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The Importance Of Culture Within A Company Across Time Essay

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Introduction
Corporate culture is the pattern of shared and stable beliefs and values that are developed within a company across time (Gordon and Ditomaso, 1992). This definition brings the time factor into the picture. In other words the corporate culture will become more ingrained and reinforced the longer an organization is in existence. Medical One, founded in 1992 had a distinct and powerful corporate culture of its own that its employees believed had brought about a high level of care to its patients. However cost overturns and bad planning had placed the company under a great deal of debt, leading to its acquisition by Health Plus, a much smaller but financially successful company operating throughout Arizona and New Mexico. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of culture within an organization, culture types, culture components and how best to effect its change.
Components of Culture
Coleman (2013) argues that within the numerous differences in various corporate cultures, there are six common traits: Vision, values, practices, people, narrative, and place. The starting point to a great corporate culture is the mission statement. It helps guide employees in their everyday decision making process, while informing customers, suppliers, etc. of the company’s vision. A company’s values serve as a guideline to achieve the company’s vision. Practices are what the company actually does that support their stated values. There would be no coherent culture

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