The character of a company´s culture or work climate is gaining in importance. Culture is a product of the core values and business principles that executives espouse, the standards of what is ethically acceptable and what is not, the work practices and behaviours that define “how we do things around here”, its approach to people management and style of operating, the “chemistry” and the “personality” that permeates its work environment, and the stories that get told over and over to illustrate and reinforce the company´s values, business principles, and traditions.
A company´s culture is important because it influences the organization´s actions and approaches to conduct the business – in a very real sense, the culture is the company´s “operating system” or organizational DNA. All in all, culture as a concept is difficult to define and differs from company to company. The crafting of a strategy represents a managerial commitment to pursue a particular set of actions in growing the business, attracting and pleasing customers, competing successfully, conducting operations, and improving the company´s financial and market performance.
Even companies with same strategic and business concepts and comparable success differ in their approaches regarding the corporate culture. What becomes clear is that there is a correlation between culture and strategy. Hence the consistency between strategy and culture is a long-term competitive advantage and a key to corporate success. To counteract preventive a possible misfit between the corporate culture and the strategy, consideration of corporate culture as part of the concept to strategy implementation is essential.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Objective
1.2 Methodology
2 Corporate Strategy
2.1 Definition of Strategy
2.2 Strategic Process
3 Corporate Culture
3.1 Definition of Corporate Culture
3.2 Levels of Corporate Culture
3.2.1 Basic assumptions
3.2.2 Values
3.2.3 Norms
4 Correlation between Culture and Strategy
4.1 Strategy Implementation
4.1.1 Strategy around Culture
4.1.2 Strategy by Culture Adaption
4.2 Company Examples
4.2.1 Company 1 – Google Inc.
4.2.2 Company 2 – Apple Inc.
4.2.3 Distinctions between Google Inc. and Apple Inc.
4.2.4 Company 3 – Daimler
4.2.5 Company 4 – Siemens
4.2.6 Distinctions between Daimler and Siemens
5 Conclusion
Objective and Research Focus
This academic assignment examines the critical correlation between corporate culture and business strategy. It aims to clarify the definitions of both concepts and investigate how organizational culture acts as a decisive factor in the successful implementation of corporate strategy, specifically by analyzing case studies of major international corporations.
- The strategic process and its dependency on internal culture.
- Methods for aligning corporate culture with long-term strategic goals.
- Case analysis of Google and Apple regarding cultural differences in innovation.
- Comparative study of Daimler and Siemens regarding culture-based strategy implementation.
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4.2.3 Distinctions between Google Inc. and Apple Inc.
Apple's culture is the opposite of Google's, where fliers announcing extracurricular activities - from ski outings to a high profile author series. At Apple, the iTunes team sponsors the occasional band, and there is a company gym, but Apple people come to work to work. "At meetings, there is no discussion about the lake house where you just spent the weekend," recalled a senior engineer."
Google boss Larry Page speaks of that the employees of his company should feel like a "family". (Google, www.google.com, 2013d) Although the 20 per cent time is a well-known part of Google´s philosophy, enabling engineers to spend one day a week working on projects that aren't necessarily in their job descriptions. They can use the time to develop something new, or use the time to fix it. According to this, employees at Apple get put together in a kind of “maximum security prison”, working as hard as they can on a little item of a product which they will never see before it gets released on the market.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: Provides an overview of the significance of strategic management and the growing importance of corporate culture in organizational success.
2 Corporate Strategy: Defines the core concepts of strategy and outlines the five-phase strategic management process.
3 Corporate Culture: Examines the theoretical foundations of corporate culture, including Edgar Schein’s model and the 7S-framework.
4 Correlation between Culture and Strategy: Analyzes the interplay between strategic direction and organizational values through specific company examples.
5 Conclusion: Synthesizes the findings, emphasizing that aligning culture with strategy is essential for long-term competitive advantage.
Keywords
Corporate Culture, Strategic Management, Strategy Implementation, Organizational Values, Competitive Advantage, Innovation Management, Google Inc., Apple Inc., Daimler, Siemens, Cultural Adaptation, Business Strategy, Corporate DNA, Leadership, Sustainability.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this assignment?
The paper focuses on the essential correlation between corporate culture and business strategy, exploring how these two elements interact within an organization.
What are the primary thematic areas?
The study covers strategic management processes, the definition and levels of corporate culture, and the practical implementation of strategies in large, multinational enterprises.
What is the main objective of the study?
The primary goal is to explain how culture can either facilitate or impede strategy implementation and why a consistent culture is a prerequisite for long-term corporate success.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The paper utilizes a qualitative research approach, incorporating a literature review of strategic management theories and comparative case study analysis of four major corporations.
What is covered in the main body?
The main body defines strategy and culture, details the phases of strategic development, and presents detailed case studies of Google, Apple, Daimler, and Siemens to illustrate successful and conflicting culture-strategy combinations.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include Corporate Culture, Strategy Implementation, Strategic Management, Organizational Values, and Competitive Advantage.
How does Apple’s approach to culture differ from Google’s?
Apple utilizes a culture of secrecy and intense work focus, whereas Google fosters an open, family-like environment with initiatives like "20 per cent time" for innovation.
What role does sustainability play for Daimler and Siemens?
For both companies, sustainability acts as a core strategic principle that is integrated into their corporate culture, performance assessment, and target agreements for management.
- Quote paper
- Henning Wenzel (Author), Sebastian Voigt (Author), 2013, Correlation between Corporate Culture and Corporate Strategy, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/315514
