The J.M. Smucker Company Culture

The J.M. Smucker Company Culture

Introduction

Jerome Monroe founded the J.M Smucker Company in 1987 after he sold apple butter, his first product from the back area of a horse drawn wagon. The Company's headquarters are located in Orrville, Ohio and the company has now been in the family for four generations. The company has a corporate culture, which is unique, based on the founder's basic beliefs on Christianity and his family values, strengthened by the commitment every individual part of the company should feel towards each other. The company has an environment based on Faith and modern practices of Management in accordance with ethics and values of the Family (Cafferky, 2001).

Smuckers Emphasis on Fundamental Family Values Creating the Company's Culture of Family Commitments and Respect and Its Effect on the Employees

J.M Smucker Company believes in doing the right thing the right way every time. The principals of the company's culture are encouraging not just the growth of the business but also of the individuals who are a part of the business. The feel their success is due to their basic beliefs and principals, which guide them towards the right direction at every level. They understand their commitment towards each other and the company and acknowledge the contribution of every employee. This is the reason for the success of this company for over a century, as their basic behavior is, based on their clear set of moral codes and core values. The business has internal operating mechanisms that ensure values have support, taught and reinforced within the organization. This company is an example of how the evolving of values can be a competitive advantage and beneficial for the company (Cafferky, 2001).

In the company J.M Smucker, the culture encourages sharing of commitment, responsibility as well as information. Traditionally family businesses are structures where power and information are, withheld from the employees, however the current CEO of Smucker believes that openness, commitment and egalitarianism should encouraged in a company as that is in accordance with their values. The company head's all part of the founder's family mention being, influenced by the culture of the town where they were brought up, where everyone knew each other. Bob Ellis, vice president of the Human Resource department has worked at the company for over 25 years, and helps in developing the training programs that reinforce the culture of the company, which is value, based. He claims that the difference between them and other companies is that J.M Smucker Company does not just put up their values and mission statements up on walls; rather they instill the values and their meanings into their employees, products and their actions (Ohio University, 2004).

J.M Smucker Company has been, listed as one of the best companies to work for in Fortune Magazine's annual survey, repeatedly this time landing on number 8. Ellis has claimed that it is not just the environment or the company that lands them the position but the fact that employees can ...