The First Function of Four

"Culture is the glue that holds our organization together. It encompasses beliefs, expectations, norms, rituals, communication patterns, symbols, heroes, and reward structures. Culture is not about magic formulas and secret plans; it is a combination of a thousand things."

- Herbert D. Kelleher, Co-Founder and Chairman, Southwest Airlines.

Chapter three is a chapter that mainly touches on three topics: Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring. The purpose of this chapter is to give key advice to future business owners to create the most successful work environment as possible. A great way of remembering how to conduct a business that incorporates organizational culture is to "give members an organizational identity," in other words, give your employees the treatment as if they were an invaluable asset to your company (Kreitner 69). The chapter touches on a few examples of companies that conduct business in this manner. Two for example are Southwest Airlines and Starbucks.
Southwest airlines is the "largest carrier in the United States based on schedule profitability" and has won many other awards that rank Southwest as one of the most admired businesses in the United States. An amazing part of Southwest's treatment of employees is that although they suffered major losses after 9/11 they continued to keep as many employees as possible, never truly considering that letting employees go may contribute to "cutting your losses" (Southwest Airlines' Organizational Culture). The issue of creating an organizational identity is so important to Southwest that they include a section of their "center for management research" solely devoted to "Organizational Culture" ("Southwest Airlines' Organizational Culture").
I feel this is important because this is a proof that a successful company can operate economically and ethically simultaneously. This creates a work environment that keeps employees loving work and reflecting that onto their customers. This is exactly while Southwest has operated profitable for the past 31 years (Keitner 69).

Center for Management Research. "Southwest Airlines' Organizational Culture."

Kreitner, Robert. Organizational Behavior. 9th ed. Vol. 1. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2010. Print.