this is where our culture is. Itâs more about giving employees the permissionand encouraging them to just be themselves.â23Critical Thinking Questions: What role do you think the fact that Tony Hsieh founded Zappos plays in hisability to influence the culture? Would this be more difficult in an older organization? Explain.In addition to understanding the strong overall culture in an organization
it is alsoimportant to recognize that organizations have subcultures. For example
the marketingdepartment of an organization may have a risk-taking orientation
whereas the accountingdepartment may not because they value stability. This is because a strong culture of stabilitymay inhibit the marketing departmentâs ability to be flexible. Organizations can increaseflexibility without losing their strong overall culture by encouraging subcultures.24 In thisway
organizations reap the benefits of a strong culture while remaining responsive tochange. For example
Procter & Gamble has a strong culture of attention to detail andoutcome orientation
but their research departments encourage innovation and trial-and-error experimentation.Organizational SubculturesThree general subcultures exist in most organizations. Operators are the line managers andemployees who are involved in making products
delivering services
and interacting withcustomers directly. The operators value teamwork and desire engagement with the workthey do. Engineers represent the second type of organizational subculture
and this groupfocuses on designing systems to support the work of operations
such as employees whodesign a manufacturing facility. This may also include employees who design andimplement information technology systems
financial analysis systems
and marketingresearch. The third group
executives
has worked their way up organizational careerladders
and they are financially responsible to their board of directors and shareholders.This group often has to âmake the tough financial decisions based on imperfectinformation.â25 Executives manage large numbers of people and divisions
and rely onpolicies and reward systems to maintain control. They may lose touch with their customersand employees at lower levels in the organizational hierarchy.In recent years
however
executive teams have become more enlightened regarding theimportance of having a positive organizational culture that values employees. They alsohave found ways to stay in closer touch with their customers. For example
Amazon CEOJeff Bezos has a public e-mail address
jeff@amazon.com. He reads many customer695