Questions on the Topic Unit 1
1. What is corporate culture? Does it depend on the country/nationality? How does the human factor influence it? Does the company culture embrace only positive values or it can reinforce negative attitudes? Speak about office etiquette (dress code, punctuality, personal calls, coffee and lunch breaks); working hours; relationships with colleagues, management and clients or business partners; autonomy and initiative; promotion. What can frustrate staff? What can motive staff to work better?
What is corporate culture? There are two answers to this question, one non-academic and one academic. In the non-academic approach, the basic definition of corporate culture is ‘the personality of an organization’, or simply ‘how things are done around here’. It includes:
• core values and beliefs • corporate ethics • rules of behaviour.
Corporate culture can be expressed in the company’s mission statement and other communications, in the architectural style or interior decoration of offices, by what people wear to work, by how people address each other, and in the titles given to various employees.
Then, there is the academic approach to corporate culture (often called ‘organizational culture’ in this context). There are many gurus in this field, and perhaps the best known is Geert Hofstede. He has developed a Cultural Orientation Model which classifies cultures based on where they fall on five continuums (highly simplified below):
1 Individual vs. collective
(At what level in the organization is behaviour regulated?)
2 Power distance
(Do less powerful parties accept the existing distribution of power?)
3 Uncertainty avoidance
(Do employees feel threatened by ambiguity? How important are rules?)
4 Dominant values
(What are the dominant values? Assertiveness? Money? Job satisfaction?)
5 Short-term vs. long-term
(Do employees expect immediate or deferred gratification?)
Company culture
What is corporate culture? There are two answers to this question, one non-academic and one academic. In the non-academic approach, the basic definition of corporate culture is ‘the personality of an organization’, or simply ‘how things are done around here’. It includes:
• core values and beliefs • corporate ethics • rules of behaviour.
Corporate culture can be expressed in the company’s mission statement and other communications, in the architectural style or interior decoration of offices, by what people wear to work, by how people address each other, and in the titles given to various employees.
Then, there is the academic approach to corporate culture (often called ‘organizational culture’ in this context). There are many gurus in this field, and perhaps the best known is Geert Hofstede. He has developed a Cultural Orientation Model which classifies cultures based on where they fall on five continuums (highly simplified below):
1 Individual vs. collective
(At what level in the organization is behaviour regulated?)
2 Power distance
(Do less powerful parties accept the existing distribution of power?)
3 Uncertainty avoidance
(Do employees feel threatened by ambiguity? How important are rules?)
4 Dominant values
(What are the dominant values? Assertiveness? Money? Job satisfaction?)
5 Short-term vs. long-term
(Do employees expect immediate or deferred gratification?)
Company culture