Brand and Culture - The external influence on the internal A case study of culture building in relation to brand and challenges with the concept of building culture from the outside-in

Abstract

Purpose: This study investigates how a culture building process within the retail sector might be influenced by the case organization's external brand. The study also aims to identify possible challenges with the concept of building culture from the outside-in (driving culture from the brand). Consequently, the research questions in this thesis are; How is the internal process of culture building influenced by the external brand? And What institutional and cultural pressures might challenge the concept of building culture from the outside-in? Theory: To answer the research questions, a theoretical framework based on institutional and organizational culture theory was developed. The chosen theories have guided the study with the following understandings. Firstly, organizations are influenced by their environmental context in terms of different mechanisms of isomorphism. Secondly, organizations are carriers or history, which will influence decision making processes. Thirdly, culture is manifested on different levels within organizations, where shared basic assumption are the on deepest level and most difficult to manage and change. Lastly, shared basic assumptions around how members of the organization deal with issues of external adaptation and survival are important to explore in order to understand how internal culture activities can respond to external change. Method: The study is a single-case study based on a qualitative research approach. The methods used in this study are observation, open-ended question questionnaire and one interview.