Corporate culture

Question 1

Corporate culture

Answer 1

Corporate culture is the shared values and behaviours practised by managers and employees within a business
• It determines how people behave, act or to one another and what is, or isn’t excepted behaviour.
• It reflects the shared views of the direction and values, priorities and commitments, as well as feelings of loyalty and personal work within a business

Question 2

The importance of corporate culture

Answer 2

The importance of corporate culture
• Corporate culture is an internal factor, which management seeks to influence in the hope of optimising business performance
• A positive culture that encourages productivity, improvement, high standards of quality in products and services, and employees engagement is crucial to the competitiveness and success of a business

• Benefits include:
o Better staff retention rate
o Attractiveness to potential employees, allowing the business to select from the best in the field
o Greater productivity leading to greater success

Question 3

Indicators of corporate culture

Answer 3

• Corporate culture can be analysed by looking at:
o Rituals, rites and celebrations: these provide a sense of belonging and acknowledge what is important in the organisation
o Dress code, traditional, casual, uniform: this shows the degree of formality within the organisation
o Heroes: these are the organisation successful employees who are held up as an example for others
o Layout of working environment: Open plan fosters teamwork, where as closed offices do not
o Structures and management styles: they show the relationships between staff and managers. The amount of freedom and initiative individuals have
o Communication channels: are they formal or informal, are employees encouraged to seek out manages to discuss issues?

Question 4

Official corporate culture

Answer 4

Official corporate culture is what the business intends the culture to be. It is the formal guidelines determined by the owners and managers. Can be seen in official documents such as Business documents, goals, policies and mission and official statements.
• This is a set of values and beliefs that the business wants to present to the public as it’s own
• Often slogans and logos are developed to present official culture

Question 5

Real corporate culture

Answer 5

Real corporate culture is the unwritten or informal rules and values that the people within the business have. It is the actual practices and behaviours that occur within a business. It can be seen in areas such as:
• The overriding management styles
• The way staff dress
• How employees treat each other and customers.

Question 6

Strategies for developing corporate culture

Answer 6

The shared values and beliefs of the people in a business can be developed by:

• leading by example: role modelling behaviour.
• Bringing in customer service training
• Establishing social gatherings, or team bonding events
• Establishing policies to enforce the expected values
• Rewarding employees who demonstrate the correct values
• Recruiting for these values