Instructions for Take-Home Part of Final ExamMGT 301-02 Organiza.docx

Instructions for Take-Home Part of Final Exam
MGT 301-02 Organizational Behavior Spring 2015MY
NAME: _______________Yanchen
Lu__________________________What
This document describes the tasks you need to accomplish for
the take-home part of the final exam in your MGT 301
Organizational Behavior course (Spring 2015 semester, Dr.
Christian Kiewitz). When & How
· The due date for the take-home part is the day of the officially
scheduled final exam for your section (i.e., in-class part).
· Please submit your work as a Word document (i.e., .doc or
.docx) by 09:00 AM on the day of the officially scheduled final
exam for your section using the “Final Exam: Take-home Part”
drop box in Isidore (see under Assignments).
· Feel free to write your answers directly into this document.
· Submit your documents using the following naming rule
(important for Turnitin.com check):
[your last name]_[your first initial]_ 30102SP15_final.docx
Example: Kiewitz_C_30102SP15_final.docxOverview
The tasks in this assignment focus on the concept of
organizational culture. Your task is to conduct research on
several organizations using Internet resources and answer the
questions below.Points
The take-home part of the final exam is worth a total of 100
points: 5 points for question I, 10 points for question II, 10
points for question III, 40 points for question IV, 20 points for
question V, and 10 points for question VI, and 5 points for
question VII.Materials needed
· Our OB textbook;
· Internet access;
· PDF file “MGT 301 - Final Exam - Take-Home - Supporting
Materials.pdf”, which is posted on Isidore and features the
following materials:
· PPT presentation slides from “Organizational Culture” lecture;

· Vault.com article “Find Your Employer ‘Culture Fit’ With
Social Media”;
· Financial Times article Reckitt’s strongly flavoured Essence;
· Website of Bridgewater Associates;
· Website of Reckitt Benckiser Group plc.Tasks & Questions
I. Reflect on what “Organizational Culture” means to You
According to management scholar Edgar Schein, organizational
culture can be defined as “the set of shared, taken-for-granted
implicit assumptions that a group holds and that determines how
it perceives, thinks about and reacts to its various
environments.”
1. Compare Schein’s definition to the one in our textbook by
finding the definition of “Organizational Culture” in our OB
textbook. Accordingly, organizational culture is defined as: The
shared social knowledge within an organization regarding the
rules, norms, and values that shape the attitudes and behaviors
of its employees.
2. Reflect on these two definitions: what do they mean to you?
Then, develop and write down your own, personal definition of
organizational culture (please note that it is completely
acceptable if your definition overlaps with the definitions above
or any other definition from the OB literature because the
purpose of this exercise is to make the definition personal and
thus relevant to you, not to create a totally new and unique
definition) here: These two definitions show the importance of
Organizational Culture, the company should have it because it
represents a firm’s personality or style, a good company need
Organizational Culture. My definition: Organization Culture is
the values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and
psychological environment of an organization.
II. Research the Culture of an Organization
On the Internet, find an organization that is of interest to you
and work through the steps listed below (helpful materials for
this step can be found in Chapter 16 Organizational Culture in
our OB textbook and the presentation slides such as “How to
read an Organization’s Culture”).

Name of Organization: Google URL of
Homepage:http://www.google.com/about/company/
a) Did you have any impressions or ideas regarding the
organization’s culture before you started researching the
organization? If so, list them here briefly (keywords are fine):
_______________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________.
b) What are some of the artifacts* of the organization’s culture
that you found through your research? (*symbols,
stories/language, rituals, policies, or behaviors/interaction
styles): If so, list them here briefly (keywords are fine):
_____________________________________________________
____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________.
Please note the URL(s) you used to answer this question:
___________________________________________________.
c) Were you able to detect something that “speaks to” the
organization’s rules, norms, or values? In your answer, please
clarify whether 1) you found explicitly declarations that the
organization considers those rules, norms, and/or values as
elements of its culture, or 2) you had to infer those rules,
norms, and/or values from your research (i.e., they were
implicitly embedded in the materials you reviewed). My
findings were:
_____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________.
d) Read the article “Find Your Employer ‘Culture Fit’ With
Social Media”. Then briefly evaluate the feasibility and
usefulness of using social media tools to evaluate the “culture
fit” between you and the organization you have researched. If
possible, please specify in your answer which tool (Facebook,
LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) would be most useful. Feasibility:
____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
Usefulness:
_____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
III. On the Internet, find Bridgewater Associates’ website.
3. When we discussed the question of the origins of an
organization’s culture in class, one answer pointed to the
influences of founders and their values. Briefly describe the
role that Bridgewater’s founder had in shaping the

organization’s values, principles and eventually culture. In your
answer, make sure to mention what—according to the founder—
the two most important values are and why the founder
emphasizes those two values (i.e., to what ends are those values
important?).
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
___________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
____________.
IV. Read the Financial Times article “Reckitt’s strongly
flavoured Essence”.
4. In your own words, briefly describe Reckitt Benckiser’s
organizational culture (keywords are fine):
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
___________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_.
5. Name a rule, norm, or value that is part of Reckitt
Benckiser’s shared social knowledge and describe how this rule,
norm, or value impacts the attitudes and behaviors of Reckitt
Benckiser’s employees. One rule, norm, or value is:
_____________________________________________________
_____, and it shapes the attitudes and behaviors of RB’s
employees in the following ways:
_________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________.
V. On the Internet, find Reckitt Benckiser’s website.
6. How does RB describe life at the company and its people?
The company describes life at RB and its people as:
_____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_________.

7. Compare your answer above (i.e., #6) to your answer to
question #4 (i.e., describing RB’s organizational culture in your
own words). To what extent does your answer to question #4
capture how RB sees itself? If there is no discrepancy between
your perception and RB’s own perception, kudos to you!
However, if a discrepancy exists, it is probably due to the fact
that “a complete understanding of organizational culture is a
process that happens over time” (Colquitt, LePine, & Wesson,
2015, p. 5__). Please name the primary process by which such
an understanding is obtained. The process is called:
_______________________________________________.
a. Are there explicit links between RB’s self-description and
one of the two primary outcomes of our integrated OB model? If
so, give an example of words or a phrase from RB’s website
that demonstrate such a link:
_____________________________________________________
_______________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______.
b. According to its website, which four core values does RB list
as essential to their organizational culture and which drive RB’s
success?
1) ________________________________________________ 2)
____________________________________________________
3) ________________________________________________ 4)
____________________________________________________.
c. Reflect on those values for a moment. Would you and RB be
a good match? According to our textbook, which concept is
used to describe such matches? Plus, provide one reason why
the concept is important. 1) The concept is called:
________________-______________________________
___________,
2) and it is important because
_____________________________________________________
_________________________

