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MINISTRY of EDUCATION and SCIENCE of UKRAINE

KHARKIV NATIONAL UNIVERSITY of ECONOMICS

Department of foreign languages

CORPORATE CULTURE IN ORGANIZATIONS

Stanislav Mokryi,

“Economics and Law”

Faculty (4-1)

Supervisor:

Alyoshina O.М.

Kharkiv - 2011

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

ХАРКІВСЬКИЙ НАЦІОНАЛЬНИЙ ЕКОНОМІЧНИЙ УНІВЕРСИТЕТ

Кафедра іноземних мов

КОРПОРАТИВНА КУЛЬТУРА В ОРГАНІЗАЦІЯХ

Виконавець:

Мокрий Станiслав Сергiйович

факультет

«Економiки і права» (4-1)

Керівник:

Альошина О.М.

Харків - 2011

CONTENTS:

Introduction…………………………………………………..………………...……..3

Part 1. The definition of corporate culture, her importance and graphical representation.……………………………...……………............................................4

1.1. The definition of corporate culture………………………………………..……..4

1.2. Importance of corporate culture…………………………………………….……6

1.3. Graphical vision on corporate culture…………………………………..……..…7

Part 2. Describing corporate culture from its components and advanced companies, which practice corporate culture…………………………………………………….11

2.1. Providing strong corporate cultures and cultural categories……………………11

2.2. Examples of companies benefiting from the positive effects of corporate culture……………………………………………………………………….……….13

Conclusion ……………………………………………..……………………........…15

Анотація ……………………………………………………….…………..…….…16

References………….…………………………………...…….…………..……...….17

Introduction

The aim of this research paper is to get acquainted with the substance of corporate culture, to examine forms and categories of one on the basis of economists` theories. Corporate culture includes many components which are completely associated. Nowadays if chief officers want to get stable profits they must provide corporate culture and follow the rules of each link`s activity in this enterprise`s system.

The objectives of this paper are:

1. To form the meaning of corporate culture

2. To give explanation of usefulness and necessity approving this type of culture in modern enterprises

3. To divide corporate culture into different categories for better perception

4. To represent Corporate culture in graphical representation

5. To skim examples of successful organizations where corporate culture is used The main method of choosing information for this paper is the descriptive one.

The novelty and topicality of this paper are to study what factors of corporate culture small organizations must add to their armoury for company`s better viability.

The practical application of the paper is to use the results of the work in future studies.

The work consists of the introduction, the first part called “The definition of corporate culture, its importance and graphical representation”, the second part called “Describing corporate culture from its components and advanced companies, which practice corporate culture”, conclusion and references.

Part 1. The definition of corporate culture, its importance and graphical representation

1.1. The definition of corporate culture

To answer the question what the corporate culture is let’s begin with a little story. When Larry was in college, he shared a dorm room with a student who raised tropical fish. Half­way through the spring semester, the roommate dropped out of school to join the army, and since he couldn’t take the fish to basic training, he left them to Larry as a ‘gift’. Larry, a lifelong dog per­son, had no experience caring for fish, but he did his best to follow the feeding instructions his roommate had left behind. For a while, the fish did fine, but after several months of Larry’s fish-ignorant, college-distracted care, the tank became so clouded with algae and used fish food you could hardly see the little guys swimming around. So, with the best of intentions, Larry set out to clean the aquar­ium. After transferring the fish to a small container, he dumped the dirty water from the aquarium, scrubbed the glass inside and out with Windex, and then rinsed and refilled the aquarium. Finally, he put the fish back into their sparkling clean home and watched proudly as they swam back and forth across the tank. This happy display didn’t last long, however; within an hour, all the fish were dead. A friend who knew something about tropical fish guessed that the fish had died from either the shock of the change in water tem­perature, the residue of Windex that may have been on the glass, or both. In other words, it was the environment that killed the fish.

In organisations, we call the social and political environment in which people work the corporate culture. Like the water in the fish tank, corporate culture is the medium in which the business of the company takes place. It’s reflected in everything that occurs in the organisation – from the way people greet each other in the morning to the way they behave in meetings to the way decisions are made – and it affects every aspect of the business. Fail to attend to it and algae-like strands of indifference and inertia will grow, making the atmosphere murky and inhospitable. Introduce a toxic presence, and it will cause the spirit of the company to sicken, and even die. Change it too abruptly, and it will throw everyone into a shock from which the business may never recover.

Before you transform your own organisational culture into one of absolute honesty, it is helpful to have a clear and complete picture of the culture currently in place. You can form that picture by observ­ing and analysing your organisation from three perspectives:

(1) common behaviour patterns,

(2) organisational values and beliefs, and

(3) personal attitudes and assumptions.[1, p.6]

Culture as an organization can best be defined as a body of learned practices that employees share and transmit to new employees. In other words, culture is “the way things get done in the organization”.

Most people have a sense of their organization’s culture. When asked, they can tell stories that characterize the culture for them. If one collects these stories from a number of employees, it is possible to identify patterns that provide an impression of the culture. Often, the stories focus on an individual; this may be the founder or a current leader who has had a substantial influence on the organization. Other stories may focus on an incident that illustrates the culture, such as the way employees banded together face an obstacle, the success of a new product introduction, or the like.

The Inc.500 are the fastest-growing small, privately held companies in the United States, with an average five-year growth in sales of 1328 percent.

The study reveals that these characteristics are present in Inc.500 companies:

• Decision making is pushed close to the customer, with manager in a position to react quickly and effectively to the marketplace. Inc.500 company employees, compared to those in larger companies, are more likely to say that they have the authority they need, are listened to by management, and have a chance to have their ideas adopted.

• Pacesetting for competitive advantage is reinforced by fostering a sense of urgency to accomplish venturesome goals. Employees consider the competitiveness of their Inc.500 companies very high, are proud to be part of their companies, and feel challenged by their work. They are dedicated to their company`s mission, and are prepared to exert the energy required to achieve the company`s objectives.

• Accountabilities for end results are clearly spelled out, well communicated, and understood. Most Inc.500 employees are closely identified with their company’s mission, and most believe they are an integral part of achieving the company’s objectives. Compared to employees in larger companies, Inc.500 employees are less likely to say that poor performance is tolerated. They also say that their skills and talents are used effectively.

As these small, successful companies grow, they must actively focus on these key management practices. The study demonstrates that failure to do so results in declining employee identification and commitment, with subsequent loss of competitive advantage. [2, p.246-247]