Introduction

In a 2021 Global Culture Survey of 3,200 leaders and employees worldwide, PricewaterhouseCoopers, a leading, global consulting company highlighted the following findings:

  • 72% report that culture helps successful change initiatives happen.
  • 69% of organisations that adapted amid the pandemic say culture offers a competitive advantage.
  • 77% of senior management feel connected to the company's purpose vs. 54% for everyone else.
  • 67% of survey respondents said culture is more important than strategy or operations.

Just like individuals, you can think of organizations as having their own personalities, more typically known as organizational cultures. The opening case illustrates that Nordstrom is a retailer with the foremost value of making customers happy. At Nordstrom, when a customer is unhappy, employees are expected to identify what would make the person satisfied, and then act on it, without necessarily checking with a superior or consulting a lengthy policy book. If they do not, they receive peer pressure and may be made to feel that they let the company down. In other words, this organization seems to have successfully created a service culture. Understanding how culture is created, communicated, and changed will help you be more effective in your organizational life. But first, let's define organizational culture.


Source: Seneca College, https://pressbooks.senecapolytechnic.ca/organizationalbehaviour/chapter/chapter-14/
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