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________.
VI. ASA Framework (for information see our OB Textbook)
8. What does “ASA” in ASA framework stand for? ASA stands
for: ___________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________.
9. What does the ASA framework postulate? The ASA
framework
____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________.
10. How does the ASA concept apply to Reckitt Benckiser, as
described in the Financial Times article?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

__________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__________.
VII. When looking for a job, should you pay attention to an
organization’s culture? Why or why not?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_______________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_______________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_______________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_______________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________.
2 of 6
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Organizational
Culture
Chapter 16

Welcome to Chapter 16 of the slides that accompany the 3rd
edition of Colquitt-LePine-Wesson. I’m Jason Colquitt, and I’ll
use this Notes field to provide hints and background on each
slide. These are variations of the slides I myself use to teach
both undergraduates, traditional MBA’s, and executive MBA’s.
If you have any questions or comments about these slides,
please feel free to email me at [email protected].
Note that these slides will sometimes refer to the Instructor’s
Manual, which I also write for the book. In particular, the slides
will refer to the Try This! feature in the manual. That feature is
designed to supply some helpful hints to spice up your lectures.
Note that the Instructor’s Manual includes other helpful features
as well, including OB on Screen hints, Asset Gallery tie-ins,
Bonus Cases from prior editions of the book, and Businessweek
Cases.
16-*
Class AgendaOrganizational culture definedCulture
componentsCulture typesCulture strengthMaintaining and
changing a cultureBest practices
16-*
Here’s the integrative model that reminds students of where
they are, where they’ve been, and where they’re going. Here I
would note that this is the second of two lectures that
acknowledge that the organizations in which employees work
help shape their job satisfaction, stress, motivation, and so
forth.

16-*
Why Do Some Organizations Have
Different Cultures than Others?
This slide is intentionally blurry.
It presents a “question of the day.” The question is usually a
“why” question that the theories, models, and concepts
discussed in the chapter will help to answer. Sometimes the
question will instead take the form of a “how” or “what” query,
however.
The blurriness of the slide will make sense when we return to it
near the conclusion of the file. But the blurriness conveys that
students already have some ideas about the question of the day.
But those ideas lack the clarity of the answers that scientific
research can provide.
16-*
Organizational CultureThe shared social knowledge within an
organization regarding the rules, norms, and values that shape
the attitudes and behaviors of its employees
16-*
Organizational Culture
16-*

Observable ArtifactsThe manifestations of an organization’s
culture that employees can easily see or talk
aboutSymbolsPhysical
structuresLanguageStoriesRitualsCeremonies
A helpful point of discussion, and one that’s spotlighted in the
exercise for this chapter, is to consider these observable
artifacts in the context of your university. What are the
university’s symbols, structures, language, rituals, and so forth?
What kind of picture do those rituals paint about the university?
16-*
Espoused ValuesThe beliefs, philosophies, and norms that a
company explicitly states
16-*
Basic Underlying AssumptionsTaken-for-granted beliefs and
philosophies that are so ingrained that employees simply act on
them rather than questioning the validity of their behavior in a
given situation
16-*
General Culture Types
16-*
Specific Culture TypesCustomer service cultureSafety

cultureDiversity cultureCreativity culture
A good point of discussion here concerns which observable
artifacts could be used to create these various culture types. If
students owned their own business and wanted to create one of
these cultures, how would they leverage observable artifacts to
do it?
16-*
Creativity Culture
Innovation
Formalization
>22
<22
For all the OB Assessments, instruct students to “reverse” the
bolded items (items 7 and 10 in this case). 1 becomes 5, 2
becomes 4, 4 becomes 2, and 5 becomes 1. After doing that
reversing, they should perform the calculations in the formula.
The average scores for this index are shown in blue on the slide
(22 in both cases). Recognize that this is an admittedly arbitrary
way of classifying “high” vs. “low”. I use a show of hands to
see how many students fall above and below the average, and I
then see if students will volunteer any extremely high or low
scores.
OB Assessments: Creativity Culture. This assessment
determines whether or not students have held a job at an
organization with a creativity culture. Ask students to fill out
the assessment relative to their current job, or the last job they
held. Then focus discussion on whether the students viewed
themselves as a good “fit” for their particular culture. For

example, if the students are low in openness to experience (see
Chapter 9 on Personality and Cultural Values), did they feel like
a good fit in a culture that emphasized high innovation and low
formalization?
16-*
Culture StrengthExists when employees definitively agree about
the way things are supposed to happen within the organization
(high consensus) and when their subsequent behaviors are
consistent with those expectations (high intensity)
16-*
Culture
Strength
Try This! This is a great time to ask students about
organizations they perceive as having strong cultures. Have they
ever worked for an organization with a strong culture? What
did it feel like? What were the expectations placed on them?
Was it a positive or negative experience? Try to draw out
varying experiences students have had in the places they have
worked. Explore whether “everyone” thought it was a bad place
to work or whether it was just them as an individual who didn’t
fit.
16-*
Culture StrengthOB on Screen: New in TownDoes the New Ulm
plant seem to have a different culture than the larger

organization?
OB on Screen: New In Town. The clip referenced in the book
begins around the 18:34 mark of the film, continuing until about
the 25:53 mark. If you obtain the DVD of the film from either
Netflix, Best Buy, or Amazon, it is Chapter 6 of that DVD (note
that the film can typically be obtained through iTunes as well).
The clip depicts corporate office, executive-in-waiting Lucy
Hill’s first day of work at a food processing plant in New Ulm,
Minnesota. The scene provides a case study of how different
subunits of a large company can have radically different
cultures and perspectives. Students will find the stereotypical
depictions of Minnesotans to be funny, but push them to
understand the differences in perspective between a
manufacturing plant and corporate offices. Neither type of
culture is right or wrong, but they can be dramatically different.
How might Lucy Hill have been better prepared for this
meeting? What could she have done differently? How important
is it to fit in with the culture of a group you are trying to
influence? Encourage the students to try to think of times when
it might be beneficial NOT to fit in with the culture. Are there
advantages to allowing organizational subunits to have a
different culture? When might this not be the case? Please email
me ([email protected]) if you have any questions about using
OB on Screen in your teaching.
16-*
Maintaining a CultureAttraction-Selection-Attrition
(ASA)SocializationAnticipatory stageEncounter
stageUnderstanding and adaptation
16-*

Changing a CultureChanges in leadershipMergers and
acquisitions
16-*
This is a repeat of the same intentionally blurry slide. It is
repeated to illustrate the transition to the next slide.
16-*
Change Factors
Maintenance Factors
Espoused Values
Observable Artifacts
Basic Assumptions
Change Factors
Maintenance Factors
Espoused Values
Observable Artifacts
Basic Assumptions

