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University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses Accounting 5-2014 One Mans Dream: How a Company's Unique Culture can Translate into Long Term Success Carli Zink University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/acctuht Part of the Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons Recommended Citation Zink, Carli, "One Mans Dream: How a Company's Unique Culture can Translate into Long Term Success" (2014). Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses. 9. http://scholarworks.uark.edu/acctuht/9 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Accounting at ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu, ccmiddle@uark.edu.    1   One Man's Dream: How a company's unique culture can translate into long-term success An honors thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Accounting Carli Zink University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Accounting, 2014 Graduating May 2014 University of Arkansas    2   Abstract: This thesis answers the question of whether a unique organizational culture can help a company find long-term success. My main focus of the thesis was on the Walt Disney Co., a company that I think has set the standard in organizational culture and is where I will be starting my professional career. My aim was to find what aspects of culture are most important to have, and how companies can use their culture to gain a competitive advantage. In order to answer this question, I researched companies that have been recognized for having a very successful organizational culture, as well as companies that have struggled. From this research I could compare and contrast the differences in order to identify the aspects of culture that have either been successful or detrimental. I also interviewed two professional women to get their perspective on organizational culture, and I surveyed a small representation of University of Arkansas soon-to-be graduates to see whether organizational culture could play a part in their decision of where they want to start their career. I also researched the effect of globalization on organizational culture and how it could potentially cause companies to have to change their organizational behaviors and work environment. I have concluded that in order for a company to be successful, they need to create a unique organizational culture that cannot be copied by competitors in order to give them a competitive advantage. I created a ten-step process that companies can use to help them achieve their ideal organizational culture. I recognize that there is not    3   necessarily one monolithic static organizational culture, and have taken that into consideration as I have gone through the paper. Acknowledgments: I would like to thank the faculty and staff of the University of Arkansas for providing me with the best college experience possible. I also would like to thank the faculty and staff of the Sam M. Walton College of Business for preparing me professionally in my classes and for being supportive as I have grown and developed as a young businesswoman. Thank you to Dan Worrell and Jennifer Kish-Gephart for guiding me in this thesis and giving me great advice. I also would like to thank my parents for always being my biggest cheerleaders in every aspect of my life.    4   Table of Contents i. Introduction 1 ii. Introduction to Culture 1 iii. Research 3 a. Walt Disney Company i. Introduction 3 ii. Training 5 iii. Leadership 6 iv. Rules and Expectations 9 v. Criticisms 10 b. Successful companies iv. 3 12 i. Zappos 12 ii. Southwest Airlines 13 iii. Google 14 iv. Common factors 15 c. Unsuccessful companies 16 i. Goldman Sachs 16 ii. Dish Network 17 iii. Hewlett Packard 19 iv. Reasons for struggles 20 Methodology    5   a. Interviews i. Cathy Crotty 21 ii. Mackenzie Dolder 25 b. Survey 30 i. Students represented 30 ii. Survey questions 31 iii. Outcomes 31 iv. Conclusions 33 1. Table 1 34 c. Globalization 35 v. Recommendation 38 vi. Conclusion 41 vii. Resources 43    6   Introduction “You can’t sell it outside if you can’t sell it inside.” This quote by Stan Slap gives a perfect vision of the importance of organizational culture. It is the cornerstone that the company is founded on, and can be detrimental to their success. The purpose of this paper is to discover how organizational culture can help a company achieve success and what companies can do to help align their culture with the values they want to portray. I will compare companies with very successful cultures to those who have suffered, focusing mainly on the Walt Disney Company. I used interviews and surveys as my methods to get an insight on what current employees of large companies think of culture and an insight on what soon-to-be college graduates think of culture as it pertains to their prospective careers. Finally I created a 10-step program that companies can use to realign their company culture. Introduction to Culture There are many factors that contribute to a company’s success. A company could have a strong brand, an innovative product, or perhaps a unique marketing strategy. But how can a company sustain long-term prosperity? How can a company distinguish themselves from the rest to consistently stay on top? Surprisingly, I discovered the answer lies in not what a company is doing externally, but in the inner works of the company that dates back to the day it started. In order for a company to establish themselves