Sonja A. Sackmann – författare

The multiple perspectives through which culture is explored in this volume show that culture in organizational settings is more complex, pluralistic, diverse, and contradictory than previously acknowledged. Addressing culture at various levels including national, industrial, organizational, and suborganizational, Cultural Complexity in Organizations provides an extremely broad, yet concise, analysis representing the latest research. Some of the areas of focus are implicit managerial understandings and overt practices, the growth and decline of organizations with a focus on culture, managerial control strategies and the dynamics of subcultural formation, change, and temporary reconciliation, among others. Written by a multinational and multidisciplinary group of scholars, the contributions are based on case studies describing situations in an array of settings such as Samsung, a car plant in Slovenia, Hewlett-Packard, a Dutch amusement park, a U.S. software developer, and an airline (SAS), as well as examples from the not-for-profit sector. Using empirical data based on innovative and multi-method research approaches, Cultural Complexity in Organizations is an important reader that goes beyond description to make recommendations on how to better deal with cultural complexity in organizations. Recommended for students and professionals in organization studies, management, gender studies, sociology, and psychology.

The multiple perspectives through which culture is explored in this volume show that culture in organizational settings is more complex, pluralistic, diverse, and contradictory than previously acknowledged. Addressing culture at various levels including national, industrial, organizational, and suborganizational, Cultural Complexity in Organizations provides an extremely broad, yet concise, analysis representing the latest research. Some of the areas of focus are implicit managerial understandings and overt practices, the growth and decline of organizations with a focus on culture, managerial control strategies and the dynamics of subcultural formation, change, and temporary reconciliation, among others. Written by a multinational and multidisciplinary group of scholars, the contributions are based on case studies describing situations in an array of settings such as Samsung, a car plant in Slovenia, Hewlett-Packard, a Dutch amusement park, a U.S. software developer, and an airline (SAS), as well as examples from the not-for-profit sector. Using empirical data based on innovative and multi-method research approaches, Cultural Complexity in Organizations is an important reader that goes beyond description to make recommendations on how to better deal with cultural complexity in organizations. Recommended for students and professionals in organization studies, management, gender studies, sociology, and psychology.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Peter Drucker’s provocative statement points to the importance of culture for organizations. Depending on its characteristics, culture contributes significantly to the success or failure of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Hence, managers and leaders need to have an understanding of this important concept for best results. This book provides relevant knowledge about the concept of culture. This includes its major characteristics and dimensions, the way culture functions and influences both the internal life of an organization and the resulting performance. The book describes the emergence and development of culture over time as well as the formation and influence of subcultures. Even though culture is always present, certain situations call for specific attention such as fast growth or stagnation, strategic alliances, M&As or situations of change. The book describes how to go about understanding and assessing an organization’s culture as a basis for culture change interventions as well as culture-sensitive and culture-mindful management and leadership.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Peter Drucker’s provocative statement points to the importance of culture for organizations. Depending on its characteristics, culture contributes significantly to the success or failure of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Hence, managers and leaders need to have an understanding of this important concept for best results. This book provides relevant knowledge about the concept of culture. This includes its major characteristics and dimensions, the way culture functions and influences both the internal life of an organization and the resulting performance. The book describes the emergence and development of culture over time as well as the formation and influence of subcultures. Even though culture is always present, certain situations call for specific attention such as fast growth or stagnation, strategic alliances, M&As or situations of change. The book describes how to go about understanding and assessing an organization’s culture as a basis for culture change interventions as well as culture-sensitive and culture-mindful management and leadership.

Do corporate culture and leadership contribute to a firm''s success? And if so, how? How can a company create and develop its corporate culture to compete successfully over the long term? Answers to these questions emerge in case studies of the business practices of six long-established and world-renowned companies: the BMW Group, Deutsche Lufthansa, Grundfos, Henkel, Hilti and Novo Nordisk. In a project initiated by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, researchers investigated these firms and analyzed the central characteristics of corporate success from a culture perspective. The case studies render a detailed picture of each firm''s distinctive corporate culture and the factors that shape it. Based on these examples, Sonja A. Sackmann has identified concrete strategies and practices that illustrate how a company''s management can make a significant contribution toward developing a dialogue-oriented corporate culture that supports a firm''s viability. The appendix provides a checklist for readers who want to develop their firm''s culture and practice culturally aware management.