1. Why do companies like Zappos incorporate the use of teams into their organizational structure?
2. How does the use of teams contribute to the organizational culture?
3. How does a focus on the work to be accomplished versus the institution of titles relate to the concept of teamwork?

Zappos has always taken pride in its focus on employees and customers and, as a result, has adopted a team structure to reinforce the kind of organizational culture for which it aims.Many companies utilize functional departmentalization as a structure to organize their activities. Zappos’ many teams serve this same purpose but are described as teams rather than departments.While the company is run by teams in every department, one of the most important teams is the merchandising team, because team members are responsible for purchasing all inventory on the Zappos website.Each purchasing category is composed of its own team as well. The company strives to empower employees from the bottom up so that when they are hired as an entry-level employee, within five to seven years they have the opportunity to move up to leadership positions.Because Zappos is an online company, most of the communication that occurs is via e-mail. However in order to ensure that teams function properly and work to reinforce their strong organizational culture, the company encourages face-to-face meetings.Formal meetings between the directors and the various levels on their teams will occur once per month.The most recent development the company has made in terms of organizational structure and teamwork is the adoption of Holacracy. This is a management structure that focuses on the type and amount of work that needs to be accomplished rather than on titles and hierarchy.