Saturday Odd Bits Roundup: Culture Do’s and Don’ts
by Miki Saxon
If today has any unifying theme it’s a focus on management being smart, instead of the opposite.
Let’s start with my favorite customer service example, and one I’ve written about often, Zappos. CEO Tony Hsieh has a fierce focus on his customers that he fosters with a culture of fun for his people.
What he doesn’t do is use customer relationship software in place of the human touch, but a lot of CEOs think you can accomplish the same thing with a bunch of bits.
Michigan’s Dan Mulhern focuses on the importance of good corporate culture, especially in a downturn. He says that now is not the time to ignore culture even with the extra-challenging circumstances that Michigan faces.
Can a large corporation learn from its mistakes? Many don’t, but BMW did. It botched it’s acquisition of Land Rover by trying to impose it’s own culture on a totally different product, but avoided making the same mistake with the Mini Cooper.
Finally, can the people who built mint.com find happiness inside the large corporation that acquired them? They seem to think so.
Image credit: MykReeve on flickr
