Overview

The authors trace the relationship between corporate culture and economic success. By examining over 200 firms, including Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, ICI and Nissan, they show how unwritten rules affect performance. They argue that a corporate culture must above all else be flexible. Organizations who believe thay have found a winning formula and become complacent enough to ignore changing conditions will often find themselves on the run. When an organization's set-up is no longer delivering success, then, say the authors, strong leadership is imperative. They give examples of the ways in which the positive visions of individual exectives have transformed the culture and performance of their companies.

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9780029184677

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Reviews

Nicholas J. Nicholas, Jr<p>President and CEO Time Warner Inc.<p>A substantial follow-up to the culture studies of the early 80s. The authors describe the characteristics of low and high performing corporate cultures and the arduous process required to migrate from the former to the latter. Compelling reading for all leaders concerned with renewing the vitality of their institutions.<p>

Nicholas J. Nicholas, JrPresident and CEO Time Warner Inc.A substantial follow-up to the culture studies of the early 80s. The authors describe the characteristics of low and high performing corporate cultures and the arduous process required to migrate from the former to the latter. Compelling reading for all leaders concerned with renewing the vitality of their institutions.

An attention-grabbing audit by two Harvard Business School professors of the role that culture (broadly defined as the shared attitudes, behavioral patterns, and values that cohesive human groups pass on from one generation to the next) can play in the capacity of major corporations to succeed or fail in the marketplace. The accessible study compiled by Kotter and Heskett is noteworthy on several counts. For one thing, it is based on empirical rather than anecdotal evidence, gathered from a canvass of more than 200 blue-chip enterprises in 22 industries, covering an 11-year span through 1990. For another, the authors measure performance against such valid bench marks as annual growth in net income, average returns on invested capital, and appreciation in stock prices. Last but not least, they refuse to advance a one-size-fits-all theory. While willing to state that corporate culture can have a significant impact on a company's reported results over the longer term, Kotter and Heskett caution that there's as much art as science in evaluating its contribution. Indeed, they assert that cultures adequate for one economic context may prove disastrous in another - as can those identifiable as arrogant, bureaucratic, and/or insular. The authors point out, for example, that K mart's lack of a customer-service ethos cost it dearly in competition with Wal-Mart. What's really needed, they argue, is an adaptive culture that automatically aligns an organization's interests with those of employees, investors, patrons, and other key constituencies. Drawing on case studies from their four-year research program, Kotter and Heskett outline practical ways in which top-down direction can motivate corporate personnel to pursue this objective. Down-to-earth analyses and advisories from authors who grasp the substantive differences between leadership and management. The reader-friendly text has a wealth of helpful tabular material throughout. (Kirkus Reviews)

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