Bmw Culture

With over 90 years in the industry the culture at BMW is an anomaly in the car manufacturing business. BMW teaches their employees the history of the company and their mission from day one. Problem times from years past are also told to the new employees. For example when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1959 and was saved by a local business man, these mishaps are used as learning tools to stop history from repeating itself. Regardless of your job title all levels work together to create ideas to better the brand and product. The regular hierarchy that you see within a company is not an obstacle when voicing your thoughts and ideas. Team brainstorming is done on a regular basis and everyone’s input is valued. BMW was one of the first companies to offer profit sharing in Germany to its employees.
The leadership at BMW is one the values the employees and listens to their ideas. The type of open door leadership BMW allows for employees to feel as if they have value to the company and its achievements. Informal powwows are used to brainstorm for ideas with all levels of employees. It is sometimes referred to as a freewheeling idea factory. Employees from all different departments are known to get together and work on a single project. This culture allows for employees to feel as if they are valued and that their ideas are appreciated. No one is looked down upon when they present an idea even if they are not as “high up” as the other people in the room. This allows for great ideas to be given and fostered. The work environment at BMW is so highly sought after that over 200,000 applications are received annually. The job characteristics model involves increasing the amount of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback in a job. Three critical psychological states: (1) experienced meaningfulness of the tasks performed, (2) experience personal responsibility for tasks outcomes, and (3) knowledge of the tasks performed.