Corporate culture is the beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and values specific to a company, which can be beneficial or harmful. It determines how things are done, including decisions made, and can be influenced by all components of the company. Google is an example of a company with a strong culture. Prospective employees should assess a company’s culture before applying or accepting a position.
Culture used alone refers to the collective institutions, art, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, values, and products of human beings. The sub-categories of the general culture of humanity are generally related to places, ethnicities and periods. Corporate culture, also known as work culture, corporate culture and organizational culture – although the latter is a somewhat broader term – names the beliefs, attitudes, behaviors and values that develop specific to a company, as a subset of the culture of the national or ethnic culture in which it exists. Corporate culture serves to both define and separate a company from other companies.
All companies have a culture, consciously or unconsciously recognized and shaped. A corporate culture can be beneficial to a company or be harmful, depending on what it is. A corporate culture is responsible for how things are done within the company, including the decisions made and how they are made. Although corporate culture is initially established through the company’s mission statement and founders’ implementation, as the company grows, all components of the company have some influence on corporate culture.
A company may be more or less aware of its culture and more or less intentionally striving to create a certain type of culture. One company that is very invested in its culture is Google. On his website’s “Corporate Culture” page, he announces that some of his culture’s reflections include locating furniture in every office rather than identical offices around the world; well-stocked break rooms; a variety of healthy dining venues within the building; workout and class areas, as well as pianos and foosball; lots of laptops and hardly any solo offices; relaxing accessories, including massage chairs, inflatable balls and dogs. A look at Google’s corporate philosophy – which includes statements like “You can be serious without a cause” shows a coherence between Google’s mission and its culture.
If the company is structured in a rigid hierarchy, how departments relate to each other and how work groups are formed are part of the corporate culture. The accessibility of executives and whether they stay in their offices or are seen throughout the building is another aspect of the culture. Company culture determines appropriate attire in the workplace, as well as during the job interview. It also determines things like the hours you’re expected to work, whether flying time or telecommuting is possible, and what happens to unused vacation at the end of the year. For all of these reasons, assessing a company’s culture is an important step a prospective employee should take when considering applying for or accepting a position in an organization.
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