Sears Roebuck and Company

Sears, Roebuck & Comp whatever was once oneness of the largest retailers in the country. Their mission statement and cultural beliefs were something that they stood by firmly and gave their guests 100% customer satisfaction. Over the years, Sears have deviated from their original statements of what they promised their customers and employees. Because of this deviation their company perception and cultural views have completely changed.Sears, Roebuck & Company Sears & Roebuck, and Company was founded in 1893 as a mail-order compose that based their entire business on the needs of rural American farmers. They were at the demands of their customers solely. They even compensated their customers for referring their neighbors. Their mission was We sell everything by mail-order only. Your money pass on be promptly returned for any goods not perfectly satisfactory and we will pay freight or express charges both ways. (www.searsholding.com) Then other retailers had a difficult time tryin g to reach the customer satisfactory that Sears were offering their clientele.Then in the 1930s, Sears began to shift more toward the urban American population. Sears, Roebuck & Company is still the same mail-order along with a few stores but the same expectations. The customer could shop from home, and the merchandise would be shipped to his or her door front. After the Great Depression, Sears sired an wonderful tumble that led them to terminate the catalog. This started the spiral downfall for their customer satisfaction.Nowadays, Sears & Roebuck Department Store mission statement is We are committed to improving the lives of our customers by providing whole tone services, products and solutions that earn their trust and build lifetime relationships. To answer, delight, and engage our fragments while they shopntheir way The stores cultural beliefs areMembers First I deliver a wow experience to each member by projecting their specific needs and offering them the right produ cts and services. Own It I take accountability to close the gaps as I See It, Own It, Solve It, and Do It. Embrace Feedback I am open, honest, and respectful in my communions, and constantly seek, accept, and offer feedback. Show Pride I am an engaged member. I demonstrate passion and pride by leading by example. Learn and innovate I learn new ways to serve members and do my line of products better by embracing innovation and technology. Earn Trust I work hard to earn the trust of every member I serve and every co-worker I interact with. Be Authentic I am genuine in all my interactions, ask questions to understand and align my words and action to achieve the key results. (www.searsholding.com)Espoused Vs. Enacted ValuesSince the early 1990s when Sears began to fall apart, their mission statement, and beliefs have been deviated from. They pay their employees the lowest salaries of all retailers that cause their associates to find from enjoying their employment. Possessing em ployees who do not feel appreciated causes them not to do everything they have promised their customers in their missions and beliefs.The misalignment between the espoused values and the enacted values of a store affects the perception because what the customer and employees have read and heard what he should be receiving from the store is not what he is getting. This makes the store seem to be unorganized and not professional. Organizations CultureSears burnish seems to be very informal. Based upon what their cultural beliefs and mission statement (espoused values) is stated to be and what their behavior and customer relations (enacted values) are based on employee and customer feedback, it concludes that the culture is informal. CommunicationCommunication is determined by the culture of organization. Sears culture is informal so therefore the communication of the organization would also beinformal. The communication of Sears follows the grapevine. It is he says she says. After co mplementary research on the company and interviewing several employees, both former, and present, the chain of communication in the store is never given in the form of chain of command. If one associate hears any form of information, it is spread throughout the store by associates not upper management.PerceptionCommunication plays a large role in the perception of the company and in its organizational culture. If there is no formal and direct means of communication, the employees, and customers will never know exactly what needs to be done and how the store is run. This leads to the customers losing trust in the salesman who makes it more difficult to make a purchase with him or her. This leads into a train reaction. From the wish of sales because of the lack of trust, leads into a lack of good morale in the store, causing the associates to become even more informal and not care little about their job and the entire culture and perception of the store consistently tumbles downward .ConflictGroup communication will always have some form of engagement involved in it. Whether the pigeonholing communication is formal or informal, conflict will always be there. Whether the conflict is handled appropriately or not is the major problem. Organizations that practice informal communication will have a more difficult time working through the conflict and find a solution.Because Sears has an informal means of communication, handling conflict seems not to be one of their strong points. The more conflict in the store will only make the stores functionalities even more difficult and less functional. Conflict in Sears without better leadership will be a horrible situation.ConclusionSears, Roebuck & Company once one of the most customers satisfied retailers. Nowadays that is no longer the situation. Although their previous and current mission statements are very similar in wording, they have deviated from the meaning so far. Because of this their cultural view and perceptio nhas changed tremendously in the eyes of their customers. When a company moves away from the goals, they have set to accommodate and satisfy both their employees and customers, it is not successful for the company. The major obstacle for any company is to maintain truth to their values and beliefs published for their customers and if this one obstacle is achieved there is longevity of success ahead of them.