Assessment of Corporate Culture at Zappos

Organizational culture is defined as the personality of an organization since it comprises the norms, values, and assumptions that govern work practices in an organization (McNamara (2000). Therefore, organizational structure determines how work is divided, coordinated, and categorized in an organization. Organizational structure is one of the most influential factors on the success and profitability of an organization since it affects members and influences how organizational strategy is executed. This paper examines the organizational culture of Zappos and how it compares to the various types of organizational cultures described by Carter McNamara. The assessment is conducted on the premise that organizational culture is a concept that subjected to several classifications and interpretations. The discussion will in turn enhance understanding of the concept of organizational culture and how organizations develop their culture differently.

Zappos is a company that sells shoes and other retail products and has experienced tremendous success and profitability since inception. While the company's success is partly attributable to suitable business practices and approaches, its organizational culture has played a critical role towards this success. This company is renowned for its suitable organizational culture to an extent that its considered as one of companies with the best organizational cultures across the globe. The organization has developed a culture that governs how work is divided, grouped, and coordinated towards achieving the desired business objectives.

Zappos commitment to its organizational culture is evident in its recruitment and hiring process that begins with a cultural fit interview, which plays a significant role in determining whether the company will hire the candidate (Patel, 2015). Secondly, the company ensures that every member in the workforce is aware of the ten core values that govern work practices. The third aspect of the firm's organizational culture is great employee compensation and benefits and a suitable working environment. Employees are required to work towards ensuring that customers are happy through providing excellent customer service. Zappos' managers ensure that culturally fit candidates are hired and work processes are carried out in a manner that is fit with this culture to ensure that employees and customers are happy at all times (Patel, 2015).

Debra Woog McGinty and Nicole C. Moss developed a short corporate culture survey that can be utilized to identify the characteristics of an organization's working environment. This corporate culture survey provides information that can be utilized to determine the organizational culture of a company. In this case, while Zappos is renowned as a company with a suitable organizational culture, the use of McGinty/Moss assessment can help identify the individual characteristics of the company's organizational culture.

McGinty/Moss assessment score of Zappos is 8 true statements, which is an indicator of an established or stable organizational culture in this company (McGinty & Moss, 2001). According to McGinty & Moss (2001), 6-10 true responses in the corporate culture survey is an indicator that a company has established an established or stable organizational culture. Based on my experience while working in this company, the stable corporate culture is evidenced in the fact that the organization has established processes to address nearly every situation. These processes have in turn helped to keep employees satisfied as they carry out their various roles and responsibilities as well as promoting the delivery of excellent customer service. Moreover, Zappos compensates its employees very well, which helps in ensuring that these employees are always motivated as they carry out their work.

The results confirm my own experiences in working in the organization including the existence of suitable procedures to address nearly all situations. These results also confirm the great compensation and benefits package provided by the company's management to its employees. Employees have constantly expressed their satisfaction with the compensation and benefits provided by the organization. The other aspect of the company's culture confirmed by these results is the management's involvement in work processes. Zappos' management is constantly involved in work processes and provides necessary support to employees as they carry out their work. These factors have played a crucial role in ensuring that the company's employees are motivated and enhances their input towards the achievement of desired business objectives and goals.

McNamara (2000) provided different categories of organizational culture that reflect the norms, values, and practices of organizations. In this case, there are four types of organizational cultures including academy culture, baseball team culture, club culture, and fortress culture. The academy culture is a corporate culture where workers are highly skilled and tend to stay in the company as they go up the organizational ranks. In addition, these corporate cultures are characterized by the establishment of a stable environment for workers to develop and implement their skills and competencies. On the other hand, baseball team culture is a reflection of an organization where employees are considered as highly-skilled "free agents." As a result, these employees are constantly in high demand and can easily get jobs in other companies.

Club culture is one in which employees are required to fit in the group and tend to work their way up the organizational ranks. Additionally, organizations with club culture highly value seniority and promote employees from within. In contrast, fortress culture is where employees are not assured of their job security since they do not know whether they will be retained or laid off. Such organizations tend to undergo massive reorganization and are characterized by numerous opportunities for employees with specialized skills and competencies.

In light of these categories and the results of McGinty/Moss assessment, the category that reflects Zappos' organizational culture is club culture. This is primarily because the company focuses on being cultural fit as the basis for hiring and retaining its employees. The emphasis by the company's management on cultural fit as the premise for hiring employees and the various work responsibilities is a reflection of club culture at Zappos. In addition, the club culture at Zappos is evident in its commitment to keep employees deeply engaged as they carry out their various roles and tasks (Hollender, 2013).

The McGinty/Moss assessment and the McNamara categories have provided significant insights regarding similar and dissimilar things about Zappos' corporate culture. The information from the assessment and McNamara's categories provides a basis for examining an organization's culture in an effective manner. Based on this review/discussion, the assessment and McNamara information provides information regarding corporate culture to a greater degree that improves understanding of an organization's working environment.