Cultivating Effective Corporate Cultures

Culture helps shape our lives—in society, in our national identity, and in the businesses we operate. It can be a powerful force for good or get in the way of the most needed changes.

American Management Association commissioned the Institute for Corporate Productivity to help discuss these factors that influence corporate culture, as well as explore the actual characteristics of corporate culture and their relationship to business success, and help executives develop the kind of culture that will cultivate and foster higher productivity and profitability in an organization. Edgar Schein, professor of MIT Sloan School of Management, observed that “If you do not manage culture, it manages you, and you may not even be aware of the extent to which this is happening.”