A company's "organizational culture" is the collection of policies it pursues to guide itself and ensure that its stakeholders, including its employees and other stakeholders, share the same values. Further supporting the importance of organizational culture is the fact that it shapes how employees of a company behave, interact, and present themselves. Promoting diversity and being responsive to the demands of the many preferences among their employees are the main goals of an organizational culture that is healthy. Age, religion, sexual orientation, and race are just a few of the aspects of diversity that a strong business culture aims to protect. who can contribute to a positive company culture is necessary is hire staff from diverse backgrounds that have the diversity. Diversity can be converted into positive energy when the organization organizes for team building activities that would enable the staff to bond better. Organizational diversity should serve to enhance the individual performance of the staff working for the company. However, the content of organization culture and diversity is different and relational to the operational environment of any company. This paper compares the organizational culture of Southwest Airlines and Koch industries.
The essential elements of the culture of Southwest Airlines
Having a fun attitude, a heart of a servant and a spirit of a warrior are some of the significant elements of the culture of Southwest Airlines. Having a warrior spirit is an element that is used to depict the sensitivity that the organization has to the needs of their traveler. The further tends to compel the organization to equip their staff with the necessary character traits that would enable them to serve their clients better. The ability to make their clients comfortable and ensuring that the clients meet their schedule and have the necessary space for travel is a core objective of the element (Klein, 2011).
Second, having a heart of a servant
means showing respect to all their clients despite their age and status in the society. Being respectful, in the context of the organization means being sensitive to the concerns that the travelers may raise and have measures to ensure that all the concerns are addressed. In addition to the quality service that the airline has to offer, it is also providing low-cost transport to their clients (Bird, 2011).
Third, the airline company has the cultural element of fun-loving attitude for their clients.
The fun-loving attitude is meant to enable the client like what they do within their workplace. Inculcating passion amongst the staff is essential in ensuring that the clients meet the given threshold of excellence in the duty that they discharge for the organization.
The Culture of Koch Industries
The critical element of the culture of Koch industries is professionalism. The need to realize the profits that are targeted by the company is at the core of the operations of the company with the sole intent of accomplishing the company’s objectives. Therefore, having the ability to meet the company’s target and being accountable to the tasks that one has been assigned are some of the goals of the Koch’s cultural element. Therefore, the culture that is promoted within the organization, once realized by the staff, would ensure that the company receives solid reputation in the work that they do. Additionally, the element of coaching enables the staff to gain experiential knowledge and enhance their skills and expertise to meet the set targets. However, the cultural environment of Koch industries does not serve to strengthen the interpersonal relationships within the company. Promotions are made based on the job skills that one gain but neither not interpersonal relationship skills nor management skills. Additionally, each staff only gets to be acquainted with information about his or her line of operation but not the entire line of operations or profitability and financials of the company. Therefore, the recruitment of staff into the company is based on their ability to deliver and does not take a diversity consideration when deciding for the qualified staff who ought to work for the company. The reward for professionalism is evident through the higher pay, but there are no interpersonal relationships amongst the staff.
Koch Industries should not Purchase Southwest Airlines
Koch Industries should not purchase Southwest Airlines owing to cultural sensitivity. Southwest is rewarded by their clients due to the loving culture that the company employees. However, the culture that Koch Industries may bring about would demand seriousness form the staff and the need to quantify their results based on the economic benefits that the company can earn. Such would lead the staff to work on providing their economic profitability to the company and not the established relationships with the company’s clients (Dissecting the Kochtopus, 2014). Koch Industries pursues the market-based management. Additionally, the media has a negative portrayal of the company’s owners that may discourage the investors and loyal customers of the company owing to their adverse work ethics within the company. However, the acquisition can only be successful where the management of Koch decide to change their preference of work culture to that which values people management and making the workplace a fun place to work, a culture that does not blend with the preference of Koch’s owners.
Conclusion
When two companies make a consideration for a merger, there is need to look into the organizational culture. The organizational culture guides the work ethics and the behavior of staff within the company. In the case of a promised merger of Southwest Airlines and Koch industries, the fun-loving culture that makes the workplace a happy place to work could be turned into a situation where only productivity is valued, thus, demoralizing the staff. Such would lead to the demoralization of the staff working for Southwest Airlines and may impact the financials of the company negatively. Therefore, there is need to have an understanding of the organizational culture. Having a vibrant work culture ensures that the employees are actively engaged in the work that they do within an organization. Culture also tends to dictate the work ethics and the motivation that the employees have in carrying out their duty within the company. Additionally, the work culture tends to align with the objectives of a firm. For example, an organization that is only profit-oriented will inculcate a market-based management educational approach as is the case of Koch Industries (Whatley, 2013). On the other hand, a company that is people-oriented will make the company a fun place to work for all the employees as is the case of Southwest Airlines. Therefore, Koch Industries should not acquire Southwest Airlines owing to the cultural differences.
References
Bird, A. (Mar. 13, 2011). Southwest: Corporate culture combines work, play. The Post and Courier. [ProQuest]
Dissecting the Kochtopus. (Jun. 7, 2014). The Economist, 411, 76.
Klein, D. (2011). Creating cultures that lead to success: Lincoln Electric, Southwest Airlines, and SAS Institute. Organizational Dynamics 41(1), 35-39 [Available in Science Direct.
Whatley, H. (2013). Principles and dimensions of market-based management. Independent Journal of Management & Production, 4(1), 126-135. [ProQuest]
