http://www.debaak.nl/en/knowledgecentre/reading
The soul of the corporation
how to manage the identity of your company
Author: Bouchikhi, Hamid Kimberly, John R. ISBN: 9780131857261 Price € 12,70 Publisher: Wharton School Publishing, 2008, 208 p.
If you are tempted to use the identity of your firm as a basis for competitive advantage, be sure that the organizational identity projected through branding efforts is real. Ensure that the corporate branding efforts targeted at various stakeholders are consistent. Carefully align your own behavior and decisions with the organizational identity claims you make inside and outside the firm. Strive to realize synergies between handling identity at the level of the organization as a whole and at the level of the individual brands under which your firm's products and services are marketed.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Review posted at Think Personality
http://www.thinkpersonality.com/archives/2008/05/the_soul_of_the.html
Posted by Brad Abare Filed under: Philosophy
In their book, The Soul of the Corporation: How To Manage The Identity of Your Company, Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly do a masterful job arguing why the future of your organization comes down to how well you manage its soul. Consider their opening thesis:
We are in the midst of a transition on a global scale from an era in which the vast majority of individuals and human groups lived with a sense of clarity, continuity and consistency about their identity--their notion of who they are and how others view them--to an era in which identity is increasingly problematic across all levels of human organization, from the individual person to entire nations or civilizations.
The result of this identity crisis, perhaps unintentionally, is that organizations have now become suppliers of individual and collective identity.
In traditional societies, individuals inherited much of their own identity from the social milieu (family, place of birth, tribe, religion) into which they were born. In an organizational society, individuals are defined by the organizations in which they participate. When people draw much of their sense of self from belonging to, or buying from, a particular organization, they tend to be anxious about and resist changes that may alter what, in their eyes, is the very soul of that organization.
"[Identity] is not a private matter; it is a social construction."
Ask yourself the following questions:
Who are we as a company?
How do our customers see us?
To what extent will our identity enable us to thrive in the future?
"[The] visible elements of a firm are held together by a set of shared beliefs--sometimes implicit, sometimes explicit--that define its essence." This shared set of beliefs--what the authors call the "I*Dimension--gives the visible elements of the firm coherence and puts boundaries around how much change is possible without altering its essence."
"When identity becomes problematic, leaders need to understand that they are confronting issues beyond strategy and that invariably involve struggles over the soul of their organization."
The authors point out "identity anchors" that exist in both individuals and organizations. "Just as the identity of individuals can be anchored in gender, nationality, social group, educational credentials or particular skills, an organization's identity [resides] in multiple anchors, such as core business, knowledge base, nationality, operating philosophy, a legendary founder, a governance structure or combinations of these."
Internal Benefits of Clear, Consistent and Valued Identities
Identification: We belong.
Loyalty and Commitment: We're in this together.
Cooperation: We're working toward the same outcomes.
Problem Solving and Decision Making: We have a framework that guides our decisions.
Legitimacy: We trust that what we're doing is what we should be doing.
External Benefits of Clear, Consistent and Socially Valued Identities
Recognition: We're noticed for who we are, not only what we say we are.
Attractiveness and Loyalty: We're a magnet for the right people.
Trust and Predictability: We nurture relationships that mean something.
The Dark Side, When Benefits Become Liabilities
Narcissism: We think we're all that matters
Conflict: We can't agree on what really matters
Drift: We forget about what really matters
Fragmentation: We split up and deal with smaller matters
"Leaders ignore identity at their own risk. And when identity is ignored, it almost inevitably comes back to haunt them."
"Changing the identity of an organization takes more than a new mission statement, a new name, or a new visual identity."
Finally, the authors suggest some personal application to people considering a change of employment. "No matter how attractive the job or the package, if you are at odds with the soul of the corporation, and if you are unwilling or unable to close the gap in one direction or the other, you are stacking the odds of success against yourself."
This book is an excellent read, packed with real world examples--good and bad--of organizations dealing with issues of identity and soul.
