https://research-methodology.net Necessary knowledge to conduct a business research Sat, 17 Feb 2024 10:42:40 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://rm-15da4.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cropped-logoBRM-32x32.jpg https://research-methodology.net 32 32 https://research-methodology.net/byd-organizational-culture-a-brief-overview/ Sat, 17 Feb 2024 10:42:40 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=77515 BYD organizational culture integrates the following three key elements: 1. Meritocracy. BYD promotes a culture of meritocracy, where performance and results are rewarded. BYD’s culture strongly emphasizes performance and achieving concrete results. Promotions, bonuses, and other rewards are heavily tied to individual contributions and exceeding targets. Such an approach incentivizes employees to constantly strive for excellence, pushing themselves and the company forward.     2. Cost-cutting. Reducing expenses whenever possible is a crucial element of EV maker’s organizational culture, woven into its fabric and contributing significantly to its success. BYD famously controls almost every aspect of its production, from battery cells to vehicle assembly. This reduces reliance on external suppliers and cuts down on costs significantly. For instance, they manufacture their own semiconductors, a major expense for EV production. The company encourages a culture of resourcefulness and frugality among its employees. They’re empowered to find creative solutions to save costs, from reusing materials to optimizing energy consumption. For example, employees developed a system to recycle scrap metal from the production process, saving millions of dollars annually. 3. Value-driven culture. The EV giant promotes the values of excellence, pragmatism, passion and innovation. These values go beyond mere slogans and posters, influencing every aspect of the company’s operations and employee behaviour. BYD empowers employees at all levels to take ownership and make decisions aligned with the core values. A strong community spirit is present at the company fostering a sense of belonging and collaboration, where employees feel valued and invested in the company’s success. BYD Company Limited Report contains the above analysis of BYD organizational culture. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis, Ansoff Matrix and McKinsey 7S Model on BYD. Moreover, the report contains analyses of BYD leadership, organizational structure and business strategy. The report also…]]> https://research-methodology.net/marriott-organizational-culture-overview/ Sun, 22 Oct 2023 11:09:36 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=75923 Marriott organizational culture integrates the following five key elements: 1. People-first approach. Putting people first is Marriott’s top priority. The company believes that by taking care of its employees, they will in turn take care of customers. This commitment is evident in Marriott’s many employee-focused programs and initiatives, such as its tuition reimbursement program, its employee assistance program, and its diversity and inclusion initiatives. 2. Pursuing excellence. Pursing excellence is another core value that is integrated within Marriott organizational culture. The company sets high standards for its employees and encourages them to continuously strive to improve. This commitment to excellence is reflected in hotel chains many awards and accolades. These include recognition as one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For and one of Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies. 3. Acting with integrity. The largest hotel chain in the world expects its employees to be honest, ethical, and fair in all their dealings. This commitment to integrity is reflected in Marriott’s code of conduct and its many policies and procedures designed to promote ethical behaviour. 4. Serving the world. Marriott International declares its commitment to making a positive difference in the world. The company supports a variety of charitable organizations and encourages its employees to volunteer in their communities. Marriott also has a number of sustainability initiatives in place, such as its commitment to reducing its environmental impact and its investment in renewable energy. 5. Embracing change. The company understands that change is essential in the hospitality industry, which is constantly evolving. Marriott is committed to staying ahead of the curve and adapting to the changing needs of its customers. This commitment is evident in the company’s willingness to invest in new technologies and its focus on innovation. Marriott International Inc. Report contains the above analysis of Marriott organizational…]]> https://research-methodology.net/netflix-organizational-culture-an-overview/ Mon, 18 Sep 2023 05:11:58 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=75424 Netflix organizational culture integrates the following five key elements: 1. Encouraging decision-making by employees. The entertainment services provider encourages employees at all levels to take initiative and resolve issues on their own with minimum input from their superiors. Decision making at the on-demand media provider is made by individuals, referred to informed captains, rather than by teams or committees. Informed captains are experts in their area who listen to the viewpoints of other people and then make decisions on their own. Thanks to this principle Netflix doesn’t have to wait for consensus or vote by the committee and this is huge advantage taking into account highly dynamic nature of the external environment.     