企业文化英文文献

1、CorporateCultureandtheBottomLineERICFLAMHOLTZ,UniversityofCaliforniaatLosAngelesThepaperdealswiththeeffectsofcorporatecultureonfinancialperformance.Previousauthorshavesuggestedthatculturehasanimpactonfinancialperformance.Unlikepreviousstudieswhichhaveonlyexaminedtheeffectsofcultureonfinancialperform

2、anceusingcrosssectionaldata,thisstudywasdoneinasingleorganization.Thecompanyhadtwentyrelativelycomparabledivisions,andprovidesasomewhatrare,ifnotunique,opportunitytoassesstheeffectsofcorporatecultureonfinancialperformance.Theresults,usingaregressionanalysis,suggestthatthereisastatisticallysignifican

3、trelationship(at0.05level)betweencultureandfinancialperformance(measuredbyEBIT,orearningsbefoMerestandtaxes).Thustheseresultsprovidesupportforthepreviouslyhypothesizedrelationshipbetweencultureandfinancialperformancewithsignificantimplicationsformanagementtheoryandpractice2001PublishedbyElsevierScie

4、nceLtd.Allrightsreserved.Keywords:Corporateculture,Organizationalperformance,FinancialperformanceDuringthepastdecadeithasbecomerecognizedthatcorporateculturehasaisiigpaiCContoverallorganizationalperformance(SiehlandMartin,1990;KotterandHeskett,1992).Explicitlyorimplicitly,ithasbeenpresumedthatcorpor

5、atecultureaffectstheoverallfinancialperformanceofafirm.Inspiteofthispresumption,therehasbeenverylittleempiricalresearchdealingwiththefinancialeffectsofcorporateculture.Inonenotableexception,KotterandHeskett(1992)conductedmacro-levelresearchondifferentcompanies,andcomparedsamplesof(apriori)strongjltu

6、recompanieswithweakculturecompanies(1992；p.19)from22differentindustries.However,neithertheynorothershavedonemuchresearchontheeffectsofcultureonfinancialperformanceofasinglefirm.Inpart,thismightbeduetothedifficultiesofgainingasuitableresearchsite.Nevertheless,thereisagapinourunderstandingofthisphenom

7、enon.Accordingly,thepurposeofthisarticleistoreporttheresultsofafieldstudyoftheimpactofcorporatecultureonthebottomline,orfinancialperformance,ofafirm.Itpresentstheresultsofarelativelysingularopportunitytoinvestigatetherelationshipbetweencorporatecultureandfinancialperformanceinasinglefirm.TheNatureof

8、CultureTheconceptofcorporateculturehasbecomeembeddedinmanagementvocabularyandthought.Althoughtherearemanydifferentdefinitionsoftheconcept,thecentralnotionisthatculturerelatestocoreorganizationalvalues.Inturn,valuesarethingswhichareimportanttoorganizationsandunderpindecisionsandbehavior.Allorganizati

9、onshaveculturesorsetsofvalueswhichinfluencethewaypeoplebehaveinavarietyofareas,suchastreatmentofcustomers,standardsofperformance,innovation,etc.Anincreasingnumberofsuccessfulorganizationshave,atleastinpart,attributedtheirsuccesstoeffectiveculturemanagement.Forexample,StarbucksCoffeeCompany,whichhasg

10、rownfromjusttworetailstoresinSeattle(USA)tomorethan2500storesworld-wideduringthepastdecade,viewscultureasacriticalfactorintheorganizationssuccessI(Sctngj,ltz997;FlamholtzandRandle,1998).Specifically,thecompanysparadigmisthatwaywetrethteourpeopleaffectstheywayourpeopletreatourcustomers,and,inturn,our

11、success,whichincludesfinancialperformance.Thisbeliefhasledthecompanytoanumberofhumanresourcepracticesthataredesignedtoenhancepeoplesfeelingoeingvaluedbythecompany.Theseincludethewidespreaduseofstockoptionsandthepracticeofprovidingfullbenefitstoallemployeeswhoworkmorethan20hoursperweek.Therearemanyar

12、easinwhichcorporatecultureinfluencesbehavioranddecision-making.However,thereappeartobefourkeyareasinwhichallorganizationsmustmanagetheircultureorvalues:(1)thetreatmentofcustomers,(2)thetreatmentofanorganizationsownpeopleorhumancapital,(3)standardsoforganizationalperformance,and(4)notionsofaccountabi

13、lity.Thesearethekeyareasofculturalconcernforallorgaiizations.Naturally,therearealsomanyotherareasoforganizationalperformancethatareofconcern,butthesetendtobemoreidiosyncratictospecificfirms.Suchadditionalareascanincludebeliefswithrespecttoinnovation,corporatecitizenship,opennesstochange,aswellasothe

14、rs.CultureandOrganizationalPerformanceThebasicparadigmunderlyingthenotionthatcultureaffectsperformanceisbaseduponafewkeyideas.Thefirstisthatcultureaffectsgoalattainment.Morespecifically,companieswithstrongculturesaremorelikelytoachievetheirgoalsthanthosewithrelativelyweakcultur-csalleostrongpultureo

