Introduction: This chapter has presented several different perspectives and a variety of examples of the concept of organizational culture. This exercise will give you a chance to learn more about cultures in real organizations.
Internet Assignment: As you near graduation you may become interested in interviewing for a job you can take after graduation. Pick several companies that you think you might want to work for. Rank-order the companies in the order in which you would choose to work for them (at least at this point). Then, starting from the top, look up articles on the management of each company, searching specifically for articles that describe something about the culture of the company. Not all companies have articles written about them that describe their culture, so it may take several tries to find articles that do. Remember, an article that has a description of an organization's culture may not always use the word "culture." So read carefully.
Follow-up: Describe the kinds of information you were able to locate. How much valuable information on culture did the articles provide? Finally, respond to the following questions:
- What other information is needed to better understand the culture of these companies?
- Should there be more information about companies' management style and culture available on the Internet?
- Which types of companies have the best management information on the Internet?