2. Sharing information openly, broadly and deliberately. Netflix has taken a radical approach towards information sharing. The largest streaming service in the world maintains online memos in narrative form for members of board of directors that not only include links to supporting analysis but also allow open access to all data and information on the company’s internal shared systems. This is unprecedented for a global corporation. Unlike, some other tech companies such as Apple, employees at all levels of the streaming service have access to all internal information. Access to data helps Netflix employees to make more informed decision making. Moreover, thanks to the access to information employees feel trusted and become more responsible at their job. 3. Communicating candidly and directly. Openness in communication is one of the pillars of Netflix organizational culture. Candid and direct communication also relates employee performance feedback. Openness has been ingrained into the culture of Netflix to such a degree that not speaking up one’s mind can be easily perceived as an act of disloyalty. 4. Keeping only our highly effective people. The streaming service models itself on being a…]]> https://research-methodology.net/apple-organizational-culture/ Wed, 05 Jul 2023 00:17:28 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=9915 Corporate culture of Apple plays an important role in efficiently maintaining its operations in the global scale with 164,000 full-time equivalent employees.[1] Apple organizational culture used to have a reputation of being harsh, demanding and intimidating under the leadership of founder and late CEO Steve Jobs. However, it can be argued that since assuming the top leadership in 2011, Tim Cook has invested considerable efforts towards ‘humanising’ the brand. Specifically, unlike his predecessor, Tim Cook has spoken out about human rights, privacy, immigration reform and environmental issues.[2]     Apple corporate culture integrates the following important features: 1. Creativity and innovativeness. Apple pursues the business strategy of product differentiation with the focus on the design and functionality of products and services. An effective implementation of this strategy in practice requires a high level of creativity and innovativeness from employees at all levels. Accordingly, in order to encourage their employees to be more creative and innovative, the company attempts to develop relevant working environment. Creative design of Apple Campus, informal dress codes and creatively designed working space can be mentioned to illustrate this point. 2. Working under pressure. Ability to work under pressure is a must-have skill for Apple employees at all levels. In fact, it is challenging to work for the first company ever to be valued at $3 trillion. Most projects have strict and short deadlines and working long hours is a norm in the company. CEO Tim Cook sets example in terms of his loyalty to the company and working long hours. He is known for sending emails to employees at 4:30 am. Moreover, Sunday is a work night for many managers at Apple because of the executive meeting the next day. Not everyone can sustain to work at such an intense rate. But employees who survive within the first…]]> https://research-methodology.net/nvidia-organizational-culture-overview/ Sun, 18 Jun 2023 03:24:19 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=74372 Nvidia organizational culture integrates the following key elements. 1. Innovation. Nvidia is one of the most innovative companies in the world and its organizational culture promotes the spirit of creativity for innovation among employees at all levels. The company encourages employees to think outside the box and come up with new and creative solutions to problems. Consistently producing innovative products and services is a business strategy for NVIDIA and therefore, the company systematically attempts to integrate innovation into the DNA of its organizational culture.     2. Intellectual honesty. The co-founder and long-term CEO Jensen Huang has served as a role model in integrating intellectual honesty within Nvidia organizational culture. For Huang intellectual honesty is critically important to admit mistakes and failures and tolerating them to foster creativity and innovation. Jensen Huang came to appreciate the value of intellectual honesty early on in his career as a head of Nvidia. The first ever product produced by Nvidia simply did not work costing huge amount of investments. It was at that time Huang acknowledged the failure and started everything from the beginning. 3. High-performance. Organizational culture of Nvidia promotes high performance among employees through creating relaxed environment for employees to work. The absence of office politics and hierarchy motivates employees to perform at their best. 4. Inclusion and diversity. CEO Jensen Huang has placed inclusion and diversity at the core of Nvidia organizational culture. Diverse employees at NVIDIA score the company 78/100 across various culture categories, placing NVIDIA in the top 10% of companies on Comparably with 10,000+ Employees for Comparably’s diversity score[1]. Nvidia Corporation Report contains the above analysis of Nvidia organizational culture. