making processes in the mental health sector in Australia. Story completion methods were employed, with 34 participants (21 consumers, 8 health professionals and 5 people identifying both as consumer and health professional) completing a story stem about either a consumer representative or a health professional changing a committee meeting agenda. Using a thematic approach, three overarching themes were developed: how consumer representative roles remain unvalued, how such lack of value translates to not achieving co-production and how consumer representative roles can be better supported through allyship or subversion against organizational cultural norms. Findings suggest that organizational cultural norms in health settings need to be more inclusive of consumers to maximize the benefits of partnerships and fulfil policy expectations. Two methods for greater empowerment of consumers working in mental health are through allyship with non-consumer health professionals who support the goals of the consumer movement, and subversion of current practices.

Presenteeism Attitudes and Behavior Among Missouri Kindergarten to Twelfth Grade (K-12) School Nurses.

Working while ill (presenteeism) with symptoms of influenza-like illness can contribute to outbreaks, but little is known about school nurse presenteeism. Missouri Association of School Nurses members (N = 396) were sent a survey in 2013/2014. A chi square test was conducted to compare having a school culture that encourages presenteeism versus actual sick leave policies. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to delineate factors associated with presenteeism. In total, 133 school nurses participated (33.6% response rate). Almost half (42.1%, n = 56) reported presenteeism. Nurses were more likely to feel pressure to engage in presenteeism than reported punitive sick leave policies (14.3% vs. 3.8%, χ2 = 18.3, p < .001). Presenteeism was associated with perceived pressure, odds ratio (OR) = 4.8, confidence interval (CI) = [1.5, 15.8], p < .01, and having a mild illness, OR = 3.6, CI = [1.4, 9.7], p = .01. Many school nurses engage in presenteeism, and this appears to be associated with organizational cultural norms rather than established sick leave policies.

What matters more? The impact of industry and organizational factors on organizational culture

Purpose – Writings on organizational culture suggest that cultural values and norms are influenced by factors at the organizational, industry, and societal levels. While the effects of societal and organizational factors have been researched extensively, those of industry factors have not received commensurate attention. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relative importance of industry vs organizational variables in explaining the cultural norms reported by individuals within organizations. Design/methodology/approach – The effects of two industry characteristics, (growth rate and research and development intensity) and two sets of organizational factors (leadership behaviors and human resource practices) on the strength of constructive, passive/defensive, and aggressive/defensive organizational cultural norms were investigated. Findings – Results of hierarchical linear modeling analysis of survey data from 3,245 respondents in 424 organizations in 12 different industries revealed significant between-organization variation but no significant between-industry variation in the three types of cultural norms measured. Furthermore, while industry-level factors were unrelated to culture, significant variance in the culture measures was explained by leadership behaviors and human resource practices (use of rewards and fairness of performance appraisal). Research limitations/implications – The strength of cultural norms and expectations within an organization evolve in response to attributes specific to the organization and do not necessarily reflect industry characteristics. The results indicate that organizations using surveys to assess their cultures may learn as much (if not more) by comparing their feedback to data on organizations across a spectrum of industries as opposed to organizations exclusively in their own industry. Originality/value – Most of the frameworks developed to examine and describe the cultures of organizations delineate specific dimensions or types that are assumed to be relevant to all organizations regardless of the industries within which they operate. The purpose of this paper was to explore the validity of this assumption by investigating the relative impact of industry and organizational factors on organizational culture.

The Economics of “Crossing Over”: Examining the Link between Correctional Officer Pay and Guard–Inmate Boundary Violations

ABSTRACTThis study seeks to ascertain why some correctional officers engage in boundary violations with inmates in spite of the presence of strong organizational cultural norms which discourage familiarity between staff and offenders. Using an alternate version of Blau and Blau’s relative deprivation theory to guide in the interpretation of our analyses, we conclude that poor pay, perceptions of boundary violations by other officers, and lack of family support, the economics, lead some officers to have a lack of pride in their work and profession, thus, triggering their closeness to inmates across the sacrosanct border, resulting in the crossing over.

Physical Restraints: Abusive and Harmful

Contemporary health care policy around the world promotes the use of evidence-based medicine and, as such, it is reasonable to assume that this would lead to similarities in health care practices in comparable economies. Interestingly, this does not seem to be the case with the use of restraining technologies and restraint policies implemented within hospitals and nursing homes. Definitional ambiguity surrounding what is an abusive act may in part account for these practice variations, given that interpretations of an abusive act are contingent on particular circumstances. For example, if a practitioner restrains a patient who is behaving aggressively, it might be interpreted as a justifiable act, or an act of abuse that may be criminal, depending on the situation. Examples of physical restraint used in acute hospitals and nursing homes include body belts, restraining vests, cuffs, and bilateral bedrails. Chemical restraints are any medication used to manage what are perceived to be challenging behaviors, such as agitation, aggression, or verbal abuse. A common feature of restraining policies is that a set of permissions is usually required before application of the restraint. These permissions often include authorization by senior medical and nursing staff, permission of relatives or a legally recognized alternate, and, where appropriate, the individual’s consent. Acquiring a restraining order is, however, an insufficient justification for restraint use, it is simply an organizational process requirement, and the decision to restrain, like any health care intervention, should be influenced by the best available evidence. Therapeutic justifications for commonly used physical and chemical restraints are usually couched in terms of safety measures associated with harm prevention and risk reduction.1 We examine this premise in terms of the strength of patient benefit evidence.1 In doing so, we are mindful of other determinants that influence practitioner decisions to use or not to use restraining devices in given situations. These broader determinants include staff perception of the benefits and acceptability of the restraining procedure, knowledge of adverse effects, local practice custom, staffing levels, opportunity to provide staff with intensive interventions, such as continuous supervision, the perceived legality of restraining devices, and societal and organizational cultural norms.

Negotiating Murder: A Panzer Signal Company and the Destruction of the Jews of Peregruznoe, 1942

In September 1942, members of a Panzer signal company murdered thirty to forty Jews near the tiny Soviet town of Peregruznoe. A case study of the unit reveals that individual soldiers faced a twisted terrain of choices, pressures, and organizational cultural norms. The author argues that the perpetrators among these Wehrmacht soldiers can be placed along a continuum of response: the commander led the activist core, followers went along, and individual soldiers evaded participation. Investigation of the complexities of participation and non-participation in spontaneous acts of violence such as this helps us to understand why some men (and units) killed while others did not.

That's Not Fair!: The Social Construction of Organizational (In)Justice among Professionals

Building on the work of organizational justice researchers, this research is an attempt to come to a greater understanding of the social construction of perceived injustice among professionals employed in large, bureaucratic organizational structures. It suggests that professional employees experience a perceived injustice in an organizational workplace outcome, procedure, or interaction when a likely, positive, and valued expectation has been violated or unfulfilled. These expectations are socially constructed from various organizational “stocks of knowledge” available to professionals. These include: (1) organizational cultural norms; (2) professional occupational subcultural norms; and (3) employee prior work experiences. The research suggests that in instances of perceived injustices in organizational outcomes, professionals’expectations are primarily rooted in organizational cultural norms for the allocation of such outcomes. In instances of perceived injustices in organizational procedures, professionals’expectations are primarily rooted in prior work experiences surrounding such procedures and processes, while in instances of perceived injustices in organizational interactions, professionals’expectations are primarily rooted in professional occupational subcultural norms surrounding such interactions.

The Effect of Organizational Cultural Norms on the Relationships Between Personnel Practices and Employee Commitment

The Effect of Organizational Cultural Norms on the Relationships Between Personnel Practices and Employee Commitment