Workplace Observation

Workplace Observation

There are some observable aspects of organizational culture such as ethical standards and behavior, organizational diversity, dress and language, conflict management and technology impact on culture.

Sotheby’s International Realty

The organizational culture at Sotheby’s International Realty (SIR) is described as a high-involvement management type organization centered on high quality service. With high-involvement management described as one that recognizes human capital as its most valuable resource by carefully selecting and training individuals and giving them “significant decision-making power, information, and incentive compensation” (Hitt, Miller, & Colella, 2006, p. 15). Due to the compensation involved in large real estate transactions, there is always a danger of “crossing” the line when it comes to ethical behavior as agents scramble for the listing down the street, closing the escrow on time with documents that are not fully understood by the buyer or seller or in showing favor to one prospective buyer over another because of race, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, social status, or some other perceived bias. “Two major challenges of importance to organizational behavior today are those that derive from a breakdown in ethical values and [those] from the increasing diversity of the workforce” (George & Jones, 2005, p. 13).

The management at Sotheby’s International Realty, and all Realtors I work with, are guided in their ethical behavior by the Code of Ethics established by the National Association of Realtors (National Association of Realtors [NAR], 2008). All behavior is set by this standard and any deviation from the NAR Code of Ethics is grounds for dismissal by the company, lawsuit, and restriction or loss of license from the State of California. Ethics and Fair Housing training is mandated by SIR and the NAR to be included in continuing education and license requirements for all agents and brokers nationally.

SIR and real estate offices’ as a business model are a mirror of our communities and create a balance of organizational diversity. Real estate in general is built upon the diversity within the community where individuals can excel at being a ‘specialist’ in their market and thus gain an advantage on their competitors. SIR has agents that work with the Jewish, Armenian, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Latino, African-American, Iranian and others communities that have homes to buy and sell. The president of my company says the only thing Sotheby’s discriminates against is money. Frank Symons, the COO of Sotheby’s International Realty Western Region say’s “I don’t care if it is a fifteen thousand dollar lot or a $50 million dollar estate, its business and I only care about the quality of your service.