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis, Ansoff Matrix and…]]> https://research-methodology.net/wework-organizational-culture-overview/ Sun, 19 Feb 2023 01:57:34 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=72592 A documentary released by Hulu on April 1st 2021 provides an insight on WeWork organizational culture and its serious shortcomings under the leadership of co-founder and former CEO Adam Neumann. At that time corporate culture at WeWork was notorious for ‘frat-boy’ culture, sexual abuse, motivational mantras and free beer. The co-working giant organized annual employee retreat on a remote island. The company engaged in tracking employees at mandatory, alcohol-fuelled company events and an onboarding process that made all new employees shout WeWork until red in the face.     New CEO, real estate veteran Sandeep Mathrani who took helm in February 2020 brought maturity and discipline into the company with direct implications on organizational culture of WeWork. Dubbed as ‘anti-Adam Neumann’ the new CEO was quick to put a stop at extravagant company events and cut costs in many other ways.  Under the new leadership the global flexible workspace provider has committed to zero tolerance to discrimination and abuse at workplace in any form and these changes are more than welcomed by stakeholders. Mr. Mathrani is committed to change the important components of WeWork organizational culture in the following ways: Values. Mathrani specified the following values to be central for the co-working and office space operator: Do the right thing Strive to be better, together Be entrepreneurial Give gratitude Be human, be kind Attitudes. New CEO expects mature and more responsible attitude towards the work from employees at all levels. Norms and expectations. Employees are expected to work hard, deliver results and be considerate towards their co-workers. Discrimination and abuse is no longer tolerated at the co-working giant. Rituals, symbols and routines. Extravagant rituals such as shouting WeWork at company gatherings, ordering coffee from WeWork’s in-house barista and many others popular under Adam Neumann were put to stop permanently. WeWork…]]> https://research-methodology.net/organisational-culture/ Fri, 02 Dec 2022 00:02:50 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=2435 Organizational culture is a popular and a very complex concept, and has been identified as an influential factor affecting the success and failures of organizational change efforts. Components of organizational culture An organizational culture may include the following[1] (Hofstede 1997): Values. Values are beliefs. They are things that are most important. For example, for schoolteacher educating pupil is most important thing, no matter how he/she does it. Attitudes. It is the way the company thinks. It could also include collective behaviour such as business formalities or ceremonies. Norms and Expectations. That is things that expected from members of company. As a example, police officer on duty expected to wear his/her uniform. Rituals, symbols and routines. Business logos can be example of symbols, though they are directed outwards. Most successful organizations tend to have stronger cultures that is widely shared among its employees and reflected in their everyday actions. Different countries have different ways of doing business, different culture, different values and assumptions which influence the organization style. Therefore, Hofstede (1997) believes that national culture needs to be considered as one of the major factors which influence organization culture in various ways.   Types of Organizational Culture Organization culture can be classified into four types (Harrison, 1972): Power culture. This is the type of organization controlled by a key central figure, owner or founder. Power culture suits small organizations where the leader has direct communication with employees. Role Culture. This is the organization where authority based up on function and position. These organizations have formal structure and operate by well established rules. Though this is bureaucratic style, it can be very efficient when the organization is large and work is predictable. Task Culture. The main concern in task culture is to get the job done. In these type of organizations there…]]> https://research-methodology.net/starbucks-organizational-culture-focus-on-employees-as-the-source-of-core-competency/ Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:07:29 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=10227 Starbucks organizational culture is based on values and principles of its former long-term CEO Howard Schultz.  It has been noted that “Starbucks’ culture is powerful because it is tightly linked to the company’s distinctive capabilities[1].” Starbucks organizational culture integrates the following four key elements: 1. Valuing employees and their contribution. At Starbucks employees are referred to as partners and they are taken care of by the company via competitive compensation packages. For example, the coffee chain offers stock options and health insurance even to part-time employees in the US. Moreover, “at the height of the global financial crisis, when other companies were cutting HR costs wherever they could, Starbucks invested in staff training, including coffee tastings and courses that ultimately qualified for credit at higher education institutions”[2]     2. Presence of close bonds among employees. The company firmly believes in relationship-driven approach to the business and encourages the formation of close bonds between employees in its stores. One can easily witness the presence of close bonds among employees by simply observing their interaction in any store belonging to the Seattle-based international coffee chain. This contributes to the formation of relaxing and comfortable environment in Starbucks store, effectively strengthening its role as ‘third place’ away from work and home, where customers can spend good time alone or with their friends. 