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91-577: The Toyota Way is a set of principles defining the organizational culture of Toyota Motor Corporation . The company formalized the Toyota Way in 2001, after decades of academic research into the Toyota Production System and its implications for lean manufacturing as a methodology that other organizations could adopt. The two pillars of the Toyota Way are respect for people and continuous improvement . Jeffrey K. Liker popularized

182-527: A consensus was reached"). Consensus decision-making, as a self-described practice, originates from several nonviolent , direct action groups that were active in the Civil rights , Peace and Women's movements in the USA during counterculture of the 1960s . The practice gained popularity in the 1970s through the anti-nuclear movement, and peaked in popularity in the early 1980s. Consensus spread abroad through

273-404: A decision rule . Diversity of opinion is normal in most all situations, and will be represented proportionately in an appropriately functioning group. Even with goodwill and social awareness, citizens are likely to disagree in their political opinions and judgments. Differences of interest as well as of perception and values will lead the citizens to divergent views about how to direct and use

364-479: A musyawarah consensus-building process in which parties mediate to find peace and avoid future hostility and revenge. The resulting agreements are expected to be followed, and range from advice and warnings to compensation and exile. The origins of formal consensus -making can be traced significantly further back, to the Religious Society of Friends , or Quakers, who adopted the technique as early as

455-417: A systemic bias , a rigged process (where an agenda is not published in advance or changed when it becomes clear who is present to consent), fear of speaking one's mind, a lack of creativity (to suggest alternatives) or even a lack of courage (to go further along the same road to a more extreme solution that would not achieve unanimous consent). Unanimity is achieved when the full group apparently consents to

546-542: A 75% supermajority to finalize its decisions, potentially as early as 1142. In the Xulu and Xhosa (South African) process of indaba , community leaders gather to listen to the public and negotiate figurative thresholds towards an acceptable compromise. The technique was also used during the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference . In Aceh and Nias cultures (Indonesian), family and regional disputes, from playground fights to estate inheritance, are handled through

637-622: A Japanese company, they had to discuss the idea with everyone even the janitor, yet once a decision was made the Americans found the Japanese were able to act much quicker because everyone was on board, while the Americans had to struggle with internal opposition. Outside of Western culture, multiple other cultures have used consensus decision-making. One early example is the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy Grand Council , which used

728-430: A better way of doing things 'is not always received in good spirit at home.'" The Toyota Way management approach at the automaker "worked until it didn't." One consequence was when Toyota was given reports of sudden acceleration in its vehicles, and the company faced an expensive recall situation. There were questions if Toyota's crisis was caused by the company losing sight of its principles. The Toyota Way did not address

819-565: A caution that may be redundant "because that's the way it's always been around here". Kotter and Heskett define an adaptive culture as characterized by managers who pay close attention to their constituencies, especially customers, initiating change when needed, and taking risks. They claim that organizations with adaptive cultures perform better. Bullying manifests in workplaces that allow employees of higher status to harass those of lower status. This generally requires support or at least forbearance from company leaders. Bullying can cascade down

910-452: A consensus process, with rapid implementation of decisions once reached ( nemawashi ). The final principle requires that Toyota be a "learning organization", continually reflecting on its practices and striving for improvement. According to Liker, becoming a learning organization involves criticizing every aspect of what one does. There is a question of uptake of the principles now that Toyota has production operations in many countries. While

1001-471: A corporate culture requires effort, typically from leaders, but potentially throughout the organization. Among the many types of communication that affect organizational culture are: Numerous outcomes have been associated either directly or indirectly with organizational culture. The relationships between organizational culture and various outcomes include organizational performance, employee commitment, and innovation. A healthy and robust organizational culture

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1092-508: A cultural change, a needs assessment can characterize the existing culture. This involves some mixture of employ surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation, customer surveys, and other internal research. The company must then describe the new, desired culture, and then design a change process. Cummings and Worley offer six guidelines for cultural change, in line with the eight distinct stages mentioned by Kotter. Several methods have been used to classify organizational culture. While there

