This article is from the public account: Recipient Workshop (ID: ClecChina) , author: Zhixing Xiao, title figure from the visual China
Corporate culture is a difficult topic to write, because almost everyone who loves to think about something has a set of theories about corporate culture. If you want to write it, it makes sense and give up your original theory It is not an easy task.
First look at the textbook definition of corporate culture. MIT’s Schein (Eegar Schein) The book Organizational Culture and Leadership in 1992 is by far the authority on this topic: Culture is a group A series of basic presets (Basic assumptions) that people have learned when solving the problems of adaptation and internal solidarity. These presets are effective in practice, so they are considered correct, and they are regarded as correct perception, thinking and feeling when solving problems. (Perceive, think and feel) way to teach new members.
He also has a well-known three-level water lilyModel (Waterlily model) —— The flowers and leaves on the water are the explicit forms of culture, including the organizational structure and various systems and procedures; In the middle are the branches and stalks of water lilies, which are various openly advocated values, including mission, purpose, code of conduct, etc .; at the bottom are the roots of water lilies, which are various, subconscious beliefs, concepts and perceptions that are taken for granted. In a nutshell, corporate culture is based on pre-established values that create institutions and restrict behavior.
Shain’s Water Lily Model
The fundamental reason why companies need culture is that various rational control systems are expensive and can never cover 100% of employees’ work behaviors, especially in knowledge-intensive enterprises. So corporate culture is a soft tool that shapes the way people behave.
The corporate culture defined by Shain has to solve two problems, one is adapting to the environment and the other is internal solidarity. Related to this, there are two dimensions to the behavior of cultural restraint. One is the technical dimension, which solves the problem of how to do it and how to do it. ( Capability) ; the second is the social dimension, which solves the problem of subjective initiative that is willing to do (Motivation) . The former is closely related to the industry in which the company is located and the strategy of the company. For example, caution is a virtue in the banking industry, while in the high-tech industry, it may be more adventurous to innovate and sometimes make mistakes; fast food restaurants need to greet guests according to training guidelines And suggested menus, fine dining restaurants might not be so appropriate for dealing with guests mechanically, etc.
Although the technical dimension of corporate culture is important, it is always regular and can be summarized after a period of practice. Focus and difficulties of corporate cultureIn its social dimension: to solve the problem of employee motivation and subjective initiative. There is a big difference in the impact of high-spirited, enthusiastic employees and “60 years old” employees who try their best to keep the minimum effort on the company’s performance.
Someone gives an example of a bank wiring lady. First of all, the customer came over a phone to inquire about the exchange rate on the day. The lady answered it enthusiastically and tirelessly, and then asked: Our bank has a currency exchange business. Does the husband need to exchange? The phone was transferred to the currency exchange department, so the bank got a business of currency exchange; after the exchange, the lady asked, sir, do you need to invest? The call was transferred to the investment department, and the bank received a large amount of investment. Ms. Connection works at the lowest level in many companies, and can still affect company performance in this way, let alone the rest.
Everyone knows that a cohesive corporate culture is good. (Most people say that corporate culture refers to a cohesive corporate culture) , difficult How to build this corporate culture. Chinese companies have more militarized control and less corporate culture. A slightly cohesive corporate culture is often the result of brainwashing. As soon as new employees enter the company, they are full of words such as “dedication”, “hard work”, “mission”, “career” and “gloring glory for the country.” for a while. The company has entered a high-speed development stage, and a large proportion of these young employees are in the “honeymoon period”, which can cover many problems. As time goes on, smarter employees often start to wonder.
As a result of pondering, employees are divided into several categories. One group of people saw the big words, and gradually understood the “hidden rules” of the company. The trust that they should rely on, the performance that they should perform, climb up step by step, and slowly enter the core circle. People can also drink meat. Order soup; another type of person also sees those big words, and will also adapt to the situation, the difference is that they “live elsewhere”, always remembering that they are working for the resume, when the time comes, the trouble should be troubled; also Some people who see through are a bit like the intellectuals of the employees. They do a good job, they are unwilling to turn their backs on things, and like to complain. The rest are not.I think so clearly, but I feel that the various slogans, slogans, and movement are empty. The leader shouted fiercely and supervised tightly, so he would do more. The leader has been in a good mood recently. Although there are still many companies that are keen on brainwashing, and brainwashing has been effective for a while, I want to remind them that they must not underestimate the immune ability of employees to brainwashing, and do not expect brainwashing to produce a world-class enterprise in the 21st century.