3. Culture of inclusion and diversity. Embracing inclusion and diversity is placed at the core of Starbucks corporate culture. The world’s largest coffee retailer runs 12 diverse Partner Networks, representing the broad spectrum of employee backgrounds. These include Armed Forces Network, Black Partner Network, Disability Advocacy Network and others. The multinational chain of coffeehouses received 100% score on the Disability Equality Index. The principles of inclusion and diversity prevail not only among the workforce, but also have reflections on customer…]]> https://research-methodology.net/ikea-organizational-culture-simplicity-teamwork-diversity/ Sun, 14 Aug 2022 00:12:43 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=11388 IKEA organizational culture plays an important role in maintaining cost-effective business operations to sustain cost leadership business strategy for the furniture giant. In other words, due to its cost leadership business strategy, IKEA does not offer the most competitive financial compensation to its workforce. Instead, the home improvement and furnishing chain attracts employees with intangible benefits that are deeply integrated within IKEA corporate culture. IKEA organizational culture is based on the following principles: 1. Simplicity and high level of informality. It has been noted that “humbleness in approaching tasks and simplicity in the way of doing things are cornerstones of the IKEA culture”.[1] For example, in IKEA US only a few executives have business cards and “everyone is on a first-name basis and sits side by side at IKEA desks and if you have an ego that needs stroking, IKEA is not the workplace for you.”[2] 2. The value for teamwork. Executives who prefer to manage as one-man show do not fit into IKEA organizational culture. The Swedish furniture chain wants to ensure that it employs only individuals who share its values and appreciate its culture. For this reason, individuals wishing to join IKEA are offered to take an online test which poses a series of 10 work-based scenarios with a choice of actions. The outcome of the test advises applicants if they are likely to ‘fit’ into IKEA organizational culture. 3. Embracing diversity among employees and different ways of doing things. Diversity among the workforce in terms of gender, race, age, ethnicity and sexual orientation is an important element of IKEA corporate culture. As illustrated in table below, there is an adequate level of women representation among across franchisees in floor level workers, as well as, management.   IKEA employee gender diversity in FY21[3] Furthermore, the furniture retailer supports…]]> https://research-methodology.net/mcdonalds-organizational-culture-overview/ Mon, 20 Jun 2022 02:28:07 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=66777 McDonald’s organizational culture is somewhat controversial. On one hand, the fast food giant associates its corporate culture with the principles of inclusion, integrity and family values. Moreover, McDonald’s prides its organizational culture with encouraging learning for employees at all levels. On the other hand, the company has faced myriad lawsuits and claims in recent years, some involving allegations of sexual harassment and others around racial discrimination. Even the CEO Steve Easterbrook was fired in 2019 for having consensual relationship with his subordinate employee. Later it was revealed that Mr. Easterbrook awarded generous stock options to one of the female employees he had sexual relationship with. Furthermore, it was reported that the former CEO “in addition to lying about his own misconduct, allegedly tried to cover up the inappropriate behaviour of other McDonald’s executives.”[1] The following two factors have negative effects on McDonald’s organizational culture: 1. Highly hectic work environment. High speed of service is one of the core competitive advantages for McDonald’s. The cashiers are expected to greet customers, take orders, collect payments, recommend products, promote special deals and arrange food items on trays in a couple of minutes. Such a pace to be sustained during long shifts creates tremendous stress for thousands of customer-facing employees worldwide. 2. Low wages. The fast food chain pursues cost leadership business strategy operating with a thin profit margin per item, but selling at large volumes. Operations with low profit margin reflect on floor-level employee wages as well. Specifically, McDonald’s is notorious for paying low wages and exploiting human resources. The current President and CEO Chris Kempczinski attempts to improve McDonald’s organizational culture addressing the negative impact of factors described above. However, Mr. Kempczinski himself courted controversy when he sent a text to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blaming the kid’s parents for the shooting at McDonald’s location.