MGMT 535 - Module 3 - A Story of Organizational Culture - Madeline Campbell

To describe my organizations culture, I want to share a story that involved all faculty and staff of the Embry-Riddle, Prescott campus.

The Embry-Riddle Prescott campus has gone through some rough times, once almost to the point of closing not too long ago. Thankfully, this campus received a Chancellor that turned everything around for the students, families, faculty and staff. He was employed with this campus for a decade and was extremely involved for all ten years of his service. He and his wife attended every sporting event, were intentional about getting to know their student body and would often roam around campus on the weekends simply to get to know more students. Dr. Ayers would also remember all students by first and last name whom he met! It was once a story that I heard and believed to be false, but after working for the University for just over a year, I saw that to be true. “Stories represent one mechanism through which organizational culture and organizational-culture change can be described and explained…stories can be used to reinforce core cultural ideals much like the reinforcement produced by urban myths for adults and fairy tales for children” (Briody, E, et al, 2012).

To set the stage, roughly five months ago, all faculty and staff were sent an email that asked us to be at our campus auditorium at 4PM for an announcement (and it stated that attendance was mandatory). Throughout the day, everyone was buzzing over what the announcement could be about. Staff members who work part time and typically leave at 1 or 2 PM stayed longer, just to hear the news. When the campus auditorium filled around 3:50PM, there was a visible tension amongst the crowd. At 4PM, Dr. Ayers began his talk and went through his history of being a part of the Embry-Riddle family and his love for Embry-Riddle overall, as well as the Prescott campus. He shared hardships he and his wife encountered and how they overcame them. He spoke warmly about the Embry-Riddle family, the community and the culture within Embry-Riddle. He went in depth on how it truly is a family that learns, grows, laughs and celebrates together. He then revealed that he was giving his resignation speech to the Prescott campus as he and his wife needed to move back to Florida to take care of family. It was truly a bittersweet event for his family and the Embry-Riddle campus. He and his wife cried for the second half of their talk and shared their hearts with us, and after Dr. Ayers’ talk the majority of the campus stayed simply to thank the Ayers family and give them a hug. It was a heavy and saddening afternoon for the Embry-Riddle Prescott campus.

During the following months the campus began the processing of interviewing new candidates for the Chancellor position, and Dr. Ayers slowly transitioned out of his position and back to Florida. Amongst the talk of the faculty and staff on campus, all were saddened about the loss of an excellent Chancellor. Throughout this afternoon, you could truly feel the heartbeat of Embry-Riddle and family-like environment it can create. From experience, I do think each department on campus runs slightly different than the next, but Embry-Riddle overall strives for a tight-knit community that supports and encourages one another.

If an outsider had sat in on the resignation speech that Dr. Ayers gave, I believe they would have been able to identify the organizational culture of Embry-Riddle. “Organizational culture acts in much the same way, altering the way we process stimuli, shifting what commands our attention, and subtly regulating our day-to-day activities” (Clampitt, P, 2017, p. 76). Dr. Ayers’ leave of absence truly shifted the attention of the entire campus for a few months. It is, of course, bittersweet that he left, but also left us feeling a bit uneasy as to who will take his place and fill such big shoes. Since communication greatly molds and affects an organization’s culture, one can see how Dr. Ayers’ talk reflects Embry-Riddle’s culture of being a family. It is rare for a Chancellor to share such raw information to all employees of the campus and to be truly heart-broken over the separation. Dr. Ayers was motivation as to why so many staff and faculty members work as hard and intentionality as they do. He instills within his team inspiration and motivation, and a reason to why we work so hard. This ultimately defines our organization’s culture.  Following Dr. Ayers’ speech, I also saw how organizational culture can influence change. It has been of the upmost important to our President and other colleagues on campus to find the best Chancellor possible, and I know all of Embry-Riddle will be very welcoming to this Chancellor when they begin.

References

Briody, E., Tracy, M. P., & Trotter, R. (2012). A story's impact on organizational-culture change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 25(1), 67-87. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/10.1108/0953481121119960

Clampitt, P. G. (2017). Communicating for managerial effectiveness: Challenges, strategies, solutions. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.