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82 SMT Magazine • February 2014 by Karla Osorno EE TEChNologIES eVOLuTIONary SOLuTIONS ColUMN We are in this Together! Electronics manufacturing services (EMS) de- pends on many people to make daily decisions. It is an intricate and complex field with many stages and steps. Because there are so many op- portunities for decisions, significant quantities of errors and mistakes are possible—even proba- ble. EMS companies are adept at implementing process controls that prevent errors. They also have corrective action systems in place to un- derstand and resolve known issues. And one of the best known cures for error prevention and correction is a strong organizational culture. Culture is one of five key areas of devel- opment that make all the difference when it comes to achieving state-of-the-art status. The other four are people, equipment, building and systems. This is the fourth part of a five-part se- ries that will help you to understand the culture (definition, strength and model) and outline op- portunities (action plan to becoming healthy) to create or improve your company culture. Culture, Defined Culture can be defined as complexes of learned behavior patterns and perceptions. Pat- terns include beliefs, customs, arts, way of life, way of thinking, etc. Organizational culture is the behavior patterns of people within an or- ganization and includes values, visions, norms, working language, systems, symbols, beliefs and habits. Davide Ravasi and Majken Schultz, in their body of work, state that organizational culture is a set of shared mental assumptions that guide interpretation and action in organizations by defining appropriate behavior for various situ- ations. Each company will have their own cul- ture. And in larger organizations, there may also 82 SMT Magazine • February 2014