The Character Of A Corporation - Softcover

Jones, Gareth; Goffee, Rob

3.71

34 ratings by Goodreads

9781861976390: The Character Of A Corporation

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1861976399 ISBN 13: 9781861976390

Publisher: Profile Books, 2003

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Coca-Cola, Disney, Nike and Hewlett Packard all have it: a positive corporate culture that powerfully affects their bottom line. Yet despite its ability to make or break a business, corporate culture remains the most underutilized resource in business today. Internationally renowned academics and consultants Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones draw on fifteen years of research with high-profile companies such as Unilever, Polygram, Heineken and Johnson & Johnson. They successfully define the notoriously amorphous concept of culture and distil it into a diagnostic test that managers can use to assess which of four basic cultural forms prevail within their department, team or organisation. The Character of a Corporation reveals: How the ways in which members of an organisation relate to one another affects the company's overall performance - as well as the individual's quality of life. Why most organisations are characterized by several cultures at once - and how to find the kind of culture that suits you best. What to do if you want of need to change your organisation from one culture to another. How to position your culture for greater competitive advantage. Offering substantive analysis, vivid examples and pragmatic solutions, The Character of a Corporation explores how a company's 'character' can make the difference between short-term burnout and sustainable long-term edge.

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Review:

Corporate culture is more than just a way to set the tone at work--it also affects the bottom line. That's why it's critical to understand your company's culture. Authors Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones argue that managers need to know if their business's culture helps or hurts, and how to change it, if necessary. Goffee and Jones know their stuff. As founders of the London-based consulting firm Creative Management Associates, they have helped launch programmes to overhaul corporate cultures at such companies as Johnson & Johnson, Coopers and Lybrand and Hilton Hotels. They have identified four basic cultures, each of which can be good or bad: the networked culture; the mercenary culture; the fragmented culture; and the communal culture. For example, do employees gossip and form cliques? That's the networked culture at its worst, and it's probably creating an atmosphere of distrust and cynicism that can damage the company's future. But networking can also mean open and effective communication--and constructive friendships--that can lead to the sharing of good ideas, all to the company's benefit.

The book includes handy diagnostic tools, so you can describe your own corporate culture. It also suggests ways to bring about change and offers tips on surviving in whatever culture you find yourself. The Character of a Corporation is instructive reading for managers who want to improve performance and for anyone looking to survive and thrive in the workplace. --Dan Ring, Amazon.com

Review:

A do-it-yourself kit to understanding corporate culture ... A must read! (Richard Greenhalgh)

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