Corporate
Culture
A2 Business Studies
Aims & Objectives
Aim:

To understand organisational culture.
Objectives:




Define corporate culture.
Describe the main types of corporate culture.
Analyse the factors which are important for building
a positive corporate culture.
Evaluate the corporate culture of Morrissons.
What is Culture?
What we do in life and how we behave in
society is largely defined by our culture.
Corporate Culture Definition
,
and
….
…Of the people working in an
organisation that control the
way they interact with each
other and with external
stakeholders.
Different Corporate Cultures
 Different
 The
organisations have different cultures.
culture of a business gives it an identity.
 Values,
attitudes and beliefs have an important
influence on the way staff in a business will act.
Types of Organisational Culture
Power
Entrepren
eurial
Role
Culture
Person
Task
How to Build a Positive Culture
Culture
FINISH
Culture Carriers
 These
are key people, usually managers,
who represent and spread the core
values of the corporate culture.
Culture
Heroes
 Individuals
who typify to an extreme the
values of the group.
Stability of the Group
 It
is more difficult for a culture to emerge if
people are changing all the time.
 Stability of workforce is therefore
important.
Stories
A
group packages up its culture into
stories which are frequently told and
re-told, and which typify the values of the
group eg ‘the time we all stayed late on
Christmas Eve to get the last orders
finished and then has an
impromptu party at the
local.’
Symbols
 These
may be staff mottoes, the
corporate mission statement or anything
that symbolises the core values.
 Can
we judge a businesses’
culture from its mission
statement?
Courses
 Attending
in-house courses is an
important way of team-building and
communicating the core values.
Rites & Rituals

Rites. These are specific occasions, such as
the award ceremonies, when the core values
are publicly displayed. These are especially
important for en-culturing new staff.

Rituals. This means a
standard pattern of
behaviour at a specific
occasion, such as the office
party if things are always
done in a particular pattern.
Cultural Networks
 This
means the informal contacts between
employees where they reinforce core
values, especially by passing them from
older to younger group members.
Importance of Culture
 In
groups, order in terms of importance,
the different ingredients for building a
positive corporate culture.
 Justify
why you have placed each
ingredient where you have.
 E.g.
1. ‘Cultural Networks: this is most
important factor as it promotes the
culture of the business to new employees’
Exam Culture Questions
 2,
4, 8 marks questions.
 What
is meant by the term corporate
culture? (2 Marks)
Case Study
 Underline/Highlight
aspects of the case
study which may relate to the culture of
Morrisons.
Case Study Issue
Morrisons’ success will be
affected by its corporate culture
and the ambitions of Dalton
Philips, the new Chief Executive
WM Morrisons Culture

Morrisons has its origins as a budget, pie selling
traditional Northern retailer10 years ago, TV
advertisements sold pies, cut price packets of
crisps and showed smiling butchers

Having acquired Safeway, it has been
through a cultural integration programme
and opened up access to the market in the
South of England
WM Morrisons Culture
 For
over 100 years, Morrisons has
operated under the characteristics of a
Power culture under the leadership of the
Morrison family.
 Sir
Ken Morrison has stepped down after
50 years and for the first time ever there is
no member of the Morrison family in an
executive or board role.
WM Morrisons Culture
 As
it moves from a national to a
nationwide organisation, Morrisons is
adopting an increasingly professional,
process driven, business-like approach
 This
approach was needed because of
the difficulties experienced during the
Safeway integration and the need to be
responsive to customer trends in a
competitive environment
WM Morrisons Culture
 The
new approach was started by Marc
Bolland (who has moved on to become
Chief Executive at M&S) and is being
continued by Dalton Philips, a former
Walmart executive who was recruited
from the Canadian food distributor
Loblaw
 Morrisons
culture is therefore becoming
more of a Role/Task culture, replacing the
Power culture of the past
Question
 Briefly
explain the factors needed when a
positive role/task culture is adopted, in
helping Morrisons to succeed in the
supermarket industry. (4 marks)
Plenary:
Ingredients for Positive Culture
Culture