Structure & Culture in Organizations

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Impact of Structure and Culture on an Organization
High tech companies Oracle, Apple, Google, and Facebook have varying degrees of organically functioning organizations. How the organization opts to structure teams and the degree to which it fosters cross-team collaboration plays a significant role in employee satisfaction. A review of Oracle’s history and structure from the perspective of a current employee offer insight to the internal challenges a company must address both ethically and legally and the impact on job performance and turnover of employees.
Setting standard behavior expectations in the workplace is important for all levels of management. A “culture of respect, trust and honest communication” can make or break the ability of a company to establish and maintain ethical business operations (Long, 2013). When joining Oracle in the 1990’s, many employees were greeted with the public reputation of its sales force. Teams functioned under a boundary less structure, not limited by structure or management and highly flexible and responsive (Robbins, Decenzo & Coulter, 2013). Sales would risk any relationship to meet their quota which had been doubled from the previous year and ethics took a backseat.
Over the last 11 years, the company has begun to tighten their belt. Teams were periodically cleaned up, and lack of organizational control and formal structure would permit them to again expand their teams with complete disregard. Spending budgets were eventually cut, but mostly at the corporate level as Sales kick-offs became virtual and were no longer the synonymous ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ week long parties. Business practices previously based on the degradation of the competition were no longer suppo...

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...lts are being felt at a deeper level by customers, impacting Oracle’s overall reputation and potential for growth once experienced.

Works Cited

Long, N. (2013). What are ethical standards in the workplace? Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ethical-standards-workplace-11576.html
Moran, G. (2012). How to build an ethical business culture. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/224453
Robbins, S.P., Decenzo, D.A., & Coulter, M. 2013. Fundamentals of Management 8e: Essential Concepts and Applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education, Inc.
Shaffer, D.J. & Schmidt, R.A. (1999). Personality testing in employment. Retrieved from http://www.hiringstrategies.com/personality_testing.htm
Zenger, J. & Folkman, J. (2012). Getting 360 degree reviews right. Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/09/getting-360-degree-reviews-right/

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