Culture
A documentary released by Hulu on April 1st 2021 provides an insight on WeWork organizational culture and its serious shortcomings under the leadership of co-founder and former CEO Adam Neumann. At that time corporate culture at WeWork was notorious for ‘frat-boy’ culture, sexual abuse, motivational mantras and free beer. The co-working giant organized annual employee retreat on a remote island. The company engaged in tracking employees at mandatory, alcohol-fuelled company events and an onboarding process that made all new employees shout WeWork until red in the face. New CEO, real estate veteran Sandeep Mathrani who took helm in February 2020 brought maturity and discipline into the company with direct implications on organizational culture of WeWork. Dubbed as ‘anti-Adam Neumann’ the new CEO was quick to put a stop at extravagant company events and cut costs in many other ways. Under the new leadership the global flexible workspace provider has committed to zero tolerance to discrimination and abuse at workplace in any form and these changes are more than welcomed by stakeholders. Mr. Mathrani is committed to change the important components of WeWork organizational culture in the following ways: Values. Mathrani specified the following values to be central for the co-working and office space operator: Do the right thing Strive to be better, together Be entrepreneurial Give gratitude Be human, be kind Attitudes. New CEO expects mature and more responsible attitude towards the work from employees at all levels. Norms and expectations. Employees are expected to work hard, deliver results and be considerate towards their co-workers. Discrimination and abuse is no longer tolerated at the co-working giant. Rituals, symbols and routines. Extravagant rituals such as shouting WeWork at company gatherings, ordering coffee from WeWork’s in-house barista and many others popular under Adam Neumann were put to stop permanently. WeWork…
Organizational culture is a popular and a very complex concept, and has been identified as an influential factor affecting the success and failures of organizational change efforts. Components of organizational culture An organizational culture may include the following[1] (Hofstede 1997): Values. Values are beliefs. They are things that are most important. For example, for schoolteacher educating pupil is most important thing, no matter how he/she does it. Attitudes. It is the way the company thinks. It could also include collective behaviour such as business formalities or ceremonies. Norms and Expectations. That is things that expected from members of company. As a example, police officer on duty expected to wear his/her uniform. Rituals, symbols and routines. Business logos can be example of symbols, though they are directed outwards. Most successful organizations tend to have stronger cultures that is widely shared among its employees and reflected in their everyday actions. Different countries have different ways of doing business, different culture, different values and assumptions which influence the organization style. Therefore, Hofstede (1997) believes that national culture needs to be considered as one of the major factors which influence organization culture in various ways. Types of Organizational Culture Organization culture can be classified into four types (Harrison, 1972): Power culture. This is the type of organization controlled by a key central figure, owner or founder. Power culture suits small organizations where the leader has direct communication with employees. Role Culture. This is the organization where authority based up on function and position. These organizations have formal structure and operate by well established rules. Though this is bureaucratic style, it can be very efficient when the organization is large and work is predictable. Task Culture. The main concern in task culture is to get the job done. In these type of organizations there…
Starbucks organizational culture is based on values and principles of its former long-term CEO Howard Schultz. It has been noted that “Starbucks’ culture is powerful because it is tightly linked to the company’s distinctive capabilities[1].” Starbucks organizational culture integrates the following four key elements: 1. Valuing employees and their contribution. At Starbucks employees are referred to as partners and they are taken care of by the company via competitive compensation packages. For example, the coffee chain offers stock options and health insurance even to part-time employees in the US. Moreover, “at the height of the global financial crisis, when other companies were cutting HR costs wherever they could, Starbucks invested in staff training, including coffee tastings and courses that ultimately qualified for credit at higher education institutions”[2] 2. Presence of close bonds among employees. The company firmly believes in relationship-driven approach to the business and encourages the formation of close bonds between employees in its stores. One can easily witness the presence of close bonds among employees by simply observing their interaction in any store belonging to the Seattle-based international coffee chain. This contributes to the formation of relaxing and comfortable environment in Starbucks store, effectively strengthening its role as ‘third place’ away from work and home, where customers can spend good time alone or with their friends. 3. Culture of inclusion and diversity. Embracing inclusion and diversity is placed at the core of Starbucks corporate culture. The world’s largest coffee retailer runs 12 diverse Partner Networks, representing the broad spectrum of employee backgrounds. These include Armed Forces Network, Black Partner Network, Disability Advocacy Network and others. The multinational chain of coffeehouses received 100% score on the Disability Equality Index. The principles of inclusion and diversity prevail not only among the workforce, but also have reflections on customer…
