The Corporate Culture Survival Guide - 3rd Edition by Edgar H Schein & Peter A Schein (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous ("VUCA") world, corporate culture is comparatively stable- it is not easily changed. While culture may shift alongside a strategic pivot or digital transformation, intentional efforts to reshape culture often stymie even the most resilient change makers. In this edition, the authors introduce powerful new concepts to highlight that culture has many elements, and that change is not a single linear process but a complex interweaving of changes that require systems thinking."--book jacket

Book Synopsis

Effective, sustainable cultural change requires evolution, not disruption

The Corporate Culture Survival Guide is the essential primer and practical guide every organization needs. Corporate culture pioneer Edgar H. Schein breaks the concept of 'culture' down into real terms, delving into the behaviors, values, and shared assumptions that define it, and explains why culture is the central factor in an organization's success--or failure. This new third edition is designed specifically for practitioners needing to apply these practices in real-world settings, and has been updated with new coverage of globalization, technology, and managerial competencies. You'll learn how to get past subconscious bias to assess whether or not your existing culture truly serves your organization, and how to introduce change and manage the change process over time for a best-case-scenario outcome. Case studies illustrate successful change in real companies, providing models and setting the bar for dismantling dysfunctional cultures.

Corporate culture begins with the founder, and evolves--or not--over time. Is your culture working for or against your organization? How can it be optimized? This book separates the truth from the nonsense to provide real-world guidance on initiating and managing cultural change.

• Understand when to assess your culture, and how to do it objectively
• Learn how cultures evolve and change over time, for better or worse
• Discover the reality of multiculturalism amidst the rise of globalization
• Evolve your culture to more effectively serve your organization

Each of us is a part of many cultures--what you do, where you live, where you grew up, what you enjoy, how you live; in the workplace, many different people with many different cultures come together toward a common goal--will these cultures clash or synergize? The Corporate Culture Survival Guide shows you how to create an overarching corporate culture that gets everyone on the same page to drive your organization's success.

From the Back Cover

THE DEFINITIVE RESOURCE ON MANAGING CULTURE CHANGE

Cultures that characterize today's organizations are made up of layers of subgroups and subcultures--all socio-technical systems that come together to influence productivity and performance. This revised Third Edition of The Corporate Culture Survival Guide enables "change champions" at all levels and in all sectors to understand and influence the parts of organizational culture that need to be preserved, evolved, or changed so that organizations can continue to cope with the volatility in markets in which they operate.

In this book Edgar Schein and Peter Schein, renowned experts on corporate culture, introduce stories and practical tools that will help change leaders assess existing cultures and lead change programs. With new case studies and an enhanced focus on key managerial competencies, this edition gives practitioners the knowledge they need to think critically about culture. Rather than simply providing a series of steps to follow, this guide outlines the key ideas in the theory of culture and provides examples of what successful culture change can look like.

Inside, you'll discover how organizational behaviors, values, and shared assumptions form the yarn with which culture is woven. The Corporate Culture Survival Guide explains exactly how culture change works in practice, focusing on both top-down change initiatives and bottom-up culture dynamics. It isn't always easy to identify what, exactly, needs to change within a wholly or partly dysfunctional organizational culture. Even the most enthusiastic change leaders can only enact change in processes they clearly understand. This substantially updated version of this classic guide provides content and context with which to better understand the levers of culture change that committed change champions can learn to employ.

About the Author

EDGAR H. SCHEIN is the world-renowned expert on organizational culture, credited with founding the field and authoring this, the defining resource on the topic. He is Professor Emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management.

PETER A. SCHEIN is the co-founder and COO of OCLI.org in Menlo Park, CA. He provides counsel to senior management on organizational development challenges facing private and public sector entities worldwide.