UCW Assignment: Evaluating Organizational Culture at Zappos

This report provides an analysis of Zappos' organizational culture, exploring various factors that influence it, including the physical workspace, training programs, rewards and status symbols, and leadership's reaction to critical incidents. It examines Zappos' organizational structure, highlighting its innovative approach and decentralized model. The report also delves into the company's hiring and firing practices, emphasizing the importance of cultural fit in recruitment. The analysis concludes that Zappos prioritizes maintaining a positive and ethical culture through employee motivation and various reward programs, fostering a positive work environment.

Running head: Zappos Company
Zappos Company

Zappos Company
Zappos Company
In this paper, the discussion will be made on the Zappos Company in relation to the
organizational culture. Zappos.com is the biggest company in the online retail sector. The
company deals in online shoe and clothing retailer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It has been
examined that Zappos was established in 1999 by Nick Swinmurn and also it is launched under
the domain name Shoesite.com. Amazon attained Zappos in the deal of $1.2 Billion. Headquarter
of the company is in Las Vegas, Nevada and the United States (Zappos, 2019).
Organizational culture
The management of Zappos believes that the culture of the company is what makes the
difference between success and failure. It is examined that the company maintains its positive
culture by boosting the engagement level of the employees towards their work. The culture is
positive of the company as the managers are supportive of the employees, they emphasize on
maintaining friendly relations with them so that it could be easy to boost their satisfaction level.
When there are friendly relations with the employees then it would be easy for the management
to manage the entire activities of the company effectively. The same applies to the Zappos
Company which aims at maximizing the satisfaction level of the employees by maintaining the
positive culture of the company (Warrick, 2017).
Factors that influence the organizational culture
The factors that influence the overall activities are concerned with the values which are
considered by the company. It has been observed that Zappos focused on "building a positive
team and family spirit" in which they focus on effective communication with the employees so
that it could be easy to create positivity in the environment. The next factor is related to "be
passionate and determined". In this, the focus is given on boosting the passion of the employees
towards their work so that they can attain positive results. The company also considers the
specific actions that boost the culture of the company by maintaining a fun atmosphere in the
workplace (Michelli, 2011).
Physical workspace
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Zappos Company
The management of the company spends approximately 10% to 20% of the time on boosting the
employee team building. It also makes the workers comfortable with the culture and they
develop relations with maintaining the core values. There are many contests which are organized
by the company for their employees such as contest of movies and also the different departments
have cookouts on the regular basis. Zappos also sponsors family events and company events
such a summer picnic, January party and also vendor party in which the employees and their
families can join (Burkus, 2011).
The smaller events sponsored by the company is theater, bowling alley, and dance parties. These
activities are provided to the employees with the aim of boosting positive culture in the
workplace. Zappos also provide discounts on services such as medical, dental and insurance.
40% employee discount is also offered to the people who love shoe and accessories. The
company serves customers with free food for breakfast, lunch and snacks. In the company, there
are also Nap rooms for rest which help the employees to feel fresh for their work (Recruiter box,
2019).
Training reflects the organizational culture
Zappos know the importance of the training for the employees so they focus on in house training
program that helps to learn about the culture of the company, their processes and also about the
strategies. After the one month of training sessions, Zappos makes an offer in which it is stated
that "If you want to quit today, we will pay you the amount of the time you have worked and also
the bonus of $2,000". This concept assists the company to find out the employees who are
dedicated to their work. In the first week, the training is given of the special seminars in which
"how to operate phones" are discussed. In the next week, the employees are given in-depth
training of dealing with the customers. In this way, the three months of training is completed by
the company in which the employees gain new knowledge and also the skills that help them to
achieve success in the future. Zappos appointed professionals to give training to the employees
as it could help them to achieve their set targets (Careers, 2019). By considering this technique
of training, the company maintains the culture by appointing the candidate who wants to work
for the company.
Rewards and status symbols
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Zappos Company
The company emphasizes on rewarding and maintaining the status symbols of the employees in
the workplace. There are different reward programs on which the company emphasizes such as
