Evaluating GE’s Organizational Culture Essay

IntroductionEvery business has its own set of determine and beliefs that make up an brass instrumental finish that is comical to each specific business. _Organizational Culture_ is a complex set of basic underlying assumptions and deeply held beliefs shared by all members of the group that operate at a preconscious level and drive in all-important(a) ways the behavior of individuals in the organisational context (Strategy Glossary, 2006). GEs organizational close is considered one of elevated ethical standard in the corporate world. According to The Age of Ethics (2007) _GE now has one of the best ethics compliancy programs in existence_, says Larry Ponemon, national coach of communication channel Ethics Services at KPMG. The purpose of this research paper is to identify and evaluate GEs organizational cultureal prayer, shared determine, customer institute and customer servicing standards, characteristics of organizational culture, and to determine if GEs organizationa l culture is ethical, customer-responsive, or spiritual.Organizational Cultural AppealWhen looking at an organizations cultural appeal, one must first realize what he or she looking for in a gild. What appeals to me may or non appeal to someone else. Therefore, the fol downcasting categories will show what it is about GEs organizational culture that appeals to me personally. These categories include but are not limited toleaders It is important for me to be with a company that allows leaders to go the freedom and flexibility to contribute their knowledge and expertise in two their daily employment and at company levels. At the top, we dont sic run GE like a big company. We run it like a big partnership, where each leader can make a contribution not just to their job, but to the entire Company (Immelt, J., 2005).Opportunity for Advancement It is important for me to civilise for a company that offers employees an opportunity for advancement. GE has six strong businesses aligned to grow with the market trends of today and tomorrow Our Business, 2007).Work Environment It is important for me to work for a company that admits a pleasant and vitalizing work environment that is easy to balance with my personal life. GE is an invigorating place to work. Ours is a higher(prenominal)-performance culture that emphasizes high-integrity business practices as well as work/life sic balance (Our Culture, 2007).Training and Education Programs It is important for me to work for a company that provides additional provision and educational benefits that will enhance employee leadership capabilities. We invest nearly $1 billion a year in career development for our employees at any level of professional growth. (Leadership Programs, 2007).Shared ValuesWhen looking at an organizations appealing values, one must first realize what he or she values. Categories in my value system may or may not be the same as someone elses. Therefore, the following categories will show the va lues that I share with GEs value system. These categories include but are not limited toEthics and Integrity I believe that it is important for an organization and its employees alike to operate with strong ethics and integrity. At GE, it isnt sic enough to think big. vagary must be practiced within boundaries of ethics, compliance and integrity (Our Company, 2007).Community Volunteer Work I believe it is important for every person and organizations alike to come together and shout out community needs i.e. health and welfare for disadvantaged community members. Each year, GE volunteers come together as one GE to participate in Global Community Days,working together to improve our many communities (Worldwide Activities, 2007).Environmental Health and Employee Safety I believe it is important for a company to boil down on environmentally safe production plants and employee safety. Operational truth shapes the tools and measurements that help curb employees safe while reducing our impact on the environment (Our Business, 2007)client BaseGE has built a strong and loyal customer anchor by continually meeting the needs of the customer. Robbins, S. (2005) describes six variables that are routinely evident in customer-responsive cultures like GE.Type of Employees outgoing and friendlyLow Formalization freedom to meet changing customer-service requirementsExtension of Low Formalization widespread use of empowerment i.e. decision discretion to do what is necessary to please the customer.Good Listening Skills listen to and understand messages sent by the customer social occasion Clarity Service employees act as _boundary spanners_ between the organization and its customersOrganizational Citizenship Behavior employees are conscience of customers needs and go above and beyond the bitch of duty to satisfy a customers needsGE has been able to build such a strong and loyal customer base by meeting each of the six variables described by Robbins. Variable one, type of e mployee, is met by GEs efforts to provide a diverse work environment. In fact, GE was named among the top 40 best companies for diversity by BlackEnterprise Magazine (Employees, 2007). Variables two and three, low formalization and extension of low formalization, is met with GEs efforts to provide employees the freedom to become closer to their customers while finding new operational efficiencies and ways to work toward customer service (Leadership, 2007).Variable four, good listening skills, is provided by GEs customer die hard centers through 1-800 numbers or e-mail correspondence that provide support for all customers, civil and military, with a variety of innovative support solutions tailored to individual customer needs (Customer Support, 2007). Variable five, role clarity, is met through GEs effective use of influential employees (_boundary spanners_) who help shape the designs and parameters of inter-organizational cooperation with international markets such as Algeria, B razil, Columbia, Egypt, France, Germany et cetera (Worldwide, 2007). Variable six, organizational citizenship, is met through GEs continued freight to citizenship issues worldwide including human rights, philanthropy, public policy and environment, health and safety (Citizenship, 2007).Customer Service StandardsGEs customer service standard demonstrates their commitment to excellence and customer standards. In an effort to ensure top quality service standards in todays competitive market, GE has implemented sixer Sigma prize standards. According to Making Customers Feel sise Sigma Quality (2007) Six Sigma is a highly disciplined wreak that helps us localize on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services.The goal behind training employees through Six Sigma and implementing this system is for GE to be able to evaluate defects and come as close to _zero errors_ as possible. Six