Organizational Culture of Gm

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ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Over the years three core values were repeatedly stressed in the various portrayals of the dominant culture at GM: ¬ Respecting authority ¬ Fitting in ¬ Being loyal Core Values through Artifacts: • Respecting Authority: Jargon and Rituals of Deference: One core value of GM’s dominant culture involves the importance of paying “deference to the top corporate management”. The special language or jargon used to refer to these executives’ domains and activities reflected this core value. The top team’s offices were located in an Ishaped end of the 14th floor of the huge GM headquarters building. Company jargon referred to this domain as “the 14th floor” and to these offices as “executive row”. The high status of these top executives was also evident in the derogatory terms used to refer to their subordinates. These subordinates were called “dog robbers”, a term that originally referred to the servants in large households who were assigned the undesirable task of cleaning up dog droppings. Another type of cultural artifact is a “ritual”. GM had many rituals that supported the core value of “deference owed to authority”. For example, subordinated were expected to meet their superiors from out of town at the airport, carry their bags, pay their hotel and meal bills, and chauffeur them around day and night. The higher the status of the superior, the more people would accompany him on the flight and larger the retinue that would wait at the airport. “Adherence to the airport” ritual was not merely a social nicety, as DeLorean learned to his dismay on an occasion when he failed to meet his boss, Peter Estes, at the airport. Estes stormed into DeLorean’s shower nearly tearing the shower door off its hings, shouting with atypical rage. “Why the hell wasn’t someone out to meet me at the airport this morning? You knew I was coming, but nobody was there.

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