The Toxic Organizational Culture at Wal-Mart
Running Head: TOXIC ORGNAIZATIONAL CULTURE
The Toxic Organizational Culture at Wal-Mart
TOXIC ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
The Toxic Organizational Culture at Wal-Mart
Organizational culture is not a new concept in the world of organizational behavior. Yet despite its age, it still has many varied definitions as well as philosophies on its importance and impact to the success of a company. One definition is that organizational culture is a cognitive framework consisting of attitudes, values, behavioral norms, and expectations shared by members of an organization (Greenberg, 2013, p. 368). Greenberg (2013) further explains organizational culture through an analogy of a tree. Organizational culture are similar to the roots of a tree. Roots provide stability and nourishment for a tree in the same manner that culture provides these things for their organization. Another way to think about organizational culture is that it is the unseen and unobservable force that is always behind the tangible activities of an organization which can be observed and measured. (Gundykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988). “Culture is to the organization what personality is to the individual – a hidden yet unifying theme that provides meaning, direction, and mobilization” (Kilman, Saxton, & Serpa, 1985).
Large multinational corporations have a unique challenge in terms of creating a positive and strong organizational culture. Since the actual culture of the macroenvironment tends to play a factor on the personality of the company itself, it becomes increasingly difficult to have one central corporate culture as not all employees are the same. A perfect analogy to this would be a cohesive and successful work team. Their effectiveness and synergistic effects are based on the fact that they are small enough to have a personal connection and are able to figure out how to use each person’s skills in a complimentary manner. The larger the team becomes, the less cohesive they are
The Toxic Organizational Culture at Wal-Mart
TOXIC ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
The Toxic Organizational Culture at Wal-Mart
Organizational culture is not a new concept in the world of organizational behavior. Yet despite its age, it still has many varied definitions as well as philosophies on its importance and impact to the success of a company. One definition is that organizational culture is a cognitive framework consisting of attitudes, values, behavioral norms, and expectations shared by members of an organization (Greenberg, 2013, p. 368). Greenberg (2013) further explains organizational culture through an analogy of a tree. Organizational culture are similar to the roots of a tree. Roots provide stability and nourishment for a tree in the same manner that culture provides these things for their organization. Another way to think about organizational culture is that it is the unseen and unobservable force that is always behind the tangible activities of an organization which can be observed and measured. (Gundykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988). “Culture is to the organization what personality is to the individual – a hidden yet unifying theme that provides meaning, direction, and mobilization” (Kilman, Saxton, & Serpa, 1985).
Large multinational corporations have a unique challenge in terms of creating a positive and strong organizational culture. Since the actual culture of the macroenvironment tends to play a factor on the personality of the company itself, it becomes increasingly difficult to have one central corporate culture as not all employees are the same. A perfect analogy to this would be a cohesive and successful work team. Their effectiveness and synergistic effects are based on the fact that they are small enough to have a personal connection and are able to figure out how to use each person’s skills in a complimentary manner. The larger the team becomes, the less cohesive they are
References: Blodget, H. (2010, September 20). Walmart employs 1% of America. Should it be forced to pay its employees more? Fairchild, C. (2012, October 11). Meredith Boucher, former Walmart employee, awarded $1.49 million for mistreatment. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/11/meredith-boucher-walmart_n_1959072.html Frontline Gundykunst, W., & Ting-Toomey, S. (1988). Culture and interpersonal communication. Newybury Park, CA: Sage. Logan, J. (2012, December 10). Walmart 's fishy claim of 86 percent employee satisfaction. In These Times, Retrieved from http://inthesetimes.com/article/14279/discounting_lives_walmart_impoverishes_workers_at_home_and_endangers_them_o/ Marczak, T Mitchell, T. R., & Larson, J. R. (1987). People in organizations: An introduction to organizational behavior. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Silva, C. (2007, February 1). Wal-mart adopts automated absenteeism system. Employee Benefits News. Retrieved from http://ebn.benefitnews.com/news/wal-mart-adopts-automated-absenteeism-system-39788-1.html Statistic Brain Walmart. (2012). Investors. Retrieved from Stock.walmart.com