Edexcel A2 Business 3.4.2 Corporate Culture Quiz PDF

Edexcel A2 Business 3.4.2 Corporate culture Revisionstation  Theme 3 Retrieval Challenge Matrix 1 point 2 points 3 points What is ‘short-termism’? Compare evidence based vs Explain the limitations of QSF s...

Edexcel A2 Business 3.4.2 Corporate culture Revisionstation  Theme 3 Retrieval Challenge Matrix 1 point 2 points 3 points What is ‘short-termism’? Compare evidence based vs Explain the limitations of QSF subjective decision making techniques What is ‘organic growth’? Compare economies and Explain why flexibility in diseconomies of scale responding to customer needs is key to small business survival in competitive markets What is ‘long-termism’? Describe how corporate Explain why increased market objectives are developed from power over customers and mission statements suppliers is an objective of growth You will need worksheet 3.4.2 for this lesson From Edexcel a) Strong and weak cultures b) Classification of company cultures: ▪ power ▪ role ▪ task ▪ person c) How corporate culture is formed d) Difficulties in changing an established culture What is Culture? Starter Can you describe any of the norms of school or college life that are unique to the organisation? E.g. everyone eats lunch sitting in the corridors, or you have to sign out a lunchtime at student reception Definition: Corporate Culture Charles Handy in his book “Understanding Organisations”, which he wrote in 1981, said corporate culture was: “The way we do things round here” A company culture is the norms and values of a business Strong and weak cultures Features of a strong culture Strong cultures have good communication with their employees They have a focus on core values The recruitment and training tries to find individuals who best fit the culture of the business The culture is usually based around the history, tradition and founders of the business Howard Shultz founder of Starbucks Strong culture - IKEA IKEA culture reflects Swedish roots coming from Småland in southern Sweden. In Sweden, from picturesque fishing villages to endless forests, nature plays an important role in everyday life. People living here are hard-working, down-to-earth, help each other and live in a close contact with nature around. These aspects are translated into IKEA values which form the basics of IKEA culture. Watch the video, can you explain why IKEA has a strong company culture? Strong culture - Google Watch the video, why is Google an example of strong organisational culture? Features of a weak culture A weak culture often leads to business failure It will exhibit a demotivated workforce There will be inconsistent customer service It may be poorly managed It will be very bureaucratic and lack flexibility to respond to dynamic markets Watch the video, why is Amazon an example of weak organisational culture? Classification of company cultures Handy’s company culture introduction Charles Handy identified 4 main company cultures. They each have different characteristics and are all identified by different drawings You will not have to draw the culture diagrams in an exam, it will just help you to learn the types and apply them to a given business. They are: 1. Power culture 2. Role culture 3. Task culture 4. Person culture Power culture Handy’s power culture is represented by a spider on a web, this symbolises a very strong owner or manager at the heart of the business This person at the centre of the business will be the main decision maker There may be problems if the business grows and the central figure struggles to delegate Founders of businesses in the health and fitness market Why are these examples of power culture? Role culture Handy’s role culture is represented by the drawing of a bank or Greek temple, this symbolises the bureaucracy, red tape and paperwork systems in this very rigid organisation This is a very formal culture that has clear rules and procedures Individuals are aware of their position in the hierarchy HANDY’S Role culture The power to make decisions in a role culture comes from the job title, for example marketing director This is a very bureaucratic culture and may involve lots of paperwork Problems may occur when the business grows as departments may fail to share information with each other Research: Role culture in the civil service The Civil Service provides services directly to people all over the country, including: paying benefits and pensions running employment services running prisons issuing driving licences Find out more about the Civil Service and why it is a good example of role culture Task culture Task culture is represented by a matrix or grid diagram, this symbolises a series of work teams in a large organisation e.g. The design team at Audi might include a finance manager, a marketing manager and a representative from production sitting in on the meetings What kind of organisation structure is this? HANDY’S Task culture In a task culture the focus is a project that needs to be completed The