Organizational Culture and Employee Loyalty : The Case of IKEA

Abstract: Title: Organizational Culture and Employee Loyalty Subtitle: The Case of IKEA Level: Thesis for Master Degree in Business Administration Author: Adam Ericsson Supervisor: Daniella Fjellström Examiner: Maria Fregidou-Malama Date: March 2018 Aim: This research aims to investigate how organizational culture influence employee engagement and loyalty. Method: The study is based on qualitative research method. Interviews serve as the main primary data. Result & Conclusions: Organizational culture of IKEA makes employees engaged to achieve the company’s objectives and stay loyal at the company. Organizational culture of openness and communication creates a comfortable atmosphere making co-workers involved to improve existing practices. Organizational culture of empowerment conveys the trust and belief that the company puts in co-workers making co-workers willing to develop and make IKEA grow. Organizational culture of learning and development motivates co-workers to develop, transfer learning and stay loyal to the company. Besides, organizational culture of reward/compensation and work/life balance makes co-workers feel valued, cared for, recognized and hence stay loyal. Last, organizational culture of Family makes co-workers feel included, equal and identify themselves with the company, hence creating happy and loyal co-workers. Suggestions for future research: Focusing on the employee's perspective related to organizational culture and loyalty, it will be interesting to investigate the influence of organizational culture on employee engagement and loyalty from the employer’s perspective.   Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes to the organizational culture and employee loyalty literature in the retail industry by presenting a model how organizational culture influences employee engagement and loyalty. It introduces Family culture as the result of core values; which reflects the company's structure and way of doing things; these core values can by that influence employee attitudes. The company’s culture of learning and development, reward/compensation and ´´Family´´ makes employees loyal. Last, the company's organizational culture of ´´Voice´´ characterized of openness, communication and empowerment makes employees engaged. Keywords: Organizational Culture, Employee Attitudes, Employee Behavior, Core Values, Employee Loyalty, Employee Engagement, Family Culture.