IKEA organizational culture plays an important role in maintaining cost-effective business operations to sustain cost leadership business strategy for the furniture giant. In other words, due to its cost leadership business strategy, IKEA does not offer the most competitive financial compensation to its workforce. Instead, the home improvement and furnishing chain attracts employees with intangible benefits that are deeply integrated within IKEA corporate culture. IKEA organizational culture is based on the following principles: 1. Simplicity and high level of informality. It has been noted that “humbleness in approaching tasks and simplicity in the way of doing things are cornerstones of the IKEA culture”.[1] For example, in IKEA US only a few executives have business cards and “everyone is on a first-name basis and sits side by side at IKEA desks and if you have an ego that needs stroking, IKEA is not the workplace for you.”[2] 2. The value for teamwork. Executives who prefer to manage as one-man show do not fit into IKEA organizational culture. The Swedish furniture chain wants to ensure that it employs only individuals who share its values and appreciate its culture. For this reason, individuals wishing to join IKEA are offered to take an online test which poses a series of 10 work-based scenarios with a choice of actions. The outcome of the test advises applicants if they are likely to ‘fit’ into IKEA organizational culture. 3. Embracing diversity among employees and different ways of doing things. Diversity among the workforce in terms of gender, race, age, ethnicity and sexual orientation is an important element of IKEA corporate culture. As illustrated in table below, there is an adequate level of women representation among across franchisees in floor level workers, as well as, management. IKEA employee gender diversity in FY21[3] Furthermore, the furniture retailer supports…
McDonald’s organizational culture is somewhat controversial. On one hand, the fast food giant associates its corporate culture with the principles of inclusion, integrity and family values. Moreover, McDonald’s prides its organizational culture with encouraging learning for employees at all levels. On the other hand, the company has faced myriad lawsuits and claims in recent years, some involving allegations of sexual harassment and others around racial discrimination. Even the CEO Steve Easterbrook was fired in 2019 for having consensual relationship with his subordinate employee. Later it was revealed that Mr. Easterbrook awarded generous stock options to one of the female employees he had sexual relationship with. Furthermore, it was reported that the former CEO “in addition to lying about his own misconduct, allegedly tried to cover up the inappropriate behaviour of other McDonald’s executives.”[1] The following two factors have negative effects on McDonald’s organizational culture: 1. Highly hectic work environment. High speed of service is one of the core competitive advantages for McDonald’s. The cashiers are expected to greet customers, take orders, collect payments, recommend products, promote special deals and arrange food items on trays in a couple of minutes. Such a pace to be sustained during long shifts creates tremendous stress for thousands of customer-facing employees worldwide. 2. Low wages. The fast food chain pursues cost leadership business strategy operating with a thin profit margin per item, but selling at large volumes. Operations with low profit margin reflect on floor-level employee wages as well. Specifically, McDonald’s is notorious for paying low wages and exploiting human resources. The current President and CEO Chris Kempczinski attempts to improve McDonald’s organizational culture addressing the negative impact of factors described above. However, Mr. Kempczinski himself courted controversy when he sent a text to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blaming the kid’s parents for the shooting at McDonald’s location.[2] McDonald’s Corporation Report…
Generally, Amazon organizational culture integrates the following five key elements: 1. Immense performance pressure. Amazon organizational culture has been described as “breakneck-paced, and notoriously cost-conscious, as befits a company that has run only a small profit, or a loss, under generally accepted accounting principles for most of its life as a public company.[1] Amazon organizational culture was fiercely criticized in 2015 in The New York Times article titled “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace”. Specific flaws mentioned in the article include unrealistic performance standards, the work culture based on fear and the lack of recognition of employee contribution. The article caused debates in the media and even prompted a response from Amazon CEO at the time Jeff Bezos. Furthermore, work culture at Amazon has been described as “purposeful Darwinism” approach for employee management.[2] Generally, pushy, combative and ‘bruising’ organizational culture is perceived as outdated. Nowadays, the popular belief is that workplaces need to be nurturing and encouraging, and managers need to be nice and friendly and treat their employees like family in order for a company to succeed. The largest internet retailer in the world by revenue proves this belief wrong. Amazon has a very intense corporate culture with an extensive emotional and even physical pressure to some employees. Nevertheless, Amazon along with Alphabet has been recognized by LinkedIn as the best place to work in US in 2021.[3] This can be explained in a way that Amazon has a unique organizational culture that is not for everyone. Only employees who can thrive under immense pressure and fast-paced environment can survive in this company. 2. Constant reinvention and optimization of organizational culture. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos “emphasizes the importance of constantly assessing and adjusting Amazon’s culture so it never loses the agility, nimbleness, and hunger for…
Square organizational culture integrates the following 3 key elements: 1. Informal work environment. Work environment at Square is highly informal and this has a stark reflection the design of its offices worldwide. Moreover, “Square has designed its work spaces to be large, open and ripe for serendipitous collaboration”[1] In other words, Square organizational culture defies formality in the workplace through seemingly-casual, yet effective organization of workspaces. 2. Inclusion and diversity. Square organizational culture embraces and promotes diversity among employees at all levels. There are various employee communities in the company that cater for the interests of its members. These include Black Squares Association, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander Squares, Veterans at Square and others. These communities are employee-run resource groups that promote universal inclusivity through networking, development opportunities, and social events.[2] In other words, people belonging to minority groups do not feel alienated when they join Square with positive implications on their work performance and overall happiness. 3. Social and economic impact. Square positions itself as a challenger to traditional banks. Specifically, the company attempts to democratise a wide range of financial services to simplify them and make these services available for small businesses for a little cost. From this point of view, the financial services and digital payments company is set to disrupt banking sector in a global scale. Such a challenger position attracts specific type of workforce, who are motivated by the perception of participating in and contributing to the worldwide change of banking services for the better. These types of highly motivated employees contribute to the formation of an advanced organizational culture at Square. Square Inc. Report contains the above analysis of Square organizational culture. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces,…
