Culture at ping

Cultural Analysis Ping

Over the past years, organizational culture has been a topic of significant interest in the organizational studies literature. Having reviewed several sources in researching this paper many definitions of organizational culture were identified. Culture in general has been defined as the set of shared motives, values, beliefs, identities and interpretations or meanings ofsignificant events that result from common experiences of members of collectives and are transmitted across age generations (House et al. 2004). It manifests itself at a societal and at group level as in the case of organizations or institutions where takes the form of a pattern of shared values, norms and practices that help distinguish one organization from another (Higgins and McAllister,2006).

Schein (2004) more specifically, defines it as the pattern of basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems. Taking this definition Ancona, et al. (2005) stand the importance of deciphering the meanings carried by different types of symbols or set of symbols given in the work environment.

Pings cultural analysis will be based on the six features proposed by Anconaet al. (2005) to diagnose the organization in these terms. The ways symbols and meanings are held, the social and personal identities carried by people, the means to ensure social control, the subcultures and groups built out of a diverse workforce, the cultural relativity influence on power and structure, along with the habits and history shared by employees through time will be discussed in thispart based on the results of the survey used to collect information.

In this sense, our survey sample shows a majority of employees belonging to the 20-30 year-old demographic group, with a median of 26 (LinkedIn company profile, 2010). This means that Pings has a young culture, with dynamic and energetic employees for most is their first professional experience. Most working in the Referencedepartment have been with the company for less than a year.

Both a reflection and an outcome of this demographic is the dress code that applies at Pings. This is “business casual” on most days, and on Fridays, it is not applied. Feedback from interviews mentions that team leaders, department head and even the owners do not wear business suits when they come to work. A seemingly simple symbolsuch as organizational dress is shown here to reveal a less formal climate, where no physical sign is there to show hierarchy amongst people in the company at large and between this and the customers, suppliers and the public in general.

As a leading company in its field Pings strives to produce products and services of the highest possible quality and at a fast pace. There is strong andrecurring emphasis by all employees on achieving productivity. A majority of survey respondents cite the concept of productivity as a work philosophy and value that is shared within the company. This is supported by the information shown in their website. Pings is larger than all of their Canadian competitors combined and can respond to peak hiring seasons across the country. It has conducted in excessof one million reference checks and each interviewer has conducted thousands(Pings, 2007).

The way this is expressed is according to the individual workflow and how it is perceived: not a single definition of productivity is expressed but each person or group apprehends the concept along the dimensions of speed, efficiency, quality or discipline in carrying out their work. Even though theremay be several interpretations of productivity, the presence of a tally system (to quantify and measure employee productivity) well understood among employees, is both a common goal and way to bring this value into practice.

The tally system to measure employee productivity serves to insure that employee performance follows a minimum standard. As an objective measure (numbered) equally...