Developing Corporate Culture Information 2022

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Developing Corporate Culture
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Contents
About the firm..................................................................................................................................2
Models of Organizational Culture...................................................................................................3
National culture and Zappos Organizational Culture......................................................................4
Zappos corporate cultural profile.....................................................................................................4
Impact of Zappos corporate culture in achieving its objectives......................................................5
Zappos existing climate and suitable improvements.......................................................................6
Current organizational values and Strategic model.........................................................................7
Effectiveness of Zappos existing communication strategies to its Stakeholders............................7
Recommended communication Strategies for Zappos....................................................................8
Conclusion and Recommendations..................................................................................................9
Reference list.................................................................................................................................10

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About the firm.
Zappos is an online shoe and clothing retailer based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
Launched twenty years ago, the firm started as an online retail shop that only sold shoes. Today
the firm has diversified into selling handbags, clothing, jeweler, and watches among other
products. The firm success is highly dependent on proper customer service, excellent customer
experience, and a conducive organizational culture. The firm seeks to inspire the world by
proving that a firm can sustainably operate by offering services that make all the stakeholders of
the firm happy. These stakeholders include clients, employees, vendors and the overall
community that the firm operates in. The organization's culture of the firm is shaped by ten core
values according to CEO Tony Hsieh. These core values have propelled the firm to achieve its
goals through the four C’s Customer Service, Community, Commerce, and Company
culture. As the firm continues to grow and take charge of the market in the USA, it seeks to use
the 4C’s to champion for most of its objectives which includes offering clients variety, inventing
means of surpassing customer expectations, defending and growing the organization culture as
well as serving its immediate and far community.
Models of Organizational Culture
The underlying organizational culture plays a critical role in the firm’s ability to meets its
goals and objectives. For Zappos, a Holarctic model needs to be embraced. Such a model, an
employee is considered his or her own boss. Such a model gives the employee a sense of
belonging in the firm, which in turn motivates him to meet and even surpass the set objectives
(Reynolds 2016). An employee, for instance, can make instant decisions without having to
follow the bureaucratic hierarchies as it is in other firms. Additionally, the Clan Culture model
best suits the firm. A firm needs to operate as a team. Motivated by customer service, employees

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in Zappos need to work as a team to meet such a target. Competition in most cases builds
division, which kills teamwork. This will affect the firm’s ability to meet its target. Adopting the
Clan Culture system creates a collaborative environment. This develops the element of
commitment for both the employer and the employees. Commitment from both the employer and
the employees creates loyalty and engagement from the employees. Loyal employees offer the
best they can to ensure that the firm meets its targets while upholding its core values. A clan
culture as well ensures that an employee helps a fellow employee grow in the organization
through support, information and task sharing, etc.
National culture and Zappos Organizational Culture
Most of the organizational cultures in the USA are hierarchical, the chain of command
starts from the top-level down to the subordinates. In general, employees are always expected to
do what their supervisor wants them to do. In many scenarios, it might not be the best choice for
them but the sake of their jobs, they happen to follow such rules. This makes an employee feel
more of a slave to the organization. In the modern world, a good organization culture needs to
respect the views of an employee. By this, employees need to have the ability to make decisions
without having to ask for permission from their superiors, this creates a sense of belongingness
to the employee (Michelli 2011). At Zappos, the employees are incorporated as part of the firm.
This makes them free to make decisions that are in line with the goals of the firm. Employees are
trained to make timely decisions as most of the time; they operate call centers of the firm, which
need to make prompt decisions for the clients. This is in a way to boost customer service
delivery, which is among the main objectives of the firm. Unlike the general culture in most
organizations, Zappos incorporates the sense of inclusivity of its employees in its day-to-day
operations (Cowley 2013).

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Zappos corporate cultural profile
Zappos corporate culture borrows mainly from the ten core values of the firm. The
corporate culture of the firm is propelled mainly by creativity and innovation. In an organization,
the marketing team has to design creative ways to sell a business, but in Zappos, the entire
organization must sell the firm to its market. The choice of staff plays a key role in doing this.
One time the CEO offered $ 2000 to new hires to turn to own the offer to work at Zappos, this
was meant to select the right people to work for the firm (Holland 2016). The element of
creativity in the firm is fostered by different elements such as willingness to fail, freedom of
creativity, individuality and team spirit as well as the element of trust. In a firm that majors its
success on creativity, the element of failing needs to be accepted since from the numerous fails is
only when the best outcome will be established (Perschel, 2010). To adopt the creativity culture,
the firm has a training team that trains and reminds the employees of the core values of the firm
(McFarland, 2013). The firm as well has a stable management team that oversees the hiring and
training process of new employees (HEATHFIELD, 2012). Besides, the firm engages in team
building activities that seek to develop trust and teamwork among employees and lastly, the firm
offers incentives based on skills and capabilities (Young 2019). All these mechanisms seek to
incorporate the culture of creativity in the employees.
Impact of Zappos Corporate Culture in Achieving its Objectives.
The choice of a firm’s organizational culture plays a major role in the firm meeting its
targets. An organization's culture will affect the manner in which employees interact with
themselves as well as with the management of the firm. For a firm that chooses the clan or the
Holarctic model, leadership and accountability are fostered among the employees (Deepon Roy
2019). In such a firm, the employees assume the role of managers. They make decisions in the