1183-539: A decision. It has disadvantages insofar as further disagreement, improvements or better ideas then remain hidden, but effectively ends the debate moving it to an implementation phase. Some consider all unanimity a form of groupthink, and some experts propose "coding systems ... for detecting the illusion of unanimity symptom". In Consensus is not Unanimity , long-time progressive change activist Randy Schutt writes: Many people think of consensus as simply an extended voting method in which everyone must cast their votes

1274-445: A democracy is consensus democracy . The word consensus is Latin meaning "agreement, accord", derived from consentire meaning "feel together". A noun, consensus can represent a generally accepted opinion – "general agreement or concord; harmony", "a majority of opinion" – or the outcome of a consensus decision-making process. This article refers to the process and the outcome (e.g. "to decide by consensus" and "

1365-492: A diversity of thought. The facilitator is understood as serving the group rather than acting as person-in-charge. In the Quaker model, as with other consensus decision-making processes, articulating the emerging consensus allows members to be clear on the decision in front of them. As members' views are taken into account they are likely to support it. The consensus decision-making process often has several roles designed to make

1456-446: A fall-back method to strategically incentivize consensus over blocking. However, this makes it very difficult to tell the difference between those who support the decision and those who merely tactically tolerate it for the incentive. Once they receive that incentive, they may undermine or refuse to implement the agreement in various and non-obvious ways. In general voting systems avoid allowing offering incentives (or "bribes") to change

1547-479: A friendly climate conducive to conflict avoidance. Since the late 1960s, the so-called 'Five Monkeys Experiment' that serves to exemplify the adverse effects of unquestioned traditions has become part of management lore, often titled "How Company Policy Is Made". It imagines a situation where five monkeys are in a cage with a banana tied to the ceiling. Whenever a monkey climbs to reach the banana, all five are sprayed with cold water. The group quickly learn to ignore

1638-526: A heartfelt vote. In the Abilene paradox , a group can unanimously agree on a course of action that no individual member of the group desires because no one individual is willing to go against the perceived will of the decision-making body. Since consensus decision-making focuses on discussion and seeks the input of all participants, it can be a time-consuming process. This is a potential liability in situations where decisions must be made speedily, or where it

1729-791: A matter and reformulating it until no objections remained". This way of working was brought to the SNCC at its formation by the Nashville student group , who had received nonviolence training from James Lawson and Myles Horton at the Highlander Folk School . However, as the SNCC faced growing internal and external pressure toward the mid-1960s, it developed into a more hierarchical structure, eventually abandoning consensus. Women Strike for Peace (WSP) are also accounted as independently used consensus from their founding in 1961. Eleanor Garst (herself influenced by Quakers) introduced

1820-399: A mechanical method for verifying such consensus, apparently in the belief that any such codification leads to attempts to " game the system ." Instead, a working group (WG) chair or BoF chair is supposed to articulate the "sense of the group." One tradition in support of rough consensus is the tradition of humming rather than (countable) hand-raising; this allows a group to quickly discern

1911-471: A mechanism for dealing with disagreements. The Quaker model has been adapted by Earlham College for application to secular settings, and can be effectively applied in any consensus decision-making process. Its process includes: Key components of Quaker-based consensus include a belief in a common humanity and the ability to decide together. The goal is "unity, not unanimity." Ensuring that group members speak only once until others are heard encourages

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2002-421: A philosophy of problem-solving that emphasizes thorough understanding, swiftly implemented consensus -based solutions, continual reflection ( hansei ), and improvement ( kaizen ). The 12th principle ( Genchi Genbutsu ) sets out the expectation that managers will personally evaluate operations to understand situations and problems firsthand. Principle 13 encourages thorough consideration of possible solutions through

2093-427: A positive impact on cultural adherence. Chambers claimed that this was a short-term response rather than a culture change. Deloitte argued that employees displayed greater sense of purpose, inspiration, and contribution. Also, leaders became more tolerant of employees' failure because of a significant increase in experimentation and risk-taking. Daum and Maraist claimed that sense of purpose relates to customers and

