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Studies in Organizational Culture- Groupon Inc.

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Studies in Organizational Culture- Groupon Inc. “Groupon! Get your Groupon! Hot off the presses!” It wasn’t too long ago Groupon Inc. was the darling of Wall Street. Institutional and individual investors alike were anxiously anticipating an opportunity to buy shares of the company dubbed by Fast Company as “the most exciting thing to happen to retail since eBay.” That excitement was mirrored on November 4, 2011, Groupon’s first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, as the price sky-rocketed to a high of $31.14 compared to its initial $20.00 IPO valuation. However, that unbridled enthusiasm has dwindled since as the stock has plummeted to an all-time low of $3.83 as of Friday November 2, 2012 (Yahoo! Finance 2012). Let’s take a …show more content…

The difference now is that they are more conscious of the cost of these luxuries. Gone are the days when clipping coupons was simply a Sunday morning pastime for senior citizens endlessly searching their Chicago Tribune for that next great deal. This is where Groupon steps in. What we all now recognize as Groupon.com was launched in November 2008 as Getyourgroupon.com (Yahoo! Finance). The site offers its subscriber’s daily discounts on goods and services such as the ones aforementioned, but only if certain number people agree to purchase them. For example, if I buy a $100 coupon for a $200 dollar sports package to a Blackhawks game that includes transportation to and from the game, a ticket to the game, as well as dinner and beverages but only if 250 coupons are purchased. If after purchasing I see only 249 have been bought and the deal is only live for 10 more minutes. In order for me to redeem the discounted value 1 more person has to buy the coupon. If I really want to go this game, I try to convince family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers on the train, what a great deal this is- not necessarily for their benefit but for my own. If the minimum quota is not achieved the deal is off and I miss out on the spine-chilling experience of the National Anthem at the United Center during a Blackhawks game.

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