Here is the answer to the “question of the day.” It is often a bit
unclear why some organizations have different cultures than
others. Fortunately, the topics discussed in this chapter provide
some answers to that question. Some organizations have
different cultures because of different observable artifacts,
espoused values, or basic underlying assumptions. These factors
are shaped by factors that either change or maintain an
organization’s culture. Note that these concepts don’t fully and
completely answer the question. In scientific terms, they don’t
explain 100% of the variation in organizational culture.
16-*
Here is the concluding and integrating figure for the chapter,
which complements the prior slide.
16-*
How Important is Culture?Person–organization fit is the degree
to which a person’s personality and values match the culture of
an organization
16-*
How Important is Culture?
Here is the diagram that summarizes the importance of that
chapter’s topic, relative to Job Performance and Organizational

Commitment. Over time, students will get a feel for which
topics have a stronger or weaker relationships with Job
Performance and Organizational Commitment. They also get a
feel for when things are more related to one than the other, and
vice versa.
16-*
Best Practices: Mayo Clinic
Here is the Best Practices slide spotlighting a company who
leverages that chapter’s subject to improve Job Performance and
Organizational Commitment. Rather than spotlighting the
company that is the focus of the current edition’s wraparound
case, I spotlight the company that is the subject of the Bonus
Case in the Instructor’s Manual (taken from a previous edition
of the textbook). That gives the instructor a chance to end on a
note that “goes beyond the book.”
In this case that company is the Mayo Clinic.
16-*
Best Practices: Mayo Clinic
Considered the best healthcare system, with 42,000 employees
Doctors work in teams; “more thinking, less testing”
“Put the patient first.”
Voluntary turnover rate is 2.5% for physicians
Orientation for new hires focuses on values, history, and culture
All of these bullets about the Mayo Clinic are described in the
Bonus Case in the Instructor’s manual.

Confirming Pages
INDIVIDUAL
OUTCOMES
MECHANISMS
INDIVIDUAL
INDIVIDUAL
CHARACTERISTICS
GROUP
MECHANISMS
ORGANIZATIONAL
MECHANISMS
Organizational
Culture
Organizational
Structure
Teams:
Processes &
Communication
Motivation
Teams:
Characteristics &
Diversity

Learning &
Decision Making
Ability
Personality &
Cultural Values
Stress
Leadership:
Power &
Negotiation
Job
Satisfaction
Leadership:
Styles &
Behaviors
Job
Performance
Trust, Justice,
& Ethics
Organizational
Commitment
chapter
Organizational
Culture 16

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520 C H A P T E R 1 6 Organizational Culture
OBSERVABLE ARTIFACTS. Observable artifacts are
the manifestations of an organization’s
culture that employees can easily see or talk about. They supply
the signals that employees
interpret to gauge how they should act during the workday.
Artifacts supply the primary means
of transmitting an organization’s culture to its workforce. It’s
difficult to overestimate the impor-
tance of artifacts, because they help show not only current
employees but also potential employ-
ees, customers, shareholders, and investors what the
organization is all about. There are six major
types of artifacts: symbols, physical structures, language,
stories, rituals, and ceremonies. 13
Symbols can be found throughout an organization, from its
corporate logo to the images it
places on its website to the uniforms its employees wear. Think
about what Nike’s “swoosh”
represents: speed, movement, velocity. What might that symbol
convey about Nike’s culture?
Or consider Apple Computer’s “apple” logo. That symbol brings
to mind Newton’s discovery
of gravity under the apple tree, conveying the importance of
innovation within Apple’s culture.
When you think of the words “dark suit, white shirt, tie,” what
company do you think of? For

many, the symbol represents IBM because that summarizes the
company’s long-standing dress
code. Even though that dress code hasn’t been in place at IBM
for 15 years, it still symbolizes a
formal, bureaucratic, and professional culture.
Physical structures also say a lot about a culture. Is the
workplace open? Does top manage-
ment work in a separate section of the building? Is the setting
devoid of anything unique, or can
employees express their personalities? Takanobu Ito, CEO of
Honda Motor, sends a message
about the company’s culture in his office. Ito works at a plain
wooden desk in room with a dozen
other executives. 14 John Childress, founding partner of The
Principia Group, tells the story of a
Ford executive he worked with whose entire office had burned
down: “He’d been having terrible
problems between departments. There were barriers that meant
information wasn’t flowing. He
had to quickly rent new premises and all he could find was an
open-plan building. The culture
changed overnight because of the different ways of working.”
15 IDEO, a creative design firm,
also has an open-office environment, though IDEO lets
employees set up their offices however
they like. When you walk around their work areas, you’ll be
walking underneath bicycles hang-
ing over your head and crazy objects and toys in every
direction. 16
Language reflects the jargon, slang, and slogans used within
the walls of an organization. Do
you know what a CTR, CPC, or Crawler is? Chances are you
don’t. If you worked for Yahoo,
however, those terms would be second nature to you: CTR

stands for click-through rate, CPC
stands for cost-per-click, and a Crawler is a computer program
that gathers information from
Observable
Artifacts
Espoused
Values
Basic
Underlying
Assumptions
FIGURE 16-1 The Three Components of Organizational Culture
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Confirming Pages
Ceremonies are formal events, generally performed in front
of an audience of organizational
members. At Care.com , all workers are forced to move desks
every year at the same time. CEO
Sheila Marcelo assigns the seats. She says, “People don’t have a
choice where they sit. Part of
the reason was to embrace change, to remove turfiness so that
you’re not just chatting with your
friends and sitting with your friends. You sit with somebody
else from a different team so you get

to know their job. What are they doing? What are they saying
on the phone? How do they tick?
And it’s getting to know different people so that we build a
really big team. And we do that every
year. And it’s now actually become an exciting thing that
people embrace.” 24 In the process of
turning around the company, Continental Airlines held a
ceremony to burn an employee-despised
800-page policy manual. Gordon Bethune, then-CEO of
Continental, put together a task force that
came up with a new 80-page manual. 25 Other types of
ceremonies revolve around celebrations for
meeting quality goals, reaching a certain level of profitability,
or launching a new product.
ESPOUSED VALUES. Espoused values are the beliefs,
philosophies, and norms that a com-
pany explicitly states. Espoused values can range from
published documents, such as a com-
pany’s vision or mission statement, to verbal statements made
to employees by executives and
managers. Examples of some of Whole Foods Market’s outward
representations of espoused
values can be found in Table 16-1 . What does each of these
statements tell you about Whole
Foods and what it cares about?
It’s certainly important to draw a distinction between
espoused values and enacted values. It’s
one thing for a company to outwardly say something is
important; it’s another thing for employ-
ees to consistently act in ways that support those espoused
values. When a company holds to its
espoused values over time and regardless of the situations it
operates in, the values become more
believable both to employees and outsiders. However, in times