power in a task culture comes from those who can accomplish the tasks and have the expertise, for example a car designer, or an oil rig engineer This involves teamwork on a project, a team of experts working together Examples are scientific research teams and advertising agencies Person culture Person culture is represented by a petri dish, or a circle filled with smaller circles In these kinds of organisations individuals have considerable freedom to act independently This symbolises employees in an organisation that are all autonomous and skilled individuals or technical experts e.g. web designers HANDY’S Person culture In a person culture there are grouping of similar skilled people to share expertise and knowledge These all work on a client by client basis rather than on a project by project basis such as in task culture Examples are; Lawyers, Accountants, Engineers, Doctors, Vets, Architects How corporate culture is formed How corporate culture is formed Artefacts (uniform) Company song Heroes / founders Rituals Can you find more examples of these? How corporate culture is formed Language Mottos Norms Symbols Can you find more examples of these? How corporate culture is formed Some of the key factors include; A. The role of the founders and owners: key decisions still based round their ethos or influence B. The nature of the business and the products it sells C. The degree to which products sold have changed over time D. The business environment when it started (war time / 80s dot com) E. The recruitment and process of key staff F. Working hours G. Attitude to customer service Difficulties in changing an established culture Difficulties in changing established culture Strong cultures are hard to change, because a culture consists of interlocking (each component reinforces the other): 1. Set of goals 2. Roles 3. Processes 4. Values 5. Communications practices 6. Attitudes How hard would it be to change the 7. Assumptions company culture in Tesco? Example Exam Questions Assess the extent to which Dunelm's corporate culture contributes to its success (12) June 21 Evaluate the benefits of a task culture for Zappos.com (20) Oct 22 Explain one likely difficulty for Burberry when changing its established culture and brand identity (4) Jan 20 Plenary Quiz Decide which culture is shown in the images Plenary Quiz Answers Tesla and Elon musk an expel of Power culture Santander bank and example of role culture Sample Edexcel A2 questions Case study for question 1 Sample question 1 Knowledge Application Analysis 1 1 2 Answer sample question 1 Peer / self marking grid for 4 mark essay question Mark Knowledge 1 Giving a correct business keyword definition, understanding of the question Award 1 mark Application 2 Applying the answer to the business in the question. Not just a name drop, has to be about the product, the market, the objectives or the situation given. Somewhat applied with some general comments – only award 1 mark Very well applied and all about the case study – award 2 marks Analysis 1 Chain of reason, ‘this means’ or ‘which means’ or ‘because’ or ‘therefore’ which is logical and fully developed. Award 1 mark Examples of peer review comments: What went well: You gave a correct business definition and applied your comments to the case study Even better if: You had more analysis or a complete chain of reason Case study for question 2 Sample question 2 Knowledge Application Analysis Evaluation 2 2 3 3 Answer sample question 2  Peer / self marking grid for 10 mark question Mark 1-2 marks Limited knowledge and some recall of business theory, answer may not be in context What went well: You used business terms correctly Even better if: You had discussed the business context given in the case study 3-4 marks Comments are in context, and chains of reason are present but very basic. Unbalanced argument, only discusses one side. What went well: You were able to give chains of reason in context in your answer Even better if: You had given both sides of the argument 5-6 marks Chains of reason are complete and argument shows both sides. Answer is in context, an attempt at a assessment using numerical data given in the case study. What went well: Your analysis was shown in your chains of reason Even better if: You had reached a supported judgement 7-10 marks Accurate understanding and knowledge. Logical chains of reason, balanced argument, in context leading to a supported judgement What went well: You had logical chains of reason showing cause and effect which led to a supported judgement Even better if: You had used more numerical data from the case study to support your arguments Key terms Company culture; The way we do things round here Role culture; Power comes from a defined role such as a Head of Department or Deputy Head Power culture; Power is at the centre of the organisation with the founder Task culture; Groups work in teams on projects Person culture; Individuals who are very skilled work as part of an organisation but on their own projects