2184-417: A quality outcome. Following these principles, work processes are redesigned to eliminate waste ( muda ) through continuous improvement — kaizen . The seven types of muda are (1) overproduction; (2) waiting, time on hand; (3) unnecessary transport or conveyance; (4) overprocessing or incorrect processing; (5) excess inventory; (6) motion; and (7) defects. The principles in this section empower employees despite

2275-420: A step-by-step approach to challenges, to search for the root causes of problems, and to engage in ongoing innovation. The standards pertain to respect for individuals and incorporate ways of building appreciation and cooperation. The system is summarized in 14 principles: In 2004, Jeffrey Liker, a University of Michigan professor of industrial engineering , published The Toyota Way . In his book, Liker calls

2366-424: A symbol of strength. In his book about Misplaced Pages, Joseph Reagle considers the merits and challenges of consensus in open and online communities. Randy Schutt, Starhawk and other practitioners of direct action focus on the hazards of apparent agreement followed by action in which group splits become dangerously obvious. Unanimous, or apparently unanimous, decisions can have drawbacks. They may be symptoms of

2457-489: A term Hofstede used for predictable behavior. Hofstede related culture to ethnic and regional differences, but also to the influence of organizations, professional, family, social and subcultural groups, national political systems, and legislation. He suggested that changing "mental programs" involves changing behavior first, which then leads to value change. Though groups such as Jews and Gypsies have maintained their identity through centuries, their values reflect adaptation to

2548-465: A way that assures that "everyone must be heard". The Modified Borda Count voting method has been advocated as more 'consensual' than majority voting, by, among others, by Ramón Llull in 1199, by Nicholas Cusanus in 1435, by Jean-Charles de Borda in 1784, by Hother Hage in 1860, by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) in 1884, and by Peter Emerson in 1986. Japanese companies normally use consensus decision-making, meaning that unanimous support on

2639-425: Is a guide book used by many organizations. This book on Parliamentary Procedure allows the structuring of debate and passage of proposals that can be approved through a form of majority vote. It does not emphasize the goal of full agreement. Critics of such a process believe that it can involve adversarial debate and the formation of competing factions. These dynamics may harm group member relationships and undermine

2730-457: Is a state in which even if group members have different ideas, they do not challenge the group. Groupthink can lead to lack of creativity and decisions made without critical evaluation. Hogg and separately Deanne et al. stated that groupthink can occur, for example, when group members rely heavily on a charismatic figure or where members evince an "evangelical" belief in the organization's values. Groupthink can also occur in groups characterized by

2821-490: Is attempting to address these needs by establishing training institutes in the United States and Thailand. Toyota Way has been driven so deeply into the psyche of employees at all levels that it has morphed from a strategy into an essential element of the company's culture. According to Masaki Saruta, author of several books on Toyota, "the real Toyota Way is a culture of control." A management consultancy perspective of

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2912-436: Is built by a group decision-making process in which participants develop and decide on proposals with the goal of achieving broad acceptance, defined by its terms as form of consensus . The focus on establishing agreement of at least the majority or the supermajority and avoiding unproductive opinion differentiates consensus from unanimity , which requires all participants to support a decision. Consensus decision-making in

3003-406: Is done, this coercive process is not consensus. Confusion between unanimity and consensus, in other words, usually causes consensus decision-making to fail, and the group then either reverts to majority or supermajority rule or disbands. Most robust models of consensus exclude uniformly unanimous decisions and require at least documentation of minority concerns. Some state clearly that unanimity

3094-561: Is no single "type" of organizational culture and organizational cultures vary widely across organizations, researchers have developed models to describe different indicators of organizational cultures. Hofstede looked for differences between over 160 000 IBM employees in 50 countries and three regions of the world, searching for aspects of culture that influence business behavior. He emphasized awareness of international differences and multiculturalism. Cultural differences reflect differences in thinking and social action, and in "mental programs",

3185-429: Is not consensus but rather evidence of intimidation, lack of imagination, lack of courage, failure to include all voices, or deliberate exclusion of the contrary views. Some proponents of consensus decision-making view procedures that use majority rule as undesirable for several reasons. Majority voting is regarded as competitive , rather than cooperative , framing decision-making in a win/lose dichotomy that ignores