of economic downturns, staying
true to espoused values isn’t always easy. Marriott International
has been struggling in the most
recent economic downturn, like many of its competitors in the
lodging/travel business. It has
been very tempting for the company to do everything it can to
slash expenses, but its espoused
value of always treating its people right prevents cuts that
would harm employee benefits. J.W.
“Bill” Marriott Jr., the company’s chairperson and CEO, states,
“If the employees are well taken
care of, they’ll take care of the customer and the customer will
come back. That’s basically the
core value of the company.” 26 It is worth noting that not all
companies are open in regards to
their values. Trader Joe’s, the Monrovia, CA–based grocery
chain is known by its patrons as
perhaps the coolest, local product-seeking, customer-oriented
business in America. In opposition
to Whole Foods, they are also perhaps one of the most secretive
companies in the world when
TABLE 16-1 The Espoused Values of Whole Foods
Below is a list of the seven core values that Whole Foods
believes lay the foundation for its
organizational culture. The company believes that these values
set it apart from competing
organizations, show others why Whole Foods is a great place to
work, and will always be the
reasons for the company’s existence regardless of how large it
grows. More details about
each value can be found on the company’s website.
1. Selling the highest-quality natural and organic products
available.

2. Satisfying and delighting our customers.
3. Supporting team member happiness and excellence.
4. Creating wealth through profits and growth.
5. Caring about our communities and our environment.
6. Creating ongoing win–win partnerships with our suppliers.
7. Promoting the health of our stakeholders through healthy-
eating education.
Source: From Whole Foods Core Values,
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company/corevalues.php
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Confirming Pages
523C H A P T E R 1 6 Organizational Culture
it comes to their business practices. In fact, suppliers have to
sign agreements that they won’t
disclose anything having to do with their business relationship
with the store before they are
allowed to supply products to them. 27
BASIC UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS. Basic underlying
assumptions are the taken-for-
granted beliefs and philosophies that are so ingrained that
employees simply act on them rather

than questioning the validity of their behavior in a given
situation. 28 These assumptions represent
the deepest and least observable part of a culture and may not
be consciously apparent, even to
organizational veterans. Edgar Schein, one of the preeminent
scholars on the topic of organiza-
tional culture, uses the example of safety in an engineering
firm. He states, “In an occupation
such as engineering, it would be inconceivable to deliberately
design something that is unsafe;
it is a taken-for-granted assumption that things should be safe.”
29 Whatever a company’s under-
lying assumptions are, its hidden beliefs are those that are the
most likely to dictate employee
behavior and affect employee attitudes. They’re also the aspects
of an organizational culture that
are the most long-lasting and difficult to change. 30
G E N E R A L C U LT U R E T Y P E S
If we can consider the combination of an organization’s
observable artifacts, espoused values,
and underlying assumptions, we can begin to classify its culture
along various dimensions. Of
course, there are many different types of organizational
cultures, just like there are many dif-
ferent types of personalities. Many researchers have tried to
create general typologies that can
be used to describe the culture of any organization. For
instance, one popular general typology
divides organizational culture along two dimensions: solidarity
and sociability. Solidarity is the
degree to which group members think and act alike, and
sociability represents how friendly
employees are to one another. 31 Figure 16-2 shows how we
might describe organizations that are
either high or low on these dimensions. Organizations that are

low on both dimensions have a
fragmented culture in which employees are distant and
disconnected from one another. Orga-
nizations that have cultures in which employees think alike but
aren’t friendly to one another
can be considered mercenary cultures. These types of
organizations are likely to be very politi-
cal, “what’s in it for me” environments. One example of a
company with a history of being a
mercenary culture can be found in this chapter’s OB at the
Bookstore. Cultures in which all
employees are friendly to one another, but everyone thinks
differently and does his or her own
thing, are networked cultures. Many highly creative
organizations have a networked culture.
Organizations with friendly employees who all think alike are
communal cultures. There is
16.2
What general and spe-
cific types can be used to
describe an organization’s
culture?
Source: Adapted from R. Goffee and G. Jones, The Character of
a Corporation (New York: Harper Business, 1998).
Low
Sociability
High
Sociability
Low
Solidarity

High
Solidarity
Networked
Fragmented Mercenary
Communal
FIGURE 16-2 A Typology of Organizational Culture
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CREATIVITY CULTURE
Have you experienced a creativity culture? This assessment is
designed to measure two facets
of that type of culture. Think of your current job, or the last job
that you held (even if it was a
part-time or summer job). If you haven’t worked, think of a
current or former student group that
developed strong norms for how tasks should be done. Answer
each question using the response
scale provided. Then subtract your answers to the boldfaced
questions from 6, with the differ-
ence being your new answer for that question. For example, if
your original answer for question
7 was “4,” your new answer is “2” (6 – 4). Then sum up your
scores for the two facets. (For more
assessments relevant to this chapter, please visit

http://connect.mcgraw-hill.com.)
SCORING AND INTERPRETATION:
Innovation: Sum up items 1-5.
Formalization: Sum up items 6-10.
If your score is 22 or above for either facet, your organization
or workgroup is high on that par-
ticular dimension. Creative cultures tend to be high on
innovation and low on formalization. So
if your score was 22 or above for innovation and 21 or below
for formalization, then chances are
you’ve experienced a strong creativity culture.
Source: From Malcolm G. Patterson, Michael A. West, Viv J.
Shackleton, Jeremy F. Dawson, Rebecca Lawthom, Sally
Maitlis, David L. Robinson, and Alison M. Wallace, “Validating
the Organizational Climate Measure: Links to Manage-
rial Practices, Productivity and Innovation,” Journal of
Organizational Behavior, Vol. 26, 2005, pp. 379–408. Reprinted
with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
1
STRONGLY
DISAGREE
2
DISAGREE
3
UNCERTAIN
4
AGREE

5
STRONGLY
AGREE
1. New ideas are readily accepted here.
2. This company is quick to respond when changes need to be
made.
3. Management here is quick to spot the need to do things
differently.
4. This organization is very flexible; it can quickly change
procedures to meet
new conditions and solve problems as they arise.
5. People in this organization are always searching for new
ways of looking at
problems.
6. It is considered extremely important here to follow the
rules.
7. People can ignore formal procedures and rules if it helps
to get the job
done.
8. Everything has to be done by the book.
9. It is not necessary to follow procedures to the letter around
here.

