ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Organizational Culture and Leadership, 3rd Edition

CULTURES IN ORGANIZATIONS 53an appointment with a manager at 2 P.M., the person I was with justprior to that meeting would start walking down the hall with me at1:58 so that we would arrive almost exactly on the dot. Only rarelywas I kept waiting if I arrived on time, and if I was even a few minuteslate I had the strong sense that I had to apologize and explain.Ciba-Geigy managers came across as very serious, thoughtful,deliberate, well prepared, formal, and concerned about protocol. Ilearned later that whereas DEC allocated rank and salary fairlystrictly to the actual job being performed by the individual, Ciba-Geigy had a system of managerial ranks based on length of service,overall performance, and the personal background of the individualrather than on the actual job being performed at a given time.Rank and status therefore had a much more permanent quality atCiba-Geigy, whereas at DEC one’s fortunes could rise and fall precipitouslyand frequently.In Ciba-Geigy meetings I observed much less direct confrontationand much more respect for individual opinion. Recommendationsmade by managers in their specific area of accountability weregenerally respected and implemented. Insubordination was neverobserved and I got the impression that it would not be tolerated.Rank and status thus clearly had a higher value at Ciba-Geigy thanat DEC, whereas personal negotiating skill and the ability to getthings done in an ambiguous social environment had a higher valueat DEC.Espoused Beliefs and ValuesBeliefs and values tend to be elicited when one asks about observedbehavior or other artifacts that strike one as puzzling, anomalous, orinconsistent. If I asked managers at Ciba-Geigy why they alwayskept their doors closed, they would patiently and somewhat condescendinglyexplain to me that this was the only way they could getany work done, and they valued work very highly. Meetings were anecessary evil and were useful only for announcing decisions orgathering information. “Real work” was done by thinking things