Respond to (2) two Colleagues W1D1 Wald

Discussion: Describing Organizational Culture

What does organizational culture mean to you? Has it been an important factor when deciding where you want to work? Has the culture of an organization ever caused you to want to leave an organization? Or is it a term that has little meaning for you or that you have not seen evidence of in the real world?

In this Discussion, you will first describe and analyze the culture of an organization you know well, using the concepts and frameworks provided in this week’s Learning Resources.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Review this week’s Learning Resources, especially:

· Organizational Culture - https://youtu.be/dAbR4bqK8mQ

· Organizational Culture “What is Culture?" https://youtu.be/wd1bsxWeM6Q

· How to define Culture – see pdf

· Structure of Culture – see pdf

· Identify an organization with which you are very familiar—perhaps one where you currently work (or have previously worked). As you consider this organization, think about how you would describe the culture of this organization, being sure to identify specific examples to support your description and reflecting on how this culture did or did not help the organization achieve and sustain success. 

Assignment:

Respond  to (2) two or more of your colleagues’ posts in one or more of the following ways:

· Ask a question or make an observation about the culture described by your colleague and/or the impact of that culture on the organization.

· Suggest an additional way your colleague’s identified organizational culture might benefit or limit their selected organization’s success.

· Relate one or more examples of your own selected organization’s culture to that of your colleague’s.

· 3 – 4 paragraphs

· No plagiarism

· APA citing

1st Colleague - Natasha Mills 

Natasha Mills

Describing Organizational Culture

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Walmart is one of the leading American multinational retailers, retailing its products and services from numerous stores operated from the United States. Since its inception, Walmart has gained recognition and risen to compete with other market leaders like Amazon, eBay, and other retail e-commerce leaders. Practically, Walmart’s market position and sales are attributed to the rich organizational culture and organizational structure that inform sustainable behavior and productivity.

According to Lochner (2020), organizational culture is the backbone of organizational sustainability through values and belief systems. The author advances three levels of organizational culture, what we see, what we say, and what we believe. These, according to the author, encompass the critical elements of organizational culture, promoting the achievement of organizational results, the development of good people, and fostering productivity. At Walmart, the described levels of organizational culture are evidenced as follows.

The first level of organizational culture (what we see) is the most critical and evident part of Walmart’s organizational culture. These refer to the set of behaviors, systems, and processes adopted to influence behavior. Walmart’s organizational culture includes efficient policies and processes that enhance its operability. For instance, its culture prioritizes service to customers. This system and policies involve constant contact with the customer to capture their needs and deliver efficient services. Typically, its success is centered on good customer relations and quick action to deliver and address challenges and complaints. Besides, Walmart has its culture embodied in its business strategy. This has helped the organization to succeed and survive, as its expansion and commitment to building a business strategy aligned to the culture has resulted in success.

Secondly, Lochner (2020) maintains “what we say” about a firm as a technically important element of its culture. Walmart addresses this concept in various ways. Primarily, the organization maintains consistent global communication of its culture, such as values, goals, and ideals to its stakeholders and shareholders. Effective communication at Walmart has helped stakeholders and shareholders to conceive and communicate consistently with the organization’s culture. Walmart has helped reinforce its culture throughout its branches and store, hence a congruent language, such as values and goals about the firm.

Additionally, Walmart depicts this level of organizational culture through a constant engagement of frontline leaders to support the culture. For instance, leaders and managers are held accountable to rollout and support the understandability of organizational goals and support its implementation. As frontline managers, Walmart leaders enhance the trickle-down form of leadership, informing its employees and stakeholders of the correct values, goals, and aspirations of the firm. For instance, Walmart associates are expected to keep and practice the organization’s culture. This involves every employee and other stakeholders, helping the firm achieve an inclusive and effective organizational culture.  

Lochner (2020) also posits “what we believe’ as a critically important facet of organizational culture. Walmart performs its day-to-day operations with an emphasis on culture. The firm believes that culture is an everyday affair, which should be inculcated into its operations. Thus, they believe integrating the culture in the organization as a whole will inform success and sustainability. Besides, the organization depicts this level of organizational culture through the slogan “strive for excellence.” Here, the organization believes that striving for excellence promotes values of honesty, fairness, and equity in service provision.