10. Nobody gets too upset if people break the rules around here.
O B A S S E S S M E N T S
might have noticed that all of the advantages in the left-hand
column of Table 16-2 allow the
organization to become more efficient at whatever aspect of
culture is strong within the organiza-
tion. The right-hand column’s disadvantages all lead toward an
organization’s inability to adapt.
In some cases, the culture of an organization is not really
strong or weak. Instead, there might
be subcultures that unite a smaller subset of the
organization’s employees. These subgroups may
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be created because there is a strong leader in one area of the
company that engenders different
norms and values or because different divisions in a company
act independently and create their
own cultures. As shown in Figure 16-4 , subcultures exist when
the overall organizational culture
is supplemented by another culture governing a more specific
set of employees. Subcultures are
more likely to exist in large organizations than they are in small
companies. 56 Most organiza-
tions don’t mind having subcultures, as long as they don’t

interfere with the values of the overall
culture. In fact, subcultures can be very useful for organizations
if there are certain areas of the
organization that have different demands and needs for their
employees. 57 However, when their
values don’t match those of the larger organization, we call
subcultures countercultures. Coun-
tercultures can sometimes serve a useful purpose by challenging
the values of the overall organi-
zation or signifying the need for change. 58 In extreme cases
however, countercultures can split the
Strong Culture Weak Culture
Differentiated CultureOrganizational Subcultures
FIGURE 16-4 Culture Strength and Subcultures
TABLE 16-2 Pros and Cons of a Strong Culture
ADVANTAGES OF A STRONG CULTURE DISADVANTAGES
OF A STRONG CULTURE
Differentiates the organization from
others
Makes merging with another organization more
difficult
Allows employees to identify them-
selves with the organization
Attracts and retains similar kinds of employees,
thereby limiting diversity of thought
Facilitates desired behaviors among

employees
Can be “too much of a good thing” if it creates
extreme behaviors among employees
Creates stability within the organization Makes adapting to the
environment more difficult
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Attraction/
Selection/
Attrition
Socialization
Changes in
Leadership
Mergers and
Acquisitions
CULTURE COMPONENTS
General Culture Types
• Fragmented
• Mercenary
• Communal

• Networked
Specific Culture Types
• Customer service
• Safety
• Diversity
• Creativity
Culture Strength
WEAK STRONG
Observable
Artifacts
Espoused
Values
Basic
Underlying
Assumptions
FIGURE 16-6 Why Do Some Organizations Have Different
Cultures Than Others?
S U M M A RY: W H Y D O S O M E O R G A N I Z AT I
O N S H AV E
D I F F E R E N T C U LT U R E S T H A N O T H E R S ?
So why do some organizations have different cultures than
others? As shown in Figure 16-6 ,
attraction–selection–attrition processes, socialization, changes
in leadership, and mergers and
acquisitions shape the three components of organizational
culture: basic underlying assump-
tions, espoused values, and observable artifacts. Specific

combinations of those culture com-
ponents then give rise to both general and specific culture types.
For example, cultures can be
categorized on the basis of solidarity and sociability into
fragmented, mercenary, communal, and
networked types. Cultures can also be categorized into more
specific types, such as customer
service, safety, diversity, and creativity. Finally, those general
and specific types can be further
classified according to the strength of the culture. Taken
together, these processes explain “what
it’s like” within the hallways of a given organization.
547.indd 534 08/11/11 8:32 PM08/11/11 8:32 PM
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TABLE 16-3 Values Used to Judge Fit with a Culture
Source: C.A. O’Reilly, J.A. Chatman, and D.F. Caldwell,
“People and Organizational Culture: A Profile Comparison
Approach to Assessing Person–Organization Fit,” Academy of
Management Journal, Vol. 34, 1991, pp. 487–516.
Copyright © 1991. Reproduced with permission of via
Copyright Clearance Center.
Flexibility Adaptability
Stability Predictability
Being innovative Take advantage of opportunities

A willingness to experiment Risk taking
Being careful Autonomy
Being rule oriented Being analytical
Paying attention to detail Being precise
Being team oriented Sharing information freely
Emphasizing a single culture Being people oriented
Fairness Respect for the individual’s rights
Tolerance Informality
Being easy going Being calm
Being supportive Being aggressive
Decisiveness Action orientation
Taking initiative Being reflective
Achievement orientation Being demanding
Taking individual responsibility High expectations for
performance
Opportunities for growth High pay for good performance
Security of employment Offers praise for good performance
Low level of conflict Confronting conflict directly

Developing friends at work Fitting in
Working in collaboration with others Enthusiasm for the job
Working long hours Not being constrained by rules
Having an emphasis on quality Being distinctive from others
Having a good reputation Being socially responsible
Being results oriented Having a clear guiding philosophy
Being competitive Being highly organized
for an organization is going to be like by highlighting both the
positive and the negative aspects
of the job. 88 Although RJPs almost always occur prior to
hiring, Cisco Systems has a unique
program called “Cisco Choice” where their 2,500 new hires a
year interview and hear presenta-
tions from managers in over 30 business units after they are
hired. The new hires then get to
choose where in the company they want to work. Cisco feels
that by allowing new hires to pick
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Person–Organization Fit has a weak positive effect on
Performance. Employees who

fit with their organization tend to have slightly higher levels of
Task Performance, with
effects on Citizenship Behavior slightly stronger. Not much is
known about the impact of
fit on Counterproductive Behavior.
Person–Organization Fit has a strong positive effect on
Commitment.
Employees who fit with their organization tend to have higher
levels of Affective
Commitment. Not much is known about the impact of fit on
Continuance or Normative
Commitment.
Person–
Organization
Fit
Job
Performance
Organizational
Commitment
Person–
Organization
Fit
Represents a strong correlation (around .50 in magnitude).
Represents a moderate correlation (around .30 in magnitude).
Represents a weak correlation (around .10 in magnitude).

FIGURE 16-7 Effects of Person–Organization Fit on
Performance and Commitment
Sources: W. Arthur Jr., S.T. Bell, A.J. Villado, and D.
Doverspike, “The Use of Person–Organization Fit in
Employment-
Related Decision Making: An Assessment of Its Criterion-
Related Validity,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91 (2007),
pp. 786–801; and A.L. Kristof-Brown, R.D. Zimmerman, and
E.C. Johnson, “Consequences of Individuals’ Fit at Work:
A Meta-Analysis of Person–Job, Person–Organization, Person–
Group, and Person–Supervisor Fit,” Personnel Psychol-
ogy 58 (2005), pp. 281–342.
jobs based on their interest and skills, they are likely to work
harder and stay with the company.
It also lessens reality shock and shortens the encounter stage
that normally accompanies initial
employment. James Revis, after going through Cisco Choice as
a new hire, sees benefits even
beyond his choice of where to work, “Normally [new
employees] just know what their depart-
ment does and what their specific product is. When we
collaborate, I already know what the
other department does.” Given Cisco’s astounding 98 percent
two-year retention rate, it’s hard to
argue with them. 89
ORIENTATION PROGRAMS. One effective way to start the
socialization process is by having
new employees attend some form of newcomer orientation
session. Apparently most organiza-
tions agree, given that 64–93 percent of all organizations use
some form of orientation training
process. 90 Not all orientation programs are alike however,
and different types of orientation train-

