Analyzing Organizational Culture: Ikea and Samsung Multinational Firms

This report provides an analysis of the organizational cultures of two multinational corporations: Ikea and Samsung. The report examines Ikea's 'work hard play hard' culture, emphasizing customer service, teamwork, and diversity, and contrasts it with Samsung's hybrid culture, influenced by both 'process' and 'work hard play hard' elements. The analysis utilizes models by Deal and Kennedy and Handy to categorize and compare the cultural approaches of the two firms. The report also explores the low-profile cultural symbols and their roles in shaping the organizational cultures. Furthermore, the assignment delves into the cultural adaptation of Ikea in Cyprus, considering Hofstede's and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner's cultural dimensions to explain the management's strategies for better business and customer loyalty. The report also includes personal reflections on success and motivation, along with a perspective on a sibling's aspirations, offering insights into individual and professional goals.

Section A
Answer 2
Two multinational organizations and their culture are discussed in the following sections, in the
light of models mentioned in the unit. The low-profile symbols of both organizations are also
been focused on to bring out their roles in the shaping of the respective organization cultures.
I work in a Swedish multinational organization, Ikea. My close friend works in a Korean
multinational firm Samsung. Deal and Kennedy’s model of 1982 brings out two dimensions or
risk associated and the feedback pace, that have a significant influence on organizational culture.
Out of the four generic cultures based on the above dimensions, Ikea can be categorized under
‘the work hard play hard culture’. This kind of culture emphasizes high levels of activity and
enhanced customer service and service quality that constitute the primary cultural value. With
organizational culture focusing on teamwork, diversity, and simplicity, Ikea continuously strives
hard to offer customers the best product and service quality. The emphasis is an absolutely
simple approach to work, cohesive teamwork and diverse workforce which helps them deliver
the best customer service and products. Each employee has to take a certain degree of risk and
responsibilities and feedback is provided to the employees in the form of customer advocacy or
managerial review as soon as the task is accomplished.
Samsung, on the other hand, has a mix of both ‘the culture of the process’ and ‘the culture of
working and playing hard’. Samsung Corporation has many businesses that include Samsung
engineering, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-mechanics, Samsung Shipping and many
more. Each of these entities has a different management team and management styles. Though
all the entities follow the traditional process culture controlled by bureaucracy, with the changing
scenario and globalization, they have also adapted the work hard play hard culture which is
prompt in giving feedbacks and emphasizes on enhanced customer service quality. The
engineering corporation and shipping also have ‘the bet-your-company culture’ as it deals with
turnkey projects which require a lot of resources and time.
According to Handy’s Model of Culture Samsung follows the Role Culture to a great extent as
the organization is characterized by well defined and structured functional responsibilities with
lean senior management and a high formalization and standardization. Position and hierarchies
play an important role in this kind of culture. This offers security to the employees. Ikea fits
more into the Task Culture where the prime objective is to get the job done with the right
mapping and allocation of resources. There is a higher degree of flexibility and sensitivity which
sometimes make the employees focus on their own goals and objectives rather than aligning
those with the organization goals and objectives. So there is a requirement for the introduction of
rules and procedures so as to keep the employees aligned and focused

The culture is not used as a catch-all term in either of the organizations. It has a very specific
meaning for both organizations. The low profile cultural symbols like the principles,
communications and other elements play a crucial role in shaping the bigger aspects of the firm’s
culture.
Both the organizations have distinct low profile symbols which are governed by their values and
beliefs. Samsung is a Korean multinational hence, focuses on formal processes with well defined
hierarchical procedures. The ceremonies and rituals or team outings reflect their traditional
culture that focuses on team-work and mutual respect. Communications channels are prescribed
and the process is reiterated to instill the feeling of belongingness and commitment among the
employees. They prefer having their meals on the floor even during official meetings. They
believe in formal dressing. They use very soft and respectable language for each other. This
represents the Korean heritage.
Ikea is a Swedish multinational and the low profile symbols indicate a very humble, flexible and
adaptive culture. There are no separate cabins for the higher management officials; the office
space is equally colorful and vibrant. Formal dressing is not mandatory. There are different
activities like decorating the workspace according to the festivals to induce a feel-good
environment for the employees. There is a strong emphasis on togetherness and mutual trust
which help them work in a common direction and celebrate their achievements and
accomplishments together. The organization’s straightforward approach, candor and down to
earth image represent the Swedish heritage.
Word Count-714
Answer 3

