Corporate culture

Culture can be described as the learned behavior patterns of any specific period, race, or people. Similarly, corporate culture refers to the beliefs, behaviors, values, and norms of an individual CORPORATION or of an organization. A corporation develops policies, procedures, and guidelines in order to establish and convey the concerns and priorities of the company. Corporate culture is what is “read between the lines” of those policies and procedures—that is, the “understood” or “unspoken” rules and regulations of a company. Informal, intangible, and ambiguous, corporate culture relates to the working environment or atmosphere of an organization and is very often based on the ideas and standards of the senior MANAGEMENT responsible for creating it. For example, an organization’s employee may understand that even though his or her boss is the nominal authoritarian figure, the boss’s administrative assistant can often produce more results or has more “power” because he or she maintains more contacts throughout the company’s INFRASTRUCTURE. Therefore she or he is the unofficial authority. Corporate culture can be divided into four main categories: ritualized patterns, management styles and philosophies, management systems and procedures, and written and unwritten norms and procedures. Ritualized patterns refer to policies and procedures influenced by the political, economic, and social beliefs and behaviors of a society. An individual employee may affect a corporation’s ritualized pattern when the employee brings his or her own ideas and beliefs to the organization. Collectively, the employee’s work ethic, individuality, and relationships with fellow coworkers and customers create ideas and values that may shape a corporation. LEADERSHIP, planning, motivation, and communication are all examples of areas influenced by management styles and philosophies. It is important that top managers constantly strive to improve and remain consistent in their management styles. Inconsistency can be seen by employees as unfair and frustrating. Motivating, training, and rewarding employees can provide a positive work experience, thereby causing them to be more productive and satisfied. Management systems and procedures are those that are clearly stated as policy (in official documents) as well as assumptions made by staff for those instances that reach beyond the policy. Policies are developed in order to establish routines that employees should follow for certain situations. Training procedures followed during orientation and throughout the duration of EMPLOYMENT should be consistent with the established values of the organization. The organizational structure and company image are also important and can assist the firm when recruiting for new workers. The physical structure of the building can also send a message to employees and visitors. For example, if it is physically open and has many windows, this can create a pleasant atmosphere in which to work. Similarly, dress codes should be established in order to ensure that the staff maintains a neat representation of the company image. However, if codes and policies are too strict, it can lead to a negative work environment. It is always important to remember that a balance of structure and freedom should be maintained. Assumptions made by employees during situations not officially covered by company policy relate to the fourth category: unwritten and written norms and procedures. Generating a certain working environment or atmosphere for employees will equip them to make judgments and assumptions according to the already established guidelines for situations that have not previously been anticipated. For example, a customer may have a complaint about a product. The employee has guidelines to follow when dealing with the situation, but the actual resolution to the problem may be an individual judgment based on the employee’s knowledge of the customer as well as the company’s values and policies. A good corporate culture allows a company the opportunity to be more successful. Typically, if an organization establishes a positive corporate culture, it can boost staff morale and foster creativity among employees, which can be used as an excellent public-relations tool. If a corporation fails to create a good corporate culture, productivity may suffer and employees may become unsatisfied. This can lead to high employee turnover and lack of creativity. It is important to remember that a corporation’s culture can be considered one of the most important aspects of business, and having a contented staff can lead to greater profitability. Sometimes an organization has a corporate culture that is too strong, making it difficult to hire a diverse group of employees and to institute changes when necessary. It can also lead to hiring the same types of personalities, which might cause productivity to suffer for lack of ideas and make it harder for a new hire to fit in or feel comfortable.