ing can be more effective than others. 91 Orientation
programs have been shown to be effective
transmitters of socialization content, such that those employees
who complete orientation have
higher levels of satisfaction, commitment, and performance than
those who don’t. 92 Jet Blue
CEO Dave Barger believes strongly in these sessions and shows
it by having been to over 250
of them over the last decade. Barger tells his new hires, “The
hard product—airplanes, leather
seats, satellite TVs, bricks and mortar—as long as you have a
checkbook, they can be replicated.
It’s the culture that can’t be replicated. It’s how we treat each
other. Do we trust each other? Can
we push back on each other? The human side of the equation is
the most important part of what
we’re doing.” 93
MENTORING. One of the most popular pieces of advice
given to college students as they begin
their careers is that they need to find a mentor or coach within
their organization. 94 Mentoring is a
process by which a junior-level employee (protégé) develops a
deep and long-lasting relationship
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•! F0)C$2-&V-H$Q"02&
Find Your Employer “Culture Fit” With Social
Media
by Vault Careers | July 09, 2013
Make no mistake about it: finding a job is tricky
business. You search online job boards, go to
career fairs, network with your connections—all
hoping that you’ll find the right job for you. When
you find one, then you’ve got to determine if
you’re qualified. Then, do you have the
necessary knowledge and skills to do the work?
On top of that, you’ve got to have the passion for
the work. Do you care enough about the material
and duties of the position to do a good job? Can
you align with the values of the organization? Do
you and the employer see eye to eye on what’s
most important about work, life, and what’s
ahead?
That last piece, a values alignment, is something many people
refer to as a “culture fit.”
That is to say—do the employees at that organization care about
the same things you care
about? Will you get along?
You likely hear a lot about work culture: organizations where
people bring dogs to work,
play ping pong in the middle of the workday, have paid time off

to do community service
together. It can be hard to add all of this into the equation when
you job search.
Sometimes, you’re more concerned with earning a paycheck and
want to get on in the
“real world.”
But, this notion of culture is an essential one to consider, as
sometimes it can make or
break your happiness at work. When you’re happy, you are more
likely to do well at your
job, making you more successful. Caring about your happiness
and fit at the workplace
isn’t just for the “feel good” types. It makes economical sense
for everyone involved.
So, how do you find the right workplace culture for you?
Luckily for you, there’s social
media: an interactive way to learn about and communicate with
an organization in real
time.
Here are some tips to start exploring culture on these networks:
Facebook:
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media: an interactive way to learn about and communicate with
an organization in real
time.
Here are some tips to start exploring culture on these networks:
Facebook:
Twitter:
LinkedIn:
When it comes to finding the right job for you, your skills and
interests are important
indicators of how well you’ll be able to do and how much you’ll
enjoy doing it. Just keep in
mind that the company you keep at the company where you
work is also a factor in your
happiness and success.
Like the organization’s Facebook page. You’ll not only get the
organization’s updates in
your Newsfeed, but you’ll also likely find videos and photos
that will help you visualize their
work. Don’t think recruiting happens on Facebook? Forbes
recently published a story
about companies like Pepsi, Gap, AIG and more who use the
social networking giant as a
recruiting tool.
Have you heard about Facebook’s new Graph Search? It’s a way
to search for things
through your friends and connections. To find out about the
culture of an organization, look
at its people. Using Graph Search, you could type in “People
who work at _________” in

the top bar and you’d find all of their employees (as reported by
what is in their “About”
sections) who are in your network. See if the employees are
people like you.
Follow the organization’s Twitter account and you’ll get to
know all that’s happening up
to the second. If the organization has an account focused on
recruiting, follow that, too.
Often times these accounts have the company’s name and the
word “careers” in the
handle. Take one step further and look at the account’s Twitter
Lists (here’s what Lists are)
– the Lists could help you find other organizational accounts or
even some of its people to
follow.
Search for people talking about the organization. Type the
organization’s name in the
search box (tip: use quotes around the whole name if it’s more
than one word) and see
what people are saying about the company. You don’t even have
to be on Twitter for this
one: search Twitter anytime by going to search.twitter.com
Follow the organization’s “Company Page” by searching its
name in LinkedIn’s search
bar (here’s a little more about Company Searches). See how the
organization describes
itself and what they talk about in status updates. When you land
on the organization’s
page, dig a little deeper by clicking on the “Insights” tab. Here,
you’re able to investigate
where people worked before they came to that organization and
even who is getting
promoted.

Check out the people in your network who work there. On the
Company Page for each
organization, you’ll see the “How You’re Connected” area.
Click there to find out who’s in
your network that works there. Then, check out things like their
groups or interests in their
profiles to see what you might have in common.
employer-cultu...
2 of 3 12/4/13 9:33 PM
When it comes to finding the right job for you, your skills and
interests are important
indicators of how well you’ll be able to do and how much you’ll
enjoy doing it. Just keep in
mind that the company you keep at the company where you
work is also a factor in your
happiness and success.
Kevin Grubb is a career counselor, social media consultant, and
speaker on the subject of
social media & careers. He teaches a college course he created
called Social Networking:
Creating Your Professional Identity, and serves as the
moderator for LinkedIn’s Career
Services Professionals webinars, helping to share ideas with
colleagues about best
practices for using LinkedIn on college/university campuses.
Kevin is also a contributing writer of the “Tech Talk” column

for the National Association of
Colleges & Employers "Spotlight Online" publication, a
featured speaker at conferences,
colleges, and universities, and was named a top “Gen Y
Careerist to Follow on Twitter” on
Brazen Careerist. Learn more about Kevin and contact him at
www.kevincgrubb.com
Filed Under: Interviewing | Job Search | Networking |
Workplace Issues
profiles to see what you might have in common.
employer-cultu...
3 of 3 12/4/13 9:33 PM
1 of 2
FT - Reckitt’s strongly flavoured Essence (Org Culture)
By Maggie Urry, Financial Times, January 22, 2008, p. 14
Managers at the Consumer Goods Maker regard its unusually
aggressive Culture as their prime Competitive Advantage
People at Reckitt Benckiser have a striking word to de-
scribe the company’s culture: Marmite. Like eating the
strongly-flavoured spread, working for the SloughUK-
based multinational company is, they say, a “love it or
hate it” experience.
While not to everyone’s taste, Bart Becht, chief execu-
tive, says the group’s culture is “the number one driver
of success – no question. It is our only sustainable ad-

