Interpretation of corporate culture

Interpretation of corporate culture

For more than 30 years, corporate culture has been a word that has been mentioned very frequently in various enterprises in China, but it is also an extremely misunderstood concept. . Corporate culture is not a basket into which everything can be put.

A big confusion

When a large number of high-quality, low-energy-consumption Japanese products poured into the United States in the mid-to-late 1970s, the Japanese also began to set up factories in the United States and buy up American industries. At that time, American companies were somewhat at a loss when faced with this sudden "latecomer", wondering how they could win. American management scientists began to study Japanese companies and concluded that Japanese corporate culture is their magic weapon for success. If total quality management is a technique, then corporate culture is the way and the soul. The success of Japanese companies shows that technical things such as management methods and tools can be learned and introduced from the outside, but spiritual things at the business level must be endogenous to the organization.

Thirty-six years ago, we kicked off the reform and opening up, introducing advanced management concepts and methods from the West. Initially, "total quality management" and "corporate culture" were introduced from Japan. The author's confusion is that after 15-16 years of construction, Japanese corporate culture, which is also rooted in East Asian culture, has brought a large number of Japanese companies to the world stage. And our corporate culture has been built for more than 30 years, why haven't we put our corporate culture on the map? Are enterprises on the stage of globalization?

What is the wrong way to build corporate culture?

Once upon a time, we were constantly building our corporate culture, and we required employees to wear the same 'Wear clothes, show the same professional smile, we ask our employees to "Five Stresses and Four Beauties" and change their uncivilized bad habits; our units are full of such and such ambitious slogans. It can be said that we have never touched the essence of "organizational culture", so we can only make some superficial articles to embellish our so-called "culture". Since the 1990s, the term corporate culture has been a popular term used by Chinese companies to decorate their appearance and improve their quality.

Although the Chinese business community has paid more attention to corporate culture in the past 30 years, many business leaders and employees still have a very vague concept of corporate culture. Many corporate cultures are built in a crooked way.

1. Its "corporate culture" is often used as a supplement to the political and ideological work of state-owned enterprises. Initially, corporate culture work was attributed to the propaganda department of the enterprise, but now it is included with the "propaganda department" The "party and mass work department" of the enterprise. Another phenomenon corresponding to this is the replacement of "corporate culture" with cultural and sports activities for corporate employees.

2. The "corporate culture" is only expressed in some similar slogans and slogans, or in rules and regulations and corporate logos, which does not truly reflect the values, business philosophy and corporate spirit pursued by the company's employees. The profound connotation fails to truly explore the powerful force contained in the employees of the enterprise to promote the sustainable and healthy development of the enterprise.

3. Corporate culture is like a basket, everything is put into it. Corporate culture does not solve all problems, only the problem of ongoing operations. In reality, basic management issues are often classified as cultural issues. In fact, if an enterprise is inefficient, there must be a problem with the process; if employees are unwilling to take responsibility, it should be due to a problem with the arrangement of power and responsibility in the organization; and lack of market competitiveness may be due to unclear strategies. Perhaps most enterprises in China are still in the "management" era and are far from ushering in their own "cultural" era.

4. Saying one thing and doing another? Hanging the culture on the wall but crawling underground in action? This leads to confusion in corporate values. The manifestation is that the daily behavior of corporate leaders, corporate performance appraisals, and the "heroes" that leaders talk about are inconsistent with what is advocated by corporate culture. A culture of chaos brings about bad behaviors such as distrust, speculation, and precaution within the enterprise.

Many Chinese companies regard "corporate culture" as just a tool. Instead of liberating productivity, it has become a spiritual shackles for employees and a hindrance to the progress of the company. Corporate culture has completely lost its "cultural" characteristics, its "humanity" charm and unique efficacy that comes from people and serves people.

An interesting feeling and experience: Culture is care and respect for people

The famous social economist Fukuyama said in "The End of History and the Last Man":? Everyone longs for others to recognize their dignity and status. If you look at the slogans in our corporate culture, you can almost see the words "people-oriented". But in fact, in our business, the most easily overlooked issue is respect for individuals. Traditional Chinese culture emphasizes the power of the collective and despises the power of the individual. In modern management, excessive emphasis on the collective and neglect of the individual, as well as personal dignity, ability and personality, will become obstacles to the development of enterprises.

Three years ago, the author went to a joint venture company to provide management training for middle-level cadres. The first time I walked into the training classroom was at 5:30 in the evening. After they had finished their work for the day, more than 20 people The facial expressions of the students were very natural, without the tiredness and helplessness that is common in many places. After the course started, everyone actively participated in the interaction. During the break, I said to several of them: It seems that you are quite satisfied with the unit. They replied: How do you know? You must know someone from our company. I said: Your satisfaction is written on your face.

In the winter two years ago, a friend introduced me to design a management training program for a private company. The boss of the company was dissatisfied with the 32 middle-level cadres. The basic situation is that they are a foreign company. After entering Shanghai, their business has developed very fast. There are 28 specialty stores in Shanghai. As the scale expands, the boss's energy is running low, and what worries him is the store managers. Incompetent and unwilling to take responsibility. It was also a night and the weather was very cold. I arrived at the training site half an hour early as usual. 32 middle-level cadres came in one after another before the training started. They sat in their seats and hardly said hello to each other. I took the initiative to say hello to them, but they all bowed their heads and felt uncomfortable. Later I learned that they came from all over the city non-stop after get off work, and most of them had not eaten dinner. That was the most boring class I had in the past 10 years. After a question was raised, everyone lowered their heads. When I asked a student to talk, almost every voice was low and hesitant. When I jokingly said: If you don’t talk, I will leave. At this time, a woman sitting in the front row stood up, turned around, pointed her finger and shouted: "Speak quickly." I quickly ran over and grabbed her. The classroom was deathly quiet. The lady was the vice president of the company, so it was not difficult to understand the students' behavior.

Next, the author communicated with some of them. They said that the boss did not trust them at all and even set up various traps to prevent middle-level cadres from each other. Usually, they are more criticized and fined at work, so every time they go to class, they have to rush from stores all over the city to the headquarters in Pudong, but no one dares to be late. The one hundred yuan fine is scary. But almost everyone was hungry. Why can't the company prepare some snacks and hot tea for them? After listening to this and thinking about the behavior of the female vice president, it is not difficult for me to understand the behavior of the trainees.

Professor Xiao Zhixing of China Europe Business School discovered a thought-provoking phenomenon when studying China’s business management. China is rising in the manufacturing industry, but it is in the manufacturing industry that management scholars can use it as a There are very few companies that are positive examples and management benchmarks. As the first generation of benchmark companies, they come from high technology, such as Huawei, Lenovo, Alibaba, etc. The second generation of benchmark companies comes from the service industry, such as Haidilao, SF Express, Pandong Lai, etc. Xiao Zhixing believes that the fundamental reason lies in the "sweatshops of China's manufacturing industry". At present, China's manufacturing industry should pay more attention to the human factor. How to make the middle level truly active, so that employees at the grassroots level have a sense of belonging and feel that their work is valuable, so that all types of employees can experience that the enterprise is also their own self-fulfillment. A place for realization. This is not only the core of Chinese enterprise management, but also the entry point and core of corporate culture construction. ;