Integrating Culture and Diversity in Decision Making: The CEO and Organizational Culture Profile

Based on the facts in the case and what you have learned in Chapter 5, evaluate the culture change effort that is underway. What cultural systems have been targeted in the cultural change effort? What systems are missing, if any? Does the culture appear to be in alignment? Misalignment? What else might management do that they have not already done to make the culture change successful?

Founded in 1999 by Nick Swinmurn, Zappos.com, initially named ShoeSite.com, has grown from an inventory-less, “drop-ship” shoe sales website that connected customer orders with shoe suppliers to an Internet shoe mega-retailer that recorded a reported $2.1 billion in revenue in

Founded in 1999, Zappos started as site that only sold shoes. The idea for the site came to founder Nick Swinmurn in his quest to find the right shoe. Swinmurn couldn’t find exactly what he was looking for in the different stores he visited. The stores either didn’t have his size or the right style and color. After spending hours searching and getting no where he went home shoeless. Swinmurn attempted to shop online for the shoes he wanted. He couldn’t believe there wasn’t a site that offered a huge variety of shoes. This inspired him to create a site that he envisioned that had a big selection of different size, styles and colors of name brand shoes (“In The Beginning - Let There Be Shoes”, n.d.).

If the Zappos website displays an item, it is in stock. Once the company sells out of an item, the listing is removed from the website. This helps to reduce customer frustration. Its inventory and shipping systems are linked directly to the website via a central database, and all its information systems are developed in‐ house and customized to the company’s needs. Their warehouses operate around the clock, which allows them to get a product to the customer faster.

Innovation has been another key component for Zappos.com Inc. The company itself was started by an innovated idea of having a large inventory shoe store online and it has continued to be innovated from offering free shipping to having an intelligent tracking system. Such innovation has been geared towards a productivity-driven practice. Normally inventory is stocked in a warehouse by stacking the shoes with the same brand by each other; however Zappos tracks each pair of shoe allowing for random stacking and saves lots of time (Kopelman at., el, 2012). This means the shoes or products gets to the consumer faster.

As the CEO of Zappos.com, an online retailer that specializes in the sale of shoes, Tony Hsieh has seen the company grow from a struggling start up to a billion dollar business. Because of his leadership, Zappos.com was listed as 86 on Fortune Magazine’s list of best companies to work for in 2015. Hsieh’s method of leadership was analyzed against the common theories of leadership and it was found that transformational leadership was the most closely aligned with Hsieh’s approach. Transformational leadership theory describes a transformational leader as someone who “helps bring about major, positive changes by moving group members beyond their self-interests and toward the good of the group, organization, or society. The essence of transformational leadership is developing and transforming people.” (Textbook chapter 3 Andrew J. DuBrin Leadership 7th Edition) Transformational leadership is produced from people who, with a specific set of values and beliefs are able to motivate others based off that belief system. This kind of leadership produces change through the transformation of the organization from the ground up by the leader inspiring transformation in those around him.

Notably, in 2009 the company was acquired by the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon.com. In the agreement, Amazon promised that Zappo’s operations and governance would remain intact, independently run as if a wholly separate company. The mutual alliance was ostensibly made because the customer service-centric culture was found to be co-inspired and compatible. Another reason was likely because Amazon could help the company expand gracefully and in orderly fashion as Zappo’s sales to that point were largely doubling every year creating strain within the company to grow alongside their sales. Fruits of this “acquisition” were likely present when Zappos restructured the organization into 10 separate companies under the Zappos brand, listed below:

Zappos.com is an online shoe and clothing store based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. The company was founded in 1999 by Nick Swinmurn, and officially launched under the name “Venture Frogs”. They began selling footwear for all ages, and expanded to niche markets accommodating to customers with hard-to-find sizes, including narrow and wide-width feet. In the same year, Tony Hsieh and Alfred Lin joined the team and changed the name to “Zappos” (similar to Spanish-term for shoes, “Zapatos”) with a vision of selling more than just shoes. Today, Zappos sells clothing, accessories, eyewear and more than 50,000 brands of footwear, yet their products are not the only focus of their reputation. Zappos is known for their unwavering commitment to customer service and creating one of the most successful company cultures that many organizations aspire to replicate.

Corporate culture is an intricate component of an organizations identity. Fortune 500 corporations have used corporate culture as a trademark. Apple Computers, a leading technology corporation, leverages its brand by promoting connectivity between all Apple devices. Walmart Corporation requires all associates to dress in dark blue shirts and beige slacks. This document will discuss cultural assessment tools used in assessing organizational culture and gaps within formal groups, leadership styles and techniques that influence social culture and diversity within formal workgroups, description of social culture that influence productivity within diverse workgroups and social culture and diversity of formal group members and the influence on organizational culture.

Before starting the analysis it should be taken in consideration that Zappo’s business is done thru e-commerce and it managed to introduce itself at the early 2000’s when society had trust issues with making business online, which is the platform that Zappo’s used to create trust and enhance it’s value proposition.

In conclusion, Zappos has challenge the mindset and traditional boundaries of today’s work environment. Zappos success starts from within the company and branches out. Tony’s way of operating his business and personality along with the right decisions the company has made makes it one of the most interesting companies of todays time. When you take care of your employees the rest takes care of its

This video highlights that "one size fits all" does not apply when it comes to organizations. Instead, organizations should be aware of how an organization's culture supports or inhibits the organization's ability to change. Think about the organization in your group project. Identify the company and describe its culture in detail. Please do not give me 1-3 sentence answers or simply quote its value or mission statements. Instead, describe its culture and explain how it can specifically be seen in its artifacts, values and assumptions (see picture below).

Managing cultural diversity workplaces are a challenge that has the potential to influence organization positively or negatively. People are an organization’s most important key of assets and knowing how to maximize their abilities is critical to success. Utilizing diversity and acknowledging, appreciating will help build the resources that business needs to be successful now and in the future. Australia has seen dramatic changes in the structure of its workplace. Now made up of women, immigrants, and minorities are increasing percentage of workplace. In addition to these workers, who speak variety different languages, approaches to work, and have varying customs, the population is also getting older, requiring people who are from different age groups with different generational values to have to work side by side.

The business landscape has been dramatically changed and overhauled by the globalization process in today’s world. Adoption of diversity by many firms is in the aim to gain competitive advantage from others. There have been different findings on the influence of Top Management Team diversity on performance and corporate strategies in the organizations. Some findings show that there is a significant relationship between Top Management Team and performance while others reveal there is no relationship. The study seeks to investigate the impact of TMT diversity on corporate strategies and the organization’s performance. Great contribution to the research field about how TMT diversity relates to the decision-making process and the effect on company’s growth will be made by the study. The lack of diversity at the work place is a major arising issue in many organizations globally. The purpose of the mixed research study will be to investigate TMT’s diversity with the aim of identifying how it affects decision making inform of corporate strategies and organizational performance. The research method will be mixed where it will employ the use of both the qualitative and quantitative techniques. The study’s main focus will be on the various companies or the organizations that will provide for study participants as respondents. Interviews and questionnaires will be used to collect information from the participant from the different companies. Variables for measurement will be based on

In today’s time, online shopping is a growing trend. Developing new and exciting ways for buyers to buy and receive items without having to step foot into a mall or shopping center. It becomes more convenient for the busy people in the world. Whether its grocery shopping or clothing, you can buy it online without hassle. Zappos is an online clothing and shoe company that has shown great progression from when they began. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, has run his company with an approach to serve products in the finest timely manner and with great service. On his quest to rise to the top, can Zappos CEO continue with the same mentality he has had with the company since the beginning?