Glossary
- Page ID
- 54117
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| Words (or words that have the same definition) | The definition is case sensitive | (Optional) Image to display with the definition [Not displayed in Glossary, only in pop-up on pages] | (Optional) Caption for Image | (Optional) External or Internal Link | (Optional) Source for Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Eg. "Genetic, Hereditary, DNA ...") | (Eg. "Relating to genes or heredity") |  |
The infamous double helix | https://bio.libretexts.org/ | CC-BY-SA; Delmar Larsen |
- A pattern of shared attitudes, practices, and goals unique to an organization.
| Word(s) | Definition | Image | Caption | Link | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accountability | An obligation or willingness to understand and accept responsibility for one’s actions. | ||||
| Accountable culture | An organizational culture that carefully monitors the outcomes of the results produced instead of focusing on how work is done. | ||||
| adhocracy | A type of organizational culture that is most conducive to innovation because it emphasizes flexibility and discretion over stability and control, and external differentiation over internal integration. | ||||
| assessment | The tracking of an organization’s capacity for change over time. | ||||
| burning platforms | In change programs, a fear-based metaphor for acting immediately to change and respond in new ways. | ||||
| burnout | Physical or emotional fatigue that results from prolonged frustration or stress. | ||||
| Capacity-building change initiatives | Actions designed to deliver results in the short term while building the capacity for change in the long term. | ||||
| causal loop diagrams | A systems thinking tool that can help an organization visualize in advance the potential outcomes of change. | ||||
| Change agents | Middle- and senior-level managers who drive the change initiatives within an organization. They are uniquely charged both with generating short-term tangible results and building long-term organizational capabilities. | ||||
| communication | Verbal or written information that is transmitted or conveyed. | ||||
| Communication channels | Information exchanges that involve both formal and informal mediums. | ||||
| cultural ambidexterity | An organization’s balancing accountability with innovation. | ||||
| cultural artifact | A visible expression of the underlying values and assumptions that permeate an organization. | ||||
| cultural artifact | A visible expression of the underlying values and assumptions that permeate an organization. | ||||
| downward selling | A traditional selling of ideas from a middle manager to his or her subordinates and frontline employees. | ||||
| Dynamic stability | The 21st-century standard of organizations being both stable and change-capable. | ||||
| earnings management | An organization’s use of crafty or deceptive accounting practices to deceive those outside of the organization. | ||||
| Extrasystemic openness | A situation in which new employees are hired, external consultants are engaged, and individuals attend trade association meetings or external training sessions. | ||||
| followership | A following. In business, a followership requires the proper organizational context as well as effective and trustworthy leadership. | ||||
| hierarchy | A type of organizational culture that places an emphasis on control, accountability, and stability, and that limits the overall capacity for change. | ||||
| Innovative culture | An organizational culture that values innovation and change. | ||||
| Involved middle management | Mid-level managers who are essential for bringing along a critical mass of employees to adopt a proposed change. They link top executives to frontline workers. | ||||
| Knowledge brokers | Individuals who collect ideas and combine them in unique and valuable ways. They are skilled at cultivating a more innovative organizational culture by keeping new ideas alive. | ||||
| lateral leadership | Organizational structure in which an organization is organized more as a network than as a hierarchy. | ||||
| mavericks | Individuals who play a vital role in making an organization more innovative; they are typically independent thinkers who do not embrace the status quo. | ||||
| mental models | Deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or pictures or images that influence how we understand the world and how we behave. In an organization, capital is often tied up with particular models. | ||||
| message | A message that communicates organizational change. The timing and medium of the message should be tailored to address the nature of the information. | ||||
| middle management | Mid-level management personnel who have the potential to enhance the change capability of an organization. | ||||
| open systems | Systems that are constantly exchanging material, energy, and information with their environment. | ||||
| organization change | An organization’s adopting a different course or direction in response to current problems or current and future opportunities. Also referred to as organizational change. | ||||
| Organizational capacity for change (OCC) | An organization’s overall capability that enables it to upgrade or revise existing organizational competencies while cultivating new competencies that enable the organization to survive and prosper. | ||||
| Organizational trust | The confidence and belief in an organization that is necessary for the successful pursuit of a change initiative. | ||||
| production capacity | The maximum amount of output of an organization or industry. | ||||
| Second-order systems changes | Changes that involve the unlearning of a previous mental model and its replacement with a new and improved version. | ||||
| stealth mandate | The situation in which a leadership mandate is given to an executive while others in the same organization are operating with a completely different mandate. | ||||
| subsystem | A collection of components or elements within a larger system that has a smaller aim. | ||||
| system | A network of interdependent components that work together to accomplish a common goal. | ||||
| systemic knowledge | The degree to which members of an organization understand and focus on the organizational system. | ||||
| Systems thinking | The rules, structural arrangements, and budgetary procedures that facilitate or hinder an organization-wide approach to organizational change. | ||||
| Theory O | An organization’s seeking to build long-term organizational capacity. | ||||
| Trusting followers | Individuals who are hopeful, optimistic, and trusting; such individuals are key to an organization’s capacity for change. | ||||
| Trustworthy leaders | An individual who is perceived to be competent in leading an organization and who is also perceived as someone who has the best interests of the organization as his or her priority. | ||||
| trustworthy leadership | Organizational direction that yields trust and cooperation and also inspires change. |