What Is Corporate Culture

Every organization runs on certain well defined values, beliefs, practices and morals that are followed religiously by the employees. All such elements together constitute the corporate culture for the organization which explicitly or implicitly is maintained by the employees.

The corporate culture is slowly and steadily evolved over a period of time with in an organization and strongly reflects the ideologies and business practices of the company. Initially the company people are responsible for building the culture which with time becomes such enormous that the company in itself is identified primarily by such values. It then becomes an unwritten code that is very proudly & sincerely carried on by the people of the company.

Corporate culture is a very vast term that is spread over each an every aspect of the business function of the company. The established values and beliefs are imbibed by almost all the departments like HR, Production, Sales – Marketing & purchase etc. Together in symphony they form the corporate culture and convert it into the very soul of the organization. The corporate culture is prominent and shown in every daily routine business activity, every major and minor decision, every labor and managerial performance. It flows through the entire business consistently and effectively.

Whether the Corporate culture of a company is consciously designed or is build unconsciously is a point of debate. At the very origination of the company such genes are incorporated by the founder members, who inculcate specific values systems, moral code of Business conducts and Practices into the staff and the employees. Initially building ‘the corporate culture’ seems to be a conscious effort but as the company grows such elements are by default embodied by the new employees and people. Even before they join the company, they prepare themselves for the cultural shift and gradually become part and parcel of the corporate culture.

Generally when people talk about the companies they personify various companies as according to their corporate culture. X Company is a go-getter agile and fast growing one which believes in faster results while Y Company is known for its slow and steady demeanor towards achieving innovative results. Likewise, based on the company’s corporate value systems a company could be branded as Ethical or Non-ethical, Progressive or Non-progressive, Potential or Non-potential.

Such analogies help people identify various companies and take their collective decisions regarding investment, employment and appraisal. Corporate culture therefore plays an important role in establishing the credentials of the company. Whenever a company goes in for raising funds in the capital market such credentials do play a vital role in the investors minds on prospecting.

These corporate attributes create a distinction for the practicing company’s like-

Private Companies – Result oriented, Fast, Agile witty and Uncompromising; the

Private companies practice a corporate culture wherein they prefer being Result oriented Fast and Agile. Decisions are taken prudently and timely without compromising on deadlines and quality. Employees share a sense of accountability & urgency towards meeting deadlines.

Government or Public sector companies – Decisions are taken over a longer period of time as various departments & heads are involved in the decision making process. Deadlines are important but not as strict as of Private organizations.

In well managed companies the corporate culture is intentionally designed and accepted by default. The objective remains to carry out business in a moral and value based system. While in Un-organized & badly managed companies the corporate culture gets a bad name for the reasons of un-professionalism, corruption and unethical standards. The business activities go haywire and such organizations don’t raise confidence in stakeholders and general public.

The objective of building a corporate culture is to carry out business in a moral and value based system. Corporate culture establishes guidelines according to which an employee has to work & perform. A big onus lies on the leaders to preach and successfully help the colleagues to adapt towards the corporate culture. Efforts are to be done towards recruiting people who share the same vision and approach towards handling things. Collectively the corporate culture decides the profitability and genuineness of the business.

The corporate culture of a company helps to decide—

· What moral and ethical values are to be followed in the Business process?

· What would be the behavioral pattern between the hierarchies or people?

· In what manner the accountabilities or responsibilities would be addressed?

· How much would be the transparency between the various functions?

· How much priority would be given to ethics, honesty, fair trade practices and professionalism?

· How would the monetary benefits be passed on to the employees?

· What social responsibilities would be taken care of, by the company?

· To what extent the laws and legal systems are considered?

· What is the scope of innovation, freedom of communication and thoughts?

· What benefits are being passed on to the stakeholders and shareholders?

The corporate culture is therefore a binding force that takes the organization towards the path of success and profitability keeping ethics and morals in mind.

What Is Corporate Culture

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