An analysis of the culture of an organization - Essay Example

It also has an influence on group’s interactions. Ben and Jerry’s is an organization that has been in operation for over 30 years since its inception. It is an organization whose culture has been integral for its survival in a market where it faces so much competition from other heavy weight organizations such as McDonalds. It has innovative management strategies and they have brought much success for the organization. Its ice cream is said to be the richest in terms of flavors and calories (Andy, 2003; Liddle, 2011).

In addition, the company sells its products at a price that is favorable to many customers (Heidrick & Struggles, 2000). A brief background to the organization and its environment Ben and Jerry’s is a company in the United States that manufactures and sells ice cream. The company also manufactures sorbet as well as frozen yogurt (Datamonitor, 2010). The company, founded in the year 1978 by two men, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield has its headquarters at Burlington, Vermont in the U. S. Its factory is in Waterbury, Vermont.

The two guys had met in a gym class in the year 1966. Jerry wanted to be a medical doctor but after failing to succeed joining a medical school after a number of trials, he decided to take a course in ice cream making. They pursued the course with Ben who had lost several McJobs. This was in the year 1978. After the course they opened an ice cream shop in a gas station in Burlington, Vermont. They produced the finest ice cream and this made helped them become finest (Heidrick & Struggles, 2000).

Ben did not have a sense of taste. As a result, he was relying on mouth feel. This resulted to the trademark they use to date which is big chunks of chocolate, nut and fruits. At times, they could disagree on the size of chunks. However, they both wanted to enjoy themselves and this kept them moving. The two were poor book keepers and therefore they were not able to account properly for their sales. As a result, they closed for some time claiming that they wanted to figure out if they were making money in their business.

It was a period of learning and when they reopened in the year 1979, they started wholesaling ice cream. Since then, the company has grown to become one of the best ice cream selling companies in the United States of America. Ben and Jerry’s is part of the Unilever Group (Hays, 2000). It was acquired by Unilever in the year 2000 for a reported $326 (Glass, 2009). Introduction to the focus of the report Culture of an organization is an important issue in the business world since it has an influence on the organizational performance.

Culture can be studied using a number of approaches. In the wake of globalization, it is important for business people as well as academicians to understand the culture of different countries. This is especially important for multinationals since they operate in different countries which have varying cultures. All the concerned parties have to see business as well as personal issues from a perspective other than one’s own cultural perspective. It is therefore imperative that studying culture from various frameworks will be highly helpful.

This report focuses on the culture of analysis of an organization in the United States of America known as Ben and Jerry’s. The report will apply a theoretical framework to try and understand the cu