The 4Cs of Culture. (2024)

When one looks for a job, what are the considerations? Apart from the hygiene factors like compensation, perks, and fun at work, one also considers an amorphous element called culture. What is a company culture? Are cultures of different companies in varied industries same? Do companies in the same industry have differing cultures?

Let us deep dive into the term “Company Culture”.

Company culture just does not happen. It goes beyond the inspirational quotes and artwork drawn on the pillars, glowing customer testimonials lining the walls, and bean bags littered across the floor indicating a friendly and informal organizations. These symbols alone do not represent the organization culture. Company culture goes beyond the symbols and artifacts, it is based on the values, beliefs and the way people conduct themselves.

In the knowledge industry, organization culture could be based on four core values or beliefs that are not only espoused but also practiced. These four values or cultural elements are termed as 4Cs of culture, namely Competence, Commitment, Contribution, and Character.

The first element of culture in the knowledge industry is Competence. Competence also understood as intellectual capability or in Hindi “Buddhi” enables the individual to continuously gain knowledge and develop skills required for the ever-evolving technologies and customer expectations. This is a requirement to perform at high level and realize personal and organizational goals.

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Intellectual capability or buddhi alone does not lead to success or guarantee the unleashing of one’s potential. Buddhi needs the association of “Bhakti” or passion to reach one’s goal. Thus, the second element of culture is Commitment. Commitment is the pathway to unleash the competence. Commitment can be in form of curiosity or passion to learn and deliver. It is the constant endeavour to make oneself and the world a better place.

Buddhi and Bhakti or in other words competence and commitment cannot exist in vacuum. Both together need to “generate an outcome” which could also be considered as a core value of the knowledge based organizations. This cultural element is termed as Contribution or “Yogdan”. What is the point of having competent and committed people who cannot make outstanding contribution? Thus, the drive for contribution is also one of the major cultural elements of great organizations.

There are organizations which have all the above three elements, but they fail to become consistent. These organizations change as the situation changes and does not exhibit the steadfastness, a hallmark of great organizations. Thus, the fourth element of a great culture is Character, also known as “Charitra” in hindi. Character is the immutable element of organizations that allows it to be the master rather than victim of circ*mstances.

Organizations are community of people, with different aspirations and growth expectations. If organizations can integrate the four Cs namely Competence, Commitment, Contribution and Character in their culture, this will help alignment between the organizational goals and individual goals and make an organization from Good to Great.

Ephicacy culture note #5

Ephicacy provides design and development of analytics products and services for pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical research, and healthcare organizations worldwide.We are a global company having offices at Canada, India, and USA. Our employees work from home and our offices are used as a central meetup place.