Company culture in 2022: how to define it?

A catch-all term, a deeply rooted true value or an uncertain detail? These are the various characteristics one might hear when discussing corporate culture. From the shaping of the first organizations during the industrial revolution, this definition has evolved and undergone several metamorphoses. The company was once viewed more like a family entity before shifting towards a vision related to culture. Today, how do we properly describe a company and its culture, how do we identify it and know if it aligns with who we are?

Entrepreneurial Contextualization

Even before discussing corporate culture, we must examine the various definitions that have been used to qualify an entrepreneurial group.

In the 19th century, the company was like a family: employees and a boss who acted as a paternal figure. The latter acted to protect the employees' interests and help them; this was a highly paternalistic vision that was quickly criticized. Subsequently, the company took the form of a house that surrounded, protected, and brought together its employees. Potential conflicts were managed exclusively internally. In this way, conflicts had boundaries to prevent them from leaving the house and escalating into social movements.

Around the 1970s, the vision of the company as a team prevailed. From then on, personnel integration, motivation, and mobilization practices drew inspiration from sports competitions. The boss then took on the role of captain. In this team, employees had to be agile, responsive, flexible, and loyal to their captain and team within the organization. Next, we arrived in the 1980s when, for the first time, the term "culture" made its appearance. The notion of corporate culture came to designate "a framework of thought, a system of rules, languages, beliefs, and values relatively organized by the company and shared by its members". Now, the company is viewed as a culture, and this notion persists and establishes itself in managerial language.