The importance of developing a corporate culture

Career Coaching Management
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Culture can shape and influence almost all aspects of an organization, including organizational effectiveness, overall success and the bottom line.

Researchers have found that organizations that have well-conceived cultures supported with good policies that attract workers who fit well with the environment ultimately have more committed and productive employees.

Business partners, customers and the general public also often react to companies that are considered to have positive corporate cultures, which in turn helps organizations succeed over time.

On the other hand, research has found that organizations that lack a defined culture or that have fostered a toxic culture are at higher risk for poor economic results, higher employee turnover and even failure. In fact, experts have found that negative corporate cultures have caused or at least contributed to criminal corporate activity and other serious problems. For example, the late Edward Kennedy, the long-time U.S. senator from Massachusetts, blamed the implosion of the energy company Enron in 2001 on “a crisis of corporate culture.”

Examples of successful corporate cultures
Companies that have been recognized for articulating the kind of culture they want and then building to those objectives include the following.

Google, which attributes its focus on a fun, collaborative environment as having helped it grow into the technology giant it is today.
Ikea, the Swedish furniture and home goods retailer, has a corporate culture based on equality and inclusiveness, which has helped it build a similar reputation among its customers who often say they value the company and its products for those reasons.
SpaceX, considered by some to be reckless, instead embraced its ambitious and bold culture, leading it to a successful 2020 manned rocket mission to the International Space Station.