Uber organizational culture has been associated with sexual harassment and discrimination during the leadership period of co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick. In June 2017 the global transportation technology company “fired more than 20 employees after a company investigation into sexual harassment claims and workplace culture.”[1] Uber company culture crisis has resulted into the resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick. Uber’s new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, has successfully led internet travel company Expedia for 12 years. Mr. Khosrowshahi had an important task of sophisticating Uber organizational culture so that the ride-hailing giant can improve its image and eventually become profitable. Change management of Uber organizational culture initiated by Dara Mr. Khosrowshahi can be explained applying Lewin’s Model of Culture. The model divides change management in organizational culture into 3 stages: Stage 1: Unfreezing. During this stage, the necessity of cultural changes for the long-term growth prospects of the company needs to be explained to employees at all stages. Khosrowshahi had dealt with this stage effectively. The new CEO stressed the importance of appropriate organizational culture in a majority of meetings with internal and external stakeholders. Moreover, “Uber’s new CEO had employees write and vote on cultural guidelines for the workplace”[2]. In total about 12000 employees voted and the results of voting determined underlying principles for Uber’s new organizational culture. Stage 2: Implementing changes. According to results of the voting discussed above, new principles of Uber organizational culture have been developed as the following[3]: We build globally, we live locally. We are customer obsessed. We celebrate differences. We do the right thing. We act like owners. We persevere. We value ideas over hierarchy. We make big bold bets. Stage 3: Refreezing. Uber is attempting to promote its new culture to all organizational stakeholders in general and employees in particular. The global transportation technology…
Tesla organizational culture integrates the following five key elements: 1. Ambitious innovation. Tesla has been founded right after auto giant General Motors recalled and destroyed its EV1 electric cars.[1] Starting a business in a segment where large and experienced players such as GE have failed is a clear indication of abundant ambitions of founders including Elon Must. Founders have adapted product and process innovation as a strategic tool to realize their ambitions in practice. Ambitious innovation has been deeply ingrained in Tesla organizational culture. 2. Adherence to ‘First Principles’ method. Elon Musk insists that employees use First Principles method, also known as reasoning from first principles in dealing with problems. It has been noted that “first principles thinking requires you to dig deeper and deeper until you are left with only the foundational truths of a situation”[2]. Arguably, process and product innovations at Tesla can be credited to the successful application of first principles to a significant extent. 3. Doing things differently. Tesla corporate culture encourages employees at all levels to experiment with different ways of doing business. The electric automaker is well known for challenging the status quo of conducting business. Especially, the company’s marketing and HR practices are fundamentally different from other global auto manufacturers. 4. Lack of bureaucracy. Day-to-day operations and communications in the company are not bounded by strict levels of management and bureaucracy. An email from CEO Elon Musk sent to employees a few years ago stressed that “anyone at Tesla can and should email/talk to anyone else according to what they think is the fastest way to solve a problem for the benefit of the whole company. You can talk to your manager’s manager without his permission, you can talk directly to a VP in another dept, you can talk to me, you can talk…
Corporate culture of Apple plays an important role in efficiently maintaining its operations in the global scale with 147,000 full-time equivalent employees.[1] Apple organizational culture used to have a reputation of being harsh, demanding and intimidating under the leadership of founder and late CEO Steve Jobs. However, it can be argued that since assuming the top leadership in 2011, Tim Cook has invested considerable efforts towards ‘humanising’ the brand. Specifically, unlike his predecessor, Tim Cook has spoken out about human rights, privacy, immigration reform and environmental issues.[2] Apple organizational culture integrates the following three important features: 1. Creativity and innovativeness. Apple pursues the business strategy of product differentiation with the focus on the design and functionality of products and services. An effective implementation of this strategy in practice requires a high level of creativity and innovativeness from employees at all levels. Accordingly, in order to encourage their employees to be more creative and innovative, the company attempts to develop relevant working environment. Creative design of Apple Campus, informal dress codes and creatively designed working space can be mentioned to illustrate this point. 2. Working under pressure. Ability to work under pressure is a must-have skill for Apple employees at all levels. Most projects have strict and challenging deadlines and working long hours is a norm in the company. CEO Tim Cook sets example in terms of his loyalty to the company and working long hours. He is known for sending emails to employees at 4:30 am. Moreover, Sunday is a work night for many managers at Apple because of the executive meeting the next day. 3. A high level of secrecy. High level of secrecy is an important feature of Apple organizational culture. It has been noted that “Apple engineers, even senior engineers, have no idea what a final Apple product will…