CMR CLASSICS: Corporations, Culture, and Commitment: Motivation and Social Control in Organizations

摘要

Corporate culture is receiving much attention in the business press. A recent article in Fortune describes how the CEO at Black & Decker "transformed an entire corporate culture, replacing a complacent manufacturing mentality with an almost manic, market-driven way of doings things." Similarly, the success of Food Lion (a $3 billion food-market chain that has grown at an annual rate of 37% over the past 20 years with annual returns on equity of 24%) is attributed to a culture that emphasizes "hard work, simplicity, and frugality." Other well-known firms such as 3M, Johnson & Johnson, Apple, and Kimberly-Clark have been routinely praised for their innovative cultures Even the success of Japanese firms in the U.S. has been partly attributed to their ability to change the traditional culture developed under American managers. Peters and Waterman report how a U.S. television manufacturing plant, under Japanese management, reduced its defect rate from 140 to 6, its complaint rate from 70% to 7%, and the turnover rate among employees from 30% to 1%, all due to a changed management philosophy and culture.