Sigma standards have raised the bar and implemented the highest quality of customer se rvice standards for GE since the 1980s. According to Making Customers Feel Six Sigma Quality (2007) Sigma is embedding quality thinking wreak thinking across every level and in every operation of our Company around the globe. According to Key Elements of Quality (2007) the three key elements of Six Sigma quality areCustomer customer satisfaction i.e. product quality, dependability, competitive pricing, quality service and so on takes precedence so clients will not find another service provider.Process _outside-in thinking_ i.e. observing the company from the customers viewpoint and identifying areas that could use improvement to ensure customer satisfaction.Employee _leadership commitment_ i.e. providing training, opportunities and incentives for employees to excel and focus their talents on customer satisfaction.Six Sigma centers on reducing process deviations and improving process capabilities. This process is dependant on six key concepts. According to The Six Sigma Strategy (2007) these concepts that GE focus on includeCritical to quality customers most important attributesDefect customer satisfaction failureProcess ability deliverability of the processVariation the customers perceptionsStable Operations guaranteeing a constant and predictable process that meets with customer perceptionsDesign for Six Sigma designing to meet customer requirements and process capabilitiesCharacteristics of Organizational CultureThere are seven primary characteristics of organizational culture (1) innovation and risk taking, (2) attention to detail, (3) outcome orientation, (4) people orientation, (5) team orientation, (6)Aggressiveness, and (7) Stability. look into indicates that GE embodies five of the seven primary characteristics of organizational culture. creation and Risk Taking GE employees focus on innovation as their basis for taking calculated risks for change in the areas of transforming health care, cleaner power generation, exploring nanotechnology, aviat ion technology, greenhouse gas reduction, global research facilities and so forth (Innovation, 2007).Attention to full stop GE employees focus on attention to detail in such areas as customer service, quality and assembly of products, meeting performance targets, enhanced decision-making through training and education and so on.People Orientation GE considers their more than 300,000 employees to be their greatest asset, and they are passionate about making life founder with new ideas and technologies (Our People, 2007).Team Orientation A significant part of GEs culture as a global company involves nurturing diverse and cross-cultural teams in such areas as public relations, automotives, global research, nanotechnologies, marketing and so on (Employees, 2007).Aggressiveness Though GE does provide the tools necessary for employees to be vulturine and competitive, the degree to which people are aggressive and competitive is truly up to the individual employee.ConclusionResearch indi cates that GEs organizational culture is both ethical and customer-responsive. In the area of organizational culture appeal, it was found that GE appealed to me in four categories (1) leadership, (2) opportunity for advancement, (3) work environment, and (4) training and education programs. One should keep in mind that these categories may vary depending on the needs of each individual. In the area of shared values, it was found GE had three values that I identified with (1) ethics andintegrity, (2) community volunteer work, and (3) environmental health and employee safety. Again, one should keep in mind that these categories may vary depending on the perception of values of each individual. In the area of customer base, it was found that GE has been able to build and sustain a strong and loyal customer base through adherence to the six variables as described by Robbins.In the area of customer service standards, it was found that GE has demonstrated their commitment to excellence an d high customer standards through the training and implementation of The Six Sigma Strategy. In the area of characteristics of organizational culture, it was found that GE does embody five of the seven primary characteristics of organizational culture (1) innovation and risk, (2) attention to detail, (3) people orientation, (4) team orientation, and (5) aggressiveness. Based on the above findings, my evaluation of GEs organizational culture is that they do provide a strong framework for positive attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values that would be appealing to almost anyone looking for job satisfaction and advancement within an organization.ReferencesCitizenship (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, fromhttp//www.ge.com/company/citizenship/index.htmlCustomer Support (2007). _GE Aviation_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.geaviationsystems.com/Systems/Customer-Support/index.aspEmployees (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2 007, from http//www.ge.com/company/citizenship/2007_citizenship/highlights.htmlImmelt, J. (2005). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.ge.com/company/leadership/index.htmlInnovation (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.ge.com/innovation/index.htmlKey Elements of Quality (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.ge.com/sixsigma/keyelements.htmlLeadership & Learning (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.ge.com/company/culture/leadership_learning.htmlLeadership Programs (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.gecareers.com/GECAREERS/html/us/ourPeople/leadership.htmlMaking Customers Feel Six Sigma Quality (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.ge.com/sixsigma/makingcustomers.htmlOur Business (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http/ /www.ge.com/company/businesses/index.htmlOur Company (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.ge.com/company/index.htmlOur Culture (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, fromhttp//www.ge.com/company/culture/index.htmlOur People (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.ge.com/company/culture/people.htmlRobbins, S. (2005). _Organizational behavior_ (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ Pearson Education.Strategy Glossary (2006). Ampol Partners. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.ampolbiz.com/consulting/resources/strategy_glossary.htmThe Six Sigma Strategy (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.ge.com/sixsigma/sixsigstrategy.htmlWorldwide (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.ge.com/worldwide/index.htmlWorldwide Activities (2007). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http//www.ge.com /company/worldwide_activities/index.html