[2] McDonald’s Corporation Report…]]> https://research-methodology.net/amazon-organizational-culture-harsh-effectively-contributing-bottom-line-2/ Tue, 22 Mar 2022 01:05:10 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=11221 Generally, Amazon organizational culture integrates the following five key elements: 1. Immense performance pressure. Amazon organizational culture has been described as “breakneck-paced, and notoriously cost-conscious, as befits a company that has run only a small profit, or a loss, under generally accepted accounting principles for most of its life as a public company.[1] Amazon organizational culture was fiercely criticized in 2015 in The New York Times article titled “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace”. Specific flaws mentioned in the article include unrealistic performance standards, the work culture based on fear and the lack of recognition of employee contribution. The article caused debates in the media and even prompted a response from Amazon CEO at the time Jeff Bezos. Furthermore, work culture at Amazon has been described as “purposeful Darwinism” approach for employee management.[2] Generally, pushy, combative and ‘bruising’ organizational culture is perceived as outdated. Nowadays, the popular belief is that workplaces need to be nurturing and encouraging, and managers need to be nice and friendly and treat their employees like family in order for a company to succeed. The largest internet retailer in the world by revenue proves this belief wrong. Amazon has a very intense corporate culture with an extensive emotional and even physical pressure to some employees.  Nevertheless, Amazon along with Alphabet has been recognized by LinkedIn as the best place to work in US in 2021.[3]  This can be explained in a way that Amazon has a unique organizational culture that is not for everyone. Only employees who can thrive under immense pressure and fast-paced environment can survive in this company. 2. Constant reinvention and optimization of organizational culture. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos “emphasizes the importance of constantly assessing and adjusting Amazon’s culture so it never loses the agility, nimbleness, and hunger for…]]> https://research-methodology.net/square-organizational-culture-a-brief-overview/ Sun, 26 Sep 2021 06:22:41 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=57907 Square organizational culture integrates the following 3 key elements: 1. Informal work environment. Work environment at Square is highly informal and this has a stark reflection the design of its offices worldwide. Moreover, “Square has designed its work spaces to be large, open and ripe for serendipitous collaboration”[1] In other words, Square organizational culture defies formality in the workplace through seemingly-casual, yet effective organization of workspaces.     2. Inclusion and diversity. Square organizational culture embraces and promotes diversity among employees at all levels. There are various employee communities in the company that cater for the interests of its members. These include Black Squares Association, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander Squares, Veterans at Square and others. These communities are employee-run resource groups that promote universal inclusivity through networking, development opportunities, and social events.[2] In other words, people belonging to minority groups do not feel alienated when they join Square with positive implications on their work performance and overall happiness. 3. Social and economic impact. Square positions itself as a challenger to traditional banks. Specifically, the company attempts to democratise a wide range of financial services to simplify them and make these services available for small businesses for a little cost. From this point of view, the financial services and digital payments company is set to disrupt banking sector in a global scale. Such a challenger position attracts specific type of workforce, who are motivated by the perception of participating in and contributing to the worldwide change of banking services for the better. These types of highly motivated employees contribute to the formation of an advanced organizational culture at Square. Square Inc. Report contains the above analysis of Square organizational culture. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces,…]]> https://research-methodology.net/uber-organizational-culture-starting-new-page/ Mon, 19 Jul 2021 00:37:15 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=13437 Uber organizational culture has been associated with sexual harassment and discrimination during the leadership period of co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick. In June 2017 the global transportation technology company “fired more than 20 employees after a company investigation into sexual harassment claims and workplace culture.”[1] Uber company culture crisis has resulted into the resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick. Uber’s new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, has successfully led internet travel company Expedia for 12 years. Mr.  Khosrowshahi had an important task of sophisticating Uber organizational culture so that the ride-hailing giant can improve its image and eventually become profitable. Change management of Uber organizational culture initiated by Dara Mr.  