Organizational Culture: Case Study of Evernote

Evernote is fast growing software and services designed for notetaking and archiving (Bryant, 2012). Evernote started in 2008, and reached 11 million users in July 2011, dominating the notetaking application market. Evernote Corporation provides applications that allow individuals to save their ideas, projects, and experiences on computers or phones they use. Evernote’s organizational culture is strongly based on employee’s morale and staff’s commitment; hence, it is focused on retaining and training the best employees by providing them employee perks. The culture is open and free and its core is to improve the life of its employees and family in order to keep employees happy and increase productivity (Richtel 2012). It is believed that if the incentives are right and succeed, they will decrease distractions and tensions that would hinder creativity and focus (Richtel 2012). This essay will discuss how Evernote’s strong organizational culture makes it stand out amongst its competitors and how they are able to thrive within such a short period of time by examining the adaptive, achievement, involvement and consistent cultures in Evernote.

Organization culture is basically the core structure, traditions and distinct characteristics and behavior practiced by the employees and employers determine how they act towards each other and differentiate themselves from other companies (Maragos, 2013). Trice and Beyer (cited in J Bus Psychol, 2009) defined organization culture as a management tool to create a competitive edge within the industry (Bennis and Nanus, cited in J Bus Psychol, 2009). Organizational culture differentiates one organization from another, formulating a unique sense of identity for its members, encourages a level of commitment larger than self-interest (Maragos, 2013). It helps organizations filter and fit employees and also strengthens the stability of the social system (Maragos, 2013). There are two levels of corporate culture; visible cultures