Organizations today are operating at a global platform which calls for a better understanding of
the concept of organizational culture. Managers are expected to be highly understanding and
sensitive towards the cultural nuances of all the stakeholders including the customers whether
managing locally or globally. The culture of an organization is shaped up by the traditions,
values and the way of performing the organizational responsibilities over a longer period of time.
Culture is different in every country and every organization. With the rise in multinational firms
and huge mobilization of human resources across the globe due to political, social and economic
factors, understanding cultural diversity has become essential for the managers. Working with
people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds is a big responsibility and an opportunity
for managers.
The fact is best understood with the example of my organization operating in the Mediterranean
island of Cyprus. I have completed almost a decade working here and saw Ikea transition into a
culturally adaptive organization. In the past ten years, Ikea had devised and implemented the
strategies that were purely focused on the Mediterranean culture for better business and customer
loyalty.
Considering Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, Cyprus being a small island doesn’t have its own
index. But its culture is closely associated with the neighboring Mediterranean nation of Greece.
Greece is a country with high uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and masculinity, followed
by long term orientation and individualism. There is a certain degree of interdependence among
each other, but compared to Greece, Cyprus is more individualist. The reasonably high
masculinity indicates that society is driven by success and innovation. They prioritize their work
above all. A high score of uncertainty avoidance indicates that they do not accept ambiguity and
uncertainty. The people are risk-averse. High power distance implies there is a clear demarcation
in the society between the haves and the have not.
Ikea has strategic business units that support the framework for management information
systems. This is required to survive in the highly competitive markets where sharing of
information plays a crucial role in an organization like Ikea. Ikea has cross-functional business
operations, processes, and value chain activities that require sharing of information across the
functional and strategic business units. Ikea being a Swedish firm promotes transparency and
free decision making and knowledge sharing for the better execution of the processes, whereas
Cyprus is comparatively less individualistic so free decision making is not preferred by the local
workforce. There is a diverse workforce in the team; it becomes a challenge to manage the
differences arising due to diversity in the light of the national culture.
For Sweden the cultural dimension of individualism is ranked high followed by long term
orientation and power distance. In Ikea, each employee is believed to have a certain talent which

contributes to the organizational goal and objectives. Hence, everyone enjoys a freedom and
responsibility for decision making. This difference creates difficulties in coordinating the team
members of the SBU.
The managers have therefore developed a new and adaptive organizational culture that takes the
best from both the cultures without hurting the sentiments of the national culture. Ikea adapted its
organizational culture in alignment with that of Cyprus. The organizational culture is now more
task-oriented where all the SBUs work in cohesion to achieve greater customer satisfaction. This
promotes the common shared value of customer service. The managers of the SBUs encourage
and motivate the employees to arrive at this new and common shared value collectively by
aligning to the organizational process and culture.
According to Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner cultural dimensions, Cyprus culture is
universal, less individual than Sweden, affective, specific and prescriptive. Hence Ikea promotes
more of group activities, group discussions so that the collective opinion of all is considered and
given due importance.
Swedish are hardworking, helpful and down-to-earth people promoting nature preservation. The
manager also motivates the team members by instilling these values along-with the values of
achievement irrespective of age, gender and personal characteristics which is an important aspect
of a diverse workforce. The employees of the SBU work in a flexible manner with due respect to
all the team member’s opinions.
In daily practice, it has now become a ritual to have sprint meeting sessions every morning
where the manager briefs the tasks for the day which is an essential element of Cyprus culture.
The entire team has tea and lunch together to improve the relationships among the team
members. Ikea promotes maximum interaction among the SBU members. All the
communications are made through email to avoid any ambiguity and the message is made
comprehensive for better understanding.
Word Count-766
Section 2