Zollar program. In this program, the employees can earn Zoppos Dollars for participating in
training by answering the question. The play money can be used to redeem the brand available in
the company such as the gym bag and desk fan. These points can also be used to redeem movie
tickets which will help to boost the positivity within the employees. The next rewards offered to
the employees are related to "Master of WOW parking". The employees can earn parking slots
which helps them to avail new benefits from the company. "Hero Award" is also the award
which is given to the employees. In this, the performance is analyzed of the employees and they
are awarded the bonus (Zappos Insights, 2019). This is one of the motivation factors for the
employees which also help in creating a positive mindset towards their work.
Leader's reaction towards critical incidents
The reaction of the leaders towards critical incidents and crises is positive. The managers or the
top management maintains positivity at the time of taking important decisions. Patience is one of
the aspects which are considered by the leaders and they evaluate the incidents and cases in a
proper manner. They take important decisions by considering the pros and cons of the outcome.
It is important for them to maintain positivity in the workplace so that the incidents and issues
which take place in the workplace can be reduced. Also, planning is one of the aspect on which
the focus is given by the company so that accurate decision can be taken which is beneficial for
the company also (Zappos, 2019).
The organizational structure of Zappos
It is evaluated that the organizational structure of the company is innovative and it maintains the
corporate culture. Zappos has a unique structure in which they have different departments for
business to business consultations that help the other companies to be interested in considering
the overall model of the company. It has been seen that the company follows the Holacracy
strategy in which the emphasis is on different methods for the company that helps to become
self-managed and self-organized. In this concept, there are predetermined rules and policies that
are important to be followed so that it could be easy to become self-managed and also self-
organized. The organization structure helps to boost innovation in the workplace and also it helps
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Zappos Company
in attaining the targets. There are different hierarchical levels, in which the transparency is
maintained and also it alleviates the entire authority. The structure of the company helps to attain
success and also boost the growth of the company in a highly competitive market. Zappos has a
flat decentralized model, in which the problems are empowered to consider accurate decisions
(Careers, 2019). This helps in maintaining flexibility in the operations of the company in the
highly competitive market.
Hiring and firing practices in Zappos
The company focuses on hiring talented candidates as it could help them to attain a positive
outcome. The process of hiring at Zappos is courtship as compared to the traditional recruitment
in which the emphasis is on the culture. The aim of the company is to consider the cultural fit
and hire slowly. The HR of the company takes cultural fit interview from the employees in
which they analyze the actual knowledge of the employees in context to maintaining the culture
of the company. If a candidate is failed to pass the cultural fit interview then he or she is not
invited to have an interview with the hiring manager. Also, at the time of hiring the employees,
the focus is given more on the behavior as compared to the skills of the employees. The company
designs the firing policy according to the set policies and targets. If the workers are not able to
meet those policies, then they are asked to leave the company. But the company also believes to
retain the candidate who is skilled and have knowledge (Careers, 2019).
Therefore, it can be concluded that Zappos is one of the biggest company that focuses on
managing the entire activities of the company by considering the ethical framework. The
company also has the aim to maintain the culture of the company by emphasizing on boosting
the motivation level of the employees. The employees are motivated through different rewards
which help to maintain positivity within the workplace.
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Zappos Company
References
Burkus, D. (2011). A tale of two cultures: Why culture trumps core values in building ethical
organizations. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 4(1), 6.
Careers. (2019). Find Out How Zappos Reinforces Its Company Culture. Retrieved from:
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/zappos-company-culture-1918813
Michelli, J. A. (2011). The Zappos Experience. McGraw-Hill Publishing.
Recruiter box. (2019). 4 Companies Attracting Quality Talent with Unique Perks. Retrieved
from: https://recruiterbox.com/blog/4-companies-attracting-quality-employees-with-unique-
perks
Warrick, D. D. (2017). What leaders need to know about organizational culture. Business
Horizons, 60(3), 395-404.
Zappos Insights. (2019).rewards. Retrieved from:
https://www.zapposinsights.com/blog/item/four-peertopeer-ways-zappos-employees-
reward-each-other
Zappos. (2019).Employees. Retrieved from: https://www.zappos.com/about/?
utm_campaign=zappos&utm_medium=zappos-
home&utm_source=footer&utm_content=text
Zappos. (2019).Power of culture. Retrieved from: https://www.zapposinsights.com/
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