Customer Reviews

Culture.com: Building Corporate Culture in the Connected Workplace

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The authors explain how to build a corporate culture in the connected
workplace. Your organization already has a culture which is, at least
to some extent, connected. First question: "How appropriate is that
culture to the needs, interests, problems, and opportunities it also
has?" Next question: "Will it be sufficiently flexible and
resilient to sustain itself as change continues to be the only
constant?" The authors can help you to find the correct answers
to these basic but critically important questions.

In their
Preface, they identify what they call "Nine Challenges for Turning
Your Corporate Culture into a .Com Asset":

1. Making the jump to
warp speed

2. Building a corporate culture in a virtual
organization

3. Living with parallel cultures during the transition
of e-business

4. A new breed of terms in a .com
culture

5. Communication belongs to everyone in a .com
culture

6. Knowledge management is managing people's brain
power

7. The new corporate IQ and getting smart

8. Linkages and
relationships outside the organization: a culture
challenge

9. Leading the journey to the wired
enterprise.

Throughout their book, the authors include relevant
quotations real-world examples rom a wide variety of sources as well
as a number of Tips which will assist the implementation of relevant
strategies. At the end of each chapter, they provide terrific
suggestions re Applying This Information in Your Organization. They
also make generous use of various graphics (eg Three Layers of
Culture)) for purposes of illustration. Then in the books Conclusion,,
they provide Ten Final Tips on Building a Corporate Culture for the
Connected Workplace which increase and enrich even more their
fulfillment of what the books subtitle promises.

(By the way, have
you also noticed how many subtitles of other business books make
extravagant promises which even a combination of Elizabeth I,
Michaelangelo, Merlin, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Thomas Edison,
and Peter Drucker couldn't possibly keep?)

The authors conclude
with some key points: "Corporate cultures will continue to change
as companies race to implement their e-business strategies. We remind
you once more that the two must work in synch. If your business
strategy and your corporate culture are pulling in two different
directions, the culture will win no matter how brilliant your strategy
is." I now presume to conclude this brief review with a few
suggestions of my own to decision-makers in any organization now in
need of building its own corporate culture in the connected
workplace. First, read and then re-read this book. Then have other
decision-makers in the organization also read and re-read it. Finally,
have everyone participate in a 2-3 workshop (emphasis on
"work"), preferably offsite, and use this book's table of
contents for the workshop's agenda. The primary objective is to
collaborate on an appropriate "game plan", to be completed by
the workshop's conclusion, which the organization then
implements. When problems occur (and they will), reconvene the
workshop participants and collaborate on an appropriate response. Be
sure to keep in mind what the authors of this book have correctly
observed: "If your business strategy and your corporate culture are
pulling in two different directions, the culture will win no matter
how brilliant your strategy is."

Like Neuhauser's other books, this one is filled with practical, real world ideas and solutions! The book is an extremely valuable tool for ensuring that organizational culture keeps pace as we are all pushed toward the "dotcom" environment. As businesses embrace a new "virtual" reality, it is important to not lose sight of the "actual" reality: the impact of the new business environment on culture, systems, and people. This book provides excellent stories from those already struggling with this issue and a wealth of food for thought for those of us charging toward, destined for, or forced into the new world of e-business.

A practical, example rich book focused on the often overlooked human side of the .com revolution. The inhibiting factor in achieving great gains with technology is often cultural. This important element is overlooked in most corporate technology planning. I found this book to be a straightforward, practical guide on how to consider and integrate the critical human and cultural elements.

Finally. A book that inverts the .com model and provides the building blocks to creating a winning, sustainable "wired" culture.

Too much of the current writing has been limited to customer focussed strategies. The assumed hope, then, would be that the internal processes would catch up with the external activity. Guess what? It is not going to happen. The culture of an organization, its value system, its internal communications & management style will have a much bigger impact on success than grand marketing schemes, overhyped websites and poor response times to customer needs. The author makes a strong case to look inward first before showing your face to the world.

The case studies and tip sections reinforce the authors' arguments and are well laid out. I would recommend this book as required reading for all managers--now wired or soon to be!

I read this book and enjoyed it, even though business is a fright word for me. I hate business, but this crew made our current computer based business sound liveable. Anyone who hopes to succeed in today's world, whether as a lone wolf or an administrative manager, needs to read this volume. It is easily understood, clear and to the point, and offers a lot of worthwhile ideas. Workers arise. Buy this book and move forward.

This is a book that is on target and provides the how to in moving the organization into the e-age. It can be applied in all types of organizations.

With the government, corporations and non-profits racing to transform themselves into e-business enterprises, it isn't a surprise that most corporate cultures do not align with the demands of the new economy. How do you build and change a corporate culture? This book is designed to help a company transform its culture.

The book outlines the corporate challenges that are presented when changing culture. Training is a key element to this change. The combined brainpower of a company is the company's corporate IQ. The corporate IQ as a whole number is greater than the sum of its parts. The book sees the days of "hauling everyone into a classroom for training" as gone. Companies are using corporate universities, e-learning, mentors, on-the-job training, mobile learning stations, and online universities to train their employees. This change in training is critical to change the corporate IQ.
To master this change a corporation must:
· Know what it knows and where the knowledge is
· Know how to use the information to make decisions
· Know what the current decision-making processes are
· Identify the direction of the organization and how that relates to its mission, goals and strategies
· Recognize in which networks the business operates and how to use them effectively.

Culture.com is at its best when it describes the effect that the Internet revolution is having on the corporate cultures of modern business. Of special merit are the book's lists of suggestions that managers and human resource executives can follow in attempting to develop a new culture that adequately addresses the changes and strains brought on by the rise of the virtual revolution. Also intriguing is the book's analysis of the dangerous transition period in which companies shift from old cultures to dot-com cultures. While the book is less effective in its look at the more general trends of technology, business and leadership, we from getAbstract nevertheless recommend it for its innovative take on virtual corporate culture.

Bender et al provides the best, most concise and comprehensive analysis and knowledge to succeed in today's e-Economy. A must read for all!

Eloquently straight forward and substantive guide to corporate .com issues that affect all organizations. Covers practical strategies and operational advice that's vital for competitive advantage, creating virtual organizations, and learning new ways to think, organize and lead from the front into the future. A great read!