Answer 2
Myself
1. Being successful in working life is one aspect of my life but not the ultimate goal I live
for. There are many things that are required to have a good quality of life. This includes a
good education, a happy family and social life along with successful work life. I want to
achieve my goals contributing to the organizational goals to be considered successful.
2. Success for me is when I realize I am able to accomplish smaller day to day tasks, in
professional and personal front. I feel successful when I do my job well and get
recognized as a person who always tries hard and gives her best to achieve the goals.
Learning something new in life and upgrading continuously is a success for me.
3. I am prepared to invest time, emotion and private life to achieve this. Time is required to
learn and gain expertise in doing a job efficiently. I have to be strong enough to accept
my mistakes and take feedback positively so as to achieve my goals. I have to invest in
time from my private life in order to learn and upgrade myself continuously.
4. When I realize that I am growing and evolving every day, I will know that I have arrived.
When I not only depend on outcomes but also learn from the process of reaching the
outcome, I will know that I have arrived. When I am able to maintain meaningful inter
personal relationships that make me a better person, I will know that I have arrived.
5. I will feel content, but that won’t stop me from striving hard towards accomplishing my
everyday goals professionally and personally. In fact, I will feel motivated to work harder
to enhance my performance and learning.
6. I fear that I might lose the purpose and motivation to work hard and learn continuously if
I am not able to achieve this. I am not trying to achieve something very big, but these
smaller goals keep me motivated to outperform my own self and bring out the best in me.
7. Growth, progress, achievements and my family will keep me motivated to achieve these.
My Sibling (Brother)
1. My brother wants to be highly successful in life. He strives to become the top performer
in his workplace and retain that position. He wants to be famous and wants his name to
be counted in the big league of innovators in the field of artificial intelligence and its
application. He values work place success above all.
2. For him, success is the realization of his ambitions and self-actualization needs.
Appreciation and rewards from his seniors and peers constitute a major part of success
for him. Being well known among family and social circle is also a success for him.
Learning to innovate is another element of success for him.
3. He is ready to invest his time, emotions and private life to achieve success in life. He is
continuously working hard to learn and do something new in his organizational
responsibilities. He is also an emotionally strong and balanced person who doesn’t get
demoralized by failures but would definitely avoid failing. He invests his time in reading
a lot, learning and keeping himself mentally and physically fit.

4. He will know that he has arrived when he has reached the topmost position of an
organization or he himself has become an entrepreneur. He is able to make a significant
contribution to his organization in the field of his interest in alignment with the
organizational goals.
5. He is a highly ambitious person and will not be content with his achievements and will
continuously strive for more.
6. He fears of losing self-esteem and fame in the organization and among his social circle.
He also fears about not being able to realize his self-actualization needs.
7. His competitors at workplace, his zeal to excel and do something new keep him
motivated. The appreciation at the workplace, fame at the social circle and the rewards at
the workplace also motivate him.
There are differences between mine and his perspectives. That can be attributed to the
demographic characteristics like gender, age and profession. He is male and younger to me. We
both work in multinational organizations. He believes more in quantity of life and I believe more
in quality of life. These are the results of both personality and psychological factors.
Word Count-742
SECTION 3
Answer 2
Team conflicts within an organization are very common. An organization cannot exist without
team conflicts. To avoid conflicts there are discussions, meetings, and huddles so that the team

members are allowed to express their viewpoints and if possible their opinions are incorporated
in the final decision as well. So far I had always opted for a more conventional approach to
handle conflicts that included understanding the reasons for the conflict, listening to all the
possible opinions, avoiding derogatory behavior, noting down the facts and assumptions based
on which the conflicts begin. Thereafter, the information obtained was analyzed based on which
the resolution would happen.
No doubt that these steps helped to resolve the conflicts, but the ideas from this course have
provided me newer insights regarding handling and resolving the conflicts for the best interest of
the organization and teams. Till now I had handled conflicts perceiving them to be negative and
harmful but the learning from this course made me realize that I had a wrong notion till now.
Conflicts can be constructive also. As we promote a diverse workforce comprising of people
from different backgrounds and creativity, sometimes conflicts occur in disguise of
brainstorming that encourages creative growth and development.
We fail to realize and understand that the actual reasons for conflicts are not always the
difference of opinions between the two or more team members or individuals. It is, in fact, the
position or the department or organization that is in conflict. Once we realize we will be able to
identify the various layers in an organizational conflict which help to handle and resolve the
conflicts accordingly.
It is essential to understand whether the conflict is due to misunderstandings, or difference in
values and beliefs or interpersonal differences or due to feelings and emotions. Once we are able
to recognize these layers, we will be able to understand the deeper and hidden root causes of the
problems. For instance, misunderstandings may imply communication issues or structural issues
in an organization. Differences in values in beliefs usually arise out of diversity in the workforce
and due to cultural nuances in the process of globalization.
I had not put much effort into recognizing the conflicts. Many times we just acted based on our
perception and instincts and analyzed the information that was presented to us. On most of the
occasions, there is clear visibility due to verbal and non-verbal cues. There are instances where
many conflicts are not clearly visible and they are like an iceberg. From this course, I realize the
importance of finding possible indicators in such cases. Possible cues like absolutely no
communication between the teams or groups or the individuals, berating the other group or team
or individual, the tendency of withdrawal from group activities or meetings or discussions,
deliberate avoidance on regular basis should be scrutinized closely to have a better interpretation.
Traditional conflict resolution methods don’t focus on the evaluation of the situation. It is
essential to understand the degree of seriousness of the conflict, its immediate or long term
consequences and how immediately it needs to be resolved. Some healthy disagreements
between two department managers or two teams do not need any intervention. If the

