There are many factors tangible and intangible that go into

There are many factors, tangible and intangible, that go into creating a company’s culture. In the Harvard Business Review article, https://hbr.org/2013/05/six-components-of-culture John Coleman discusses six characteristics of a great company culture. Do you agree with his six characteristics; would you add any others? Does your company have these characteristics?

Solution

Q1) The six characteristics discussed in the article are critical to the creation of a company\'s culture due to the below reasons -

1. Vision - Vision and mission provides strategic direction for the firm towards which all the employees work together to help orient all the stakeholders.

2. Values - Values are core to an organizational culture which are a set of guidelines that set the behaviors and mindets of the employees.

3. Practices - Practices are the procedures or processes which the company follows to achieve its objectives.

4. People - People are the human resources of the firm through which the firm achieves its objectives.

5. Narrative - A firm\'s unique story of the firm based on which the vision and objectives are built.

6. Place - Place is the geography, architecture, aesthetic design etc. which impacts the behaviors of employees in the workplace.

Q2) Yes, all these characteristics are core to any company\'s culture. I work for a consulting firm where the characteristics fit as below -

1. Vision is to create a customer base which includes atleast 50% of the fortune 500 firms in the next 10 years.

2. Values include providing excellent customer service, following code of conduct erc.

3. Practices include policies and practices to follow.

4. People are the consultants and subject matter experts.

5. Narrative is the consulting expertise the firm has built.

6. Place includes the theme based offices built across global locations.