Projetado para leitores de nível C1, o texto explora como uma boa cultura organizacional leva ao sucesso da empresa, focando em seleção, controle do trabalho e integração. Ele usa exemplos como Zappos e Bridgewater para ilustrar conceitos-chave.
Discussion
- How would you define organizational culture?
- Can the culture of a company influence its success?
- Do you think the same organizational culture can work in different sectors or for different types of companies?
Reading
A good organizational culture is a set of values that promote the organization and its people to achieve good results.
It is common for successful companies to have curious elements of their culture made public, often by their CEOs and Founders. For example, the concept of quality of life at work is a fundamental part of Zappos' culture (book: Delivering Happiness, Tony Hsieh) as well as the cult of transparency and the search for truth is a fundamental part of Bridgewater's culture (book: Principles, Ray Dalio).
Specific concepts that can be copied. Here, we will talk about the lessons learned about culture from Silicon Valley companies in an article published by James Baron and Michael Hannan called "Organizational Blueprints for Success in High-Tech Start-Ups" (not translated into Portuguese, which translation would be: "Key Points on Organizational Success of Technological Startups").
The authors argue that there are three main dimensions that define organizational culture: selection, work control, and bonding.
The three criteria for selection are:
- Skills for the task to be performed;
- Exceptional talent or potential;
- Cultural integration.
There are four ways to control work:
- Direct Monitoring;
- Peer control;
- Professional standards;
- Formal processes and procedures.
And there are three bonding factors (what really motivates the employee to go to work every day):
- Compensation;
- Quality of the work;
- Work relationships.
Of the 36 possible combinations, only 5 are stable and occur in the vast majority of companies.
They are shown below.
| Model | Selection | Control | Bonding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Star | Exceptional talent or potential | Professional standards | Quality of work |
| Engineering | Skills for the task to be executed | Peer control | Quality of work |
| Commitment | Cultural integration | Peer control | Work relationships |
| Bureaucracy | Skills for the task to be executed | Formal processes and procedures | Quality of work |
| Autocracy | Skills for the task to be executed | Direct Monitoring | Compensation |
Stable Organizational Cultures Therefore, these would be the five stable organizational cultures. To illustrate, the authors cited responses associated with each of the cultures:
- Star: "We recruit talent, pay very well, and give them autonomy and resources to do their job well";
- Commitment: "I want to build the kind of companies people only leave when they retire";
- Engineering: "We are committed. We are not created by standards or rules and the energy is very high";
- Bureaucracy: "We control everything to be well documented, with role descriptions and rigorous project management techniques";
- Autocracy: "You work, you get paid".
It became clear that changing culture midway is quite dangerous and can cause great losses to the company. It also became clear that stronger cultures produce better results.
Now, what you must be asking is, which is the best culture?
Clearly, there is no one right or recommended culture for all companies. This will depend on the sector, the moment, the entrepreneur's profile. Still, it is possible to arrive at interesting conclusions, let's go to them:
Star and Commitment are the hardest models to create and scale, but they are also the ones with the highest chance of success to scale and make IPOs. Star and Commitment have the highest mortality (reflecting the Valley's saying: "Go big or go home") Autocracies need more manager per operational employee, have the slowest growth, but also the lowest chance of failure; Commitment are the least inclusive, if the company has a lot of men (typical of tech companies), it is where it will be most difficult to include women. Here, the differential is "being part of the group". Understanding the culture, the company can try to change it (generally not recommended) or strengthen it through training, more coherent motivation and remuneration practices, and especially in selection and retention policies. It can also assist in possible acquisitions, mergers, and partnerships.