Reference no: EM132927536

The roots of Well Mart's culture date back to Sameer, who instilled the now famous "Saturday Morning Meeting". During these meetings, he encouraged his employees to offer suggestions for improvement and empowered them to follow through on those suggestions that he thought were worth pursuing. The Saturday Morning Meeting has continued at Well-Mart despite its growth into one of the largest corporations--in -the world. Discussion could focus on how Well-Mart's culture has been maintained over the years, with special emphasis on the importance of the Saturday Morning Meeting. In addition to the Saturday Morning serving as a company ritual, discussion could also focus on how the company chant serves as a cultural maintenance tool. A discussion of the strength of Well-Mart's culture relates to the notion of core values, which have been instrumental in sustaining its culture over the years. Perhaps as a partial result of this sharing of core values, Well-Mart is able to respond quickly to changes in the marketplace, as evidenced by the anecdote about the poker sets. In addition, the attraction-selection-attrition model could be applied to Well-Mart, as it may explain some of the similarities among Well-Mart's managers thus leading to a tight-knit culture. Finally, although Well-Mart's culture undoubtedly has been strength, discussion could also focus on how it could be a weakness. The original practices and ideas of Sameer may not fit in today's business environment, so maintaining Well-Mart's culture maybe detrimental to its growth. Moreover, increased public scrutiny may be pressuring Well-Mart to change its old practices.

Q1. How would you describe Well-Mart's culture characteristics?