The Corporate Culture Survival Guide

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 224 pages
• Published by: Jossey-Bass
• Edition: 1st Edition September 1999
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0787946990
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0787946999
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 13.6 ounces

Product Review
Culture. We blithely use the term for just about anything--a vibrant culture, a dominant culture, a corporate culture. But do we really know what we're saying, what culture really means? Or do we most often assume that the term is just a convenient way to group those with a common purpose or goal and a method for achieving it? Isn't a corporate culture, for example, just "the way we do things around here"?

No, it's not. In The Corporate Culture Survival Guide, Edgar Schein reveals how that's merely the tip of the iceberg, an iceberg that managers ignore at the peril of their company's future. Underneath lies the much-harder-to-grasp "essence" of the company, the "learned, shared, tacit assumptions on which people base their daily behavior." These assumptions are learned over time and in different internal and external environments, becoming, as Schein puts it, the "residue of success." As these assumptions influence all aspects of how a company functions, discovering their nature and cause is vital to the success of any new organization-wide venture or strategy. In the second half of the book, Schein illustrates how, using this knowledge, a company's culture can be deliberately created or changed. Supported by numerous case-study examples, his advice is pertinent to startups, mature companies, and blended organizations.

If you're the type of manager that requirements a quick-fix solution, with simple catch phrases and an easy Five Step Program to Success, this book is not for you. Nor are the benefits to be gained from acquiring the depth of knowledge and insight needed to understand, work with, and transform your corporate culture. Using intelligent, lucid prose, Schein provides this kind of insight and more; he tells cautionary as well as inspiring tales of what this insight can mean for your company, and offers useful suggestions for putting knowledge into practice. --S. Ketchum

From Library Journal
In the Corporate Culture Survival Game, Schein (Sloan Sch. of Management, MIT; Organizational Culture and Leadership) presents a guide for managers, CEOs, and consultants about assessing organizational cultures. Drawing on his years of worldwide corporate consulting, Schein has determined that corporate cultures are evolutionary phenomena that may be altered to keep business competitive. After describing methodologies for determining the current state of corporate culture, Schein presents models for changing those cultures. With mergers and acquisitions throwing disparate corporate cultures together at an unprecedented rate, the need to find a common ground and create effective business practices has become a real problem; Schein's methodologies and models should be welcome tools in helping companies reevaluate and reform their identities. Highly recommended for corporate, academic, and large public libraries.ARobert L. Balliot Jr., Middletown P.L., RI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Reader Reviews
Edgar H. Schein provides an excellent conceptual explanation of culture in general and corporate culture in particular. He shows how cultures arise and explains why it is so hard to examine and change an embedded culture. He also lays out practical plans for assessing culture. These plans are not simple or easy, but they promise great reward if carefully followed. Case studies illustrate the concepts and show how corporate problems can be seen in terms of culture. The first half of the book, which lays out the concepts of culture, is especially clear. The second half, which examines cultural issues in various kinds of organizations, uses more jargon and is a bit murkier. Overall, we [...] recommend this book as especially useful for anyone dealing with change, be it moving to a new organization, considering or coping with a merger or acquisition, or even planning to work with people from another group, company or background. Comment | | (Report this)