Company culture is probably more important than what we discuss in class given its impact on so many aspects of company performance as well as employee satisfaction (which then touches so many things).  Online shoe-seller, Zappos, puts culture first and focuses on performing well in terms of finding employees that are good cultural fits and lets the results flow from that process:

At the top of the list of Zappos’ values is “Deliver WOW through service.” In fact, Zappos describes itself as a service company that happens to sell shoes and other products. This value is reflected in such niceties as a 365-day return policy with free shipping both ways, 24/7 customer phone lines, live online help, and customer product ratings — none of which is all that weird. But things do become, if not weirder, then at least different, when seen from the perspective of Aaron Magness, Zappos’ director of business development and brand marketing. He told me, “I read about how Zappos is focused on customer service. It isn’t. It’s focused on company culture, which leads to customer service. We don’t talk about customer service; we allow it to happen on its own by having the right people.”

The genuine happiness of employees is felt by customers and Zappos appears to, as a result, have very loyal customers (as well as employees).  By focusing on culture, Zappos has differentiated itself in an online world crowded with commodities.

I encourage you to read more about Zappos at this link: http://www.strategy-business.com/article/10311