consequences are harmful then the right strategies are to be chosen. This helps in saving time
and worsening of situations.
Ikea has always focused on low-cost strategy or cost leadership strategy. Yet it is able to offer
differentiated values and features like playrooms for children within the outlets, wheelchairs for
customers while shopping for long, Sweden-shops at outlets outside Sweden that offers the
country’s traditional snacks. The firm’s only motto is to save cost for both the firm and buyers
and deliver maximum utility and value. In such a scenario, employees do not have a very high
salary. These sometimes demoralize the employees and become a reason for conflict. The
manager plays a crucial role here by making them realize the value they are offering to the
customers and the significance of their contribution to the organization.
Ikea has a high dependence on supply chain network as the concept of a warehouse is not there.
Hence a healthy relationship between the suppliers is essential. At the same time, correct
information sharing regarding forecasted demand is equally important. There arises a conflict
between the two functional teams regarding how much information sharing is required so that the
competitors should not access the information. Such kind of conflicts are not negative, rather
these make the teams brainstorm to find out the best possible solution.
Word Count-755
SECTION 4
Answer 1
Organizational structures have transformed remarkably over a decade, especially in Western
countries. My workplace is a Swedish multinational and the implementation of four Ds was
visible way back in the 2000s. The process of transformation had begun early and kept on

evolving based on organization goals and values. At my workplace, though the bureaucratic
structure was not there since the beginning, yet there were some well-defined hierarchies for
decision making, reporting authorities and directing the flow of communication.
Over a period of time it was realized that though the hierarchical approach was able to direct,
guide and allocate the jobs and tasks, it was not able to bring out the best from its employees.
There was a certain degree of control, which inhibited the employees from expressing their
views and to openly brainstorm their ideas. In a way that was restricting creativity and
innovation. The conventional structure also restricted the responsibilities of the employees and
there was limited scope for an employee to explore his talent beyond the prescribed task
allocated to him. The organization was growing continuously and competing at a global level. So
there was a need for innovation and creativity in all the departments and functional teams. There
arose the need for the four Ds- Decentralization, Disaggregation, De-Layering, Disorganization.
The entire structure at my workplace was gradually undergoing transition and in no time we
realized that we all were evolving along with the four D process. This was because the
employees were now given more responsibilities that challenged their expertise and talent. They
were no more restricted to work in their specialized domains. Employees were given cross-
functional training related to process and technology to increase their versatility. There was more
learning, upgrading and collaborating between the teams now. The workforce was highly
motivated. The physical structure also underwent a big transformation. There were no cabins to
be seen. Even the country manager’s workstation is with the rest of the employees and everyone
is free to walk up to him at any point of time to discuss their ideas.
This approach opened up newer avenues for the entire workforce. Each day is celebrated on the
occasion of a team’s accomplishment. Everyone felt the ownership and commitment towards the
organization which definitely boosted their morale and productivity in the long run. This also
helped in resolving and handling many cross-cultural issues that are bound to exist in a global
MNC. There was better communication, expression and discussion among the team members
and among the cross-functional teams. In the process, there was an increased sense of freedom
and flexibility.
Traditional human resource management had a negative perception regarding flexibility at the
workplace or offering flexible working options for employees. This showed the tendency and
mindset to control and lack of trust. But as today hiring diverse workforce is encouraged for
better growth and development of the organization, offering flexibility helps attract diverse and
broader talent pool. Offering flexibility to the employees shows the organization’s trust and
respect towards the employees that encourage build productive relationships across the globe.
Advancements in technology have made it possible and convenient to have meetings across the
remotest geographies without physical travel. This not only saves time but cost as well. At my
workplace, flexibility has become an inevitable aspect as many women employees have been

given the opportunity to work from home for better management of their family and work. The
option is equally available for males keeping in mind their personal and professional
commitments. And the results are equally good. The employees have higher morale and
commitments to their work.
The perception changes the way we look at it. My organization considered this as one of the
smartest strategic moves rather than providing benefit to the employees. The objective is to get
the work done within the specified time and retain the talented workforce. Functional flexibility
within the organization also helps to retain the talented workforce and make the employees
deliver their best by deploying their skills in diverse tasks. In my organization, the employees
from the sales team were later deployed to customer service team.
The prime reason was they had been managing sales since long and understood the customer
pain points in direct selling. As customer service personnel they could connect to the customers
in a better way by offering them the solutions to their problems. Many employees from the sales
team were later deployed in product development and design as advisors as they understood the
exact customer requirements.
Word Count: 748
Total word count- 3725