Title: Creating and Maintaining Organizational Culture
Headings: 15.4
Creating and Maintaining Organizational Culture

15.4 Creating and Maintaining Organizational Culture
Learning Objectives
How Are Cultures Created?
Founder’s Values
Industry Demands
How Are Cultures Maintained?
Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA)
New Employee Onboarding
What Can Employees Do During Onboarding?
OB Toolbox: You’ve Got a New Job! Now How Do You Get on Board?
What Can Organizations Do During Onboarding?
What Can Organizational Insiders Do During Onboarding?
Leadership
Reward Systems
OB Toolbox: Best Practices
Visual Elements of Organizational Culture
Mission Statement
Rituals
Rules and Policies
Physical Layout
Stories
OB Toolbox: As a Job Candidate, How Would You Find Out If You Are a Good Fit?
Key Takeaway
Exercises

Content: Founder values become part of the corporate culture to the degree they help the company be successful. For example, the social activism of Ben & Jerry’s was instilled in the company because founders strongly believed in these issues. However, these values probably would not be surviving 3 decades later if they had not helped the company in its initial stages. In the case of Ben & Jerry’s, these charitable values helped distinguish their brand from larger corporate brands and attracted a loyal customer base. Thus, by providing a competitive advantage, these values were retained as part of the corporate culture and were taught to new members as the right way to do business. Similarly, the early success of Microsoft may be attributed to its relatively aggressive corporate culture, which provided a source of competitive advantage. Industry Demands
While founders undoubtedly exert a powerful influence over corporate cultures, the industry characteristics also play a role. Industry characteristics and demands act as a force to create similarities among organizational cultures. For example, despite some differences, many companies in the insurance and banking industries are stable and rule oriented, many companies in the high-tech industry have innovative cultures, and companies in the nonprofit industry tend to be people oriented. If the industry is one with a large number of regulatory requirements—for example, banking, health care, and nuclear power plant industries—then we might expect the presence of a large number of rules and regulations, a bureaucratic company structure, and a stable culture.