| Course | MGT 464 Organizational Behavior |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 8 |
| Paper type | Organizational culture analysis |
| Length | About 1,038 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MGT 464 Module 8
Brine, Handshakes and Dashboards: Two Cultures Meet When a National Food Company Buys a Family Pickle Maker
Student Name
Business Administration Program, Aspen University
MGT 464: Organizational Behavior
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Brine, Handshakes and Dashboards: Two Cultures Meet When a National Food Company Buys a Family Pickle Maker
Cuyahoga Crock Works, a composite company in Cleveland, Ohio, has made pickles and sauerkraut in wooden and stone crocks since 1935. Its 120 employees include five head picklers who decide by taste and smell when each batch is ready. Last year, the founding family sold the business to Midland Table Foods, a composite national company with 22 plants making condiments and canned vegetables. Midland kept the brand and the plant but introduced its own systems: production dashboards, a weekly operations report, standardized fermentation times and a new safety program. Within six months, fourteen employees resigned, including three head picklers, and customer complaints about flavor rose. Midland's integration leader asked for an analysis of the two cultures.
Three Levels of Culture
Schein (2010) argued that culture exists at three levels. Artifacts are what one sees and hears, such as rituals, language and physical layout. Espoused values are the strategies, goals and philosophies people state. Basic underlying assumptions are the taken-for-granted beliefs that actually guide behavior, often unconscious and hard to change. Culture is learned by a group as it solves problems, and leaders shape it chiefly by where they direct attention, how they behave in a crisis and which conduct they reward.
| Level | Cuyahoga Crock Works before the sale | Midland Table Foods |
|---|---|---|
| Artifacts | Morning huddle at the crocks; head picklers taste every batch; handshake agreements with farmers | Dashboards on screens; weekly report; standardized work instructions |
| Espoused values | "Taste before time"; family; craft | Safety; efficiency; consistency across plants |
| Basic assumptions | Experienced people's judgment can be trusted; relationships hold the business together | Measured processes are more reliable than individual judgment; variation is risk |
Why People Left
O'Reilly et al. (1991) developed the organizational culture profile, which compares individuals' preferred values with an organization's culture across dimensions such as innovation, stability, respect for people, outcome orientation, attention to detail, team orientation and aggressiveness. They found that person-organization fit predicted job satisfaction and organizational commitment a year later and actual turnover after two years. The head picklers joined and stayed for a culture that valued their judgment. Standardized fermentation times told them their judgment no longer mattered. Their departure is a predictable result of a sudden drop in fit, not simple resistance to change.
Traits That Matter for Effectiveness
Denison and Mishra (1995) identified four cultural traits related to organizational effectiveness: involvement, people's engagement and ownership; consistency, shared values and coordinated behavior; adaptability, the capacity to respond to customers and change; and mission, a clear sense of purpose and direction. Their research linked involvement and adaptability more with growth, and consistency and mission more with profitability. Cuyahoga was strong in involvement and mission, the craft of making pickles the old way. Midland is strong in consistency and in adaptability through data. Each brings something the other lacks.
Connecting to the Course
Earlier topics explain why the culture clash hurt. Motivation research shows that removing judgment from skilled work weakens autonomy and meaningfulness. Communication research suggests that replacing a face-to-face huddle with dashboards removed the richest channel the plant had for ambiguous problems, such as a batch that smells wrong. And leadership research shows that leaders signal values through what they measure: measuring fermentation time instead of taste told employees what Midland valued.
Midland's Perspective
Midland's systems were not chosen carelessly. Across 22 plants, standardized processes have cut safety incidents and allowed the company to promise large grocery customers consistent supply. Its leaders worry that relying on individual judgment makes the plant vulnerable when experienced people retire, which is exactly what happened when three head picklers left. Midland's concern for consistency is legitimate; the question is how to secure it without discarding the knowledge that made the brand worth buying.
Capturing the Craft
The head picklers' judgment can be partly recorded without being replaced. Each batch's taste notes, salt levels, temperatures and fermentation days will be logged, building a record that helps train new picklers and lets Midland's scientists understand what experienced tasters notice. Over time, this record may allow wider safe ranges or better guidance, combining the strengths of both cultures.
An Integration Plan
Midland should adopt an integration approach that keeps Cuyahoga's core while adding Midland's strengths. The morning huddle will return, with dashboards reviewed there rather than replacing it. Head picklers will regain authority to release batches by taste within a safety range for time and acidity set jointly with Midland's food scientists. Midland's safety program will be adopted in full but taught by plant employees trained as instructors. The plant manager will report flavor complaints alongside efficiency measures. Midland will offer two former head picklers the chance to return as trainers.
What Plant Employees Said
Listening sessions with the remaining employees found loyalty to the brand and frustration with the change process more than with Midland itself. Several said they would welcome better safety equipment and planning, which the old owners had neglected. What upset them was being told how to make pickles by people who had never tasted a batch. Line workers missed the morning huddle most, describing it as the one time each day when everyone, from owner to sanitation crew, stood in the same place and talked about the work.
