Workplace Observation
There are some observable aspects of organizational culture such as ethical standards and behavior, organizational diversity, dress and language, conflict management and technology impact on culture.
Sotheby’s International Realty
The organizational culture at Sotheby’s International Realty (SIR) is described as a high-involvement management type organization centered on high quality service. With high-involvement management described as one that recognizes human capital as its most valuable resource by carefully selecting and training individuals and giving them “significant decision-making power, information, and incentive compensation” (Hitt, Miller, & Colella, 2006, p. 15). Due to the compensation involved in large real estate transactions, there is always a danger of “crossing” the line when it comes to ethical behavior as agents scramble for the listing down the street, closing the escrow on time with documents that are not fully understood by the buyer or seller or in showing favor to one prospective buyer over another because of race, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, social status, or some other perceived bias. “Two major challenges of importance to organizational behavior today are those that derive from a breakdown in ethical values and [those] from the increasing diversity of the workforce” (George & Jones, 2005, p. 13).
The management at Sotheby’s International Realty, and all Realtors I work with, are guided in their ethical behavior by the Code of Ethics established by the National Association of Realtors (National Association of Realtors [NAR], 2008). All behavior is set by this standard and any deviation from the NAR Code of Ethics is grounds for dismissal by the company, lawsuit, and restriction or ...