Posted by Brad Abare Filed under: Philosophy
In their book, The Soul of the Corporation: How To Manage The Identity of Your Company, Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly do a masterful job arguing why the future of your organization comes down to how well you manage its soul. Consider their opening thesis:
We are in the midst of a transition on a global scale from an era in which the vast majority of individuals and human groups lived with a sense of clarity, continuity and consistency about their identity--their notion of who they are and how others view them--to an era in which identity is increasingly problematic across all levels of human organization, from the individual person to entire nations or civilizations.
The result of this identity crisis, perhaps unintentionally, is that organizations have now become suppliers of individual and collective identity.
In traditional societies, individuals inherited much of their own identity from the social milieu (family, place of birth, tribe, religion) into which they were born. In an organizational society, individuals are defined by the organizations in which they participate. When people draw much of their sense of self from belonging to, or buying from, a particular organization, they tend to be anxious about and resist changes that may alter what, in their eyes, is the very soul of that organization.
"[Identity] is not a private matter; it is a social construction."
Ask yourself the following questions:
Who are we as a company?
How do our customers see us?
To what extent will our identity enable us to thrive in the future?
"[The] visible elements of a firm are held together by a set of shared beliefs--sometimes implicit, sometimes explicit--that define its essence." This shared set of beliefs--what the authors call the "I*Dimension--gives the visible elements of the firm coherence and puts boundaries around how much change is possible without altering its essence."
"When identity becomes problematic, leaders need to understand that they are confronting issues beyond strategy and that invariably involve struggles over the soul of their organization."
The authors point out "identity anchors" that exist in both individuals and organizations. "Just as the identity of individuals can be anchored in gender, nationality, social group, educational credentials or particular skills, an organization's identity [resides] in multiple anchors, such as core business, knowledge base, nationality, operating philosophy, a legendary founder, a governance structure or combinations of these."
Internal Benefits of Clear, Consistent and Valued Identities
Identification: We belong.
Loyalty and Commitment: We're in this together.
Cooperation: We're working toward the same outcomes.
Problem Solving and Decision Making: We have a framework that guides our decisions.
Legitimacy: We trust that what we're doing is what we should be doing.
External Benefits of Clear, Consistent and Socially Valued Identities
Recognition: We're noticed for who we are, not only what we say we are.
Attractiveness and Loyalty: We're a magnet for the right people.
Trust and Predictability: We nurture relationships that mean something.
The Dark Side, When Benefits Become Liabilities
Narcissism: We think we're all that matters
Conflict: We can't agree on what really matters
Drift: We forget about what really matters
Fragmentation: We split up and deal with smaller matters
"Leaders ignore identity at their own risk. And when identity is ignored, it almost inevitably comes back to haunt them."
"Changing the identity of an organization takes more than a new mission statement, a new name, or a new visual identity."
Finally, the authors suggest some personal application to people considering a change of employment. "No matter how attractive the job or the package, if you are at odds with the soul of the corporation, and if you are unwilling or unable to close the gap in one direction or the other, you are stacking the odds of success against yourself."
This book is an excellent read, packed with real world examples--good and bad--of organizations dealing with issues of identity and soul.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Review from De Standaard, March 7, 2008
http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=NQ1P0EH0&kanaalid=202
Identiteitsproblemen
Kampt u met identiteitsproblemen? Dan bent u niet de enige volgens de auteurs van het boek The soul of the corporation. How to manage the identity of your company. Ook bedrijven kampen meer en meer met identiteitsproblemen als gevolg van de vele fusies en overnames, spin-offs en strategische allianties tijdens de laatste vijftien jaar. Dankzij een goed gemanagede bedrijfsidentiteit willen werknemers zich echter identificeren met de organisatie waarvoor ze werken en tonen ze meer loyauteit, toewijding en zin voor samenwerking. Dat is niet onbelangrijk in de war for talent die vandaag woedt. Klanten en investeerders zullen organisaties met een sterke identiteit sneller herkennen, zich ertoe aangetrokken voelen, het bedrijf vlugger vertrouwen en meer toegewijd zijn.
