MGMT496

Understanding Company Culture and Motivation as an Executive of a Publicly Traded Company

Jamil D. Wilson

Professor Nelson

MGMT 311

February 16, 2025

Understanding Company Culture and Motivation as an Executive of a Publicly Traded Company

In the contemporary business environment, culture and motivation of the employees are among the critical factors that determine the success of public companies. These corporations’ executives bear the responsibility of long-term management, profit, and shareholders’ value. Although financial results and management business plans are vital for the company’s success, culture and employee engagement can boost the performance and creativity in the organization. A clear organizational culture is known to define the workplace context, guide decision making and improve employee satisfaction while motivation is the key to maintaining the employees’ commitment to work.

The Impact of Company Culture on Corporate Success

Company culture refers to the concepts that are inherent in a firm, which include the values, beliefs and behaviour patterns (Ghaleb, 2024). A strong organizational culture ensures that every worker is a valued member who is working towards the achievement of certain organizational goals, which, in turn, affects their performance levels (Ghaleb, 2024). In the case of publicly held firms, culture is not only an organizational resource but also a business asset in managing corporate image and investor relations. Culture leads to better employee acquisition and thus minimizes the employee turnover which is always costly to any organization by improving efficiency (Ghaleb, 2024). Managers should understand that toxic culture can cause low employee satisfaction, and corporate dishonesty, and potentially damaging publicity, all of which are detrimental to shareholder returns. Enron and Wells Fargo are examples of how lack of cultural monitoring can result to corporate catastrophes and frauds. On the other hand, organizations like Google and Microsoft have developed sound and creative organizational culture that gives them competitive advantage in the markets and also increases shareholders’ trust. When it comes to strengthening the culture that aligns with the corporate values, it is essential to guarantee that all the workers at all organizational levels are committed to achieving strategic objectives in the interest of the firm.

Employee Motivation and Organizational Performance

Motivation is one of the most important determinants of employees’ performance as well as of organizational outcomes (Dobre, 2013). A motivated staff is more productive, creative and ready to do anything to ensure that the company achieves its objectives (Dobre, 2013). In public limited companies where performance is being benchmarked by investors and analysts, it is important to keep the employees motivated in order to sustain competitive advantage. To increase engagement, executives should have general knowledge of the motivational theories like Maslow’s need hierarchy theory, Herzberg’s two-factor theory, and Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory. The key motivational tools include the use of monetary rewards, career growth, appreciation, and a good organizational culture (Dobre, 2013). Salesforce and Adobe are some of the best examples of those businesses that pay attention to the employee well-being and motivation and outperform the competitors both in terms of revenue and employee satisfaction.

The Link between Culture, Motivation, and Shareholder Value

Shareholder value is a primary consideration for any organization that is operating in the public domain. Corporate and employee engagement has been shown to retain and attract customers, enable faster growth, advance technologies, enhance brand images, and increase shareholder returns. According to studies, organizations that have engaged employees in their workforce are most likely to record high levels of profitability, increased customer satisfaction and reduced operating expenses (Akpa et al., 2021). Specifically, investors and analysts pay attention to the organizational culture and employees as the predictors of company performance. Managers need to also appreciate the impact of culture and motivation in the attraction of investors. Socially responsible investment funds and institutional investors will prefer to invest in firms that are well-governed, ethical and those that have a healthy organizational culture (Graham et al., 2022). Failure to address cultural and motivational issues may lead to lack of investors’ confidence in the organizations, resulting in fluctuating stock prices and economic downtimes.

References

Akpa, V. O., Asikhia, O. U., & Nneji, N. E. (2021). Organizational culture and organizational performance: A review of literature.  International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management,  3(1), 361-372.

Dobre, O. I. (2013). Employee motivation and organizational performance.  Review of applied socio-economic research,  5(1).

Ghaleb, B. D. S. (2024). The importance of organizational culture for business success.  Jurnal Riset Multidisiplin Dan Inovasi Teknologi,  2(03), 727-735.

Graham, J. R., Grennan, J., Harvey, C. R., & Rajgopal, S. (2022). Corporate culture: Evidence from the field.  Journal of financial economics,  146(2), 552-593.