Siño, Ferl Diane S.

BSA31

Case Details:
Guide Questions:
1. Analyze the company culture using cultural dimension.

Power Distance - It refers to how much of a gap is there between employees and
administration. The more significant the gap, the higher the preference is for a clear
distinction between the boss and the staff. The smaller the gap, the lesser emphasis is
placed on the leader's power compared with the subordinate. At this point, Zappos has a
relatively low power distance as they already ditched the old corporate culture hierarchy
and reorganized it into a modern corporate democracy, which has a more inclusive and
equal type of environment. Wherein the employees could easily and comfortably
approach each other, even their CEO – Tony Hsieh. He even changed the workspace's
physical layout, where there are no offices, only cubicles (which he also works from).
Also, every employee is treated fairly. They have to undergo training on talking with
their customers on the phone; even the executives whose jobs do not usually require
talking to customers have to go through this. Zappos wants every employee to hear the
same message and learn the same values and behavior expected to live the values every
day at work. That is why they were able to build an inclusive environment wherein every
member of the organization is encouraged to voice out ideas, opinions, and points of view
because Zappos believe that when employees are heard and appreciated, they become
more engaged.

Individualism vs Collectivism – It talks to the degree to which people look out for
themselves or gear to a more community type of environment. Zappos is team-oriented as
one of their core values states to build an enthusiastic team and family spirit, making
them lean toward the collectivism approach. Through this approach, employees receive
equal opportunities, which may help prevent conflicts while bringing more stability and
consistency to the team. Employees share equal rights and responsibilities, brainstorm
ideas together, and make collective decisions. They encourage emotional connection
between their employees; they encourage close relationships between their team members
and push for more diverse ones. Zappos embrace a collectivist culture to focus on the
greater good of the whole team, emphasize cooperation, and expect workers to act as
members of a cohesive group. They strive to eliminate any cynicism and negative
interactions and create harmony with whoever they interact with within the organization.
They are more than just a team at Zappos – they are a family.

Uncertainty avoidance – It deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and

ambiguity. It measures the extent to which people in an organization prefer structured
routines (predictability) over flexible structures (uncertainty). Uncertainty avoiding
cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by having strong customs and
habits. They tend to prefer formal structures and implement strict laws, rules, safety, and
security measures. But as to Zappos, they are more likely to have low levels of
uncertainty avoidance. Employees are trained to accept and feel comfortable in
unstructured situations or changeable environments. And since innovation is strongly
encouraged at Zappos, it seems only natural that employees are okay with not receiving
specific steps to follow. Also, employees receive very little formal authority from the
management, and everyone in the company is empowered to make decisions. Zappos
fosters the organization's creative culture by letting the employees have the freedom to
come up with new ideas and the like.

Time and order orientation - It is the extent to which an organization and its
employees’ values making sacrifices today for benefits to be gained in the future.
Cultures with long-term orientation will invest in the future, have a high degree of
perseverance, and are patient with the results. I think Zappos has a high long-term
orientation because they take a long-term view and focus on building the business rather
than maximizing their short-term profits. The company believes that they have to develop
first the Zappos brand and be about the very best customer service and customer
experience. They continue to grow and strive to ensure that their culture remains alive
and well. They do not focus only on selling shoes, but they try to expand into new
product categories to help the company to prosper. With that, they would be able to enjoy
the pay-offs of their practices someday.
 Masculinity vs Femininity – It refers to the degree to which culture is driven by
competitiveness, assertiveness, material gain (masculine), or the quality of life and
relationship building (feminine). We could clearly say that Zappos is run under the
femininity cultural dimension as they focus more on equality, healthy maintenance of
warm personal relationships, and solidarity. The company value strong relationships in
all areas: with employees, customers (internal and external), community, vendors,
shareholders, and co-workers. Strong, positive relationships that are open and honest are
a big part of what differentiates Zappos from most other companies. They do not dwell
much on competition; they even recommend customers to other rival companies when
they do not have what their customers want. Through this, they were able to build a
strong relationship with customers. They set out to build relationships amongst
colleagues and company fun events that encourage socialization of the group.