Identiteitsproblemen
Kampt u met identiteitsproblemen? Dan bent u niet de enige volgens de auteurs van het boek The soul of the corporation. How to manage the identity of your company. Ook bedrijven kampen meer en meer met identiteitsproblemen als gevolg van de vele fusies en overnames, spin-offs en strategische allianties tijdens de laatste vijftien jaar. Dankzij een goed gemanagede bedrijfsidentiteit willen werknemers zich echter identificeren met de organisatie waarvoor ze werken en tonen ze meer loyauteit, toewijding en zin voor samenwerking. Dat is niet onbelangrijk in de war for talent die vandaag woedt. Klanten en investeerders zullen organisaties met een sterke identiteit sneller herkennen, zich ertoe aangetrokken voelen, het bedrijf vlugger vertrouwen en meer toegewijd zijn.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
The Soul of The Corporation at Wharton Alumni Magazine
http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/alum_mag/issues/winter2008/wharton_publishing.html
The Soul of the Corporation: How to Manage the Identity of Your Company By Hamid Bouchikhi and John r. Kimberly
In the burgeoning Age of Identity, competitive advantage is shifting from what a product is to the identity of the firm that markets it. More than ever, a firm’s identity shapes the results it can achieve. The Soul of the Corporation: How to Manage the Identity of Your Company by Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly offers managers a systematic, accessible, management-oriented way to understand, control and leverage their organization’s identity.
Drawing on stories from organizations such as McDonald’s, Lenovo, Ford and the Catholic Church, The Soul of the Corporation argues that while identity can be an extraordinarily valuable asset, it can also become a huge liability if not managed well. Using the strategies illustrated by the authors, managers will discover how their organization’s identity is related to and different from its organizational culture, brand positioning and reputation. Methods for managing the unconscious shared beliefs that give an organization coherence as well as how to face the identity challenges that arise in mergers, alliances, spin-offs and acquisitions are also addressed.
The Soul of the Corporation offers business leaders a set of actionable ideas and guidelines that can be used to enhance their ability to diagnose and manage identity issues. Business leaders should be aware of the following, for instance:
Be sure that the organizational identity projected through branding efforts is real. If it is not real, if it is mere sloganeering, competitors or other unfriendly stakeholders may turn these branding efforts against you. Failure to observe this rule has exposed the British Petroleum Company (BP) and its top management to a storm of criticism since the 2005 explosion at the Texas City, Texas, refinery where 15 workers lost their lives.
Ensure the consistency of corporate branding efforts targeted at various stakeholders. The risk of adapting each message to its recipients is that multiple, and sometimes conflicting, images may be projected, leading to confusion in the marketplace.
Carefully align your own behavior and decisions with the organizational identity claims you make inside and outside the firm.
Strive to realize synergies between handling identity at the level of the organization as a whole as well as at the level of individual brands under which your firm’s products and services are marketed.
Co-author Hamid Bouchikhi is a professor of strategy and management and the director of the New Business Center at ESSEC Business School in Cergy-Pontoise, France. John R. Kimberly is the Henry Bower Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Wharton as well as professor of management, health care systems and sociology.
The Soul of the Corporation: How to Manage the Identity of Your Company By Hamid Bouchikhi and John r. Kimberly
In the burgeoning Age of Identity, competitive advantage is shifting from what a product is to the identity of the firm that markets it. More than ever, a firm’s identity shapes the results it can achieve. The Soul of the Corporation: How to Manage the Identity of Your Company by Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly offers managers a systematic, accessible, management-oriented way to understand, control and leverage their organization’s identity.
