Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
organizational culture. When an unanticipated problem occurs in a company like Xerox, the CEO
must implement the companys strategic management and rules designed to solve the crisis. The
chief executive response and decision in a specific crisis is influenced by culture and diversity.
Companies operate differently with the sole purpose of maximizing their profit. Moreover, the
CEO should adjust the company cultural structure to be competitive in the long run.
The paper is based on Xerox culture and organizational structure, the supportive factors
of such culture and the required organizational changes the company should consider to stay in
competition against Avid Technology,Inc. , RealID Inc., Isomet Corp and SpatialLight, Inc.
1. Provide a Brief (one paragraph) Description of Xerox
Xerox is a U.S founded in New York during the year 1906. Xerox was known under the
name of Haloid Company. Today Xerox named Burns as the new company CEO. The company
is well known in the business industry as one company which produces and supply photocopiers,
fax, printer and computer softwares for other companies. Xerox is also a provider of business
process outsourcing (BPO). The company operates as a third party provider of business
solutions. As such, the firm operates on a contract based business model. According to, Lay,
(2014) 84% of their revenue is the result of performing contracted services, equipment
maintenance consumable and financial services in 2012.
2. Examine the Culture of Xerox organization
Xerox enjoys a flexible organizational structure which is mainly based on the
implementation of diversity to be discussed in part ( 3). The companys culture is the reflection
of their business model which also involve outsourcing their job. The company is constantly
making sure that their culture is unanimous among in the workplace. Employees embrace the
same structural culture which insists on serving the client with honesty and devotion. Xerox
structure is divided into three entities: the management process, the operational process and the
enabling process. The time to market process is the minimum hours that the company must
conceive in order to reach their potential demographic or clients which are mostly enterprises
and small businesses. The company enjoys a particular culture which is based on their famous
can-do attitude (Xerox. Bucks Consultants, 2015). In fact, the can-do attitude explains the
reason why Xerox grew up at a faster pace during the first years of their foundation. In such
industry, the company expects their workers to be driven by the motivational behavior that
everything can be done in a simple manner with perfections. Xerox also enjoys their core values
which are the essence of their success.
Xerox industry is dominated by fewer companies compare to the technology and software
industries. However, the company always makes sure that their employees respect the principles
of customer satisfaction, quality and excellence (Xerox. Bucks Consultants, 2015). Bucks
consultants is a service which operates under the Xerox business. With the one culture model at
Xerox, Buck must follow the same principles suggested by the mere company. Buck is a human
resource consulting firm which provides great HR management models to several companies in
the U.S. In certain cases, the company allows the agent firms to create their own structural
culture, however at Xerox the outsourcing of their job market does not affect their culture. The
company make sure that their employees have only one main culture which stands for the one
Xerox.
Diversity is one of the key factors driving Xeroxs structural culture. Xerox is the first
company to hire an African American CEO. Xeroxs employees enjoy a rich and diverse place
where they learn from each other. Xerox promotes diversity by nurturing a culture of inclusion
and opportunity, and through measurable actions (Xerox.com, 2009). Xerox is a culturally
diverse place which can attract other employees from different places in the world who are
willing to share not only their talents, but also their culture to other workers in order to perform
in harmony. Xerox management and the highest skills postions are equally distributed. According
to the company 22.6% of officials or managers are minorities, 36.9% of new hires are minorities
and 36% are female. (Xerox.com, 2009). Diversity in the workplace is one of the key elements
of success. Employees are happier and excellent at work when they are equally considered by
their colleagues and the enterprise.
3. Explain how you determined that the selected organization showed the signs of the
culture that you have identified
Several corporations are implementing new strategies within their workplace to increase
their productivity level. The main strategy in the technology industry is based on the
diversification of employe supply. For instance, companies like Apple are struggling to ensure
that diversity is the key element within the company. Understanding such concept requires a
thorough explanation. In fact, John R. Schermerhorn, Richard N. Osborn, Mary Uhl-Bien, James
G. Hunt, (2015) defined a multicultural organization as a firm that values diversity, but
systematically works to block the transfer of socially based subcultures into the fabric of the
organization(p. 352); Xerox is a company which transforms the twenty first century leadership ,
the company understands how performance and flexibility work with the implementation of
different employees who contribute to the advance of the company.
Xerox is constantly changing, today the company employs a significant number of men
and women both working together without discrimination of gender and responsibility. The
company employers, their employees based on their historic performance and results. For
instance, the current CEO joined the company in (1980) and build her whole career at Xerox
since her first day as an intern. Xerox promotes from within the company regardless of the
gender and race differentiation. The company previous CEO was also a woman with an
interesting background and leadership skills. One of the challenges the company faces is the
misconception of the different decisions taken by the company. Being a multicultural company is
exceptional since the company must ensure that people are promoted based on their skills and
knowledge. Xerox accommodates both concepts to become an internally stable company. The
current CEO is not only an African American but she also worked for the company for (35 years)
which gives her the ability to fully understand how the company works.
