The Value Match, a qualitative study of two Swedish organisations’ cultural strength

Abstract

This study focuses on organisations’ cultural strengths. It aims to provide insight into factors that matter for an organisation’s cultural strength, which is investigated by looking at two Swedish organisations. In addition, forces and events behind a certain cultural state are identified. The study is qualitative and interviews have served as main source for the empirical chapter. The organisations are in different sectors and we will refer to them as Pluto and Jupiter, respectively. The strengths of the cultures are estimated by the use of Philipson’s (2004) framework that is based on the match between employee values and corporate values. The respective strengths are also analysed through the use of characteristics connected to factors such as values, leadership, history, goals and cooperation. The results show that Pluto can be seen as culturally stronger than Jupiter. At Pluto, employee values and corporate values match well. Pluto has managed to keep their values consistent for a long period of time and employee values are in line with the corporate values. Employees are fostered into the culture of the organisation from the moment they start working at Pluto. All this together indicates a strong organisational culture at Pluto. At Jupiter, corporate values are partly contradictory and not as clear, which makes employees interpret the values different from each other and is an indication of a weaker culture. The employee values are somewhat scattered and the energy within the organisation is not used optimally, as employees have different driving forces and ways of acting. Examples of factors where the organisations differ from each other, are the presence of the values in everyday work, consistency in values, reinforcement of values and validation of values. Historical explanations are identified for the cultural state that the organisations are in. Jupiter’s culture is marked by the significant market advantage they have had from the start. It evolved from this position to become very complex and diverse. Meanwhile, Pluto’s culture is shaped by a CEO they had in the 70’s that laid the foundation for what Pluto is today.