Corporate Culture

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Every business – in fact every organization – has a culture or, simply speaking, ‘the way we do things round here’. Sometimes it is difficult to read from the outside – some people are loyal to their bosses, others are loyal to the union, still others care only about their colleagues. If you ask employees why they work, they will answer ‘because we need the money’. On the other hand, sometimes the culture of an organization is very strong; everyone knows the goals of the corporation, and they are working for them. At the heart of corporate culture – and critical to a company’s success – are the ‘shared values’ which provide a sense of common direction for all employees and guidelines for their day-to-day behaviour. A company like Caterpillar, for example, declares ‘an extraordinary commitment to meeting customer needs’ – symbolised in their slogan ‘24-hour service anywhere in the world’.

People at all stages of their careers need to understand culture and how it works because it will likely have a powerful effect on their lives. People just starting their careers may think a job is just a job. But when they choose a company, they often choose a way of life. Culture can make them fast or slow workers, tough or friendly managers, team players or individuals.

Take, for example, an executive at General Electric who is being wooed by Xerox – more money, a bigger office, greater responsibility. If his first reaction is to grab it, he’s probably going to be disappointed. Xerox has a totally different culture than GE. Success (even survival) at Xerox is closely tied with the ability to work and play hard, Xerox-style. By contrast, GE has a more thoughtful and slow-moving culture. Success at GE is ability to take work seriously and considerable respect for authority. But these same values may not be held in high esteem elsewhere. A person of proven success at GE will bring these values to Xerox because past experience of GE’s culture has reinforced them – and quickly fizzle out at Xerox, not even understanding why. Culture shock may be one of the main reasons why people ‘fail’ when they leave one organization for another. But they fail in not necessarily doing the job, but in not reading the culture correctly.

Whether weak or strong, culture has a powerful influence throughout an organization. It affects practically everything – from who gets promoted and what decisions are made, to how employees dress and what sports they play. Because of this impact, culture also has a major effect on the success of a business.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-23