Introduction
In order to understand and evaluate different business structures one must be aware of the exact meaning and standards, which make that structure. Different business function in different ways. The World today is full of innovative and new structures, company cultures and ways in which companies base their work. Globalization has emphasized the meaning of company culture in ways that have led to completely new ideas, while technology has changed the face of the industry (The Age of Globalization: Impact of Information Technology on Global Business Strategies, 2007).
In order to fully grasp the concepts of business structures and cultures the movies “The Devil Wears Prada” (by David Frankel, 2006) and “Up in the air”(by Jason Reitman, 2009) will be used for detailed explanation and examples of different business structures and culture and how they affect the business itself and the people who work in it. , while an exact comparison will be made during the explanation.
Company One The Devil Wears Prada portrays a typical example of a company named Runway, which functions on the basis of an Adhocracy. This type of business structure portrays a company, which functions through a support staff and practice selective decentralization (wwwpraguecollege.cz, 2012; full link in References).
This in the sense of company culture can be linked to Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory where the company “Runway” is very high distance power (http://www.andrews.edu, no date; full link in References).
The Essay on Loreal Company Values and Culture
The focus of this part of paper is on cultural aspects and values in L’Oreal Company. We will quote its ethical principles, which are very important for the company itself. In L’Oreal company we can distinguish core values, given as follows: passion for adventure, enrichment through diversity, leading innovation in beauty, striving for excellence and valuing individual talent. Thanks to its ...
In definition this means that there is a large power distance between the employer and the employees. Miranda Priestly, who is the head of the company is treated with much respect and uses her power to control and lead the company, which can be seen in the movie during the scene where panic is laid out through the company due to her arrival (moviemomentsAUS, 2012).
This is a clear example of how the company functions through support staff, while only a limited amount of people have a limited amount of power such as Nigel, who gets to make decisions on a low level, while still trying to please the Boss, Miranda.
Another aspect, which is highly portrayed in the movie, is organizational socialization where Andy, who is the “newcomer” is very much put to the test of survival. The company functions in a way of fear and limited acceptance, which again puts an emphasize on the high distance culture within the company (ScenesMustafaFavs, 2011).
In the stage of anticipatory socialization Andy goes through the stages of realism and congruence, where her view and expectations of the job do not match the situation she actually is put in. This creates a confusion and dissatisfaction because in the stage of encounter, she feels that the job demands are too much for her to handle, and that she does not receive appropriate satisfaction and recognition for what she does.
During the acquisition and change, Andy goes through a major change of views and finally adapts to the company culture and structure by accepting the ideas and mission of the company. In conclusion, Runway presents a very structured company which has a high distance culture within it and works by having very limited decentralization. It is a company that manages to be successful by having one-person rule and by implementing respect and fear into the company culture. Andy had assumptions that her role in the company and performance will be much easier. She needed a lot of time of adjustment and realizing that fashion is not a joke and easy job, which she saw in her work. Everybody was against her because she thought that she is more valuable than this job.
The Essay on High Power Distance
First of all, Power distance is the one of the important part in Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Power distance means that “ beliefs about the appropriate distribution of power in society. Which power distance level included high power distance and low power distance”. (Steers, et al. , 2010, p. 56). In Asia, normally many countries are representatives of the high power distance. Of course it also ...
Company Two The movie “Up In The Air” portrays a company that specializes in having a certain amount of qualified individuals who master the difficult task of firing people. In contrast to the company “Runway” the company in the movie “Up In The Air” works as a Professional bureaucracy. This company has a large number of decentralized vertical and horizontal staff (wwwpraguecollege.cz, 2012; full link in References).
On the contrary to “Runway” the company culture in the movie “Up In The Air” is very low power distance according to Hofstede. It is a very relaxed and open company culture, where employees get the chance to contribute and talk to their Boss in order to improve the company.
The main focus and challenge in this company presents the attempted change of culture due to the possible cost reduction on the base of technology. The main character in the movie, and one of the employees who is very skilled and has a high level of power is very resistant to the change, which has been proposed by the new comer in the company named Natalie. In contrast to “The Devil Wears Prada”, Natalie is accepted into the team very easily and fits into the company culture perfectly. Natalie matched with companies ideas, values and assumptions because she as a new worker with new idea of working was accepted very well from side of the boss. But because in the company were low power distance one of the worker was against idea that Natalie gave to his boss and since is quite difficult to change a company culture there was rebellion. Therefore, she had to adjust to the companies culture that it had and at the end her values and assumptions had changed from the way she was expecting.
Conclusion In conclusion, there are many types of different companies in the world. Some of them are low distance power some of them are high distance power, which we can see, in these previous two examples. In the first example of the company “Runway” had “PUSH” effect on the Andy to improve and understand value of the company and at the end positively effect on the business performance. In the second example of the company where Natalie had to adapt and learn values of the company, which at the end also had positive effect on business performance, because she could express her abilities freely.
The Essay on Factors That Project Company Culture
These positive behaviors are expressed through the employee’s customer service. For businesses, customer loyalty and retention are most important. To retain these things, employees would greet customers, converse with them through small, listen, etc. These simple techniques are what give a company its culture. The company’s behavior patterns establish its culture and may be perceived as favorable ...
