What Is Corporate Culture?

Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company's
employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions. Often,
corporate culture is implied, not expressly defined, and develops organically over time
from the cumulative traits of the people the company hires.

A company's culture will be reflected in its dress code, business hours, office
setup, employee benefits, turnover, hiring decisions, treatment of clients, client
satisfaction, and every other aspect of operations.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a
company's employees and management interact.
 Corporate culture is also influenced by national cultures and traditions,
economic trends, international trade, company size, and products.
 Corporate cultures, whether shaped intentionally or grown organically,
reach to the core of a company’s ideology and practice, and affect every
aspect of a business.
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Corporate Culture

Understanding Corporate Culture

Alphabet (GOOGL), the parent of Google, is well known for its employee-friendly
corporate culture. It explicitly defines itself as unconventional and offers perks such as
telecommuting, flextime, tuition reimbursement, free employee lunches, and on-site
doctors. At its corporate headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., the company offers on-
site services such as oil changes, car washes, massages, fitness classes, and a
hairstylist. Its corporate culture helped it to consistently earn a high ranking
on Fortune magazine's list of "100 Best Companies to Work For."

History of Corporate Culture

Awareness of corporate or organizational culture in businesses and other organizations
such as universities emerged in the 1960s. The term corporate culture developed in the
early 1980s and became widely known by the 1990s. Corporate culture was used
during those periods by managers, sociologists, and other academics to describe the
character of a company.
This included generalized beliefs and behaviors, company-wide value systems,
management strategies, employee communication, and relations, work environment,
and attitude. Corporate culture would go on to include company origin myths via
charismatic chief executive officers (CEOs), as well as visual symbols such as logos
and trademarks.

By 2015, corporate culture was not only created by the founders, management, and
employees of a company, but was also influenced by national cultures and traditions,
economic trends, international trade, company size, and products.

There are a variety of terms that relate to companies affected by multiple cultures,
especially in the wake of globalization and the increased international interaction of
today's business environment. As such, the term cross-culture refers to “the interaction
of people from different backgrounds in the business world”; culture shock refers to the
confusion or anxiety people experience when conducting business in a society other
than their own; and reverse culture shock is often experienced by people who spend
lengthy times abroad for business and have difficulty readjusting upon their return.

To create positive cross-culture experiences and facilitate a more cohesive and

productive corporate culture, companies often devote in-depth resources, including
specialized training, that improves cross-culture business interactions.

The current awareness of corporate culture is more acute now than ever.

Examples of Contemporary Corporate Cultures

Just as national cultures can influence and shape corporate culture, so can a
company’s management strategy. In top companies of the 21st century, such as
Google, Apple Inc. (AAPL), and Netflix Inc. (NFLX), less traditional management
strategies such as fostering creativity, collective problem solving, and greater
employee freedom have been the norm and thought to contribute to their business
success.

Progressive policies such as comprehensive employee benefits and alternatives to

hierarchical leadership—even doing away with closed offices and cubicles—are a trend
that reflects a more tech-conscious, modern generation. This trend marks a change
from aggressive, individualistic, and high-risk corporate cultures such as that of former
energy company Enron.

High-profile examples of alternative management strategies that significantly affect

corporate culture include holacracy, which has been put to use at shoe
company Zappos (AMZN), and agile management techniques applied at music
streaming company Spotify.
Holacracy is an open management philosophy that, among other traits, eliminates job
titles and other such traditional hierarchies. Employees have flexible roles and self-
organization, and collaboration is highly valued. Zappos instituted this new program in
2014 and has met the challenge of the transition with varying success and criticism.

Similarly, Spotify, a music-streaming service, uses the principles of agile

management as part of its unique corporate culture. Agile management, in essence,
focuses on deliverables with a flexible, trial-and-error strategy that often groups
employees in a start-up environment approach to creatively tackle the company’s
issues at hand.

Characteristics of Successful Corporate Cultures

Corporate cultures, whether shaped intentionally or grown organically, reach the core
of a company’s ideology and practice, and affect every aspect of a business, from each
employee to customer to public image. The current awareness of corporate culture is
more acute than ever.

The Harvard Business Review identified six important characteristics of successful

corporate cultures in 2015.1 First and foremost is "vision": from a simple mission
statement to a corporate manifesto, a company’s vision is a powerful tool. For example,
Google’s modern and infamous slogan: “Don’t Be Evil” is a compelling corporate vision.
Secondly, "values," while a broad concept, embody the mentalities and perspectives
necessary to achieve a company’s vision.

Similarly, "practices" are the tangible methods, guided by ethics, through which a
company implements its values. For example, Netflix emphasizes the importance of
knowledge-based, high-achieving employees and, as such, Netflix pays its employees
at the top of their market salary range, rather than through an earn-your-way-to-the-top
philosophy. "People" come next, with companies employing and recruiting in a way that
reflects and enhances their overall culture.

Lastly, "narrative" and "place" are perhaps the most modern characteristics of
corporate culture. Having a powerful narrative or origin story, such as that of Steve
Jobs and Apple, is important for growth and public image. The "place" of business,
such as the city of choice and also office design and architecture, is one of the most
cutting-edge advents in contemporary corporate culture.

What Is Corporate Culture?

The term “corporate culture” refers to the beliefs and practices associated with a
particular corporation. For instance, corporate culture might be reflected in the
way a corporation hires and promotes employees, or in its corporate mission
statement. Some companies seek to associate themselves with a specific set of
values, such as by defining themselves as an “innovative” or “environmentally-
conscious” organization.

What Are Some Examples of Corporate Culture?

There are many examples of companies with well-defined corporate cultures.
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), for example, is known for its employee-centric culture
and its emphasis on working in a creative and flexible environment, whereas
Amazon (AMZN) is known for its relentless pursuit of customer service and
operational efficiencies. Often, national cultures will play a role in determining
the kind of corporate culture that is prevalent in society. For example, Japanese
corporations are known for having markedly different corporate cultures as
compared to those of American or European companies.

Why Is Corporate Culture Important?

Corporate culture is important because it can support important business
objectives. Employees, for example, might be attracted to companies whose
cultures they identify with, which in turn can drive employee retention and new
talent acquisition. For companies focused on innovation, fostering a culture of
innovation can be critical to maintaining a competitive edge with respect to
patents or other forms of intellectual property. Similarly, corporate culture can
also play a role in marketing the company to customers and to society at large,
thereby doubling as a form of public relations.