professionally, they first must create their own distinct culture and climate that they believe will help them flourish. Before one can dive into the specific aspects of culture, we must determine what culture is. I believe Edgar Schein defines it    2   best by saying organizational culture “is a pattern of basic assumptions-invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration-that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems”. A culture is the reason why the organization exists. Going beyond just a common goal, a culture consists of anything you can see or hear in a firm. It gives the employees a sense of purpose and belonging, and helps the company set a certain standard. Culture helps to not only support organizational objectives but, when set in place properly by management, can cause a unique cohesiveness that allows a company to stand the test of time. Schein divided culture into three different levels. The first level is artifacts and creations, which is anything physical and visible in the company. The second level is values, defined as “those things that an organization states it holds dear to itself”. The values of a company help direct how it wants to be seen by the public. The last level consists of basic assumptions. Basic assumptions about a company’s culture are drawn from how well the artifacts align with the values. Lets focus in on values for just a moment. We all know that not everyone has the same values, and it can be difficult to find common ground when you are working with a very diverse group of people. The principles of an organization stem from the values of the individuals, however the statement of a belief and the action of an individual may not match up with each other. So how can a company successfully relate their values to the employees in order to create a certain culture? Finding this balance can be difficult, and this is the topic that I will be digging into deeper in my research of supportive and successful organizational    3   cultures. To begin the discussion on companies that have embraced their culture and used it to their advantage, I first want to hone in on a company that has personally changed my life, The Walt Disney Company. After dissecting the culture of Disney and how it has evolved, I will then compare and contrast companies that have successful cultures versus ones that have misaligned ones. We can then start to get a better understanding of how culture really can make a difference in a company’s success. Research Walt Disney Co. Introduction. The Walt Disney Company’s core mission is “to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information” (Farfan, Barbara 2014). They are constantly trying to find ways to “develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world” (Wilson, Matt 2013). Disney has always found a way to stand out, not only in their products, movies, and theme parks, but also in their elite customer service and the unforgettable experience they provide to guests visiting their parks. Disney’s greatest asset is the people they recruit, from the top dogs in the corporate office to the part time employees in the parks. The standard for everyone is the same, and once an employee goes to work they are considered “part of the show” and are responsible for maintaining that Disney magic. The people who work for Disney truly believe in the core purpose of the Disney brand, and have a heart for bringing it to life. Disney has 6 underlying principles that they expect their employees to uphold (Sparks, Wally 2007). The first is innovation. Disney has always been able to stay ahead with their products and ideas, and they    4   encourage their employee’s imaginations to soar. By encouraging free-thinking, Disney has allowed their workers to develop a sense that they are important and their ideas matter, and from this they have created an experience for guests that is unmatched by anyone else. The second is quality. Disney has a very high standard of excellence that they expect from their staff and they maintain that same high standard for their products as well. Community is the third principle they believe in, and I believe it is one of the main reasons Disney has such a unique organizational culture. The Walt Disney Company stresses that they are one big family, and will treat each other as such. They genuinely care about the well-being of their employees, and want to create the most positive work environment that they can. Every Disney employee I have talked to has said that the comradery in the business is what builds the sense of cohesiveness between the staff, and this is something that they all say they have not seen anywhere else. This idea of family is also rooted in what Disney wants to provide with their parks, because Walt Disney himself wanted to create an experience that could be shared by all generations (Wilson, Matt 2013). The fourth principle Disney focuses on is storytelling. They believe every product tells a story, and they want their employees to be part of that story as well. Stepping into one of the Disney parks is like stepping into a show, and the workers are part of putting on the act. The last two principles, Optimism and Decency, are ones that Disney promises to their employees with the intent that they will reciprocate. Disney expects a level of honor and respect from their employees since the guests have so much trust in them. When people think of Disney they think of fun, and that is something that the employees need to have as well.