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capacity of the managers and this makes them more accountable for their actions and decisions.
Additionally, the models will increase transparency and reduce the levels of conflict between
employees in the organization. By eradicating job titles, the risk of conflicts between the
managers and the employees is usually mitigated, an idea that results in reduced tension and
efficiency of the staff at work. Employees will always be productive in a stress-free work
environment, with productivity, for Zappos, the firm will see most of its clients happy as their
needs will be met timely. Lastly, these models tend to champion the idea of staff commitment
(Russo 2014). Choosing these models will increase the levels of employee engagement as the
employees will be more responsible and empowered. With an empowered and responsible
workforce, an organization will enjoy increased output and competitiveness.
Zappos existing climate and suitable improvements
For an organization to meet most of its objectives, it needs to set a conducive working
climate. Good working environments affect the well-being of the employees and in turn, their
motivation to perform tasks in the firm. The behaviors of the employees of a firm can tell the
state working climate of the firm. For Zappos, the climate is supportive. The employees
comment on the manners in which the organization supports them, how the firm works for the
best of the employees and the clients and the incentives of the firm to its employees (Thomas &
Silverstone 2015). As opposed to other firms, the firm does not have discriminatory incentives
i.e. medical and dental benefits for the employees (Zappos 2008). This creates equality in the
organization, something that fosters unity. To create even more happy employees, the firm offers
team-building activities, office library services to expand their knowledge, discounted foods and
drinks as well as a family-feeling work environment. To improve on its corporate climate,
Zappos should shift more focus to the customers. The firm is doing well in terms of offering

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proper customer service and meeting the demands of the client. However, the firm should launch
a CSR program that will see the immediate community benefit from its existence. Such activities
include recycling of wastes, support local grocery businesses and adopt the use of energy-
efficient means of production.
Current Organizational Values and Strategic Model.
There lie several strategy frameworks to be adopted by a firm, spanning from simple
strategies to very complicated strategies. For Zappos, the value discipline is the most relevant
strategical framework. This approach mainly works on the basis that a firm in highly placed to
succeed on what its good at. Currently, in the USA market, Zappos is ranked among the best
online shoe and clothing retailer based on client reviews within the market. For this firm,
customer satisfaction drives most of the sales as well as the input from its employees. With an
average of 75% return clients, it is evident that the firm is indeed motivated to make the
customers happy. The quality of services and products offered by Zappos is unquestionable and
as such, this model bet fits it. Under the model, the element of customer intimacy further
approves this model for the firm. The CEO of the firm articulates a greater percentage of the
firm’s success on its clients (Luz Goetendía Ruiz 2015). This means that the firm strives to keep
its customers more loyal as well as attracting more. From the interviews of the CEO, the firm
offers free shipping for its clients, with the 365 Policy, a client has approximately one year to
return the product bought from the firm if it does not meet his or her preferences and the client as
well has less than two days to receive his or her refund (Sinek 2019). From these practices, it is
evident that the firm is customer-centered and the same approves the application of the value
discipline approach for the firm. For Zappos, the customer is the boss.

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Effectiveness of Zappos Existing Communication Strategies to Its Stakeholders
The stakeholders of a firm have a direct impact on the success of a firm. The internal
stakeholders of Zappos mainly are its employees while its external stakeholders include the
customers, the local community, the investors, labor unions and its vendors. To successfully
meet its goals, a firm needs to use effective communication strategies (Spacey 2015). Internal
communication in Zappos mainly is through phone calls and word of mouth. This is effective as
it calls for an immediate response as both the sender and the recipient see one another given the
fact that the firm operates an open office layout. This hastens decision-making and makes the
problem-solving process in the firm somehow faster (Linton 2019). The firm as well uses letters
and memos, just to make sure everyone is in the copy of the current affairs of the firm. The CEO
detailing the buyout of the firm by Amazon applied this. To its external stakeholders, phone calls
are the most used. Given that the customers are its major external stakeholders, the firm
improves on the effectiveness and efficiency of its call centers to ensure that the customers
receive the best experience from the firm.
Recommended Communication Strategies for Zappos
To meet most of its targets, Zappos needs to develop a more strategic communication
channel. Given than the firm is customer-driven, the firm needs to intensify its product and
service promotion campaigns. This will ensure that the firm remains competitive as well as
having a bigger market share. To achieve this for the external stakeholders mostly clients, the
firm should introduce loyalty cards and promotional pricing coupons. To beat the prices of the
competitors, the firm should motivate its clients by offering quality products at prices that meet
all the levels of social classes. Much as the firm does a lot of digital advertising, the same should
be intensified since some potential clients do not know about the existence of the firm. This can

