Effect Of Culture On A Company’S Success

Joshua Bingham

School Name

South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics

Grade Level

12th Grade

Presentation Topic

Consumer Science

Presentation Type

Mentored

Mentor

Mentor: Bob Williams, CTO, SPARC

Oral Presentation Award

1st Place

Abstract

What leads a software company in Charleston, SC, to be the fastest growing software company in the United States? In 2013, the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in the US labeled one such company, SPARC, number fourteen on their list, making them the single fastest growing software company in America. The biggest difference between SPARC and other companies may be that SPARC places a large emphasis on culture. This research into SPARC attempted to discover if this emphasis on culture made them successful, and, if so, what makes the culture so special. In order to answer these questions, time was spent at SPARC observing how the employees and executives interacted with each other, as well as interviewing a number of employees and executives. After being sifted through, these data were then compared to examples of culture from other companies, in an attempt to discover what made SPARC different. While further research is required, the data collected appear to suggest that SPARC’s culture is a key driver to SPARC’s success.

Start Date

4-11-2015 10:45 AM

End Date

4-11-2015 11:00 AM

COinS
 
Apr 11th, 10:45 AM Apr 11th, 11:00 AM

Effect Of Culture On A Company’S Success

What leads a software company in Charleston, SC, to be the fastest growing software company in the United States? In 2013, the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in the US labeled one such company, SPARC, number fourteen on their list, making them the single fastest growing software company in America. The biggest difference between SPARC and other companies may be that SPARC places a large emphasis on culture. This research into SPARC attempted to discover if this emphasis on culture made them successful, and, if so, what makes the culture so special. In order to answer these questions, time was spent at SPARC observing how the employees and executives interacted with each other, as well as interviewing a number of employees and executives. After being sifted through, these data were then compared to examples of culture from other companies, in an attempt to discover what made SPARC different. While further research is required, the data collected appear to suggest that SPARC’s culture is a key driver to SPARC’s success.