Lear Corporation, according to its website, is “a global leader in automotive seating and e-systems.” As a supplier of seats, it is the first in the industry to introduce power tracks and a common seat architecture, Lear is positioned as a leader in the industry. The competing values framework, established at the University of Michigan, is made of four quadrants: collaborate, create, control and compete.

Based on this structure, Lear’s company culture is driven by continual innovation, creating and forward mobility. Its slogan is “where passion drives possibilities,” indicating that it takes more than just the motivation for money to make products that keep people comfortable and safe in their automobiles. This aligns closely with the control and create components of the framework, which vow to “do things right” and “do things first,” respectively. Its culture is also present in its core values of quality, innovation, efficiency, customer, diversity, teamwork, integrity and community (“Core Values”).

In the industry, its competitors include Faurecia, Adient and Magna. Faurecia recently revealed a seat-pad foam that reduces amine emissions from foam production, signaling a move toward more sustainable practices, although foam has an issue of recyclability. Globally, Lear takes the lead ahead of Faurecia, but the latter has worked to catch up as it focuses on flexible seating, interior systems and seat heating in high-end luxury cars. Faurecia, along with Lear and JCI however, account for more than three-quarters of the automotive seating industry in Europe.

Lear uses its idea portal and community involvement initiatives as formal methods of strengthening culture by allowing engagement and doing things for the greater good visibly. Informally, Lera keeps up a blog with trends, its improvements and advancements and community service projects to serve as content with which people can engage and can read to see how Lear goes above and beyond making a profit.