One of the biggest determinants for success in an organization is agreement. When it comes to generating a great organizational culture that will generate success agreement is also important. A thick culture is one where the organization's members and stakeholders agree on what type of things are important for the organization. A thick organizational culture allows the organization to function effectively and creates a culture that will be strong and powerful in the business of sports.
When you consider creating a sport organization's culture there are several factors that come into play. Taking for example the story of Joel Maturi and the merging of the University of Minnesota's Athletic Departments. In this case there were multiple cultures that were changed and molded into on cohesive culture. When Mr. Maturi arrived the Men's and Women's Athletic Departments were extremely different both in terms of organization and organizational culture. The Men's Department was, as Mrs. Regina Sullivan admitted, a little individualistic where sports would go seasons without dealing with the leaders of the athletic department. In contradiction to the Men's department the Women's department allowed their leaders in the athletic department to be more involved in the decision making process and be more involved generally in the operation of the sports.
When Mr. Maturi arrived he had to deal with the separate cultures that existed within the two departments and while struggling to merge these two departments he had to establish a new culture for these departments to coexist within. In this case there isn't a previously established culture for Mr. Maturi to work within and in this case I believe that this was the best case scenario because if there was a preexisting culture that Mr. Maturi tried to use the change wouldn't have been as successful. By establishing a new culture Mr. Maturi had to work from a thin culture where there were feelings of disagreement about how best to deal with change and he managed to develop a sense of commitment where eventually a thick culture would arise.
Developing a thick culture isn't easy and it takes time. One of the biggest skills that Mr. Maturi had going for him when he took over the U of M Athletic Department was role modeling, teaching, and coaching by the leaders. In his case he became the biggest leader of the organization and his style of supportive leadership was instrumental in his ability to lead through teaching and role modeling. Mr. Maturi is a great speaker and its difficult not to share that passion that he has for the U or M organization and the sports that he oversees. In this respect he's able to role model how best to affect change in the organization as well as the organizations culture.
One of the key things that Mr. Maturi was able to capitalize on was the idea of slogans. His "We Are Minnesota" slogan was effective at getting stakeholders to understand what he thought was the most important part of the U of M Athletic Department culture. To Mr. Maturi the most important part was that everyone was committed to representing the state of Minnesota in an effective and positive way. By creating a slogan that everyone could buy into Mr. Maturi was able to create and reinvent the culture of the University of Minnesota Athletic Departments and he continues to do so today.
When you consider creating a sport organization's culture there are several factors that come into play. Taking for example the story of Joel Maturi and the merging of the University of Minnesota's Athletic Departments. In this case there were multiple cultures that were changed and molded into on cohesive culture. When Mr. Maturi arrived the Men's and Women's Athletic Departments were extremely different both in terms of organization and organizational culture. The Men's Department was, as Mrs. Regina Sullivan admitted, a little individualistic where sports would go seasons without dealing with the leaders of the athletic department. In contradiction to the Men's department the Women's department allowed their leaders in the athletic department to be more involved in the decision making process and be more involved generally in the operation of the sports.
When Mr. Maturi arrived he had to deal with the separate cultures that existed within the two departments and while struggling to merge these two departments he had to establish a new culture for these departments to coexist within. In this case there isn't a previously established culture for Mr. Maturi to work within and in this case I believe that this was the best case scenario because if there was a preexisting culture that Mr. Maturi tried to use the change wouldn't have been as successful. By establishing a new culture Mr. Maturi had to work from a thin culture where there were feelings of disagreement about how best to deal with change and he managed to develop a sense of commitment where eventually a thick culture would arise.
Developing a thick culture isn't easy and it takes time. One of the biggest skills that Mr. Maturi had going for him when he took over the U of M Athletic Department was role modeling, teaching, and coaching by the leaders. In his case he became the biggest leader of the organization and his style of supportive leadership was instrumental in his ability to lead through teaching and role modeling. Mr. Maturi is a great speaker and its difficult not to share that passion that he has for the U or M organization and the sports that he oversees. In this respect he's able to role model how best to affect change in the organization as well as the organizations culture.
One of the key things that Mr. Maturi was able to capitalize on was the idea of slogans. His "We Are Minnesota" slogan was effective at getting stakeholders to understand what he thought was the most important part of the U of M Athletic Department culture. To Mr. Maturi the most important part was that everyone was committed to representing the state of Minnesota in an effective and positive way. By creating a slogan that everyone could buy into Mr. Maturi was able to create and reinvent the culture of the University of Minnesota Athletic Departments and he continues to do so today.
I found Brian's analysis of culture to be very intriguing because he used an issue that was recently discussed in our class to portray a new topic. With the knowledge of Joel Maturi's culture-beliefs and the culture of both men's and women's athletic departments prior to the merge he was able to analyze what Joel Maturi had to do in order to maintain the culture of Golden Gopher Sports as a whole. It was also cool that Brian tied in Maturi's leadership style and techniques, and related that to what a leaders role in an organization is and how leadership affects culture. Through recognizing the different cultures of each department, and recognizing the culture of the U of M athletics as a whole, and recognizing how Joel Maturi dealt with these issues, Brian portrayed the importance of culture very well.
The whole merger situation at the University of Minnesota between the men's and women's athletic departments is a great example of the importance of culture within organizations. I do disagree a bit with Brian however because when Joel Maturi became the athletic director there was a culture in place that seemed to be more of a reflection of the previous administration than anything else. Members of each athletic department had agenda's that they wanted to fulfill. I do agree with the idea that Maturi did do a good job of simultaneously creating a culture to reflect his administration's beliefs. I think that people saw that Joel Maturi was trying to better the University that he truly cared about, and people jumped on board and seemed to create a culture that people began to respect. The culture within the athletics department can be seen as one in which discussion and disagreement are commonplace, but it is an effective form of conflict in that regard. I believe that Maturi has done a great job of creating an effective culture here at the University of Minnesota.
I think Brian gave a great example of agreement within an organization by using the University of Minnesota’s merger situation. It was a difficult situation for Mr. Maturi to step into because different people within the organization wanted him to do different things. I think Mr. Maturi did the right thing by getting feedback from different coaches and University messages. Mr. Maturi did a great job of explaining to the class the importance of agreements by organizations. Mr. Maturi successfully changed the culture at the University because he made everyone involved satisfied. He did this by successfully communicating what he was about, and what his vision was for the athletic department. Mr. Maturi is a great leader and his leadership style plays a role in the values of the University and each coach. Had Mr. Maturi came in and just implemented his system without communicating with all the stakeholders, this athletic department would not be where it is today.
I thought that by using the merger between the men’s and the women’s athletic departments at the University of Minnesota Brian pointed out how important it is to know the culture of another organization before a merger takes place. By the University bringing in an outsider to both organizations I believe that this was a huge part as to why the merger has been so successful. When Joel Maturi came in he did a culture evaluation of both parties. This was a good way to get to know both sides and to evaluate the situation at hand which was a merger between the two. This was a great example of how culture is so important to an organization. With out knowing the culture of both sides I believe that Joel would not have been as successful. As a student athlete here at the University I believe that Joel was the perfect leader for the merger and he did a nice job leading both sides into one successful department.