15、rganizationsarethoughttohaveahigherdegreerganizationalsuccess(measuredinmarketvalueorotherfinancialmeasuresofperformance),becauseofabelievedlinktomotivation.AsstatedbyKotterandHeskett,strongculturesareoftensaidtohelpbusinessperformancebecausetheycreateanunusuallevelofmotivationinemployees(1992,p.16)

16、.Inadditiontothehypothesizedrelationshipbetweencultureandfinancialperformance,culturealsohascometobeviewedascomponentofotherorganizationaleffectivenessorsuccessmodels(FlamholtzandRandle,1998,2000).Ithasbeentheorizedthattheroleofculture,aspartofasixfactorframework,explainsorganizationaleffectivenessa

17、nd,inturn,financialperformance(Flamholtz,1995;FlamholtzandRandle,1998,2000).Specifically,culturehasbeenviewedasacriticalorganizationaldevelopmentarea,orkeystrategicbuildingblock,ofsuccessfulorganizations.Thisframeworkhas,inturn,beensupportedbyfurtherempiricalresearch(FlamholtzandAksehirli,2000).Rese

18、archQuestionThegeneralresearchquestionthisarticleaddressesis:Istherearelationshipbetweenacorporatecultureandthefinancialperformanceofanorganization?Therewasalsoamorespecificresearchquestioninthecontextofthisstudy.Wewereinterestedindeterminingtherelationshipbetween:(1)theextenttowhichpeopleinthedivis

19、ionsacceptedthestatedcultureofthecompanyand(2)thecompanysfinanciaperformance.ResultsThedataderivedandusedinthiscomparisonareshowninagraphinFigure3.Thex-axisshowsadivisionalagreementwithcorporateculturescore.Thisisameasureofthedegreeofsimilaritybetweenthedesiredcorporatecultureandthecultureperceivedt

20、oexistineachdivision.Itcanbeviewedasameasureofcultural-inbuy)ythedivisions.TheyaxispresentsEBITvaluesforthevariousdivisions.AppendixABannersCulturalPrinciplesForyourreference,thefollowingprinciplesdefinetheculturethatBannerdesires.OurVision.Tobecometheleadingcomponentsuppliertothecapitalanddurablego

21、odsindustriesonaglobalbasis.OurCustomers.?Weviewourcustomersasthemostimportantelementinourbusiness.Wewilllistentoourcustomers.?Wewillmakebusinessdecisionswithourcustomerperspectiveinmind.Thismeansthatwecommittothinkingfromanoutsideinperspectivevs.thkingprimarilyfromaninternalperspectiveaboutwhatwork

22、sbestforus.?Wewilltreatallcustomerswithrespect.Althoughwemayhavedifferentstandardsforthelevelofservicewegivetoselectedcustomers,wevalueALLofourcustomersandwilltreatthemprofessionally.?Wewillkeepourcommitmentstocustomers.?Wewillusethecustomersmeasurementsasotiscorecard.?Wewillstrivetoexceedthecustome

23、rsexpectaWnwanttodelightourcustomers.Todifferentiateourselvesfromourcompetition,weneedtotrytoexceedcustomersexpectations.ThisdoesNOTmeanthatwewillacceptunreasonablerequestsfromourcustomersorthatwearecommittedtoprovidingservicesthatthecustomerwillnotpayfor.OurPeople.?OurpeopleareBannersmostvaluableas

24、set.?Wewillbeknownforhavingthebestpeopleinourindustry.?AtBanner,wewilltreatpeoplewithrespectandpreservehumandignity.?Wewillprovideasafe,cleanandchallengingworkenvironmentforallofourpeople.?Wewillinvestinthedevelopmentofourpeople.Weencouragepeopletopursuecontinuouspersonalimprovement,enablingthemtogr

25、owwiththecompany.?Wewillbeequitableinhiring,compensation,andpromotion.?Wevalueeveryemployeesinpu?Wewillcommunicateopenlywithouremployees.PerformanceStandardsandAccountability.?WewillcontinuouslyimproveineverythingwedoandwillstrivetobebestinclassWewillmeasureourperformanceagainstthehigheststandards.P

26、erfectionisourultimategoal.Wewillalsobenchmarkourperformanceagainstcompetitors.?WeexpecteveryoneatBannertoactwithhonestyandintegrity.Honestyisanabsolutestandardforallofouractivities,includingcommunicationwithinBanner,communicationwithcustomers,andcommunicationwithexternalagencies.Anythinglessisunacc

27、eptable.?WithinBannerwewillcommunicateclearexpectations,evaluateresults,giveconstructivefeedback,andrewardperformance.Wewillimplementcorrectiveactionplanswhenperformanceislessthanexpected.Lowperformanceisunacceptable.Wewillholdbusinessunitsaccountableforachievingtheirplans.TeamworkandCommunication.?Openandtimelycommunicationonallissues(goodandbad)isexpectedandencouraged.?Askingforhelpisencouraged,andweex