In their book on corporate cultures, Terrence E Deal and Allan A Kennedy identify four generic cultures that derive from the degree of risk associated with the company's activities and the speed with which the companies and their employees receive feedback on whether strategies have been successful.
They termed the high risk, quick feedback type the tough guy/macho culture. Police departments, surgeons, advertising, management consulting, and entertainment are examples of where this type of culture prevails. The emphasis on quick feedback diverts attention and resources from long-term investments. The accent is on producing today, at the expense of tomorrow. Because competition is stressed, cooperation is essentially forgotten. It tends to be difficult to build a strong cohesive culture, because of the high turnover caused by people who fail in the short run.
The work hard/play hard culture tends to be found in organizations where risks are low and feedback is quick. The fast-food or quick-service companies fall into this category. Success comes from persistence. This value system is to find a need and fill it. The accent is on the team rather than on the individual. In this culture a great deal of work gets done. It is ideal for active people. The major danger is that quality can be sacrificed for quantity. As such, the better companies constantly stress the need for quality in meeting customer needs. A second difficulty is that this type of culture requires a great deal of energy from its employees. As employees age, they may lose the necessary stamina and burn out.
The bet-your-company cultureis typically found in a high-risk environment with slow feedback. Capital goods industries, oil companies, and investment banks are all examples of this type of culture. Decisions come from the top down. The business meeting is very important. To survive it is necessary to be able to feel comfortable in making decisions without knowing for a long time whether they will pay off. Such organizations move extremely slowly and are subject to short-term fluctuations in the economy and cash flow problems as they wait for the long- term payoff.
Last, there is the process culture, characteristic of low-risk environments with slow feedback. Typical of banks, insurance companies, and heavily regulated firms, this culture leads to an emphasis on how something is done rather than on what is done. Great attention is paid to being on time, being orderly, and attending to detail.
Each culture described above is usually found in certain industries. A hotel company, however, may take on some or all of the characteristics of, for example, a process culture. Similarly, within a hotel or restaurant there may be several subcultures with the patterns given above. The key is to ensure that the culture implemented is appropriate for the mission of the company and that subcultures are not allowed to override the culture chosen as appropriate for the organization as a whole.
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