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be through paid google adverts and paid SEOs. Product promotion communicates a lot to the
potential market, as such; the firm as well needs to intensify on this by holding and supporting
community-based campaigns within and outside Las Vegas. The development of a mobile
application as well will be a proper strategy for both internal and external stakeholders. For the
employees, it will make communication much easier and for the clients, it will keep them
updated on the products, services or community-based programs that the firm is currently
undertaking or seeks to undertake.
Conclusion and Recommendations
In conclusion, developing a corporate culture has a very significant role in the organization. A
firm needs to create a conducive working environment for its employees as its internal
stakeholders first. This is because, the employees act as an intermediary between the firm and
the external stakeholders, for the employees to meet the demands of the market, the firm first
needs to give them that environment to do the same (Yugo 2012). To improve on the corporate
culture, employee communication should be articulated. The employees, much as they enjoy the
current atmosphere, should be asked on other ways to make the atmosphere more conducive to
boost their productivity. Abstract transparency as well is relevant in the creation of a good
organization culture as it fosters trust and inspiration for the team. Organizations, besides,
should encourage their workforce to have an undying pursuit for knowledge (Madison 2015). In
this ever-changing business field, the employer might not be the know it all kind of person. As
such, a firm may be conducting operations in an outdated manner, something that might lead the
firm to incur huge amounts of operational costs. To mitigate the same, firms should encourage
and support their staff who wants to further their knowledge in their relevant fields of

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operations. Once employees know that they have the support of the management in their
furtherance of education, they will have the inner drive to learn more for the benefit of the firm.
In the dynamic business environment as well, firms need to acknowledge and
appreciate the value of change in the organization. This might be in the normal day-to-day
operations or the production models of a firm. Change seeks to set the firm in the path of success
by availing the efficient modes of technology to the firm that seek to cut on costs and improve on
output. To achieve a good corporate culture, all the stakeholders of a firm need to play their roles
well. The management, the staff, and the external stakeholders’ needs should all be looked into
without discrimination.

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Reference List
Cowley, E.J., 2013. Servant Leadership at Zappos. Com, Inc (Doctoral dissertation, University
of La Verne).
Deepon Roy, B 2019, The Four Distinct Types of Organisational Culture and its Advantages,
Vantage Circle HR Blog, Vantage Circle HR Blog, viewed 7 January 2020,
<https://blog.vantagecircle.com/types-of-organizational-culture/>.
Holland, T 2016, 4 Ways Zappos’ Organizational Culture Inspires Creativity, Skyword, viewed
13 April 2020, <https://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/4-ways-zappos-
organizational-culture-inspires-creativity/>.
Linton, I 2019, What Are the Benefits of Stakeholder Communication?, Chron.com, viewed 13
April 2020, <https://smallbusiness.chron.com/benefits-stakeholder-communication-
38875.html>.
Luz Goetendía Ruiz, S 2015, Zappos Company Culture, YouTube.
M. HEATHFIELD, BS (ed.) 2012, Find Out How Zappos Reinforces Its Company Culture, The
Balance Careers, viewed 13 April 2020, <https://www.thebalancecareers.com/zappos-
company-culture-1918813>.
Madison, RD 2015, ‘Empowering Employees Through Networking and Mentoring’, SSRN
Electronic Journal.
McFarland, K., 2013. Why Zappos offers new hires $2,000 to quit. Bloomberg-Businessweek,
URL http://www. BusinessWeek. com/stories/2008-09-16/why-Zappos offers-new-hires-

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2-000-to-quitbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial advice, retrieved
on, pp.09-17.
Michelli, J.A., 2011. The Zappos Experience. McGraw-Hill Publishing.
Perschel, A., 2010. Work‐life flow: How individuals, Zappos, and other innovative companies
achieve high engagement. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 29(5), pp.17-
30.
Reynolds, J 2016, A Primer on the 5 Most Popular Organizational Culture Models, TINYpulse,
viewed 13 April 2020, <https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/organizational-culture-models>.
Russo, S 2014, Holacracy: pros and cons of a radical challenge to the traditional organisation,
HRreview, viewed 13 April 2020,
<https://www.hrreview.co.uk/hr-news/strategy-news/holacracy-pros-and-cons-of-a-
radical-challenge-to-the-traditional-organisation/50404>.
Sinek, S 2019, Simon Sinek talks culture with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, YouTube, viewed 13
March 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqUx4BJ1ENY>.
Spacey, J 2015, 4 Examples of a Communication Strategy, Simplicable, viewed 13 April 2020,
<https://simplicable.com/new/communication-strategy>.
Thomas, R.J. and Silverstone, Y., 2015. Empowering employees at Zappos.
Young, J 2019, 7 Zappos Amenities That Boost Employee Happiness, www.zappos.com.
Yugo, JE 2012, ‘Book Review: The Corporate Culture Survival Guide’, Business
Communication Quarterly, vol. 75, no. 2, pp. 228–231.

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Zappos 2008, Zappos Company Culture - The Zappos Family on Nightline, YouTube,
viewed 13 April 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFyW5s_7ZWc>.