vantage. Everything else can be copied, but it’s close to
impossible to copy culture.”
Deliberately developing a strong culture is not the prime
consideration at most companies. David Tong, a princi-
pal in Mercer’s human resources consultancy, says a lot
of organisations struggle with the idea of generating and
imposing a culture across their structure. For many com-
panies it simply means espousing a mission statement, a
set of values or a code of conduct.
Yet Reckitt Benckiser’s experience suggests that distinct
advantages can be gained when managers build a culture
that serves its strategic objectives and rigorously apply it
across the company.
As a fast-moving consumer goods group – with brand
names such as Cillit Bang, Finish, Lysol, Veet and
Strepsils – Reckitt Benckiser seeks to make 40 per cent
of its revenues from products launched within the previ-
ous three years. To promote that end, its culture prizes
swift decision-making, innovation and a focus on finan-
cial results. Managers’ remuneration is closely linked to
individual performance and – to foster teamwork – to
that of their colleagues.
Unlike the culture at near rivals Procter & Gamble and
Unilever, which are considered less aggressive, more
process-driven companies, Mr Becht, a former P&G
man, says that Reckitt Benckiser is “very much not a
consensus organisation”.
Thomas Bittinger, category director for the air care busi-
ness and a recruit from P&G, says Reckitt Benckiser is
“much leaner, much more informal, much more individ-
ualistic” than his former firm.
Richard Ellis, who joined from Unilever and is senior
vice-president of research and development, concurs. At
Unilever, he says, “decision-making could consume a lot
of time...there were more stage gates in the innovation
process”.

Decisions are taken after fierce debate – “how we get
there might not always be the prettiest way,” concedes
Mr Becht – and everyone in a meeting is expected to
contribute to the discussion. But once agreed, all team
members are expected to throw their weight behind the
collective decision.
However, Mr Becht says compromises can be made. For
example, if eight people in a team favoured one ap-
proach but two argued strongly for another, Reckitt
Benckiser will sometimes try out the minority view in a
limited way in one of its geographic regions.
The company is also prepared to accept that some of its
swiftly taken decisions will turn out to be wrong. Mr
Becht says in developing new products there are bound
to be a few failures.
One was the Dettol Easy Mop – an all-in-one floor
cleaning gadget that did away with a mop bucket –
which was introduced in 2003 and hailed in that year’s
annual report. Now it has disappeared from supermarket
shelves. But the category marketing manager whose pic-
ture appeared in the 2003 accounts is still prospering at
the company.
“We don’t penalise people for trying,” Mr Becht says.
Reckitt Benckiser, which in 2006 posted revenues of
£4.9bn ($9.6bn, !6.5bn) and profits of £910m, puts the
onus on managers to take responsibility for fast-paced
decisions, so that many remark “it’s like running your
own company”. But it is not every manager who is pre-
pared to take such risks. Working at Reckitt Benckiser
can be “scary” at first, Mr Bittinger says, adding: “if you
are afraid of making mistakes this is the worst place to
be.”
Indeed, the thought of working in such a strong culture
would put many off. Yet turnover among the managers
in the group is low at 10 per cent, Mr Becht says. That is

because: “we are very picky” when recruiting. “I would
rather have the slot empty than the wrong person in it,”
he says, adding that about 80 per cent of applicants are
rejected before interview.
Those that make it to interview are grilled to see if they
match the group’s four values – commitment, achieve-
ment, entrepreneurship and teamwork. And after joining,
annual performance reviews again measure managers
against those yardsticks, with remuneration and promo-
tion depending as much on a manager’s cultural fit as on
conventional measures of success.
People who fit the culture thrive on it, says Mr Becht.
And anyone who does not, but still contrives to get
through the careful selection process, will be so unhappy
they will be glad to leave.
Mr Tong of Mercer, who confesses to being an admirer
of Reckitt Benckiser, says that companies can only hope
2 of 2
to instil culture throughout a business if senior managers
“send out a message that this stuff is taken seriously”.
He says that there is no point trying to build values into
annual appraisals if managers are not made aware that
their bosses regard it as a priority. It can, after all, be
tricky to tell a team member that in spite of their appar-
ent success in winning business or cutting costs, they
have been marked down on their teamwork.
Reckitt Benckiser’s culture pre-dates the 1999 merger,
when Mr Becht became boss of Benckiser. It was there
that he and his senior managers thrashed out the four
cultural values, and when it merged with Reckitt &
Colman there was a notable difference in their cultures.
After driving better performance from the new group,

Reckitt Benckiser’s next big cultural challenge came in
2006 when it acquired Boots Healthcare International,
the over-the-counter medicines business, for £1.93bn.
BHI “did not fit very well with Reckitt Benckiser”, says
Mr Becht. It was “more paternalistic and not very re-
sults-oriented”. BHI had 77 senior managers. All were
invited to be interviewed for a job with the enlarged
company and 65 of them did so. Of those 26 were of-
fered a role and 21 accepted it. The rest were offered
redundancy terms.
It sounds ruthless, but Mr Becht says there is no other
choice. “It is not always something you can teach people
because you are asking them to change their behaviour,”
he says.
Reckitt Benckiser’s next big deal is its £1.1bn bid for
Adams Respiratory Therapeutics, the US cough and cold
treatment business. What can Adams’ managers expect
when Reckitt Benckiser takes control?
First, they should not be worried that they will be sub-
sumed in a British or northern European monoculture.
More than 50 nationalities are represented among
Reckitt Benckiser’s top 400 people.
Mr Ellis, who is British, says while “culture self-selects”
that does not restrict diversity and the values “transcend
background”. Reckitt Benckiser will not be taking a
“cookie cutter” approach to Adams’ managers, but look
to take the best of the new talent pool.
Mr Bittinger advises them: “When you first join, the
breadth of responsibility, the pace and the level of detail
is breathtaking. Within a couple of months, you pick it
up and you realise how much more you can do.”
‘From day one it was go, go, go, go’: the shock
of a Reckitt takeover
When Frederique Hull and her colleagues at Boots
Healthcare International learnt in October 2005 that the

