Corporate Culture

In A Simple Statement: A Guide to Nonprofit Arts Management and Leadership, Jamie Grady writes:

When discussing corporate values, we naturally think of the term coporate culture. Corporate culture is the culmination of many factors: the type of business the organization is in, the type of artistic discpline it presents, its programs and services, its audience, its size and location, its methods of operating, and its interaction with the public. Even more important are the intangible factors: beliefs, values, and the norms and expectations of the company. Values play a key role in how the organization operates from day-to-day and how it plans for the future.

Personal Values and Organizational Success
Grady writes:

An institution may document its values and beliefs through the use of a
statement of beliefs or artistic statement. Regardless of the title an
organization chooses for its statement, leadership must fully understand the
values that drive the organization and be able to articulate them to
others. Without such a statement, employees have no resource for comparing
their own values and beliefs with those of the company. The closer the
organizational values are to the employee's personal values, the greater the
likelihood that the employee will be successful in the organization.

Key Take Aways

• I like the distinction between the tangible and intangible factors that make up a corporate culture.
• It seems obvious in hindsight how important it is that your personal values aren't at conflict with the organization's values. At the same time, I don't think I've ever specifically focused on figuring out an organization's values before taking a job. I have a new tool for evaluating a fit!

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• Organizational Values