Today, we began our discussion not with any extraordinary
tools or toys but on the basis of an extraordinary story of the Alibaba Group.
AliBaba Group is a privately owned China-based family of
Internet-based eCommerce businesses that cover business-to-business online
marketplaces, retail and payment platforms, shopping search engine and
data-centric cloud computing services.
It started with the vision of its founder, Jack Ma, that :
(a) Empower SMEs through the power of the internet.
(b) At least 80% of these SMEs who are working with AliBaba
MUST grow unimaginably.
(c) 0.0001% of the shares of AliBaba must be enough to
support generations together.
Today AliBaba's consumer-to-consumer portal Taobao (similar
to eBay) features nearly a billion products and is one of the 20 most-visited
websites globally. Alibaba Group's sites account for over 60% of the parcels
delivered in China.
And why was this so?
It was made possible due to the exceptional culture embedded
in the fibre of the organization.
So, one asks, what is organizational
culture?
Organizations, just like individuals, have their own
personalities—more typically known as organizational cultures. Understanding
how culture is created, communicated, and changed will help you to be a more
effective manager. But first, let’s define organizational culture.
Organizational Culture encompass the values and behaviours
that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an
organization.
Organizational culture includes an organization's
expectations, experiences, philosophy, and values that hold it together. It is
expressed in its self-image, inner workings, interactions with the outside
world, and future expectations. It is based on shared attitudes, beliefs,
customs, and written (sometimes) and unwritten rules that have been developed
over time and are considered valid.
There are various types of organizational cultures. We
discussed a few of them in class. I am listing them below:
1. Open Culture - One where employees are motivated to voice
their values-driven concerns regarding problematic business practices. An open
culture helps to counteract any occasional lapse into passivity at the board
level or on the part of institutional investors.
2. Safety Culture - One where safety is ALWAYS first no matter what the cost. A
safety culture is one were all employees are proactive in ensuring safety at
work place. People immediately report any perceived short comings in the work
place safety and in the safety of products given to customers or clients.
3. Quality Culture - A culture where utmost importance is
given to the quality of the product or service being rendered. Volume takes a
back seat. So does cost. Batch recalling of cars/computers when defects are
found is a good example of the quality culture. Toyota is a notable example.
4. Performance Culture - We could also call this OUTCOME
ORIENTED CULTURE. This is one that
emphasize achievement, results, and action as important values. A good example
of an outcome-oriented culture may be the electronics retailer Best Buy. Having
a culture emphasizing sales performance, Best Buy tallies revenues and other
relevant figures daily by department. Employees are trained and mentored to
sell company products effectively, and they learn how much money their
department made every day.
5. Ethical Culture - A culture where great importance is
given to ethical business practices and this importance is seen at all levels
in the organization. We see that in such organizations, ethics are given
precedence even if being so may lead to a loss of business and profit. The TATA
Group is a good example to note.
The culture of organizations is usually inferred and remains
invisible, much different from rules, which are explicit. It is not enforced as a rule but is much more powerful than rules in
many cases.
In creating organizations, you must have an understanding of
both the rules and the culture. Being appreciative of both these parameters
would help you guide yourselves and others through the organizations channels,
which is what makes you a good manager.
This was the most important takeaway
from today’s lecture.