A different view of corporate culture was developed

A different view of corporate culture was developed by Edgar Schein. Artifacts, espoused
beliefs and values, and basic assumptions are three layers of corporate culture (Schein &
Scheiner, 2016). Long-standing organizations, built by Baby Boomers and earlier generational

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cohorts, should recognize that traditional hierarchical frameworks are obsolete and instant
communication and transparency are the new normal (Goldman, 2016).
A five year study, conducted by Professor Colin Coulson-Thomas (2014), examined
organizations whose leadership wanted a cultural change within their companies. Coulson-
Thomas’ findings revealed change is often not needed however internal disconnects occur due to
ineffective leadership alignment and unanswered needs of the workforce. Successful
corporations are able to embrace cultural diversity and encourage solutions and performance
standards established by a new population of internal and external stakeholders.
Corporate culture shapes how people think and work together. Current activities to
engage the workforce is the use of town hall meetings for all employees, facilitation of
brainstorming activities to encourage employees input, and the establishment of cross-
generational social committees (Simoneaux & Stroud, 2014). Corporate culture is most often
passed down from one employee generation to another. Employees learn, adopt, and share a
corporation’s mission, vision, and values with other employees and internal and external
stakeholders. An example is Southwest Airlines, whose “dare to be different” culture encourages
employees to take their jobs seriously while taking themselves lightly (Sadri, 2014).
A contemporary view of corporate culture is to cultivate workforce fidelity. According to
Carrison (2013) several of the best companies to work for have high employee and customer
satisfaction ratings. There are three tactics for a happy corporate culture. The first is the inclusion
of the spouse or significant other. Some employees have to work excessive hours and the spouse
has the greatest amount of influence as to the happiness of the employee. The spouse should be
invited to participate in special events and included in discussion about the importance of his or
her part in the success of the employee. The second tactic is to always say “happy birthday” and

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celebrate the organization’s beginning or inception. This tactic reminds employees and their
spouse of the stability and shared milestones of the organization. The last tactic is for business
leaders to show the workforce sincere appreciation and a gesture of “thanks” (Carrison, 2013, p.
6).
The two world-class organizations, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Boeing Companies,
depend on quality as their measure of success. To build and sustain a culture that results in the
highest level of quality, these corporate leaders focus on the organization’s vision, values,
culture, and their views from the top of the organization. Leadership is responsible for setting the
tone and expectations while low to mid-level managers are responsible for meeting these
directives. Leadership from both organizations claim to have cultures which require employees