Corporate CultureA2 Business Studies

Aims & Objectives

Aim:

To understand organisational culture.

Objectives:

Define corporate culture. Describe the main types of corporate culture. Analyse the factors which are important for

building a positive corporate culture. Evaluate the corporate culture of Morrissons.

What is Culture?

What we do in life and how we behave in society is largely defined by our culture.

Corporate Culture Definition

Values, Attitudes and Beliefs….

…Of the people working in an organisation that control the way they interact with each

other and with external stakeholders.

Different Corporate Cultures

Different organisations have different cultures.

The culture of a business gives it an identity.

Values, attitudes and beliefs have an important influence on the way staff in a business will act.

Types of Organisational Culture

Culture

Power

Role

TaskPerson

Entrepreneurial

How to Build a Positive Culture

Culture

FINISH

Culture Carriers

These are key people, usually managers, who represent and spread the core values of the corporate culture.

Culture

Heroes

Individuals who typify to an extreme the values of the group.

Stability of the Group

It is more difficult for a culture to emerge if people are changing all the time.

Stability of workforce is therefore important.

Stories A group packages up its culture into

stories which are frequently told and re-told, and which typify the values of the group eg ‘the time we all stayed late on Christmas Eve to get the last orders finished and then has an impromptu party at thelocal.’

Symbols These may be staff mottoes, the

corporate mission statement or anything that symbolises the core values.

Can we judge a businesses’ culture from its missionstatement?

Courses

Attending in-house courses is an important way of team-building and communicating the core values.

Rites & Rituals Rites. These are specific occasions, such as

the award ceremonies, when the core values are publicly displayed. These are especially important for en-culturing new staff.

Rituals. This means a standard pattern of behaviour at a specific occasion, such as the office party if things are always done in a particular pattern.

Cultural Networks This means the informal contacts

between employees where they reinforce core values, especially by passing them from older to younger group members.

Importance of Culture In groups, order in terms of importance,

the different ingredients for building a positive corporate culture.

Justify why you have placed each ingredient where you have.

E.g. 1. ‘Cultural Networks: this is most important factor as it promotes the culture of the business to new employees’

Exam Culture Questions

2, 4, 8 marks questions.

What is meant by the term corporate culture? (2 Marks)

Case Study

Underline/Highlight aspects of the case

study which may relate to the culture of

Morrisons.

Case Study Issue

Morrisons’ success will be affected by its corporate culture and the ambitions of Dalton Philips, the new

Chief Executive

WM Morrisons Culture

Morrisons has its origins as a budget, pie selling traditional Northern retailer10 years ago, TV advertisements sold pies, cut price packets of crisps and showed smiling butchers

Having acquired Safeway, it has been through a cultural integration programme and opened up access to the market in the South of England

WM Morrisons Culture For over 100 years, Morrisons has

operated under the characteristics of a Power culture under the leadership of the Morrison family.

Sir Ken Morrison has stepped down after 50 years and for the first time ever there is no member of the Morrison family in an executive or board role.

WM Morrisons Culture As it moves from a national to a

nationwide organisation, Morrisons is adopting an increasingly professional, process driven, business-like approach

This approach was needed because of the difficulties experienced during the Safeway integration and the need to be responsive to customer trends in a competitive environment

WM Morrisons Culture The new approach was started by Marc

Bolland (who has moved on to become Chief Executive at M&S) and is being continued by Dalton Philips, a former Walmart executive who was recruited from the Canadian food distributor Loblaw

Morrisons culture is therefore becoming more of a Role/Task culture, replacing the Power culture of the past

Question

Briefly explain the factors needed when

a positive role/task culture is adopted,

in helping Morrisons to succeed in

the supermarket industry. (4 marks)

Plenary: Ingredients for Positive Culture

Culture