The Role of Leaders
In Schein's account, culture follows the leader's attention: what gets noticed, asked about and rewarded tells people what really counts. Midland's integration leader will spend her first two weeks after the plan begins at the plant, attending huddles and tasting batches with the head picklers, a visible signal that the plant's craft is valued. The plant manager's bonus will include flavor and retention, not only efficiency.
Measures
Integration will be judged by turnover, flavor complaints, safety incidents, efficiency and a culture survey of plant employees after six and twelve months.
Conclusion
The acquisition brought together two cultures with opposite assumptions about where quality comes from. Schein's levels reveal that conflict, O'Reilly and colleagues' research explains the resignations and Denison and Mishra's traits show what each culture contributes. An integration plan that keeps the plant's trust in skilled judgment while adopting Midland's safety and planning systems can protect both the brand and the people who make it.
References
Denison, D. R., & Mishra, A. K. (1995). Toward a theory of organizational culture and effectiveness. Organization Science, 6(2), 204-223. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.6.2.204
O'Reilly, C. A., III, Chatman, J., & Caldwell, D. F. (1991). People and organizational culture: A profile comparison approach to assessing person-organization fit. Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 487-516. https://doi.org/10.2307/256404
Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
MGT 464 Module 8 instructions, in plain terms
Organizational culture caps Aspen's MGT 464, and the final paper usually asks students to analyze an organization's culture and recommend how to manage or change it, drawing on the course. Your classroom's Module 8 prompt should guide the scope; one acquisition is analyzed here. Describe the organizations and the situation, including evidence such as turnover or complaints. Analyze culture at several levels, from visible artifacts to underlying assumptions. Consider how well employees fit the culture and what research says about fit. Assess cultural traits that relate to effectiveness. Recommend an approach to managing culture, with specific actions. Connect the analysis to earlier topics such as motivation, communication and leadership.
Inside the MGT 464 Module 8 example
The paper opens with Cuyahoga Crock Works, a family pickle maker bought last year by Midland Table Foods, a national company with 22 plants. Since the deal, the plant replaced its morning huddle with dashboards and a weekly report, and fourteen employees, including three of five head picklers, resigned. Schein's book on culture and leadership describes artifacts, espoused values and basic assumptions. O'Reilly, Chatman and Caldwell's Academy of Management Journal study found person-organization fit predicted commitment, satisfaction and turnover. Denison and Mishra's Organization Science article links involvement, consistency, adaptability and mission to effectiveness. A table compares the firms at each level: handshakes and tasting at the line versus dashboards, and trust in experienced judgment versus trust in measured process. The plan keeps the huddle and the head pickler role and adopts the buyer's safety system with plant employees leading training.
Where the marks sit in the MGT 464 Module 8 rubric
Culture papers are judged on analysis that goes beyond visible symbols to values and assumptions, on accurate use of culture research and on recommendations that manage culture deliberately. This example compares both firms at Schein's three levels, showing that the deepest differences concern trust and control. O'Reilly and colleagues' research on fit explains the resignations. Denison and Mishra's traits identify what each culture contributes to effectiveness. The table supports the diagnosis, the buyer's concerns are treated fairly and the integration plan connects to motivation, communication and leadership from earlier modules.
MGT 464 Module 8 help from the desk
Culture papers often describe visible features, such as dress or office layout, and call that culture. Go deeper to espoused values and to the assumptions people take for granted. Another weakness is treating one culture as simply better; each may contribute strengths. Use research on fit to explain how people respond to culture change. Assess traits linked to effectiveness. Recommend specific actions, such as which rituals to keep, rather than general calls to change culture, and consider the buyer's legitimate concerns. Connect the analysis to earlier course topics. Finally, explain how the organization will know whether integration is working, using retention and survey measures. Listen to employees before recommending.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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MGT 464 Module 8 questions, answered
What does MGT 464 Module 8 usually ask for?
Aspen's MGT 464 ends with organizational culture, so analyzing an organization's culture and recommending how to manage it, drawing on the course, is typical. Read your classroom prompt.
What are Schein's three levels of culture?
Artifacts, the visible structures and behaviors; espoused values, the stated goals and philosophies; and basic underlying assumptions, the unconscious beliefs that guide behavior.
What is person-organization fit?
The match between an individual's values and an organization's culture, which O'Reilly, Chatman and Caldwell found predicted commitment, satisfaction and turnover.
Where can I find a free MGT 464 Module 8 sample paper?
The complete paper above compares the cultures of a family pickle maker and the national food company that bought it, with an integration plan.
Which culture traits relate to effectiveness?
Denison and Mishra identified involvement, consistency, adaptability and mission as traits related to organizational effectiveness.