Schronic & Wilberding (2020) postulate the interplay between internal and external cultures as a critically important component of success and sustainability. Organizations need to align their processes and policies to enhance congruency in the long run. Walmart’s internal and external cultures depict a perfect interplay. For instance, the set organizational goals and values are not only depicted in the internal processes of the firm but also on the external. For instance, the organization’s good employee relations, effective communication, and other internal processes have a substantially great impact on service delivery. Also, Walmart’s internal culture aligns with the external through its organizational structure. The organizational structure, a facet of the organizational culture, has enhanced effectiveness and success.

The authors maintain that organizational culture can affect an organization positively or negatively. Walmart’s organizational culture and organizational structure are critical in shaping the organization. For instance, Walmart’s vision is to make every day busy for families. Its values are customer service, respect for individuals, integrity, and excellence in service. A typical analysis of Walmart’s business model and strategy depicts the key role that its values and vision have played in shaping the firm. 

Schorin, G. & Wilberding, M. (2020). The X Factor of Great Corporate Cultures. Harvard Business Review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAbR4bqK8mQ

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2nd Colleague – Nicole Strauss  

N. Strauss - Week 1 Discussion Post

I have selected to discuss the organization for this week’s assignment as a hospice that I worked with in Florida.  After practicing as a nurse in intensive care units for ten years, this organization was my first hospice job in the industry.  This organization was a sizeable non-for-profit hospice that focused on providing the highest quality of end-of-life care for patients and their families.  At the time, their marketing slogan was “we’re there,” meaning when patients and their families needed the hospice services the most, the organization would support and guide their end-of-life journey.  Their vision to provide the highest quality end-of-life care woven throughout the company’s structure, from hiring and training staff to the patient care they provided and ingrained in their core values.

The three levels of culture defined by Lochner, what we see, say, and believe, were apparent throughout the hospice organization.  The behaviors, systems, and policies focused on a prompt response to patient and family need emulating the “we’re there” philosophy.  For instance, one of the goals for the referral center was to respond to all referrals the same day and emergency room referrals within one hour.  The what we say aspect of the culture was fulfilled in this example also as the response times were goals and aspirations for all of the teams from referrals, patient care, and after-hours teams.  The common theme and goal is timely quality patient care whenever the patient and family needed.

This organization’s internal and external cultures were utterly in line.  The internal culture was one of the mindset that they were not only for the patients/families but also for each other.  Everyone was kind and friendly and open to finding the most effective and efficient way to help patients/families receive quality end-of-life care.  The external culture of the organization was excellent and reflected by their long-standing business relationships with all the hospitals, nursing facilities, DME, and pharmacy vendors in the community.

The leadership of this organization always led with the firm belief that if you take care of your employees, they will take care of the organization by living its mission, vision, and values in their daily work.  This leadership team valued the employees remarkably, often surveying their ideas about the work and engaging their creativity for innovation.  This organization’s leadership team leads by example in being there for their employees and the patients and their families.  Staff felt supported and heard in their roles, and their work was valued and appreciated.  As Lochner (2020) stated, “the best way to sustain organizational success is for the leaders to model the culture.” This executive leadership team was an excellent role model for the staff and community.  This hospice’s reputation preceded itself in the county as a number one hospice provider in the area and the best place to work.  According to Schorin & Wilberding (2020), culture is celebrated, giving a source of meaning to employees that they can identify with and represent with pride; reputation, identity, and belonging are essential.  The word hospice was synonymous with this organization in the community, which facilitated their tremendous success in providing the highest quality end-of-life care. This hospice organization was created in 1984 and remains successful today, serving over 10,000 patients each year.

References:

Lochner, R. (2020, March 5). Organizational culture [Video]. YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAbR4bqK8mQ

Schorin, G., & Wilberding, M. (2020, January 21). The x factor of great corporate cultures. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2–5. http://hbr.org