Corporate Fundamentalist Culture and Sustainability

Introduction 

As the leadership team knows and understands, one of the key strengths that ABC, Inc. has been able to build upon is its influential organizational culture that reflects on the behaviours that employees ought to project in seeking to rally around the mission and vision for the company. However, it is essential to take note of the fact that this is an aspect that is slowly fading considering that ABC has gained a somewhat negative reputation; thus, leading to a situation where graduates often feel that they are not likely to 'fit' into the cult culture adopted. It is from this perspective that this analysis seeks to analyze the idea of corporate culture fundamentalism. That will help in highlighting a clear connection to the organizational culture that ABC has adopted while also providing a clear understanding of some of the risks that this is likely to bring about from a regulatory perspective.

Negative Impact of Corporate Fundamentalist Cultures 

Fundamentalist cultures are often associated with religious cults, as they tend to create an element of like-mindedness, especially on aspects including beliefs and moral compass (Brink & Mencher, 2014). From a company perspective, it has been perceived that ABC has adopted what can be described as fundamentalist cultures in aligning them to the organizational culture. Strozier (2017) takes note of the fact that fundamentalism creates an oppositional understanding of the vision, mission, and values. In that view, it becomes clear why some of the graduates have developed a negative perception concerning the fundamentalist cultures that ABC has adopted. The organizational culture ought to be considered a platform through which employees can highlight their commitment and loyalty concerning the organization.

Short-Term Effects of Idealized Influence 

In a Christian fundamentalist perspective, one of the critical aspects to consider is the influence that the leaders often tend to have on the members, as it seeks to create a reflection on what can be regarded as an idealized influence (Zeidan, 2018). The leaders often try to determine what they expect without having to consider the interests or expectations of the others; thus, creating a sense of demotivation (Saroglou, 2016). From that perspective, what is clear is that ABC’s approach to idealized influence is much more likely to result in instances where even the current employees would not be motivated towards performance. The situation will be worsened by the fact that this is the reputation that ABC will hold in the corporate environment, which would make it hard for the company actually to be in a position allowing it to recruit.

Sustainability of ABC’s Corporate Fundamentalist Culture 

One the question of whether ABC’s fundamentalist culture is sustainable, it can be argued that it is not sustainable and, far worse, it has begun failing. Employees often seek a workplace environment that can support their growth and development while ensuring that they are accorded the relevant space to build on their respective capacities (Lăzăroiu, 2015). That is not an aspect that can be associated with the corporate fundamentalist culture that ABC has adopted. Instead, this culture creates a situation where the CEO, who is the head of the company, would always seek to ensure that employees work towards his orders without due consideration of the implications that this is likely to have on the employees. Ultimately, this points to the fact that indeed, the corporate fundamentalist culture associated with ABC cannot be considered as being sustainable from any perspective.

Promoting Eco-Leadership on ABC’s Organizational Culture 

The primary goal for the leadership in the adoption of an organizational culture ought to be ensuring that it is sustainable. Eco-sensitive leadership is a fundamental approach that organizations consider in working towards ensuring that they create a leadership structure that can be defined as being durable (Friedel, Cletzer, Bush, & Barber, 2017). From this understanding, it is essential for the leadership within ABC to consider the idea of having to establish a front for eco-leadership. That means that the leadership would seek to create a natural environment through which promote growth and development of the employees. That would also mean that the employees would be accorded a platform for engagement, especially on matters surrounding the decisions that are being made as part of the organization. For ABC, this would mean that the employees would be well motivated; thus, serving as a critical outcome towards improving on the generalized issues associated with ensuring that it can attract the expected talent.

Conclusion 

The main challenge that ABC, Inc. is currently facing is that it is not able to attract diverse talent, which is an issue that can be attributed to the fact that the company has a terrible reputation of “behaving more and more like a cult.” From this understanding, it is clear that ABC's fundamentalist culture has harmed its capacity towards ensuring that employees achieve the expected growth and development expectations. The outcome is that the negative reputation has led to a situation where graduates feel that they are not likely to 'fit' into its organizational culture. The solution to this problem has to shift focus towards eco-sensitive leadership as one of the ways through which to establish a clear framework for positive outcomes.

References

Brink, J., & Mencher, J. (2014).  Mixed blessings: Gender and religious fundamentalism cross-culturally . Routledge.

Friedel, C. R., Cletzer, A., Bush, S. A., & Barber, J. D. (2017). Relationships between Eco-Leadership and Problem-Solving Styles of Gifted and Talented Youth.  Journal of Leadership Education ,  16 (4).

Lăzăroiu, G. (2015). Employee motivation and job performance.  Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations , (14), 97-102.

Saroglou, V. (2016). Intergroup conflict, religious fundamentalism, and culture.  Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology ,  47 (1), 33-41.

Strozier, C. B. (2017). The Apocalyptic Imagination and the Fundamentalist Mindset.  New England Journal of Public Policy ,  29 (1), 7.

Zeidan, D. S. (2018).  The resurgence of religion: A comparative study of selected themes in Christian and Islamic fundamentalist discourses . Brill.