1. Why Corporate Culture is so Important
Intro:
In today’s world it seems you see more news about corporate greed and corruption that often
plaques us shaking our confidence in what we deem as socially acceptable. We are going to
dive into the world of corporate culture and define what it is to have corporate culture. We will
take an in depth look at what impact corporate culture has on us socially, legally and
economically as a society as a whole. As we uncover the details of corporate culture we will
look inside one company that shows its corporate culture every day through its employees who
embraces eight core values. Finally, we will delve into how these eight core values tie back into
corporate culture as it affects as a society as a whole.
As a high school student getting my first job was one of the biggest moments in my life as it is
with most high school students. You can almost say it is what of the defining moments in a
young adult’s life. As you start your first job you often have a couple weeks of training where
they go over your job description and what their expectations are while you are on the job. While
this is all well and good they also talk about the culture of the company. As a high school
student you probably did not think much about the culture or cared less about what it is.
However, as you get older you and start college corporate culture beings to play a more
important role in a society with companies getting in trouble for misrepresentation their financial
data causing shareholders who have invested in a company’s idea to lose lots of money and
cause financial hardship. We will dive into the cause and effects of such problems in a little bit
but let us get back how corporate culture has become important. You go through college
studying in a field that you are passionate about. As you approach graduation and even after
graduation you have to being researching companies you want to work for. Now all the sudden

2. corporate culture becomes an important center piece in the decision making process of what
company you want to work for. Before we go into why it has become important to have
corporate culture one must define what corporate culture is? By definition corporate culture
refers to the beliefs and behaviors of how a company’s employees and management interact
and handle outside business transactions. However, to simplify the internet’s definition we can
define corporate culture as the beliefs and behaviors of how a company governs how they
interact with their internal and external clients. Now that we have defined corporate culture I
want to explain why we corporate culture is all the sudden so important to us. This is indeed a
tough question to answer. Let me ask you a simple question what happens if you do something
wrong? Well simple answer is that there are consequences of course. Well why are their
consequences? The reason is simple because it has negative impact on others as a society.
Everything we do has an impact on us no matter what we do? If we were to quote Newton’s
third law of motion where there is action there is an equal or opposite reaction. We can apply
this to the business world and how every day business transactions affect us positive or
negative. This is the reason why we have laws in affect to protect the public from fraudulent
financial practices. These laws have been passed down because of too much negative impact
and the lack of responsibility by the company for participating in such activities. As a society we
have evolved and changed what we find socially acceptable. Another reason why we value
corporate culture is because of a moral obligation to do the right thing. Maybe we are
programmed from birth to assume responsibility to uphold a moral code written or unwritten to
protect the greater good. As you can see as a young adult you graduate college or just join the
workforce right out of high school corporate culture becomes and center piece in your life.
Finally, I strongly believe another reason why it is so important is because in that corporate
culture it may tie in with your own personally beliefs and behavior that governs your life outside
of work. This direct or indirect correlation could result in you having a stronger stance on a
cause you strongly believe in. Let me briefly explain this scenario for you. You grow up with

3. your own beliefs and behaviors that govern how you act in society besides the rules set down
by society. Take example you believe in helping those less fortunate than you because you
grew up in a Christian home. So you may say to yourself I want to work for a company that
believes in giving back to others. You may also be obligated by your own personally belief to
also volunteer at a homeless shelter or at a local boys and girls clubs for at risk youth in the
inner city. Since we have defined what corporate culture and why it is important it is time to
explain how it affects us.
As explained above we defined what corporate culture is and why it is important. We also briefly
explained how it impacts us. However, corporate culture affects us on a deeper level than many
realize. Also as mentioned earlier in this read we as a society have become numb to the
insensitivity of the corporate greed that on many levels negatively affects us as a society. We
are here to discuss the impacts it has on us in three ways; socially, legally and economically. I
want note here that in no way am I an expert on this subject but I merely educating on the
impacts that corporate culture effects not only America but the world we live in. Now we can
look deeper into this subject. Corporate culture defines how a company behaves when it
interacts with its internal and external clients. Let us first take a look at the social impact
corporate culture has on us. Companies set forth their corporate culture over a period of time to
define how they will behave as they conduct business transactions with their internal and
external clients. You hear about how a company falsified their financial records almost every
day in the news. Now you think to yourself how that does affect me? Well think about it what
would be your reaction when you here this news. Well when a company falsifies their financial
record it causes distrust with their internal and external clients. It causes negative emotions and
creates a bad image for the company. Word travels very fast in today’s world of technology and
many people will receive that news through others who do business with that company. Word of
mouth is the most powerful tool to get a company’s brand out there. In reality word of mouth

