Corporate culture, once an ivory-tower topic for business scholars and sociologists, has become an issue of vital concern to managers, executives, and consultants on the front lines of change. Why? Because the increasing number of mergers, acquisitions, and reengineerings happening today have put corporate cultures on a collision course, and managers who want to integrate must first understand the complex mix of behaviors, values, and shared assumptions that underlie the way organizations operate.

While most managers are familiar with the concept of corporate culture, many lack a complete understanding of what it is, how it operates, and what they can do to improve it. Edgar Schein, a pioneer in the study of corporate cultures and the field's reigning expert, has helped thousands of scholars and change agents grasp the cultural dynamics at work in today's companies. Now he makes his extensive experience and expert advice available to managers everywhere in this engaging guide.

Framing his chapters around the questions managers most often ask—What is corporate culture? How can I assess it? How can I change it?—Schein defines in plain terms the ingredients of corporate culture and explains how they influence the way people do their jobs. He gives readers clear guidance for evaluating their organization's current culture and determining whether it continues to be the best fit for its people, goals, and products. He also provides practical advice for effecting culture change in companies of all kinds in a format that anyone can readily understand and follow.

Although companies may understand which aspect of their operation they need to alter in order to stay competitive, their attempts often fail when they try to impose new systems onto old modus operandi. The Corporate Culture Survival Guide gives change leaders the tools they need to work with the culture they have in order to get the results they want.

Schein (management, Massachusetts Institute if Technology), citing the disastrous effects that Atari (a computer game company) experienced when they brought in a CEO with vastly different values, explains how organizational cultures affect the ability of companies to compete. He relies on a number of case studies to back up his argument and offers advice on how to evaluate and change corporate culture.
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"Ed Schein has crystallized a lifetime of etching, research, and reflection on the dynamics of corporate culture and change. Rarely does an academician speak as clearly and pragmatically to business leaders as does Schein."(Don Davis, retired CEO, The Stanley Works, and senior MIT lecturer on leadership and ethics)

"Anyone with even the slightest interest in the too-often used and abused notion of corporate culture will want this book."(John Van Maanen, Erwin Schell Professor of Organization Studies, MIT)

"Schein provides an enormously helpful set of ideas and applications that will make the manager's tasks of working with and trying to change the cultures in their organizations much more feasible and a lot less painful."(Peter J. Frost, Edgar F. Kaiser Professor of Organizational Behavior, University of British Columbia)

Offers an explanation of what corporate culture is and how it can be changed. The text is organized around key questions managers ask about culture: what is it? How can I foster change? How does it relate to strategy and change? Case studies include AMOCO, DEC, and Hewlett-Packard.

Corporate culture pioneer Edgar H. Schein gets back to basics and delivers a dynamite primer on changing cultures packed with practical advice. Here, Schein separates the sense from the nonsense regarding culture change theory and practice and tells in plain terms how readers can assess their organization to determine if its current culture fits its people and products. He then examines corporate culture on three levels--behaviors, values, and shared assumptions--and shows how each factors into change initiatives. Framed around the questions managers ask most often, the book uses case studies to show what successful change looks like and to demonstrate how you can dismantle a dysfunctional culture.

A Warren Bennis Book

Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-194) and index.

EDGAR H. SCHEIN is professor of management at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One of the founders of the field of organizational development, Schein has authored numerous books and consults with organizations worldwide. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Foreword.

Preface.

The Author.

CORPORATE CULTURE BASICS.

Why Does Corporate Culture Matter?

What is Corporate Culture Anyway?

What is Corporate Culture Built On?

So How Can You Assess Your Corporate Culture?

CORPORATE CULTURE IN ACTION.

Culture Creation, Evolution, and Change in Start-Up Companies.

Transformative Change: Unlearning and Relearning Culture.

Corporate Culture Dynamics in the Mature Company.

When Cultures Meets: Acquisitions, Mergers, Joint Ventures, and Other BlAnded Organizations.

Cultural Realities for the Serious Culture Leader.

References.

Index.