ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AUDIT USING ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE TO EVALUATE VARIANCES BETWEENHEADQUARTERS AND BRANCHES

Abstract

Eastern Industrial Supply Inc. (EISI) opened its doors in 1980 in Greenville, South Carolina. EISI is an independently owned company with branches in the southeastern market, United States (NC, SC, FL, GA, TN, and AL). EISI specializes in quality distribution of pipe, valves, fittings, and other
commercial plumbing products. EISI’s uniqueness is around an emphatic focus on organizational caring culture and exceeding customer expectations. The phrase “people over profits” is championed by senior management and echoed by employees. Taken from EISI’s unique “Eastern
Cares” program, there are three pillars, namely, People, Values, and Faith, that set a foundation for the corporate culture that put its people at the center.

EISI has grown in the last 10 years through several acquisitions across the southeastern, United States market. This particular growth path has its challenges and opportunities. While EISI boasts its caring culture with its stronghold especially at the headquarters, senior management has had
issues translating the same corporate culture down to the branches. Additionally, the ongoing succession process further complicates this situation. The senior management is wondering whether the performance drives the culture or the culture drives the performance. The incoming
CEO wants to take the company in a strong strategic position both operationally and financially for the new phase so that they can reach those new heights. In this paper, we will discuss the tools including artificial intelligence (AI) used, methodology and framework (competing values, ethics, and Hofstede dimensions frameworks), and the findings from the culture audit at EISI to evaluate variances between branches and HQ and best performing versus worst performing branches.