Drawing on stories from organizations such as McDonald’s, Lenovo, Ford and the Catholic Church, The Soul of the Corporation argues that while identity can be an extraordinarily valuable asset, it can also become a huge liability if not managed well. Using the strategies illustrated by the authors, managers will discover how their organization’s identity is related to and different from its organizational culture, brand positioning and reputation. Methods for managing the unconscious shared beliefs that give an organization coherence as well as how to face the identity challenges that arise in mergers, alliances, spin-offs and acquisitions are also addressed.
The Soul of the Corporation offers business leaders a set of actionable ideas and guidelines that can be used to enhance their ability to diagnose and manage identity issues. Business leaders should be aware of the following, for instance:
Be sure that the organizational identity projected through branding efforts is real. If it is not real, if it is mere sloganeering, competitors or other unfriendly stakeholders may turn these branding efforts against you. Failure to observe this rule has exposed the British Petroleum Company (BP) and its top management to a storm of criticism since the 2005 explosion at the Texas City, Texas, refinery where 15 workers lost their lives.
Ensure the consistency of corporate branding efforts targeted at various stakeholders. The risk of adapting each message to its recipients is that multiple, and sometimes conflicting, images may be projected, leading to confusion in the marketplace.
Carefully align your own behavior and decisions with the organizational identity claims you make inside and outside the firm.
Strive to realize synergies between handling identity at the level of the organization as a whole as well as at the level of individual brands under which your firm’s products and services are marketed.
Co-author Hamid Bouchikhi is a professor of strategy and management and the director of the New Business Center at ESSEC Business School in Cergy-Pontoise, France. John R. Kimberly is the Henry Bower Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Wharton as well as professor of management, health care systems and sociology.
Review from tambuzi.wordpress.com
http://tambuzi.wordpress.com/?s=soul+of+the+corporation
La verdad, al leer este libro, the soul of the corporation, pensé que no iba para mí este tema. En él se habla de la identidad corporativa -la forma como somos y como nos ven los otros- y de cómo esta ha cambiado desde una definición clara y consistente de esta en las organizaciones, hacia una época en la que la identidad es problemática debido a su ambigüedad. Un tema demasiado complejo para mí, y mi mente determinista.
Pero pensando un poco, empecé a encontrar paralelismos entre el concepto de identidad corporativa y el de identidad personal, y por eso me he decidió a escribir este post. La identidad corporativa puede basar en la combinación de varios factores: el núcleo del negocio, el conocimiento, la nacionalidad de la empresa, la filosofía de trabajo, o también la personalidad de un fundador legendario o un líder carismático. Cualquier factor que las personas que tienen intereses en la empresa -los llamados stakeholders, o sea empleados, propietarios, proveedores, clientes, bancos o accionistas- vean como central, duradero y distintivo forma parte de su identidad.
Por supuesto, tener una identidad clara y sobre todo consistente tiene muchas ventajas para los trabajadores en la empresa, como el conseguir que las personas se sientan identificadas con ella, que sean leales y estén dispuestas a sacrificarse, fomentan la cooperación, son un faro o una guía para la forma como se han de solucionar los problemas o como se toman las decisiones, y sobre todo dan autenticidad. Para las personas que interactúan con ella desde el exterior también tiene beneficios, como el reconocimiento, el ser atractiva y leal para hacer negocios con ella, y el ser de confianza y predecible en sus reacciones.
Pero cuidado, también la identidad puede degenerar en malas prácticas, como puede ser el narcisismo -cuando no somos capaces de cambiar la identidad si vemos señales de que esta no es viable- que deberemos intentar evitar manteniendo canales de información; conflictos de identidad -los diferentes actores de la empresa tienen diferente visión del alma de la empresa-, que se deberá paliar escogiendo un punto de vista y rechazando el otro, siempre teniendo presente que el conflicto muchas veces es bueno para la empresa; deriva -aunque la empresa tiene una identidad clara, pierde el norte, el camino-, que normalmente se produce con cambios de estrategia o entrada en nuevos negocios, y que nos obliga siempre que tengamos que hacer algún cambio de este tipo a definir la nueva identidad como parte de la nueva estrategia, o reafirmarse en la antigua; y para finalizar la fragmentación -demasiadas identidades dentro de la empresa, debido a que hay demasiadas subunidades dentro de esta- que hacen perder el propósito común de la organización, y que aunque hemos de tener claro que la fragmentación es inherente al género humano y por supuesto a las organizaciones, hemos de intentar armonizarlas en un núcleo común.
