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MANAGING PROJECTS

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Projects represent nonroutine business activities that often have long-term strategic ramifications for a firm. In this chapter, we examined how projects differ from routine business activities and discussed the major phases of projects. We noted how environmental changes have resulted in increased attention being paid to projects and project management over the past decade. In the second half of the chapter, we introduced some basic tools that businesses can use when planning for and controlling projects. Both Gantt charts and network diagrams give managers a visual picture of how a project is going. Network diagrams have the added advantage of showing the precedence between activities, as well as the critical path(s). We wrapped up the chapter by showing how these concepts are embedded in inexpensive yet powerful software packages such as Microsoft Project. If you want to learn more about project management, we encourage you to take a look at the Web site for the Proj...
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Cultivating Organizational Culture

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Organizational culture is the pattern of beliefs and expectations shared by members of an organization. It includes a common philosophy, norms, and values. In other words, it expresses the “rules of the game” for getting along and getting things done and ways of interacting with outsiders, such as suppliers and customers. Some aspects of organizational culture are cultural symbols, heroes, rites, and ceremonies. Organizational culture develops as a response to the challenges of external adaptation and survival and of internal integration. The formation of an organization’s culture also is influenced by the culture of the larger society within which the organization must function.
The primary methods for both sustaining and changing organizational culture include (1) identifying what leaders and teams pay attention to, measure, and control; (2) recognizing the ways in which leaders and employees react to crises; (3) using managerial and team role modeling, teaching, and coaching; (4) developing and applying fair criteria for allocating rewards and status; (5) utilizing consistent criteria for recruitment, selection, and promotion within the organization and removal from it; and (6) emphasizing organizational rites, ceremonies, and stories.
Although all organizational cultures are unique, four general types are identified and discussed: bureaucratic, clan, entrepreneurial, and market. They are characterized by differences in the extent of formal controls and focus of attention.
Organizational culture also can have a strong effect on the ethical behavior of leaders and employees alike. One concept linking culture to ethical behavior is principled organizational dissent. Cultures that encourage dissent and permit whistle-blowing provide guidelines for ethical behaviors.
Fostering cultural diversity is expected to be one of the principal challenges facing the leaders of organizations for years to come. How leaders respond to this challenge will determine the effectiveness of culturally diverse teams, an organization’s communication process, and employees’ personal development.
Socialization is the process by which new members are brought into an organization’s culture. At firms having a strong culture, socialization steps are well developed and the focus of careful attention. All organizations socialize new members, but depending on how it is done, the outcomes could be either positive or negative in terms of job performance, satisfaction, and commitment to the organization. We presented a seven-step process for socializing new employees.

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