Khosrowshahi can be explained applying Lewin’s Model of Culture. The model divides change management in organizational culture into 3 stages: Stage 1: Unfreezing. During this stage, the necessity of cultural changes for the long-term growth prospects of the company needs to be explained to employees at all stages. Khosrowshahi had dealt with this stage effectively. The new CEO stressed the importance of appropriate organizational culture in a majority of meetings with internal and external stakeholders. Moreover, “Uber’s new CEO had employees write and vote on cultural guidelines for the workplace”[2]. In total about 12000 employees voted and the results of voting determined underlying principles for Uber’s new organizational culture. Stage 2: Implementing changes. According to results of the voting discussed above, new principles of Uber organizational culture have been developed as the following[3]: We build globally, we live locally. We are customer obsessed. We celebrate differences. We do the right thing. We act like owners. We persevere. We value ideas over hierarchy. We make big bold bets. Stage 3: Refreezing. Uber is attempting to promote its new culture to all organizational stakeholders in general and employees in particular.  The global transportation technology…]]> https://research-methodology.net/tesla-organizational-culture-a-brief-overview/ Fri, 23 Apr 2021 00:41:52 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=25392 Tesla organizational culture integrates the following five key elements: 1. Ambitious innovation. Tesla has been founded right after auto giant General Motors recalled and destroyed its EV1 electric cars.[1] Starting a business in a segment where large and experienced players such as GE have failed is a clear indication of abundant ambitions of founders including Elon Must. Founders have adapted product and process innovation as a strategic tool to realize their ambitions in practice. Ambitious innovation has been deeply ingrained in Tesla organizational culture. 2. Adherence to ‘First Principles’ method. Elon Musk insists that employees use First Principles method, also known as reasoning from first principles in dealing with problems. It has been noted that “first principles thinking requires you to dig deeper and deeper until you are left with only the foundational truths of a situation”[2]. Arguably, process and product innovations at Tesla can be credited to the successful application of first principles to a significant extent.   3. Doing things differently. Tesla corporate culture encourages employees at all levels to experiment with different ways of doing business. The electric automaker is well known for challenging the status quo of conducting business. Especially, the company’s marketing and HR practices are fundamentally different from other global auto manufacturers. 4. Lack of bureaucracy. Day-to-day operations and communications in the company are not bounded by strict levels of management and bureaucracy. An email from CEO Elon Musk sent to employees a few years ago stressed that “anyone at Tesla can and should email/talk to anyone else according to what they think is the fastest way to solve a problem for the benefit of the whole company. You can talk to your manager’s manager without his permission, you can talk directly to a VP in another dept, you can talk to me, you can talk…]]> https://research-methodology.net/w-w-grainger-organizational-culture-diversity-innovation-and-teamwork/ Mon, 17 Aug 2020 00:53:13 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=44086 Grainger organizational culture integrates the following key elements: 1. Diversity and inclusiveness. Grainger organizational culture can be classified as inclusive. The B2B distributor places a great emphasis on diversity within the workforce and focuses on representation of minorities in the company. Grainger was named Best Company to work for Millenials by The Women’s Choice Award.[1] 2. Value for technology and innovation. The global industrial supply company duly recognizes the importance of technological innovation and attempts to adopt innovation approach to various business processes and problem solving constantly. 3. Focus on teamwork. The industrial supply company employs about 25000 people worldwide[2] and employees are organized into teams of varying sizes. The company attempts to extract maximum benefit from teamwork and promotes the values of collaboration and knowledge sharing across employees at all levels. Global MRO products distributor has the following mission statement that the company attempts to align with its corporate culture[3]: We keep the world working. As the way work gets done around the world continues to evolve, Grainger is here to serve customers like no one else can. According to framework of Harrison’s Model of Culture (1972), Grainger corporate culture can be classified as task culture. It worth to be specified that in organizations with task culture employee skills and competencies to deal with a task at hand play an integral role identification of a source of influence. In other words, the most experienced and competent team members have the highest influence in projects. W.W. Grainger Report contains the above analysis of W.W. Grainger organizational culture. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis, Ansoff Matrix and McKinsey 7S Model on W.W. Grainger. Moreover, the report contains analyses of W.W. Grainger leadership, organizational…]]> https://research-methodology.net/airbnb-organizational-culture-communication/ Thu, 05 Sep 2019 01:17:54 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=39266 Airbnb is a global hospitality service brokerage company that has more than 6 million listings in more than 191 countries and regions worldwide.[1] Started in 2008, the company became profitable in 2017, with a profit of USD93 million on revenue of USD2.6 billion.[2] Apart from the business beings started at the right place on the right time, Airbnb organizational culture plays an instrumental role in the success of the global accommodation and experience marketplace. Airbnb organizational culture integrates the following three key elements:   1. Inclusivity and acceptance. Airbnb has a welcoming culture for employees, hosts and guests regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation and political views. Inclusivity and acceptance is placed at the core of Airbnb corporate culture. Airfinity employee resource groups within the company facilitate employee relationships through common cultures and backgrounds, as well as interests. There are twelve Airfinity employee resource groups such as LGBTQ, African-American, Latinx, Women in Tech, Veterans, and Parents.   2. Paramount role of company’s vision and mission. While almost all big companies like Airbnb have their vision and mission statements, very few companies apply them on daily business with the same intensity as Airbnb does. Airbnb has chosen a mission “to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere, providing healthy travel that is local, authentic, diverse, inclusive and sustainable”.[3] Regardless of their professional competencies, the global rental and experiences platform only employs candidates whose personal values and worldview resonate well with Airbnb vision and mission. Specifically, “every candidate that makes it through to an interview goes through a set of interviews related to their role, and they have two additional interviews related to core values.”[4] Moreover, the global rental and experiences platform illustrates its unquestioned commitment to its ‘belong anywhere’ vision at all levels. For example, Airbnb offices are ‘belong anywhere…]]> https://research-methodology.net/microsoft-organizational-culture-2/ Fri, 01 Feb 2019 00:38:19 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=10528 The origins of Microsoft organizational culture have been laid by founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen as an innovative, but performance-obsessed. From its founding in 1972, the technology company became a market leader in a range of segments partially thanks to its corporate culture associated with efficiency and creativity. However, this changed during Steve Ballmer leadership era covering 2000-2014 with negative implications on company’s market share and stock prices. After assuming the top job in 2014, rebooting Microsoft organizational culture was one of the key tasks for the new CEO Satya Nadella. Currently, the global technology company is actively placing One Microsoft concept at the core of its organizational culture.  Microsoft organizational culture combines the following three key features. 1. Learn-it-all mentality. Nadella is credited with transforming Microsoft’s historical ‘know-it-all’ culture into ‘learn-it-all’ curiosity.[1] Nowadays, Microsoft corporate culture accepts that no employee can know everything about the industry and their specialty. At the same time, organizational culture at Microsoft encourages its employees at all levels to maintain an open mind towards learning new skills and capabilities that will help them to do their jobs better in a systematic manner. 2. Openness. CEO Satya Nadella told in an interview that anyone should be able to tell him anything and that’s the culture they strive for[2]. Moreover, industry analysts also note that “since chief executive Satya Nadella was appointed in February 2014, Microsoft has become a far more open place”[3] 3. Value for innovation. Under the leadership of former CEO Steve Ballmer, the global technology company was often criticized for the lack of innovations in its product portfolio. Satya Nadella has announced his commitment to change this perception by integrating the values of innovation and creativity into Microsoft organizational culture. 4. Diversity and inclusion. The company attempts to promote the culture of…]]> https://research-methodology.net/xiaomi-organizational-culture-innovative-but-intense/ Thu, 24 May 2018 00:31:45 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=22618 According to Harrison’s model of culture, Xiaomi organizational culture can be classified as power culture. Specifically, powers of decision making at the internet technology company  are concentrated in the hands of founder and CEO Lei Jun. Inspirational and effective leadership style of Lei Jun justifies the necessity of power culture for Xiaomi.  Xiaomi organizational culture integrates the following three key elements: 1. “Just for Funs” concept. The tagline “Just for fans” is placed at the core of Xiaomi organizational culture. Founder and CEO Lei Jun explains that “the culture of fandom is about becoming friends with our consumers.”[1] There is a story of a master’s student who spends free time doing MiUI testing and moderating a Xiaomi fan forum that nets 200,000 posts every day as a volunteer.