3276-438: Is not possible to canvass opinions of all delegates in a reasonable time. Additionally, the time commitment required to engage in the consensus decision-making process can sometimes act as a barrier to participation for individuals unable or unwilling to make the commitment. However, once a decision has been reached it can be acted on more quickly than a decision handed down. American businessmen complained that in negotiations with

3367-690: Is still observed that defies factional explanations. Nearly 40% of the decisions of the United States Supreme Court , for example, are unanimous, though often for widely varying reasons. "Consensus in Supreme Court voting, particularly the extreme consensus of unanimity, has often puzzled Court observers who adhere to ideological accounts of judicial decision making." Historical evidence is mixed on whether particular Justices' views were suppressed in favour of public unity. Heitzig and Simmons (2012) suggest using random selection as

3458-797: Is the focus of principles 9 through 11. Principle 9 emphasizes the need to ensure that leaders embrace and promote the corporate philosophy. According to Liker, this reflects a belief that these principles must be ingrained in employees to survive. The 10th principle emphasizes the need for individuals and work teams to embrace the company's philosophy, with teams of 4-5 people who are judged in success by their team achievements, rather than their solo efforts. Principle 11 looks to business partners, who are treated by Toyota much like they treat their employees. Toyota challenges them to do better and helps them achieve it. The automaker provides cross-functional teams to help suppliers discover and fix problems to become more robust, better suppliers. The final principles embrace

3549-879: Is thought to offer various benefits, including: A Harvard Business School study reported that culture has a significant effect on an organization's long-term economic performance. The study examined the management practices at 160 organizations over ten years and found that culture can impact performance. Performance-oriented cultures experienced better financial results. Additionally, a 2002 Corporate Leadership Council study found that cultural traits such as risk taking, internal communications, and flexibility are important drivers of performance. Furthermore, innovativeness, productivity through people, and other cultural factors cited by Peters and Waterman in In Search of Excellence also have positive economic consequences. Denison, Haaland, and Goelzer reported that culture contributes to

3640-473: The A16 Washington D.C. protests in 2000 , affinity groups disputed their spokescouncil's imposition of nonviolence in their action guidelines. They received the reprieve of letting groups self-organize their protests, and as the city's protest was subsequently divided into pie slices, each blockaded by an affinity group's choice of protest. Many of the participants learned about the spokescouncil model on

3731-536: The S11 (World Economic Forum protest) in 2000 to do so too. Consensus was used at the first Camp for Climate Action (2006) and subsequent camps. Occupy Wall Street (2011) made use of consensus in combination with techniques such as the people's microphone and hand signals . Characteristics of consensus decision-making include: Consensus decision-making is an alternative to commonly practiced group decision-making processes. Robert's Rules of Order , for instance,

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3822-581: The Vietnam War , Lawrence Scott started A Quaker Action Group (AQAG) in 1966 to try and encourage activism within the Quakers. By 1971 AQAG members felt they needed not only to end the war, but transform civil society as a whole, and renamed AQAG to MNS. MNS members used consensus decision-making from the beginning as a non-religious adaptation of the Quaker decision-making they were used to. MNS trained

3913-405: The anti-globalization and climate movements, and has become normalized in anti-authoritarian spheres in conjunction with affinity groups and ideas of participatory democracy and prefigurative politics . The Movement for a New Society (MNS) has been credited for popularizing consensus decision-making. Unhappy with the inactivity of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) against

4004-428: The spokescouncil model, affinity groups make joint decisions by each designating a speaker and sitting behind that circle of spokespeople, akin to the spokes of a wheel. While speaking rights might be limited to each group's designee, the meeting may allot breakout time for the constituent groups to discuss an issue and return to the circle via their spokesperson. In the case of an activist spokescouncil preparing for

4095-616: The 17th century. Anabaptists , including some Mennonites , have a history of using consensus decision-making and some believe Anabaptists practiced consensus as early as the Martyrs' Synod of 1527. Some Christians trace consensus decision-making back to the Bible. The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia references, in particular, Acts 15 as an example of consensus in the New Testament. The lack of legitimate consensus process in

