Where company culture is strong, people do the right thing!

Two of the most successful companies of the last decade are Apple and Zappos. Both of them have very strong and well entrenched company cultures.

Company culture can be defined as the collective behaviour of people that are part of an organization, it is also formed by the organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, and symbols, it includes beliefs and habits. It is also the pattern of such collective behaviours and assumptions that are taught to new organizational members as a way of perceiving, and even thinking and feeling. Organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders.

Organizational culture is a set of shared mental assumptions that guide interpretation and action in organizations by defining appropriate behavior for various situations.

This is how Apple defines its culture and performance for its in store team members.

• An emphasis on customer satisfaction that is spelled out with the acronym APPLE.
  • Approach customers with a personalized warm welcome
  • Probe politely to understand all the customer’s needs
  • Present a solution for the customer to take home today
  • Listen for and resolve any issues or concerns
  • End with a fond farewell and an invitation to return.

Let’s take a look at how the internet retailer Zappos does their corporate culture:

• Deliver WOW Through Service
• Embrace and Drive Change
• Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
• Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
• Pursue Growth and Learning
• Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
• Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
• Do More With Less
• Be Passionate and Determined
• Be Humble

Their CEO wrote extensively about the company culture in his book: Delivering Happiness; The Path to Profit, Passion and Purpose!

Strong/weak cultures

Strong culture is said to exist where staff respond to stimulus because of their alignment to organizational values. In such environments, strong cultures help firms operate like well-oiled machines, cruising along with outstanding execution and perhaps minor tweaking of existing procedures here and there.

Conversely, there is weak culture where there is little alignment with organizational values and control must be exercised through extensive procedures and bureaucracy.

Research shows that organizations that foster strong cultures have clear values that give employees a reason to embrace the culture. A “strong” culture may be especially beneficial to firms operating in the service sector since members of these organizations are responsible for delivering the service and for evaluations important constituents make about firms. Research indicates that organizations may derive the following benefits from developing strong and productive cultures:

• Better aligning the company towards achieving its vision, mission, and goals
• High employee motivation and loyalty
• Increased team cohesiveness among the company’ various departments and divisions
• Promoting consistency and encouraging coordination and control within the company
• Shaping employee behavior at work, enabling the organization to be more efficient

Where culture is strong, people do things because they believe it is the right thing to do.

Does your company have its core culture as well defined as this? How would you integrate this concept into what you do?