Learn More: Compare Organizational Cultures
Over time, organizations develop distinctive cultures through the imprint of the firm's founders, as well as through shared stories, symbolic actions, powerful emotional events, and more. View the Web sites of the following companies that are all involved in selling ice cream: Ben and Jerry's, Baskin-Robbins, Blue Bell Creameries, and Dippin' Dots. Explore the sites and learn about the organizations.

Based on the corporate information you find at each of these four sites, answer the following questions.

1. What is the organizational structure of each firm? What are the similarities and differences you find in their structures?
2. What specific cultural values are communicated by the various Web sites? Consider how the information is presented, as well as the information itself. What are the similarities and differences you find in their values?
3. Do you see a relationship between the organizations' structures and cultures? Explain.

Check It Out
On Fortune magazines' online site, choose the "100 Best to Work For" list for the most recent year. In these pages, you will uncover lots of interesting bits of corporate culture information about many companies. Visit the feature called, "Find the Right Company For You," follow the links to the suggested firms, then answer the following questions.

1. Did one or more of your suggested firms sound like "the right company for you"? Why or why not?
2. Do you think that the prompting questions on this page ("Would you like to work for a company with a large number of employees?" and so on) are the best questions for discovering one's preferences in organizational culture? If so, why? If not, what are other questions would be better, and why?