[2] 2. Innovation and creativity. Company’s official website claims that “we are incredibly flat, open, and innovative. No never-ending meetings. No lengthy processes.  We provide a friendly and collaborative environment where creativity is encouraged to flourish.”[3] In other words, Xiaomi aims to promote informal organizational culture at all levels with positive implications on employee creativity. 3. Intense working culture. Xiaomi organizational culture can be characterized as intense. This is due to cost leadership business strategy followed by the company in a way that effective application of this strategy involves deriving the maximum benefit from resources, including human resources. Departure of former Google executive Hugo Barra from the key post of Xiaomi international vice president has been said to be linked to negative elements of Xiaomi organizational culture. Specifically, Barra said he was leaving because difficulties of living in “such a singular environment” had “taken a huge toll” on his life.[4] Xiaomi Inc. Report contains a full analysis of Xiaomi organizational culture. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business…]]> https://research-methodology.net/samsung-organizational-culture-seniority-oriented-culture-needs-change/ Mon, 27 Nov 2017 00:58:40 +0000 https://research-methodology.net/?p=11815 Samsung organizational culture has been traditionally seniority-oriented reflecting the national culture of its home country South Korea. Positive aspects of such a culture may include higher levels of employee loyalty and faster speed of decision making. On the negative side, however, seniority-oriented organizational culture does not encourage junior employees to communicate their ideas and propose initiative to their superiors. Such ideas and initiatives may prove to be insightful and play an instrumental role in new product development or adding innovative features and capabilities to existing products. Taking into account critical role of innovations and creativity in electronics industry, it can be argued that negative aspects of seniority-oriented corporate culture outweigh its positive aspects for Samsung. The company is aware of this and in 2016, the senior management announced plans to reform Samsung organizational culture. These reforms included simplification of job rankings from the previous seven stages to four stages and employees calling each other by their name with the suffix “-nim,” which shows respect in Korean, instead of calling them by their job titles, such as manager or director.[1] Moreover, culture-related changes vowed by the company included holding more online internal discussions and reducing extraneous meetings, reducing overtime and encouraging employees to spend their weekends with family or pursuing professional education opportunities.[2] However, the implementation of cultural changes announced above a year ago, now seems questionable. This is because Jay Y. Lee, former Samsung executive and de facto head of the Samsung conglomerate who announced these cultural changes was jailed for five years for offering bribes to former president of South Korea and other officials, as well as, for other crimes.[3] Samsung Group Report contains a full analysis of Samsung organizational culture. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s…]]> https://research-methodology.net/10840/ Fri, 16 Jun 2017 01:07:37 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=10840 Founders of the company Sergey Brin and Larry Page wrote in the original founders’ letter that “Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one.”[1] Such an unconventional spirit is present in various aspects of Google organizational culture. Google organizational culture integrates the following three key elements: Encouragement of creativity. Google organizational culture embraces collaboration and creativity, and encourages the iteration of ideas to address complex technical challenges. Encouragement of creativity from employees at all levels is evident in many aspects of the business. Openness and freedom. Internal transparency is an important element of Google organizational culture. It has been noted that “on every software engineers’ first day, he or she gets access to almost all of Google’s code; every employee can view the personal goals and objectives of every other employee.”[2] Googleplex, Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, as well as, other Google offices around the world are open spaces and they look more like an adult playground, not a place for work.[3] Supporting employees at multiple levels. While work pressure for Google employees may be high, the internet giant offers an extensive range of tangible and intangible benefits to increase employee job satisfaction. These benefits include free breakfast, lunch, and dinner, free health and dental, free haircuts, free dry cleaning, subsidized massages, gyms and swimming pools, video games, foosball and ping pong. The company even employs a chief happiness officer whose sole job is to keep employees happy and maintain productivity.[4] Alphabet Inc. (Google) Report contains a full analysis of Google organizational culture. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis and McKinsey 7S Model on Alphabet Inc.. Moreover, the report contains analyses of Google leadership, organizational structure…]]>