4. brings in the majority of business because when customers start talking about a company
impact grows like wild fire. However, this can also work to a company’s disadvantage as well.
Negative experiences by a customer can generate a long lasting impression not just on the
company but its brand and what the company stands for. With the emergence of social media
including twitter, face book and instagram we can share our experiences faster than ever
before. This is why it is so important for a company to keep a positive image of their company at
all times and govern how they behave with others when conducting business transactions. In
today’s world companies are under constant scrutiny by government and law enforcement. As I
will reiterate companies have been caught participating financial practices. We are all too
familiar with the Enron scandal. Enron was caught participating in fraudulent accounting
practices mainly inflating their profits. As a result many people who had invested in the company
lost lots of money. In turn their resulting in swift action by the US government. The congress set
forth in stone the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This new law in effect set new standards for
companies for reporting accurate financial information of their company to protect shareholders
and the public from errors in accounting and fraudulent accounting practices. These types of
legal consequences can have an economic impact as well. A company such as Enron who
knowingly engaged in fraudulent accounting practices affects the economy not only on a micro
level but on the macro level. What I mean micro and macro is this; micro means within the
company affecting shareholders, employees. Impact at the micro level meaning it has impact on
shareholder value, profits, and the bottom line. This can also indirectly affect employee salaries
as well. This can also have a social impact on employees for example can shake confidence in
an employee. Legal fees can also impact a company another economic impact on the micro
level. Impacts on the macro level has to deal with the affects it has on the economy as a whole
it can affect global trade causing value of a company’s product or service causing prices to rise
because they lose money do to having to raise the prices because of such legal trouble. These
impacts on the macro level also have social impacts as well. Customers, the company’s eternal

5. clients will lose faith in that company and have a negative impression. Ultimately, a company
involved in fraudulent accounting practices can end up going bankrupt and go out of business
leaving what I call an economic vacuum. This is such the case with Enron because huge losses
on the stock exchange and wiped on pensions for many Americans. This scandal also had
ethical consequences. Ethical meaning doing the right thing to correctly report financial
information is an obligation of every company. A company with a corporate culture has
behaviors and beliefs that reflect good moral sense including upholding of the rights of
stockholders who invest their money in a company. Corporate culture is designed for companies
to uphold doing the right things not just by societies standards but to create a better world to
drive change for the better of society as a whole. Now that I have discussed how corporate
culture has an impact and to note mostly negative we can look inside one company to see
corporate culture at work. We will discuss why I picked this company; discuss briefly the eight
core values, some personal experience of how employees of this company live their values and
some reflection of what we have discussed.
We all want to work for a particular company because of some reason or another. Maybe you
want to work for a particular company because of their corporate culture or maybe it goes
deeper such as a cause you believe in. Maybe you want to work for that company because of
the image the company portrays in society such as they are a global leader in healthcare.
Anyways for whatever reason you want to work for that particular company you have
experiences along the way many good as well as some not so well. The reason you are
working is all the same because of something that company does that drives you to bring out
the best you are which positively reflects on their company and ultimately their corporate
culture. I work for one such company and I want to share with you my story of my experience
with some of the greatest and most passionate people I have every had the privilege to work
with. I want to begin my story in 2009; I had been working for Wal-Mart Stores for 4 years now

6. and I had been accepted for an internship in Madison for the summer. At the time I was going to
school for IT at Mid-State Technical College. Due to miss communication I had left for my
internship and was fired for job abandonment. My internship went very well and was awarded
for doing a great job. However, when I came home I found myself without a job and school
ready to start middle of August. I was extremely stressed and worried I could not find another
job. School began and I continued to struggle with my studies while looking for a job. Spring
came and I applied at the local Home Depot desperate to find a job. Once I was accepted to
the new job I was excited accept I had to do my old job at a new company. I was not particularly
excited about pushing carts through the snow and cold temperatures of Wisconsin winter.
However, I had to do whatever it took to get by. I learned a lot about my job very quickly as I
got hired on during busy season. I met a lot of people and developed some long lasting
relationships with many. However, like every job I had some people that got under my skin and
did not see eye to eye. To make a long story short after 4 and half years I finally had enough of
doing carts and asked to be moved to another department. After constant badgering of my
assistant manager I finally got moved to freight team and got to work with one of the greatest
teams I have ever had to the pleasure to know. Now you are reading this and thinking alright
what makes this company so great? Well I will tell you why this company is so great because it
lives by eight core values. How do I know they live those values and what does this has to do
with this article I am writing you ask? These are very good questions and there are simple
answers to these. First, before I answer your questions I want to ask you what does your
company do to make a difference in our world today? Does their corporate culture reflect what
they want to do to make a difference? I want to tell you when I first started I had a hard time
grabbling with how their corporate culture effected me, my job and the people around me. To
answer your questions the Home Depot lives by the following eight core values: excellent
customer service, taking care of our people, building strong relationships, respect for all people,
entrepreneurial spirit, doing the right thing, giving back and creating shareholder value. Now I