Balancing both strategies are key factors of development at Xerox, according to McGinn,
(2005) Xerox sees diversity as somehow in conflict with meritorcary (p. 68-69). In fact, most
companies hire their professionals based on the merit and skills concepts. Xeroxs approaches
necessitate several care since it involves diversity in the workplace. The company does not only
focus on their revenue improvement compared to other firms in the technology industry. The
firm takes a balanced approach to defining their workplace model. There are factors and reasons
why the company chose such human resource management style.
4. Determine the factors that caused the organization to embody this particular culture.
One of the first drivers which inspire Xerox to use the multirationalism strategy is
changing views on the definition of productivity. Companies which operate in the technology
industry are still looking for talented employees from different regions in the world to work.
Multiculturalism and pluralism are the key of success in todays business environment. Xerox
closely works with other small businesses as an advisor for several purposes. Thus, the company
meets with different type of business owner from different cultures. Therefore, to be able to
succeed the company must implement such strategic structure in their organizational culture in
order to meet their requirements. As a company which profit decreases during the twentieth
century, there are ways to adjust such performance. The human resources at Xerox changed their
strategy during the late (2000) thereby approaching new ways to supply their labor (Swift, 2013).
Xeroxs diversity is also based on historical facts. The independent caucus groups are
committed to connecting employees and make them feel comfortable to work. According to
Xerox.com, (2009) the independent caucus group was first implemented into the company during
(1960s). Xerox commitment to diversity was incorporated into the company during the first era
of the companys foundation. Since this era, Xerox has been a pioneer in investing in a
multicultural company to succeed.
5. Determine What type of leader would be suited for this organization
The transformational leadership is based on the assumption that one leader must act
ethically with characteristics that would positively influence the employees. Since Xerox is
financially underperforming during the past decade, a transformational leadership is necessary to
guide the company. The company needs a leader who is capable of increasing the company
profit while balancing their workplace environment. According to Robert Lussier, (2009) Ursula
Burns is described as energetic, knowledgeable and straight shooter when dealing with people
(p. 365). The current CEO has the charisma required to lead the company. In such industry,
transforming how tasks are done in the company is important. Eliminating bureaucracy is the key
to success. A transformational chief executive is committed to change within the companys
structure to increase profit.
6. Imagine that there is a decline in the demand of the product(s) or services supplied by
the selected organization Determine what the change in culture would need to be in
response to this situation
Xerox is already enduring one the most difficult financial era since their foundation. The
company undergoes multiple changes to increase their competitiveness. One of the key elements
to understand a company and solve their issues is to address the bureaucracy issue. In many
companies, the decisions making lag create a common problem. By giving the opportunity to
each department to participate in the decision making, the company increase their ability to stay
stable in the long-run.
The CEO should be able to accelerate the decision making process during the financial
crisis to facilitate their implementation for immediate results. Empowering the employees with
diverse extrinsic rewards is also a relevant model to change how a company operates. Creating
the leadership among employees is important; however, positive actions must be implemented to
encourage performance. For instance, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns has been credited with
increasing Xeros sales of color-capable printers and copiers as the company brought to market
24 machines (p.365). Finally, positive actions are important in response to a company turmoil.
The change in culture in response to a situation is beneficial for the company and the
shareholders.
References
John R. Schermerhorn, Richard N. Osborn, Mary Uhl-Bien, James G. Hunt. (2015).
Organizational Behavior. United States: John Wiley & Sons.
McGinn, D. (2005). In good company (Cover story). Newsweek, 68-69 (accessed February 28,
2015) from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=11&sid=84d06e44-1f7d4093-8943a6db9f7f4250%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4210&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2
NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=18572505.
Robert Lussier, C. A. (2009). Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development. Cengage
Learning.
Swift, K. M. (2013). Captains of diversity. ABA Journal 89, no. 7: 76. Academic Search
Complete, http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=84d06e44-1f7d4093-8943-a6db9f7f4250%40sessionmgr4001&vid=14&hid=4210.
Xerox. Bucks Consultants. (2015). Services.xerox employee listening. Retrieved February 27,
2015, from Xerox Buck Consultants: http://www.services.xerox.com/hrconsulting/solutions/communication/employee-listening/enus.html
Xerox.com. (2009). Xerox Diversity Brochure. Retrieved February 26, 2015, from Xerox.com:
http://www.xerox.com/assets/pdf/Xerox_Diversity_Brochure.pdf