If brainwashing is an expedient and short-term, what is the right way to build a good corporate culture? The game theory of Stanford University Kreps (David Kreps) The article “Corporate Culture and Economics Theory” in 1990 uses extremely concise mathematics The logic answers this question. The beauty of its theory is inextricably linked with the reality. Different from the brainwashing corporate culture, the premise here is that everyone is an economic man with the greatest benefit. (so I gave me the set of selfless dedication) .
Creps points out that the key to building a corporate culture is building a company’s reputation as a trusted employer. This seems to be a simple requirement. Most employers often fail to do so for immediate benefit.
The simplest example is piece rate. The employer and the employee first set a price. For example, a pair of shoes for 10 yuan is too simple to make a promise. But in fact, when employees pay extraordinary hard work and get wages that exceed the average market wage to a certain extent, for example, ordinary workers get about 1,000 yuan a month, and workers in the factory can get 10 × 200 = 2000 At around RMB, employers will face a great temptation to betray their promises and reduce the piece rate. For example, for a pair of shoes down to 7.5 yuan, employees will get around 7.5 × 200 = 1500 yuan a month. The reason is very simple. There are workers waiting in line at the door waiting to get 1,000 yuan a month. The effectiveness of the business has risen temporarily, but the price he paid was his reputation as an employer: he was no longer a credible employer. If the employee knowsHe does n’t talk about credit. In the future, when he encounters a similar situation, he will passively work less, produce fewer shoes, and maintain the monthly income at a level that does not regret the employer. For example, at the beginning, he only produced 150 pairs of shoes and took 10 × 150 = 1500 yuan (The premise here is that workers are conditional, capable of organizing formally and informally) . Compared with the situation where employees produce 200 pairs of shoes and get 2,000 yuan, employers and employees lose, and the cohesion of the factory’s corporate culture is irreparably reduced.
Krepps believes that this kind of temptation of superiors facing the promise of words actually happens at any time between the lower and upper levels of the enterprise. If employees generally have an expectation of their superiors, they cannot work wholeheartedly for the company. The difficulty of corporate culture is that not only the senior management of the company must abide by its commitments, but also educate all the superiors of the company to abide by their commitments in the face of their subordinates, including various express and implied commitments, and abandon opportunistic behavior with short-term benefits. This sounds a lot like an old saying we often say: the important thing is to educate cadres.
Brainwashing companies educate employees every day to build a comprehensive and win-win corporate culture, but the essence of education is to educate employers and their bosses. The black humor in them makes people smile and tears in their laughter.
So, the true text of corporate culture is 10 words: equality, respect, trust, cooperation, and sharing. But there are not many companies that really read this true scripture all over the world. It’s difficult to keep up with temptation if you’re facing temptation; it’s harder and harder to let others face temptation; tens of thousands of company managers can’t keep up when facing temptation, even more difficult. But it is this “difficulty” that makes business management the most challenging and respected job.
Although the effect of a cohesive corporate culture on corporate performance is theoretically suitable for companies in any industry and any strategy, the role of enterprises in different industries and strategies is different. Generally speaking, the more knowledge-intensive industries, the greater the role; the industries that are more difficult to directly monitor and control (such as the express delivery industry where employees often run outside) < / span>, the greater the role; the more competitive the industry, the greater the role. Among different types of strategies, the more they focus on quality and differentiation, the greater their role; the more they focus on services, the greater their role.
Labor-intensive and particularly easy-to-supervise and control companies often do not have the motivation to develop corporate culture. The reason is simple. Developing a corporate culture may not pay the employers money. Corporate culture means trusting employees and actively giving up supervision. “Getting” comes from two aspects. On the one hand, it avoids the cost of rational control and supervision. On the other hand, the improvement of the quantity and quality of production based on the subjective initiative of employees. This is often very limited for enterprises that are particularly easy to supervise and control. . And “lost” comes from untrustworthy employees. Every company is a black sheep, and any company that wants to build a cohesive culture must be very clear. Therefore, from this perspective, corporate culture also has the side of educating employees. Although there is a difference between education and cadres, it is definitely an indispensable element.
Author: Dr. Xiao Zhixing, well-known management scholar, experienced the Workshop co-founder, he has taught at the China Europe International Business School, George Washington University, Peking University HSBC School of Business, Source: First published in “IT Manager World” in May 2003, and later included in “Looking Ahead”
This article comes from Public number: Coaching Workshop (ID: ClecChina) author: Xiao Zhixing