3. How did Zappos' corporate culture begin?How ir Zapnornaintainad" Case Application: Going to ExtremesNot only is Zappos the number one e-retailer, but it also is ranked the sixth best company towork for in Fortune magazine's annual survey. Okay, so what is it really about Zappos thatmakes its culture so great? Let's take a closer look. Zappos began selling shoes and otherproducts online in 1999. Four years later, it was profitable, and it reached more than $1 billion insales by 2009. Also, in 2009, Zappos was named BusinessWeek's Customer Service Champ andwas given an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau. Also that year, Amazon (yeah . . thatAmazon) purchased Zappos for 10 million Amazon shares, worth almost $928 million at thetime. Zappos' employees divided up S40 million in cash and restricted stock and were assuredthat Zappos management would remain in place. The person who was determined to “build aculture that applauds such things as weirdness and humility" was Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay)who became CEO of Zappos in 2000. And Tony is the epitome of weirdness and humility. Forinstance, on April Fools’ Day 2010, he issued a press release announcing that “Zappos was suingWalt Disney Company in a class action suit claiming that Disney was misleading the public bysaying that Disneyland is 'the happiest place on earth' because clearly" Hsieh argued, Zappos is.Before joining Zappos, Hsieh had been cofounder of the Internet advertising networkLinkExchange and had seen firsthand the “dysfunction that can arise from building a company inwhich technical skill is all that matters." He was determined to do it differently at Zappos. Hsiehfirst invited the 300 employees at Zappos to list the core values that the culture should be basedupon. That process led to the 10 values that continue to drive the organization, which nowemploys about 1,400 people. Another thing that distinguishes the Zappos culture is therecognition that organizational culture is more than a list of written values. The culture has to be"lived." And Zappos does this by maintaining a “complex web of human interactions." AtZappos, social media is used liberally to link employees with one another and with thecompany's customers. For instance, one recent tweet said, “Hey. Did anyone bring a hairdryer tothe office today?" This kind of camaraderie can maintain and sustain employee commitment tothe company. Also, at Zappos, the company's “pulse" or “health" of the culture is surveyedmonthly. In these happiness surveys, employees answer such “unlikely questions as whether theybelieve that the company has a higher purpose than profits, whether their own role has meaning,whether they feel in control of their career path, whether they consider their co-workers to belike family and friends, and whether they are happy in their jobs." Survey results are brokendown by department and opportunities for “development" are identified and acted on. Forexample, when one month's survey showed that a particular department had “veered off courseand felt isolated from the rest of the organization," actions were taken to show employees howintegral their work was to the rest of the company. And one other thing about Zappos: Everyyear, to celebrate its accomplishments, it publishes a Culture Book, a testimonial to the power ofits culture. "Zappos has a belief that the right culture with the right values will always producethe best organizational performance, and this belief trumps everything else."

Question

3. How did Zappos' corporate culture begin?How ir Zapnornaintainad&#34; Case Application: Going to ExtremesNot only is Zappos the number one e-retailer, but it also is ranked the sixth best company towork for in Fortune magazine's annual survey. Okay, so what is it really about Zappos thatmakes its culture so great? Let's take a closer look. Zappos began selling shoes and otherproducts online in 1999. Four years later, it was profitable, and it reached more than $1 billion insales by 2009. Also, in 2009, Zappos was named BusinessWeek's Customer Service Champ andwas given an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau. Also that year, Amazon (yeah . . thatAmazon) purchased Zappos for 10 million Amazon shares, worth almost $928 million at thetime. Zappos' employees divided up S40 million in cash and restricted stock and were assuredthat Zappos management would remain in place. The person who was determined to “build aculture that applauds such things as weirdness and humility&#34; was Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay)who became CEO of Zappos in 2000. And Tony is the epitome of weirdness and humility. Forinstance, on April Fools’ Day 2010, he issued a press release announcing that “Zappos was suingWalt Disney Company in a class action suit claiming that Disney was misleading the public bysaying that Disneyland is 'the happiest place on earth' because clearly&#34; Hsieh argued, Zappos is.Before joining Zappos, Hsieh had been cofounder of the Internet advertising networkLinkExchange and had seen firsthand the “dysfunction that can arise from building a company inwhich technical skill is all that matters.&#34; He was determined to do it differently at Zappos. Hsiehfirst invited the 300 employees at Zappos to list the core values that the culture should be basedupon. That process led to the 10 values that continue to drive the organization, which nowemploys about 1,400 people. Another thing that distinguishes the Zappos culture is therecognition that organizational culture is more than a list of written values. The culture has to be&#34;lived.&#34; And Zappos does this by maintaining a “complex web of human interactions.&#34; AtZappos, social media is used liberally to link employees with one another and with thecompany's customers. For instance, one recent tweet said, “Hey. Did anyone bring a hairdryer tothe office today?&#34; This kind of camaraderie can maintain and sustain employee commitment tothe company. Also, at Zappos, the company's “pulse&#34; or “health&#34; of the culture is surveyedmonthly. In these happiness surveys, employees answer such “unlikely questions as whether theybelieve that the company has a higher purpose than profits, whether their own role has meaning,whether they feel in control of their career path, whether they consider their co-workers to belike family and friends, and whether they are happy in their jobs.&#34; Survey results are brokendown by department and opportunities for “development&#34; are identified and acted on. Forexample, when one month's survey showed that a particular department had “veered off courseand felt isolated from the rest of the organization,&#34; actions were taken to show employees howintegral their work was to the rest of the company. And one other thing about Zappos: Everyyear, to celebrate its accomplishments, it publishes a Culture Book, a testimonial to the power ofits culture. &#34;Zappos has a belief that the right culture with the right values will always producethe best organizational performance, and this belief trumps everything else.&#34;

Accepted Answer

The formation and maintenance of Zappos’s corporate culture has to be traced from its inception to…

3. How did Zappos' corporate culture begin? How is Zar intain