从组织文化方面认识欧莱雅公司

•Communal Culture (High sociability/High solidarity).Members think and act friendly to each others; Adhere to company’s value; High degree of cohesion.
•Network Culture (High sociability/Low solidarity).Members act friendly but think different to each other; High competitive environment.
•Mercenary Culture (Low Sociability/High solidarity).Members think alike but are not friendly to each others; High competitive environment.
•Fragment Culture (Low sociability/Low solidarity): Members think and act differently and unfriendly; Depend on key individuals.
Actually, one organisation often has different culture in different sections. For example, at L'Oréal cosmetic company, product researching department has task culture but marketing and accounting departments own role culture. And, these cultures are not fixed forever, they would change as company personal and strategy changed.
Analysis Based o n Schein’s Model
Edgar Schein, an MIT Sloan School of Management professor, His model of culture now is widely accepted worldwide. According to Schein, culture has three cognitive levels (Figure 1). The first level is the surface manifestation of culture, also called ‘observable culture’. It included the most visible things (e.g. ceremonials, courses, heroes, language, legends, mottoes, norms, sagas, slogans, stories, symbols and others) produced by a culture. The second one is organisational values. These are accumulated beliefs about how do employees work and how their solve problems. Values can distinguish on organisation from another. The third level is basic assumption. Basic assumptions are invisible understandings held by members in an organisation, concerning “the nature of reality and the organisation’s relationship to its environment” (She in, 1997). It can be summarized in brief statements such as quality, morality, stability, responsibility and innovativeness.
Figure 1: Schein’s Level of Culture (Schein, 2004)
Based on Schein’s model, the author tries to analyse the organisational culture of L’Oreal Company. L’Oreal is the world’s largest cosmetics and beauty Group, and has more than 890 different companies around the world, selling hair care, skin care, make-up, perfumes and other beauty products in over 130 countries. Walking into an L’Oreal’s retail store, you will notice that
staff here look confident and exude style feeling. Table 2 clearly shows the surface elements of culture at L’Oreal.
Table 2. Example of Surface Manifestations of Culture at L’Oreal
Manifestation L'Oréal as Example
Artefacts Numbered golden name badges, formal work suit, stationery,
Ceremonials Make up competition, Fun days, Annual party
Courses Service selling program for salesman, advanced management program for managers, makeup and image design course for beauty advisers, advanced
training for research staff
Heroes Eugene Schueller (the founder)
Legends O’cap considered as the first hair conditioner, Elnett hair spray, Innéov is
the first oral beauty product
Mottoes Savoir saisir ce qui commence (seize new opportunities).
Norms Ethics, respect, innovation, beauty
Sagas In 1988, the research and development pioneer Charles Zviak, hands over the reins of the company to Lindsay Owen-Jones, a truly outstanding
director, Who successful lead the Group to become the world leader in
cosmetics.
Slogans You Deserve it!
Stories After graduate from France’s national chemical engineering school in 1904, Eugène Schueller created his first hair dye formulae, using a blend of
harmless chemical compounds. These dyes produced a subtle range of
colors, and easily won the market.
Symbols L’Oreal brand
Source: personal communication from employees and store manager
According to one manager introduce, that in order to hold operations together and guide employees’ b ehavior,L'Oréal uses a strong organisational culture named ‘L'Ore al Spirit’ relies on following values:
First, all employees at L’Oreal believe that everyone aspires to beauty. So help people around world relies this aspiration and express beauty is the G roup’s mission. Second, every employee is entitled to a safe and health working environment. There are many various kinds of potted plants in L’Oreal’s office, made people feel relax and mild. Moreover, the company encourages an atmosphere of openness, generosity, courage and respect, therefore all members here feel free to convey their ideas and opinions. The third value focus on respect: employees need respect for other people and their skill or special knowledge. The fourth value is about environment. Give a
very small example: you can see a very special shutter which embedded into two pieces of glass in L’Oreal’s workplace. Two-pieces glass window could maintain the room temperature, and the designed shutter could change its angle automatically along with outdoor lights, which keep the room bright without lamp, in great extent save the energy. This small detail help L’Oreal install environment concern in employees’ day-to-day work.
In addition, the Group generously offers opportunities for young staffs with great potential to put their abilities to full use. This talent cultivation consists of two specific ways: Career development and rewards (i.e. encourages mobility through transfer position promotions; rewards through pay rise, transfer promotion or internal promotion); Employee training and education (e.g. various training sessions in room; Bi-annual development interviews). Mr. Agon’s career development may be a best example here. In 1991, after two years he joined the Group, only 24-year-old talented Mr. Agon was appointed as general manager of company’s Greek branch. Then, the company provided him opportunities to try out various different innovations, including introducing new business policies. In the end, Mr. Agon brought his Greek Branch to success. Generally, compared to other company’s value, L’Oreal prefer to offer many opportunities for young employees to challenge themselves.
The last but most important value is diversity. From various people who make up its team to the products developed, diversity has always been a priority for the company. This diversity includes several aspects: diversity of origins, encourage gender equality, encourage employment of the people with disabilities and so the forth. For example, in order to guarantee diversity in function, L’Oreal, for many years, kept hiring almost same number of female and male employees, and giving equal treatment in terms of salary and training to them(Chart 3). For another instance, when company recruits, there are no much more specific requirements about what an employee should like. The company only pays much attention on candidates’ personality, such as leadership, innovation capability and enthusiasm, rather than gender, educational background or study major.
Chart 3. Gender equality indicator at L’Oreal
Source:L’Oreal diversity report
Conclusion
Above all, the author considered L’Oreal as an appreciated with a ‘mild, tolerate and fashionable’ culture. ‘Be m ild’because company made employees feel free to share their own idea and complain; ‘Be tolerate’ because company promoted diversity in almost aspects; ‘Be fashionable’。