The Hindu Business Line : Culture shocks

Culture of an organisation is `the way we do things around here', defines Dr Ashok Sanghvi in, Strategic Management Processes in Indian Organisations: With Case Studies, from Vakils, Feffer and Simons (www.axiom-consultants.com). In successful organisations, culture supports their strategy; and there are usually three layers to culture, viz., values, belief, and assumptions. Again, you can describe culture, from the perspective of power, role, task, and person. Sanghvi explains that a power culture has `individuality and powerful managers', such as in small entrepreneurial companies. "A role culture is associated with bureaucracies where people's functions are defined in a formal way. People here share a belief in the importance of security and predictability, and they equate successful management with rules and regulations. In this culture, people will tend to be slow to change." What is a task culture? It focuses on work and team accomplishment. "This is often the culture preferred by middle and junior managers because they know what they have to do and they can build up teams." The last, `person culture' is where "people believe that the organisation exists so that they can serve their own personal interest." Useful analysis.

9 out of 10 new brands fail

Matt Haig's, Brand Failures, from Kogan Page (www.vivagroup india.com) is about "the 100 biggest branding mistakes of all time." The book begins with `New Coke' and ends with `Yardley cosmetics: From grannies to handcuffs.' The moment a new brand is launched, the odds are immediately stacked against it, writes the author in his preface. Alarmingly, "Nine out of ten times brands fail." Success is hard to define, but failure is always easy to understand, notes Haig. The book catalogues the fiascos into `classic' ones (Ford Edsel, Sony Betamax and McDonald's Arch Deluxe), `idea failures' (such as RJ Reynolds' smokeless cigarettes and Pepsi AM), and `extension' disappointments (like Harley Davidson perfume, Virgin Cola, Pond's toothpaste and Frito-Lay Lemonade), apart from failures of PR, culture, people, rebranding, and new technology. Last come the `tired brands' where you find Polaroid, Moulinex, Levi's, Ovaltine, Kmart and so on. Compelling read.

Tailpiece

Tailpiece

"All my party functionaries are busy... "

"Identifying what good can be done to people?"

"No, spotting code violations by the rivals!"

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com

D. Murali

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