Corporate Culture Flashcards
What is the single thing most responsible for our company’s success and why?
• Our Corporate Culture- It is what separates us from everyone else. It is the glue holds organizations together with common beliefs, ethics, and values.
What are the three elements of Corporate Culture at Cintas?
- Our Principal Objective
- Our Corporate Character
- Our Management System
What is the Principal Objective?
• We will exceed our customers’ expectations to maximize the long-term value of Cintas for its shareholders and working partners.
What do we mean by “Corporate Character”?
It is the values and standards that we set for ourselves.
We are professional.
We live by the rules.
We act with competitive urgency in everything we do.
We have a sense of positive discontent.
Describe the elements of our Corporate Character.
Professional:
1) We are thorough in everything we do inside and outside the company.
2) We have Spartan attitude about the business
3) We do what is right
4) We are humble and respect the front line partners
5) We look professional
6) We are courteous- good manners and polite
7) We are enthusiastic- positive attitude and optimism
- We have high ethical and moral standards- Honesty and integrity in everything we do.
- Act with a sense of urgency-Exceeding customers and partner’s expectations
- Positive discontent- We are never satisfied with the status quo.
Define “Spartan attitude”.
• We manage the expenses of the business as if they were our own.
What does it mean to “believe” in our partners?
• Everyone starts with our complete trust. We do not have to earn it. We understand partners want to want to contribute and do a good job.
Define “competitive urgency.”
• To attend to every detail of our business, no matter how small, as though if overlooked would result in the loss of the partner or customer.
Define “positive discontent.”
• Never satisfied with ‘good enough’ and constantly looking for ways to improve.
Tell me how you would explain the Principal Objective to a new partner when you first meet him/her.
• Everything we do is checked against the Principal Objective, we must be able to say ‘yes’ to it being right for our partners, shareholders, and Cintas. If it doesn’t make sense for all three, then we need to ask ourselves why are we doing this.
Why is compatibility with our culture important to your personal career development?
• A manager that is incompatible with the culture cannot succeed. It doesn’t happen over night and usually takes 3 to 4 years. But understanding the principle objective character and management system is a good start.
As managers, what does it mean when we say “we stretch our partners?”
• It means we understand them enough to give them more than they think they can handle and being there to support them and help them reach their goals by creating an environment where they can succeed.
What are you personally doing to instill Cintas Culture in others?
• I ‘walk the walk’ I lead by example at all times. Partners should never have to question my behavior when it comes to being fair and consistent.
Describe the advantages of our system of policies and procedures.
Provides control, consistency, competitive advantage, valuable training tool, common language and flexability.
Our policy and procedures system of management is the third element of Cintas culture. List 4 purposes of policies and procedures.
- Provides management with control- without a management system we lose control and set ourselves up for problems.
- Provides consistency- we have the assurance of knowing that all Cintas operations are running the same
- Training tool- the system defines what will occur most often in a job and what to do when it occurs.
- Communication- our communication system allows us to communicate with each other by providing common dialogue.