7. am not going to discuss all of them but there are three I think really reflect a good corporate
culture and I am going to explain how they do that with those three values. The three core value
I want to discuss are giving back, building strong relationships and doing the right thing. The
reason why I picked these is because these three core values reflect how a company should
govern their behaviors when conducting business transactions internally and externally. As I
discuss these it will explain how this has anything to do with what I am writing about. The first of
the three core values I picked I want to discuss is doing the right thing. Doing the right thing I
think is the most important because it reflects the most about what I have been talking about in
this paper. I have worked with Home Depot for almost 6 years now and Home Depot is a firm
believer in doing the right thing. They take responsibility for any actions that could not only
impact my store, or the company but the community. We are encouraged to report to our aware
line any suspicious or dishonest behavior. We have had associates act dishonestly and have
hurt our store not only financially but socially as well as we are a family. In our training we here
of stories of associates that have stolen merchandise or cash from the register. I am proud to
wear my orange apron every day because I know I work for a company that acts with integrity
and customers and the community at large knows and sees what we do. This has a huge
impact in our community and creates long lasting relationships with our community. This gets
into the second of my three core values I will be discussing. At home depot I see it every day as
I do my job. Our voice of the customer or better known as VOC tells us how we are doing. The
VOC is what customers are saying about us and we based on living our values. We have
several associates that are really passionate about what we do. We have one associate who
has won many awards and is the company’s number kitchen and design associate. She is
always positive and upbeat even when the day is not going so well. She is very customer
service friendly and really knows hers stuff. Even if you have a problem with your kitchen and
bath project she is always there to help. She is willing to stay after her shift is done to make sure
the customer is more than just satisfied but to build that relationship so the next time they need

8. anything for their next kitchen and bath project to come to the home depot. She is one of the
many voices of our company and continues to live the home depot core values. The last core
value I want to discuss is giving back. This I feel may beat the first core value I discussed as I
type this. One of home depot’s biggest achievements is giving of their time, talent, energy and
resources to give back to the community. Throughout the home depot stores across this country
thousands of associates participate in team depot. What team depot is a team of associates
from home depots go into their community to assist the community by building a new ramp at a
senior center or veterans home or donating money to assist a fellow associate in need.. The
homer fund is one such resource that sets home depot apart from other companies. Associates
that participate donate money out of their paychecks that goes into the home fund. We have
had associates who have been diagnosed with cancer and the homer fund helps with the
burden of the financial costs of treatment. Finally, I want to talk about what we call celebration of
service that honors our fellow associates that served our country. Every year around Labor Day
to Veterans Day anyone including associates who have served our country gets a discount on
their purchases as a thank you for their service. This I believe is what corporate culture really
should be all about. I believe this is living the core values that home depot has set forth and is a
testament to a company committed to not just bring about change but to drive it. As I reflect
back on the past almost six years I have really come to respect and admire those I have worked
with. Not to sound clique but the associates at store number 4942 are among what I would
consider the most passionate caring and selfless people I have ever had to pleasure to work
with. I want to thank all of my fellow associates for all the hard work they do, and keep building
on those strong core values.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, I have defined what corporate culture is and why it is so important in today’s
world. I discussed the social, legal and economic impacts it had on society as a whole and the

9. ethics. I discussed one company that I have worked for lives their value every day and how it
has affected me. Last I discussed three of the core values of the company I worked for as it ties
into this paper. As I reflect back on this paper and look toward the New Year I believe that a
company such as home depot has left a profound impression and leads by example of a
company that truly lives by its values. I conclude with a famous quote by Vince Lombardi “The
quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of
their chosen field of endeavor.”