Artifacts of Corporate Culture

Essay by kandilynUniversity, Master'sA+, February 2005

download word file, 9 pages 5.0

Downloaded 136 times

Harvey and Brown in An Experimental Approach to Organizational Development define corporate culture as a system of shared values or beliefs that interact with the people structure and systems of the organization, an interdependent set of beliefs, values, ways of behaving and tools for living, and is derived from the management and the organization itself via actions and words that define the way employees are treated. (Harvey and Brown, 2001)They further explain that the six factors of corporate culture are:

"1. Member identity " the degree to which employees identify with the organization, the type of job, or a field of professional expertise

2. Team emphasis" the degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals

3. People focus " the degree to which management empowers employees in an organization

4. Autonomy " the degree to which departments are encouraged to operate in a coordinated or independent manner

5. Control " the degree to which rules, regulations, and direct supervision are used to control the behavior of employees

6. Risk tolerance " the degree to which employees are encouraged to be assertive, aggressive, innovative, and risk seeking" (Harvey and Brown, 2001)Donald Buresh says, "A corporate artifact takes on a variety of forms, including the architecture of the building, interior design of the office, employee manuals, newsletters quality procedures, product information, and sometimes even of staff meetings themselves. The idea here is by understanding the artifacts that are prevalent at an organization, the researcher can come to grips with the nature of the culture. The intent is to comprehend the nature of a corporate culture by the things that it creates." (Buresh, 2004)Background of Chosen Corporation

Wal-Mart's web-page states its mission as "Guided by founder Sam Walton's passion for customer satisfaction and "Every Day Low Prices," Wal-Mart's four...