4186-416: The 2004 book The Toyota Way by industrial engineering researcher Jeffrey Liker and has received attention in business administration education and corporate governance . The principles of the Toyota Way are divided into the two broad categories of continuous improvement and respect for human resources. The standards for constant improvement include directives to set up a long-term vision, to engage in

4277-452: The Toyota Way "a system designed to provide the tools for people to continually improve their work." According to Liker, the 14 principles of The Toyota Way are organized into four sections: The first principle involves managing with a long-term view rather than for short-term gain. It reflects a belief that people need a purpose to find motivation and establish goals. The following seven principles are focused on process with an eye towards

4368-400: The Toyota Way "was not only the value of teaching and training their entire workforce to continuously improve their jobs, but also the power of entrusting the entire workforce to do so to the betterment of all." The Toyota Way thus rewards intense company loyalty that at the same time invariably reduces the voice of those who challenge authority. "The Toyota Way of constructive criticism to reach

4459-408: The ability of a group to cooperatively implement a contentious decision. Consensus decision-making attempts to address the beliefs of such problems. Proponents claim that outcomes of the consensus process include: Consensus is not synonymous with unanimity – though that may be a rule agreed to in a specific decision-making process. The level of agreement necessary to finalize a decision is known as

4550-612: The anti-nuclear Clamshell Alliance (1976) and Abalone Alliance (1977) to use consensus, and in 1977 published Resource Manual for a Living Revolution , which included a section on consensus. An earlier account of consensus decision-making comes from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the main student organization of the civil rights movement , founded in 1960. Early SNCC member Mary King , later reflected: "we tried to make all decisions by consensus ... it meant discussing

4641-456: The automaker's bureaucratic processes. Any employee in the Toyota Production System has the authority to stop production to signal a quality issue, emphasizing that quality takes precedence ( Jidoka ). The way the Toyota bureaucratic system is implemented allows for continuous improvement (kaizen) from the people affected by that system so that any employee may aid in the growth and improvement of

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4732-408: The banana and punish any monkey who attempts to reach for it. If one monkey is removed from the cage and replaced with a newcomer, they too are punished for reaching for the banana. If every monkey is subsequently replaced in this manner, so that none present remember being sprayed with cold water, the group will supposedly continue to punish any attempts to reach the banana. The monkeys are perpetuating

4823-490: The board of directors is sought for any decision. A ringi-sho is a circulation document used to obtain agreement. It must first be signed by the lowest level manager, and then upwards, and may need to be revised and the process started over. In the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), decisions are assumed to be taken by rough consensus . The IETF has studiously refrained from defining

4914-419: The company. Recognition of the value of employees is also part of the principle of measured production rate ( heijunka ), as a level workload helps avoid overburdening people and equipment ( muri ), but this is also intended to minimize waste (muda) and avoid uneven production levels ( mura ). These principles are also designed to ensure that only essential materials are employed (to avoid overproduction), that

5005-761: The corporate culture may have been quickly disseminated by word of mouth when Toyota manufacturing was only in Japan, with worldwide production, many different cultures must be taken into account. Concepts such as "mutual ownership of problems", or " genchi genbutsu " , (solving problems at the source instead of behind desks), and the " kaizen mind" , (an unending sense of crisis behind the company's constant drive to improve), may be unfamiliar to North Americans and people of other cultures. The automaker's increase in vehicle recalls may be due, in part, to "a failure by Toyota to spread its obsession for craftsmanship among its growing ranks of overseas factory workers and managers." Toyota

5096-462: The debate. When all agree, the chair calls for a preferential vote, as per the rules for a Modified Borda Count. The referees decide which option, or which composite of the two leading options, is the outcome. If its level of support surpasses a minimum consensus coefficient, it may be adopted. Groups that require unanimity commonly use a core set of procedures depicted in this flow chart. Once an agenda for discussion has been set and, optionally,

5187-508: The decision. Members of a minority position may feel less commitment to a majority decision, and even majority voters who may have taken their positions along party or bloc lines may have a sense of reduced responsibility for the ultimate decision. The result of this reduced commitment, according to many consensus proponents, is potentially less willingness to defend or act upon the decision. Majority voting cannot measure consensus. Indeed,—so many 'for' and so many 'against'—it measures

