Business Culture and Adapting To Varying Corporate Environments
Business culture is an
immensely important but often overlooked aspect of a successful organisation.
The strongest internal cultures are the ones which thrive in a regularly
changing internal atmosphere. To assess the strength of the business culture
within your organisation, you need to ask yourself one question: if all staff
members were to be changed, would the business still have a similar environment
and dynamic? If the answer is yes, then your business culture is strong, as
employees are working within an established environment, rather than
influencing the organisation through their own personalities.
Ensuring
that business culture is in line with a company's established goals is the key
to its successful utilisation. There are numerous potential cultures that a
company can instil depending on what they want to broadcast, ranging from the
offer of internal development to open staff communication.
The
variety of cultures, and their individual successes, is vast in the world of
business. One organisation may strive to establish an internal culture which is
entirely different to that of its main competitor. Successfully planning and
implementing a chosen business culture within an organisation is a tricky task,
and the complexity of business culture is itself a minefield of different codes
of conduct and ethics. What should be focused on is ensuring the strength of
the chosen culture, and making sure that it is reflected in the attitude of
employees.
But what about the employees themselves?
Entering
a company with an ingrained internal culture, or even being part of a business
which is in the midst of having its culture re-aligned, can pose a daunting
proposition for an employee looking to adapt to a new environment. This is
coupled with the notion that businesses, regardless of the spin associated with
internal communication, may choose to only adhere to the ethics they are bound
to by law. Providing an internal culture in which a particular employee was
hoping for (such as an advertised route of internal development and promotion)
may not be within a company's cultural strategy, and could prove to add to the stress
of switching into an unfamiliar corporate environment.
There
is no environment more unfamiliar than the overseas market. Confidently understanding the business culture of an overseas
division is vital for a new investor, as the understanding of what drives a
company to succeed is paramount to seeing a strong return on investment. The
good news is that there are services out there to train people, or at least
assist them, in understanding this environment.
The
IoDB consists of recently retired senior UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office
diplomats, who offer an invaluable level of knowledge and experience to aid on
the understanding of business culture. Meetings consist of one-on-one and small
group discussions, within which participants are treated to the advice of
tutors who include former business attaches and ambassadors.
Clients
of the Institute are briefed in regards to business etiquette, whereby they are
given the tools to adapt successfully within a particular corporate
environment. This service allows a client to confidently step into a new
business culture, rather than be discouraged by a daunting and unfamiliar
corporate structure.
Author Bio:
David writes for the IoDB - find out more information about them
here - http://www.diplomacyandbusiness.com
