It’s more important for a business to have a culture than you might think. According to a new study, a brand’s culture can be the determining factor in whether or not an executive decides to do business with a company.
A culture is the evolving set of collective beliefs, values, and attitudes of a group. In other words, a business culture is the “why” of the business. It’s not what the business does, but why it does what it does. Business culture encompasses an organization’s values, visions, working style, beliefs, and habits.
Culture not only helps a business draw the best talent, but according to the new study from creative agency Gyro and Fortune Knowledge Group, it helps companies decide whether or not to do business.
According to the study, 60% of the 500 executives surveyed said that knowing a company’s mission statement, and what it stands for, is one of the most important things when making a business decision. Even more companies (68%) would even make short-term sacrifices financially if it meant fostering long-term relationships with a business partner.
“We all know that the strongest companies in the world, they nurture their mission statement and have a strong belief in why they started the business,” Christoph Becker, Gyro CEO and CCO, told Adweek.
In fact, more than four out of five executives (81%) said they feel that companies who can successfully build long-term relationships make a direct correlation between what their principles are, and the way they conduct their business. In other words, companies that live by their principles are the ones that successfully foster long-term partnerships.
“We are an innovation company tasked with creating change in organizations that are struggling in a modern, fast and fragmented world,” says Tom Ajello, Founder, Makeable. “As such we must be agile and persistent in our approach both internally and with our clients. We have built a team of tenacious innovators by instilling the the value of stick-to-itiveness. This attitude is present in everything we do – and has become a way of life for us and our clients.”
The study also found that more and more companies are seeing the importance of cultivating a business culture. According to the data, 85% of respondents said they’re sharing their company’s purpose and values with key stakeholders more frequently than they did five years ago.
Though business culture may seem like some complicated thing that only larger, corporate entities need to worry about, small- to medium-sized businesses can easily cultivate a business culture, too. As long as the company wasn’t started for the sole purpose of making money, there’s a culture there.
“People vastly underestimate the external value of culture. They tend to focus on the internal benefits – the ability to keep people and improve performance,” said Becker. “But, culture has huge external benefits. So much so, that the vast majority of respondents in this survey say that culture is the key factor not only in deciding whom to do business with, but also how long the relationship will last.”