5278-571: The dimensions of external/internal focus and flexible/stable evolution. Deal and Kennedy characterized four types of organizations. Each focused on how quickly the organization processes along three dimensions: Schein claimed that culture is the most difficult organizational attribute to change, outlasting products, services, founders and leadership and all physical attributes. His model considers culture as an observer , characterized in terms of artifacts, values and underlying assumptions. Schein's model considers attributes that can be experienced by

5369-490: The dominant cultural environment. Hofstede described national and regional cultural groupings that affect the behavior of organizations and identified four dimensions of culture (later five ) in his study of national cultures: These dimensions help define the effect of national cultures on management, and can be used to adapt to local needs. Denison's model assessed culture along four dimensions. Each divides into three sub-dimensions: It separately assesses cultures along

5460-521: The facilitator calling for proposals. Every proposed option is accepted if the referees decide it is relevant and conforms with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . The referees produce and display a list of these options. The debate proceeds, with queries, comments, criticisms and/or even new options. If the debate fails to come to a verbal consensus, the referees draw up a final list of options - usually between 4 and 6 - to represent

5551-478: The fly by participating in it directly, and came to better understand their planned action by hearing others' concerns and voicing their own. In Designing an All-Inclusive Democracy (2007), Emerson proposes a consensus oriented approach based on the Modified Borda Count (MBC) voting method. The group first elects, say, three referees or consensors. The debate on the chosen problem is initiated by

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5642-414: The ground rules for the meeting have been agreed upon, each item of the agenda is addressed in turn. Typically, each decision arising from an agenda item follows through a simple structure: Quaker -based consensus is said to be effective because it puts in place a simple, time-tested structure that moves a group towards unity. The Quaker model is intended to allow hearing individual voices while providing

5733-463: The group members in order to build the experience and skills of the participants, and prevent any perceived concentration of power. The common roles in a consensus meeting are: Critics of consensus blocking often observe that the option, while potentially effective for small groups of motivated or trained individuals with a sufficiently high degree of affinity , has a number of possible shortcomings, notably Consensus seeks to improve solidarity in

5824-448: The indirect effects that strengthened or weakened cultures as organizations reacted in various ways to the pandemic. Some members felt disengaged and expandable rather than essential, alienated, and exhausted. Sull and Sull reported that employees rated their leadership higher given honest/open communication, integrity, and transparency more than in preceding years. Also, employers and leaders giving more attention to employees' welfare had

5915-470: The long run. Accordingly, it should not be confused with unanimity in the immediate situation, which is often a symptom of groupthink . Studies of effective consensus process usually indicate a shunning of unanimity or "illusion of unanimity" that does not hold up as a group comes under real-world pressure (when dissent reappears). Cory Doctorow , Ralph Nader and other proponents of deliberative democracy or judicial-like methods view explicit dissent as

6006-1003: The need of the individual or the group was foremost. He used behaviors such as mask-wearing to measure collectivism vs individualism. Cultures otherwise rated "strong" were relatively resistant to change during the pandemic. However, strong cultures that emphasized innovation were more willing to change. Mandated interventions could be seen by members either as attempts to protect them or to as attempts to exert control despite limited effectiveness, depending on how they were presented. Digital tools such as videoconferencing , screen-sharing, file sharing , shared document authoring, digital whiteboards , and chat groups became widely accepted, replacing in-person meetings. The reduced amount of face-to-face communications may have impacted organizational cultures. New members, lacking face time with others, experienced difficulty in adapting to their organization's culture. The loss of face-time affected existing employees as well, directly weakening cultures, in addition to

6097-448: The needs of multiple stakeholders. Any type of culture can be strongly or only tacitly supported. A strong culture is characterized by reinforcing tools such as ceremonies and policies to instill and spread it. The intent is to secure group compliance. Researchers generally report that organizations having strong cultures are more successful. Organizational culture is used to control, coordinate, and integrate distinct groups across

