Rituals without resonance: a (failed) case of corporate culture construction in a tech startup

Purpose This article aims to unpack how the corporate culture construction in a tech startup differs from that in tech giants in China and reveal how its structural position in the market shapes the corporate culture construction in (tech) startups. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a four-month ethnography in a Chinese tech startup. Findings Through an analysis of organisational rituals, this article depicts how the startup mimics the normative rhetoric in tech giants' corporate culture construction, fails to generate identification among employees and adjusts to the rational rhetoric of corporate culture by appealing to workers' self-interest. It reveals that the structural determinants of the change are the startup's relatively disadvantaged structural position in the market competition and managerial priority in dealing with high labour turnover. Originality/value This article argues that a company's structural position in the market and managerial priority in mitigating labour turnover determine how it draws on different rhetoric for corporate culture construction. It has implications for small firms in other industries who face similar structural constraints as well as leading tech firms who are facing increasing labour mobility in the tech sector.