Organizational Culture

A culture can be strong (think of Disney) or weak. A strong culture is not necessarily an asset to the organization. An organization's culture will start with the founder's values and preferences and respond to industry demands. However, the culture is shaped over time as it deals with external and internal challenges. Additionally, the culture is shared with new employees. Companies can use a formal orientation program and mentoring to instill the organizational culture during the onboarding process. We can learn about an organization's culture by looking at its mission statement, rituals, rules and policies, physical layout, and stories. Read this text to consider organizational culture in more depth and provides some different perspectives to help us understand corporate culture, including how it forms.

Creating and Maintaining Organizational Culture

Rituals

Tradition is important at Wal-Mart. Sam Walton's original Walton's Five and Dime is now the Wal-Mart Visitor's Center

Figure 15.11 Tradition is important at Wal-Mart. Sam Walton's original Walton's Five and Dime is now the Wal-Mart Visitor's Center in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Rituals refer to repetitive activities within an organization that have symbolic meaning. Usually rituals have their roots in the history of a company's culture. They create camaraderie and a sense of belonging among employees. They also serve to teach employees corporate values and create identification with the organization. For example, at the cosmetics firm Mary Kay Inc., employees attend award ceremonies recognizing their top salespeople with an award of a new car - traditionally a pink Cadillac. These ceremonies are conducted in large auditoriums where participants wear elaborate evening gowns and sing company songs that create emotional excitement. During this ritual, employees feel a connection to the company culture and its values, such as self-determination, will power, and enthusiasm. Another example of rituals is the Saturday morning meetings of Wal-Mart. This ritual was first created by the company founder Sam Walton, who used these meetings to discuss which products and practices were doing well and which required adjustment. He was able to use this information to make changes in Wal-Mart's stores before the start of the week, which gave him a competitive advantage over rival stores who would make their adjustments based on weekly sales figures during the middle of the following week. Today, hundreds of Wal-Mart associates attend the Saturday morning meetings in the Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters. The meetings, which run from 7:00 to 9:30 a.m., start and end with the Wal-Mart cheer; the agenda includes a discussion of weekly sales figures and merchandising tactics. As a ritual, the meetings help maintain a small-company atmosphere, ensure employee involvement and accountability, communicate a performance orientation, and demonstrate taking quick action.