6188-435: The option of blocking a group decision. This provision motivates a group to make sure that all group members consent to any new proposal before it is adopted. When there is potential for a block to a group decision, both the group and dissenters in the group are encouraged to collaborate until agreement can be reached. Simply vetoing a decision is not considered a responsible use of consensus blocking. Some common guidelines for

6279-425: The organization, reset objectives, rescale the organization, or achieve specific results. Organizational cultures have been reported to change in stages. One group proposed five stages: Existing culture can hinder change efforts, especially where members understand the roles that they are supposed to play. Marquis et al. claimed that 70% of all change efforts fail because of the members. Organizational culture, and

6370-422: The organization. Differences in national cultures must be addressed. Such differences include organizational structure and manager/employee relationships. Janis defined groupthink as "a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members' strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action." This

6461-706: The organizational hierarchy as supervisors experiencing bullying display the same behavior to their subordinates. The pandemic led many organizations to incorporate limiting spread into their cultures as a collective responsibility. Responses focused on requiring vaccines, hygiene, and masking. In Asia, mask-wearing was part of several national cultures predating the pandemic. This was driven by experience with prior flus in Asia, such as Spanish flu , Hong Kong flu , Avian flu , and Swine flu , in addition to SARS , as well as various affronts to air quality such as volcanic eruptions . Somers categorized cultures based on whether

6552-439: The organized political power of the community, in order to promote and protect common interests. If political representatives reflect this diversity, then there will be as much disagreement in the legislature as there is in the population. To ensure the agreement or consent of all participants is valued, many groups choose unanimity or near-unanimity as their decision rule. Groups that require unanimity allow individual participants

6643-477: The philosophy in his 2004 book, The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer. Subsequent research has explored the extent to which the Toyota Way can be applied in other contexts. The principles were first collated into a single document in the company's pamphlet "The Toyota Way 2001", to help codify the company's organizational culture . The philosophy was subsequently analyzed in

6734-443: The possibility of compromise or other mutually beneficial solutions. Carlos Santiago Nino, on the other hand, has argued that majority rule leads to better deliberation practice than the alternatives, because it requires each member of the group to make arguments that appeal to at least half the participants. Some advocates of consensus would assert that a majority decision reduces the commitment of each individual decision-maker to

6825-481: The practice as part of the loose and participatory structure of WSP. As consensus grew in popularity, it became less clear who influenced who. Food Not Bombs , which started in 1980 in connection with an occupation of Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant organized by the Clamshell Alliance , adopted consensus for their organization. Consensus was used in the 1999 Seattle WTO protests , which inspired

6916-468: The problem and provide direction on what the automaker would be doing. Instead, managers protected the company. They issued flat-out denials and placed the blame on others. The consequence of the automaker's actions led to the 2009–11 Toyota vehicle recalls . Although one of the Toyota Way principles is to "build a culture of stopping to fix problems to get quality right the first time," Akio Toyoda , President and CEO, stated during Congressional hearings that

7007-464: The process run more effectively. Although the name and nature of these roles varies from group to group, the most common are the facilitator , consensor , a timekeeper, an empath and a secretary or notes taker. Not all decision-making bodies use all of these roles, although the facilitator position is almost always filled, and some groups use supplementary roles, such as a Devil's advocate or greeter. Some decision-making bodies rotate these roles through

7098-412: The reason for the problems was that his "company grew too fast." Toyota management had determined its goal was to become the world's largest automotive manufacturer. According to some management consultants, when the pursuit of growth took priority, the automaker "lost sight of the key values that gave it its reputation in the first place." Organizational culture Organizational culture influences

7189-510: The same way. Since unanimity of this kind rarely occurs in groups with more than one member, groups that try to use this kind of process usually end up being either extremely frustrated or coercive. Decisions are never made (leading to the demise of the group), they are made covertly, or some group or individual dominates the rest. Sometimes a majority dominates, sometimes a minority, sometimes an individual who employs "the Block." But no matter how it

7280-484: The society of which employees are part. They compared hospitals and retail shops. The former had a greater sense of purpose during the pandemic, while the latter had less. Healthy cultures address members' concerns about the well-being of the organization. Whistleblowing , particularly when it damages a company's reputation, is considered to be a sign of a dysfunctional corporate culture, indicating that internal methods of addressing problems are inadequate. Promulgating