company was being taken over by Reckitt Benckiser,
they were in shock, she recalls. Their new owner had “a
reputation as quite a tough environment”.
At BHI the atmosphere was one of a family firm without
much emphasis on financial results. Reckitt Benckiser
took control in February 2006. “Initially it was a bit
scary,” says Ms Hull. Life at Reckitt Benckiser, “is so
fast that it is intimidating at first. From day one it was
go, go, go”.
She had been in charge of the Strepsils brand at BHI for
some years. “Everybody suddenly had an opinion [about
Strepsils]. I thought, I’m meant to be the expert. Sudden-
ly I was bombarded with challenges.”
She was given the Lemsip brand to manage alongside
Strepsils. But at her annual development review the sub-
ject of a job move came up. She had known from the
start that success at Reckitt Benckiser would lead to a
move overseas. With her husband and children settled
near the BHI base in Nottingham, she had decided not to
move the family to be near Reckitt’s headquarters in
Slough, but had juggled her working week.
Given the option of a move to Sydney, Australia, or to a
location in Europe, she was allowed time to think and
come to a decision that suited her family.
They plumped for Australia, and moved there in June
last year to become marketing director for the household
products division. Reckitt Benckiser eased the move
with help finding somewhere to live, looking for
schools, sorting out medical insurance and so on, which
“made it very simple”.
As for the culture, “it is an acquired taste,” she says, but
one she now enjoys. “It has made me a better business
person. I can see that every day in the way I think and do
things.”
Source:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0dc91f26-c842-11dc-94a6-
0000779fd2ac.html
Accessed: January 23, 2008
Links:
Life at Reckitt Benckiser:
http://www.rb.com/careers/right-for-you
RB’s Core Values:
http://www.rb.com/careers/core-values
Core Values Challenge:
http://www.rb.com/careers/core-values-challenge
by Derek Loosvelt | December 05, 2013
A few weeks ago, JPMorgan’s supposedly harmless Twitter
exercise #AskJPM—in which the bank invited Twitter users
to pose career-related questions to JPMorgan Vice Chairman
James B. Lee Jr.—quickly backfired, and instead of
asking Lee Jr. questions, the Twittersphere took the opportunity
to tell JPMorgan and its management team what they
really thought of them. Tweets like the following were posted
(with the #AskJPM hashtag) by the hundreds: “What's your
favorite type of whale?”; “Do you feel bad about systematically
undermining democracy? Do you know what fiduciary
duty is?”; and “I have Mortgage Fraud, Market Manipulation,
Credit Card Abuse, Libor Rigging and Predatory Lending
AM I DIVERSIFIED?”
It didn’t take long for JPMorgan to discontinue the Twitter
Q&A, but not before it became clear the bank had severely
underestimated the public’s outrage with its recent illegal
actions (which to date has cost the firm more than $13 billion in

fines, not to mention immeasurable prestige and a large chunk
of its remaining reputation). It also became clear that
#AskJPM was one of the all-time great corporate PR disasters
and that the bank’s PR department obviously didn’t
perform its due diligence before rolling out the Q&A.
And, to that end, to any other prestigious employers of
business-minded undergrads and MBAs considering undertaking
a similar type of PR exercise, I’d like to recommend a quick and
easy (and free!) way to gauge public opinion. It was
recently used by Bloomberg BusinessWeek to gauge public
opinion about the 50 U.S. states, and I think it would work
equally as well for the country’s top employers. The way it
works is this: if you want to gauge public opinion about
JPMorgan, for example, all you have to do is Google “Is
JPMorgan” and Google’s autocomplete function will display the
top four results—which are the most popular questions that
Google users are posing about the firm via Google and
which will give you a pretty good idea about what the public
thinks of the firm.
And if that’s not clear enough, I went ahead and performed this
research on several employers myself. My findings are
as follows:
McKinsey & Co.:
Is McKinsey worth it?
Is McKinsey evil? [I wonder how Mr. Gupta will enjoy Otisville
Correctional?]
http://www.vault.com/blog/workplace-issues/how-to-avoid-
askjpm-and-o...
1 of 3 12/5/2013 12:41 PM
Just for Fun ...

Is McKinsey publicly traded?
Is McKinsey a good company to work for?
Bain & Company:
Is Bain and Company public?
Is Bain a good company to work for?
Is Bain Capital a Mormon company? [Thanks, Mitt.]
What is Bain and Company?
The Boston Consulting Group:
Is Boston Consulting Group a good place to work?
Is Boston Consulting Group hiring?
Is Boston Consulting Group public?
What is [the] Boston Consulting Group matrix?
Google:
Is Google making us stupid?
Is Google voice free?
Is Google down?
Is Google a number?
Facebook:
Is Facebook down?
Is Facebook making us lonely?
Is Facebook dying?
Is Facebook a buy?
Twitter:
Is Twitter down?
Is Twitter profitable?
Is Twitter going public? [Going, going, gone.]
Is Twitter free?

Apple Inc.:
Is Apple Inc. a Fortune 500 company?
Is Apple Inc. growing?
Is Apple Inc. a monopoly?
Is Apple Inc. a monopoly or oligopoly? [Apple PR people take
note.]
Goldman Sachs:
Is Goldman Sachs a public company?
Is Goldman Sachs a bank?
Is Goldman Sachs going soft? [I wonder how that Saturdays-off
policy is working out?]
Is Goldman Sachs a good company?
JPMorgan:
Is JPMorgan a whale of a value?
Is JPMorgan in trouble?
Is JPMorgan a bank?
Is JPMorgan a good place to work?
Morgan Stanley:
Is Morgan Stanley a bank?
Is Morgan Stanley a good place to work?
Is Morgan Stanley the same as JPMorgan? [Identity issues.]
askjpm-and-o...
2 of 3 12/5/2013 12:41 PM
Is Morgan Stanley closed on Columbus Day?
The Blackstone Group:
Is Blackstone a good investment?

Is Blackstone a hedge fund?
Is Blackstone merlot gluten free? [According to the firm
(Blackstone Winery): "We do not test our products for gluten.
However, to our knowledge, they do not contain it."]
Is Blackstone selling Hilton? [No, but it is taking Hilton public
and will likely double its investment in the hotel chain.]
In addition, I did a little extra research on the most prominent
CEOs on Wall Street. The results were enlightening, and
so I also present them here:
Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman Sachs CEO):
Is Lloyd Blankfein evil?
Is Lloyd Blankfein a democrat?
Is Lloyd Blankfein a billionaire?
Is Lloyd Blankfein a psycopath? [PR red flag!]
Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase CEO):
Is Jamie Dimon Greek? [Indeed, he is.]
Is Jamie Dimon leaving Chase?
Is Jamie Dimon a good CEO?
Is Jamie Dimon a crook?
Follow me @VaultFinance.
Read More:
After Twitter #Fail, JPMorgan Calls Off Q. and A. (DealBook)
Chase's Twitter Gambit Devolves into All-Time PR Fiasco
(Rolling Stone)
#AskJPM tweets performed by Steacy Keach (YouTube)
The United States of Google: An Autocomplete Atlas
(BloombergBusinessweek)
Why Goldman Sachs’ New Saturdays-Off Policy Won't Work
© 2013 Vault.com Inc.

askjpm-and-o...
3 of 3 12/5/2013 12:41 PM

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