Corporate Culture Exercise, sociology homework help

Corporate Culture Exercise (2 1/2-4 pages)
This exercise is to determine the personality of a corporation, what the leaders want to
achive (driving force) and the way they structure their business (strategy) which affects
the way workers live day-to-day and long term.
To complete this fill in the following rubric (use both the write-up and the pictures):
1. What is the name, location, type of business, and business structure (privately held,
stock held, profit, non-profit).
2. What is the goal (driving force) of the business; what do the owners want as their
return? (remember for-profit businesses’ goal is not to serve customers. That is perhaps
part of their strategy).
3. What elements of appearance and physical setting, including traffic pattern do you see
in the pictures and from the write-up?
3a. What does this tell you about the goals of the business, whom management values,
etc.?
4. What does the company say about itself and what does that tell you about what
management thinks is important?
5. How does the company greet strangers and what does that tell you about what
management thinks is important?
6. How are people compensated and what does that tell you about what management
thinks is important?
7. What do employees say about their workplace (interviews) and what does that tell you
about what management thinks is important?.
8. How do employees and managers people spend their time, how do they dress and what
does that tell you about what management thinks is important?.
9. Do you see any glass ceilings to promotion and success (that is, where you see people
like yourself (at all?; in what jobs?; how often promoted?)?
10. What is their business strategy (model) to succeed?
11. What is their strategy in dealing with employees to make sure they succeed
according to their business model?
educated people in his social circle from around the country. Two of the senior executive
team were the CEO’s classmates at Harvard. The company is a great contributor to the
Dallas Museum of Art and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
The company created a diversity plan in 1995 to recruit people, especially in the middle
manager role. The Vice-President for Human Relations wrote in the company newsletter,
“We think those who put our policies into effect should represent the wide variety of the
peoples in America and the businesses of the countries we serve.”
The salary of the CEO is $8,000,000 per annum, and the senior management team on
average makes $2,000,000. In 1993, the Board created a generous bonus plan for the
leadership of the company, which can add another 20% to those salaries. Even in 2008,
when the company had to pay out very large sums for failing banks and industrial
companies, the leadership team got bonuses. The people who work in the employees
building earn the average salary for their positions, plus a medical insurance and
childcare allowance, and a subsidy to the 401 (c) (3) investment accounts set up for every
employee of about 2% of their gross salary. The Vice-President for Human Relations
tasks one of the middle managers to do a salary survey every year to make sure that the
salaries in the employees building are at that average, not too high or too low.
Most of the employees of the workers building seem satisfied with their jobs. They are
not all happy with the dress code promulgated by the senior management team, since
almost no one from outside ever sets foot in the building. One male employee said,
“Why do I need to wear a tie; I talk all day on the phone and it restricts my throat.”
Another employee on the account servers floors was heard to say that, “The company
seems to be very stable, and in modern economies having steady work is really important.
We are mostly, except those fired when the India center was set up, feel pretty confident
we will have jobs next year.” Among the complaints heard in the employees building
were the lack of variety of food in the lunchroom, the tight spaces in the accountant and
account servers’ floors, and having to try to coordinate with the India Center. One
employee said, “We work really hard, and are always under the watchful eye of our
supervisors, and the occasional middle manager who stops down, so we do not see why
they created the India Center. One of my few real friends here was let go.” Observing
workers on any given day, they do seem busy and very focused on the work in front of
them.