Indulgent vs Restrained – It talks about the extent to which people try to control their
desires and impulses. Zappos inclined to a more indulgent cultural dimension as they
freely let their employees enjoy life and have fun while working. It is in their corporate
core values, which is to create fun and a little weirdness. Zappos celebrate and embrace
diversity and each employees' individuality. They let their employees express their
personality in their work, and they do not suppress the gratification of their people's
needs and do not regulate it through strict social norms.

2. What is/are the culture styles used by the company?

After watching the video, I think the culture styles used by Zappos are Caring,
Enjoyment, Purpose, and Learning.

First, it is Caring because Zappos' culture focuses on relationships and mutual trust. The
work environments are warm, collaborative, and welcoming, wherein the people help and
support one another. Zappos was able to create a working place where all employees feel
incredibly comfortable. It became possible because the company invests in happy hours
and team building that makes employees a lot more effective and creative because they
trust each other.
 Next is, Enjoyment. Zappos' work environments are lighthearted places where people
tend to do what makes them happy - allowing them to respect and celebrate each other's
individuality. The company takes specific actions every day that reinforces its culture of a
fun workplace. They created a work environment that provides employees with a sense of
fun, a sense of meaningful work, and incentives to do away with monotony.

Another culture style present in the company is Purpose. Zappos' work environments are
tolerant, compassionate places where people try to do good for the world's long-term
future. They focus more on treating employees and customers well because they believe
that these initiatives would pay off someday and do good for the company.

Lastly, the "Learning" culture style is evident at Zappos because its work environments
are inventive and open-minded places where people spark new ideas and explore
alternatives. The company provides a safe space for employees to share and explore their
creativity. Also, they pursue growth and learning because the CEO wants the employees
to feel valued as the latter becomes more involved, enthusiastic, and engaged.

3. How does the company culture impact performance?

Company culture is how a set of shared values among its employees influences their
behavior and work style. It is the combination of values, vision, mission, and the day-to-
day aspects of communication, interaction, and operational goals that create the
organizational atmosphere that pervades the way people work. Company culture can
impact sales, profits, innovation, and even employee performance and retention, whether
positively or negatively.

On the positive note, a company culture where employees are considered an

indispensable part of the organization's growth process cultivates employee commitment.
Employees align their goals and objectives to the company and feel responsible for the
group's overall well-being. As their efforts are, in turn, recognized by the management
and pleasantly rewarded, they have immense job satisfaction. The employees are
committed to achieving their goals, thus positively affecting the organization's overall
performance. For example, in Zappos, the culture there is to have a collaborative
environment wherein every employee's sentiment will be heard. That is why employees
 feel that they matter, and they feel more encouraged to share their insights and creativity.
So, in return, they perform very well, which helps the company provide a wonderful
experience to customers and achieve success.

On the negative note, in companies where the environment is not inclusive, and the
management is not facilitators but taskmasters, employees live with fear and distrust, and
work is nothing but a dreary chore. Since the employees are not involved in the overall
organizational goals, they do not appreciate their tasks' implications, hence may not be
committed to achieving them. A company where there is no collaboration between
different departments ends up having employees working in silos or working towards
undermining the other departments' efforts, which is detrimental to the organization's
overall health.

4. What culture-ethics dynamics is/are present in the company?

The culture of Zappos is one of a kind given the customer base that it has since its
foundation. It has a culture that promotes doing the right thing. They defined their culture
with its ten core values, namely: (1) Deliver WOW Through Service, (2) Embrace and
Drive Change, (3) Create Fun and A Little Weirdness, (4) Be Adventurous, Creative, and
Open-Minded, (5) Pursue Growth and Learning, (6) Build Open and Honest
Relationships With Communication, (7) Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit, (8) Do
More With Less, (9) Be Passionate and Determined and (10) Be Humble. It is important
to note that Zappos' leadership did not lead with a statement of core values. They have
created and reinforced a culture that held these values and let employees themselves
declare it. In this way, Zappos' leadership made a list of values that employees believed
in and leveraged the power of social proof to ensure that employees acted on what they
believe. Based on the company's CEO, "if you get the culture right, most of the other
stuff—like great customer service, or, building a great long-term brand, or passionate
employees and customers—will happen naturally on its own." Through these initiatives,
they created the right working environment where employees are helpful and happy.