Leading Change

Leading Change

Leading Change Good Sport
Corporate Structure and Culture Description: Good Sport
Good Sport’s overall corporate structure is a rather formal and hierarchical one, with each department nearly isolated from the others in his or her culture. The segregation of each department in the daily activities allows each to take on its own character, which develops into the assumptions, beliefs, and behavioral expectations that McShane and Von Glinow (2005) discuss in their definition of Organizational Culture.  
This is best seen in the difference between sections one and two of the simulation.   Section one deals with the Sales Department, known to have a relatively informal culture as well as being supportive of those individuals who promote their ideas. They work in a relationship-focused business segment where they must prove the company’s focus on the customers’ needs. Because of the need for them to build relationships in order to succeed in meeting their sales goals, they tend to work at building relationships that serve their own needs while serving the needs of others. Since “the customer is king” with this group and since everyone would prefer to do business with a friend (Gitomer, 2006), the focus for all their activities remains on the needs of the customer, and everything they do must serve to develop their relationship with the customer. This is described in the simple term presented by Maio (1995) in the form of “WIFM,” or “what’s in it for me?” YEAH!!!! Each action considered by members of the Sales department must answer the customer’s question of “what’s in it for me?” This continues outside of their customer interaction and manifests itself in their informal out-of-office meetings, which help them, develop their relationships within the department and with networking contacts, which help these relationship-driven individuals to answer constantly this question as presented by those with whom they interact. They also respect the...