Different Types of Corporate Culture

Company culture is the sum of a specific organization’s collective attitudes, actions, values, and characteristics. Alternative phrases commonly used by business professionals in place of company culture include:

• Corporate Culture
• Organizational Culture

Case studies have shown that 77% of adults consider corporate cultures closely when applying for job opportunities. Additionally, 56% of participants rate company culture as more important than compensation.

From employee engagement to bottom-line profitability, every facet of a firm feels the influence of the corporate culture. As a result, businesses recognize the significance of corporate cultures and the value of improving them.

As company culture researchers, Dr. Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron of Michigan conducted significant case studies and analyses. The Organizational Culture Evaluation Method, usually abbreviated as OCAI, was created and cradled by Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn in 1983.

Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn looked at 39 different aspects of corporate efficiency and discovered two distinct polarities. Internal concentration and integration versus exterior attention and differentiation are the first polarities. Stability and control versus flexibility and judgment are the second polarities.

The Competing framework visibly describes the findings of Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron. OCAI targets four different types of company culture, including:

1. The culture of the adhocracy

Adhocracy cultures have two opposing values: flexibility and discretion and external focus and difference. The adhocracy culture is great for organizations in the technology industry and workplaces that encourage creativity.

An adhocracy culture is preferable for businesses with fundamental values to generate new ideas and take risks. In an adhocracy culture, employees are encouraged to experiment with fresh and inventive ideas.

The adhocracy culture is good for creating new products or improving old ones. Adhocracy culture fosters the creativity and agility required to stay competitive in today’s rapidly changing global marketplace.

2. Clan culture

Clan cultures have two categories in the Competing Values Framework: freedom and discretion and internal concentration and integration. Clan culture places a high value on teamwork and friendship inside the organization.

Clan cultures are an excellent fit for organizations that see their staff as an extended family. It helps to facilitate these extremely close relationships in the workplace, and clan cultures prioritize team development and collaborative efforts.

Clan culture is a suitable fit for a culture centered on loyalty and trust, and it can bring significant benefits to both firms and their personnel. According to case studies, employee engagement is positively affected when employees believe they are vital team members.

When hiring rates increase, productivity also increases, which translates into higher profitability of the results. Also, when employees are happy, they will likely be better customer service representatives, significantly benefiting a company’s brand and reputation.

3. Culture of hierarchy

Hierarchical cultures produce stability, control, internal focus, and integration within competing values. Hierarchical culture is perhaps the most traditional of the different types of the corporate culture.

Decision-making is primarily the responsibility of the company’s leaders and executives in a hierarchical culture. Control, as well as efficiency, are the fundamental values of a hierarchical culture.

While the adhocracy culture embraces new ideas and encourages risk initiatives, hierarchical cultures are much less tolerant. The hierarchical culture is appropriate for companies that consider safety a priority issue.

Industries that benefit from the hierarchical culture include government agencies and healthcare organizations. However, many companies focused on customer service also use hierarchical culture, including fast food establishments.

A significant advantage offered by the hierarchical type of culture is the probable stability of both the profitability of the results and the levels of employee participation. One consequence of the hierarchical culture is the failure to adapt quickly to market changes and customer demands.

4. Market culture

Market cultures are in multiple categories, such as stability, control, and discretion, as well as outward emphasis and distinctiveness in conflicting ideals. The bottom-line profitability is the top priority for the market culture type.

One disadvantage of market culture is that it places a low value on employee involvement and pleasure. Employees believe that this type of culture does not value their individual development because of the emphasis on performance and effectiveness.

On the other hand, the exact concentration on performance and productivity is a significant benefit of market culture. When highly gifted individuals are adequately and generously compensated financially for their hard work, they feel valued in this type of culture.

Typically, companies that want to control as much revenue as possible embrace this culture. Individualistic competitiveness is highly high within organizations in market cultures, unlike other cultures that significantly emphasize teamwork and collaboration.