key points about norms
- Norms are the customary rules that govern behavior in groups and societies. They are the unplanned, unexpected result of individuals’ interactions. A norm is only relative to the culture where it is taking place.
- Norms are usually unwritten and are more specific and pointed than values. Values are beliefs about the desirability of behavior where norms are beliefs about the acceptability of behavior. Norms can die out as quickly as they start.
- Norms emerge from individual’s interactions and are meant to represent a solution to the problem of attaining and maintaining social order. Some who deviates from a norm can face sanctions and repercussions.
- The manner in which norms show up in society depends upon the nature of the environment, the origin and founding principles of the norm and the way in which individuals learn and internalize the norms of their environment. Changing assumptions about a norm requires significant shifts in culture.
- Social norms can be categorized into two major groups: folkways and mores. These terms were coined by American sociologist William Graham Sumner in 1906.
- “Organization transformation implies radical changes in how members perceive, think, and behave at work. These changes go far beyond making the existing organization better or fine-tuning the status quo. They are concerned with fundamentally altering the prevailing assumptions about how the organization functions and relates to its environment. Changing these assumptions entails significant shifts in corporate values and norms” (Cummings & Worley, 2009).