Introduction
In the contemporary super-competitive age, organizational culture is increasingly becoming an important domain in the way business is being conducted owing to its substantial impact on firm performance and competitiveness, employee job performance, as well as employee job satisfaction.
Using a hypothetical company referred to as Vintage Tourism Ventures, this paper purposes to discuss some underlying issues concerning the organization’s culture, including its legend, rituals and ceremonies, language and socialization of new employees.
Company Legend
The company “Vintage Tourism Ventures” will be established against the backdrop of a maturing tourism industry, which provides numerous tourism packages to the youth and the working class, but fails to consider the elderly and pensioners as major consumers of tourism products.
Customers within this group of the population (the elderly and pensioners) require to be showered with warmth and compassion owing to their advancing age, not mentioning that they need to be treated with respect and utmost integrity.
Additionally, it has been decided that potential customers for the company need to be entertained in a pleasurable and stress-free environment not only to leave long-lasting impressions about the company but also to instill happiness in their sunset years.
The company will be developing around these cultural variables (demonstration of warmth, compassion, respect, integrity and happiness), implying that employees are expected to treat the customers with big smiles and affection.
It is expected that the company will make a niche for itself in the tourism industry in the foreseeable future, as employees and other relevant stakeholders will have the capacity to know what is expected from them when it comes to treating the elderly customers and maintaining the company’s cohesiveness for enhanced performance and competitiveness.
As a matter of fact, the company expects to be identified with affection, compassion, happiness, and integrity.
Company Rituals and Ceremonies
The company will employ birthday parties and happy hours not only to establish team unity and allow employees to feel appreciated by the management but also to provide a more enjoyable workplace experience in the line with its projected culture and ethical principles.
Happy hours will be held on weekends and will be dedicated to employees who will complete individual accomplishments for the company and contribute to the steady growth of the customer base.
The company will use birthday and other parties to encourage their workers to reach higher goals and also to show that it values employees as human beings, rather than as an impersonal means of production.
These rituals and ceremonies will be wholly funded by the company and will contain an element of compensation through monetary and nonmonetary rewards to show the commitment of the organization to its human capital base.
Senior leaders will use these ceremonies to underscore important variables of the company’s culture (e.g., warmth, compassion, respect, integrity, cooperation and happiness), and also encourage employees and management to have more opportunities for social interaction with each other away from the stressful office environment.
Company’s Organizational Language
It is a well-known fact that organizational language reflects a collective strategy among organizational members and is instrumental in reinforcing a company’s culture, particularly with regard to ensuring that employees exhibit or project patterns of behavior underpinned by values, attitudes and assumptions for optimal organizational performance and productivity.
Drawing from the main variables of the projected corporate culture (demonstration of warmth, compassion, respect, integrity and happiness), it is plausible to say that the organizational language will revolve around creating the happiest place on earth for pensioners to enjoy their sunset years with utmost peace and tranquility.
The organizational language of creating the happiest place on earth for pensioners to enjoy their sunset years through tourism and adventures will form the foundational element of the culture at Vintage Tourism Ventures, particularly in terms of ensuring that employees will be able to work in an environment that is full of warmth, compassion, respect, integrity and happiness.
It is only by working in such a fun-filled and respectful environment that the employees will have the capacity to joke with customers and guarantee their happiness.
Owing to the fact that the hallmark of an adaptive organizational culture is embedded in the capacity for employees to accept change and take on the challenge of initiating and implementing new strategies for organizational growth and competitiveness, it is essential to align organizational language with the prevalent culture to reinforce in employees the value of change in facilitating the improvement of the company.
Drawing from this elaboration, it should be the function of the company’s leadership to open channels of communication to ensure that employees are inculcated into an organizational culture that values warmth, compassion, respect, integrity and happiness.
Opening channels of communication between employees and management will also ensure that change efforts are not resisted when they arise.
Additionally, it should be the function of the company’s leadership to develop a learning environment that provides employees with the capacity to learn about the culture and language of the organization.
Lastly, it is essential for the leadership to provide employees with training opportunities in order to ensure internalization and comprehension of essential components of the organizational culture.
The discussed variables (opening avenues of communication, developing and implementing a learning environment, providing training opportunities) will be instrumental in ensuring that Vintage Tourism Ventures maintains productivity and competitiveness due to a strong adaptive corporate culture.
Socialization of New Employees
Socialization of new people into the company should commence by undertaking an orientation exercise aimed at ensuring that the employees not only embrace the corporate culture of the firm, but also understand all the cultural values, ethical principles, and expectations for behavior.
The orientation exercise should also introduce the new hires to the company’s vision and mission statements, not mentioning that it should assist the employees to understand the value of working together as a team in the realization of the company’s strategic and business objectives.
The next step in the socialization process should involve giving the new people a real view of the organization, particularly in the context of the company’s origin, pathways for the future, major functions or activities undertaken, as well as existing customers and customer base.
Lastly, management should ensure that the new people get to know the whole team by striving to help them establish constructive relationships with the rest of the staff. For example, a welcome party could be organized to provide the new hires with an opportunity to connect with other members of staff and share in their experiences.
Conclusion
This paper has discussed some of the underlying issues related to the establishment of a strong corporate culture for a hypothetical company referred to as Vintage Tourism Ventures.
Drawing for this exploration, it can be concluded that a strong corporate culture is to a large extent dependent on the company’s legend, rituals and ceremonies, organizational language, as well as how well new people are socialized into the organization.