MGT 303 University of Massachusetts SpaceX Company Culture Essay

1) Watch the video in which Tony Hsieh talks about how he quite purposefully shapes the culture of his company, Zappos. For the culture lens, you want to hear the values and stories that bring a culture to life, and his talk will get you into the mindset for thinking about organizational culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbFIPc34AJ8
2) Read the attached “Assignment” document – it describes the assignment and defines the key concepts of the organizational culture toolkit that we will use: artifacts, values, assumptions. The Culture Lens includes many concepts – I find these three very useful to create a portrait of a culture.
3) Start thinking about what organization – or subunit of an organization – you will select to apply these three concepts for your written assignment (options are explained in the “Assignment” document).
4) For additional background, read the MIT research paper that is attached. It is a recent and interesting example of applying the three lenses. Focus especially on pages 4-9 (the two subsections entitled “MIT’s Three Lenses” and “Leading for an Innovative Culture”). This reading will give you a broader view of the culture lens and how it fits in among the three lenses.