Customers First vs Employees First: Effective Organizational Culture Contributing to Empathy

Currently, companies face various social issues, such as climate change and health issues. Companies are required to achieve both the resolution of these issues and economic growth. Hence, many managers formulate and communicate a corporate purpose internally and externally. However, most existing research on corporate purpose has focused on its content. In other words, there is surprisingly little discussion about the organizational culture that effectively communicates the corporate purpose. Therefore, this study conducted a randomized controlled trial targeting Japanese electronics manufacturers and found that employees empathize more with the corporate purpose when the organizational culture is expressed as “employees first” compared to “customers first.” We also confirmed that this effect is more pronounced for employees in research and development departments (R&D) who are located far from customers. Sales and marketing employees who interact with customers regularly have a high level of customer awareness, making it likely for them to empathize with the corporate purpose. Similar trends apply to back-office employees who work at the company's headquarters as well as sales and marketing employees. However, R&D facilities are generally located in the suburbs, far from the headquarters, with few points of contact with customers. In other words, although corporate purpose is necessary for product and service development, it is most unlikely that the engineers responsible for the work will be aware of the corporate purpose. For management companies, understanding this point is essential for instilling corporate purpose within the company.