7371-505: The structures in which they are embedded, often exhibit substantial inertia. Change methodologies include Peter Senge 's concept of a "learning organization" expressed in The Fifth Discipline or Directive Communication's "corporate culture evolution". Changing culture takes time. Members need time to get used to the new ways. Organizations with a strong and specific culture are harder to change. Prior to introducing

7462-402: The success of the organization, but not all dimensions contribute equally. Effects differed across nations, implying that organizational culture is rooted in national culture. Cultures are not static and can evolve over time, either organically or through intentional change efforts by management. Culture change may be attempted to reduce member turnover, influence behavior, make improvements to

7553-426: The two main reasons why cultures develop in organizations are external adaptation and internal integration. External adaptation helps an organization to flourish by affecting its culture. An appropriate culture holds the potential for generating sustained competitive advantage over external competitors. Internal integration is an important function for establishing essential social structures and aiding socialization at

7644-460: The unanimous conviction of Jesus by corrupt priests in an illegally held Sanhedrin court (which had rules preventing unanimous conviction in a hurried process) strongly influenced the views of pacifist Protestants, including the Anabaptists (Mennonites/Amish), Quakers and Shakers. In particular it influenced their distrust of expert-led courtrooms and to "be clear about process" and convene in

7735-545: The uninitiated observer – collectively known as artifacts . Included are facilities, offices, furnishings, visible awards and recognition, informal dress codes, member interactions with each other and with outsiders, and company slogans , mission statements and other creeds . This model can enable understanding seemingly paradoxical behavior. For instance, an organization can profess high aesthetic and moral standards in terms of values, while violating those values should they conflict with tacit assumptions. Schein claimed that

7826-409: The use of consensus blocking include: A participant who does not support a proposal may have alternatives to simply blocking it. Some common options may include the ability to: The basic model for achieving consensus as defined by any decision rule involves: All attempts at achieving consensus begin with a good faith attempt at generating full-agreement, regardless of decision rule threshold. In

7917-453: The very opposite, the degree of dissent. The Modified Borda Count has been put forward as a voting method which better approximates consensus. Some formal models based on graph theory attempt to explore the implications of suppressed dissent and subsequent sabotage of the group as it takes action. High-stakes decision-making, such as judicial decisions of appeals courts, always require some such explicit documentation. Consent however

8008-416: The ways in which people interact , how decisions are made (or not made), the context within which knowledge is created, the resistance they will have towards certain changes, and ultimately the way they share (or the way they do not share) knowledge. Various definitions exist, without consensus. Examples include: Jaques introduced the concept in his 1951 book The Changing Culture of a Factory . The book

8099-412: The work environment is maintained efficiently (the 5S Program) to help people share workstations and to reduce time looking for needed tools, and that the technology used is reliable and thoroughly tested. The concept of "standardized work" has been extended to managers referring to "standardized work for (executive) leadership" (or Leader Standard Work ), looking at elements such as Human development

8190-483: The workplace. Culture-shaping factors include: Organizational structure is linked to organizational culture. Harrison described four types of culture: Johnson described a cultural web, identifying elements that can be used to describe/influence organizational culture: These elements may overlap. Power structures may depend on control systems, which may exploit rituals that generate stories that may or may not be true. Consensus decision-making Consensus

8281-944: Was a published report of "a case study of developments in the social life of one industrial community between April, 1948 and November 1950". The case involved a publicly-held British company engaged principally in the manufacture, sale, and servicing of metal bearings. The study concerned itself with the description, analysis, and development of corporate group behaviors . Researchers have proposed myriad dimensions individually and in combination as useful for analyzing organizational culture. Examples include external/internal, strong/weak, flexible/rigid, and many others. Culture can be externally focused, aiming to satisfy customers, investors, and partners. Alternatively, they can be internally focused, aiming to satisfy employees, comply with union-imposed rules, or to meet conduct standards around issues such as diversity, equity, and inclusion . Many organizations lie between such extremes, attempting to balance

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