On hearing the words "corporate culture," many people might think of a gray, colorless, monolithic culture and an inflexible approach to getting things done. But all corporate culture refers to is the many and varied ways companies express who they are. Therefore, corporate culture can be as diverse as any other type of culture. Corporate culture will vary between industries as well with more conservative industries such as banking, insurance and finance being slower to change and adopt new cultural mores than creative industries.
Corporate culture began to undergo a big shift in the 1990s when the first start-ups and dot-coms arose and attempted to bring a more playful ethos into the workplace. Those early companies were notorious, though, for their long work hours. Today's innovative corporate cultures emphasize life/work balance and flexibility among other benefits.
So, who are among the most innovative companies today in inventing their own corporate cultures, and what values do those cultures promote?
