ABSTRACT
Overview In their book entitled Corporate Culture and Performance, John P. Kotter and James L. Heskett came to the following conclusion: corporate culture can significantly affect an organization’s performance. Also, an organization’s culture, either positive or negative, is difficult to change. Why don’t organizations want to change? It is a simple question with a simple answer. ere is often not a clear reason to change. e problem with asking successful organizations to change is that they have achieved success based on their current paradigms and culture. Unless an organization can see real value in changing its way of doing things, it will not undertake a major change initiative. To complicate and worsen matters, the most successful people in an organization are often the most isolated from information showing the necessity of change. Also, in some organizations, those who control the organizational power structure and resources usually stand to lose the most from a dramatic change within their organization. is situation, if it exists, may place the proponents of change on the defensive. According to Kotter and Heskett in Corporate Culture and Performance, slowly changing and reactive organizational cultures often fail to realize their full market potential, but in today’s competitive environment, problems with launching new products, getting to market late, and
other aspects of poor strategy and strategic execution can put an organization out of business.
