Discussing corporate organizational culture in class this week made me realize that, while they are very different things, many parallels can be drawn between corporations and secondary schools. In particular, I realized how organizational culture plays an\u00a0enormous\u00a0role in both of these establishments.<\/p>\n
For example, I would relate the fun, social, and team-oriented organizational culture of shoe company Zappos<\/a> with the Ideal Mini School program offered by the Vancouver School Board<\/a>. Like Zappos, the culture of Ideal Mini emphasizes cooperative interaction. The CEO of Zappos works at a cubicle like any of his employees, essentially eliminating hierarchical levels so as to better communicate with his employees. The teachers of Ideal Mini use a different approach with a similar affect – they are always on a first-name basis with their students and aim to be friends and mentors.<\/p>\n On the other end of the spectrum, I would associate a large 2,400 student school such as Burnaby North<\/a> with a much larger company with a less prominent, interactive, and unique organizational culture. The mass of students and larger class sizes at a school like Burnaby North are much like the mass of employees and large department sizes.<\/p>\n Having attended a Mini School myself, I truly understand the benefits of having a close-knit group and a focused organizational culture. At the same time, however, I do realize it might not be feasible for such a model to be the standard secondary school system. What would you prefer from a school? What would you prefer from a workplace? Would your answer to these two questions be different?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Discussing corporate organizational culture in class this week made me realize that, while they are very different things, many parallels can be drawn between corporations and secondary schools. In particular, I realized how organizational culture plays an\u00a0enormous\u00a0role in both of … Continue reading