El libro habla también de cómo combinar identidades en el caso de fusiones de empresa, y o como desasociar identidades en el caso de separaciones. También da una guía para poder conocer la identidad de vuestra organización y un método para conseguir cambiar la identidad. No me voy a extender más en el tema, si necesitáis mas información podéis leer el libro, o comentádmelo y os envío mi resumen.
De lo que me gustaría hablar ahora es de la identidad personal. Yo creo que esta está formada por el género, la nacionalidad, el grupo social, pero sobre todo por los estudios, las creencias, los valores y la aptitud. ¿Y no pensáis que lo dicho anteriormente aplica también en vuestra identidad personal en el trabajo como líderes? Yo creo que sí, todo es aplicable, pero espero que os animéis en los comentarios.
La verdad, al leer este libro, the soul of the corporation, pensé que no iba para mí este tema. En él se habla de la identidad corporativa -la forma como somos y como nos ven los otros- y de cómo esta ha cambiado desde una definición clara y consistente de esta en las organizaciones, hacia una época en la que la identidad es problemática debido a su ambigüedad. Un tema demasiado complejo para mí, y mi mente determinista.
Pero pensando un poco, empecé a encontrar paralelismos entre el concepto de identidad corporativa y el de identidad personal, y por eso me he decidió a escribir este post. La identidad corporativa puede basar en la combinación de varios factores: el núcleo del negocio, el conocimiento, la nacionalidad de la empresa, la filosofía de trabajo, o también la personalidad de un fundador legendario o un líder carismático. Cualquier factor que las personas que tienen intereses en la empresa -los llamados stakeholders, o sea empleados, propietarios, proveedores, clientes, bancos o accionistas- vean como central, duradero y distintivo forma parte de su identidad.
Por supuesto, tener una identidad clara y sobre todo consistente tiene muchas ventajas para los trabajadores en la empresa, como el conseguir que las personas se sientan identificadas con ella, que sean leales y estén dispuestas a sacrificarse, fomentan la cooperación, son un faro o una guía para la forma como se han de solucionar los problemas o como se toman las decisiones, y sobre todo dan autenticidad. Para las personas que interactúan con ella desde el exterior también tiene beneficios, como el reconocimiento, el ser atractiva y leal para hacer negocios con ella, y el ser de confianza y predecible en sus reacciones.
Pero cuidado, también la identidad puede degenerar en malas prácticas, como puede ser el narcisismo -cuando no somos capaces de cambiar la identidad si vemos señales de que esta no es viable- que deberemos intentar evitar manteniendo canales de información; conflictos de identidad -los diferentes actores de la empresa tienen diferente visión del alma de la empresa-, que se deberá paliar escogiendo un punto de vista y rechazando el otro, siempre teniendo presente que el conflicto muchas veces es bueno para la empresa; deriva -aunque la empresa tiene una identidad clara, pierde el norte, el camino-, que normalmente se produce con cambios de estrategia o entrada en nuevos negocios, y que nos obliga siempre que tengamos que hacer algún cambio de este tipo a definir la nueva identidad como parte de la nueva estrategia, o reafirmarse en la antigua; y para finalizar la fragmentación -demasiadas identidades dentro de la empresa, debido a que hay demasiadas subunidades dentro de esta- que hacen perder el propósito común de la organización, y que aunque hemos de tener claro que la fragmentación es inherente al género humano y por supuesto a las organizaciones, hemos de intentar armonizarlas en un núcleo común.
El libro habla también de cómo combinar identidades en el caso de fusiones de empresa, y o como desasociar identidades en el caso de separaciones. También da una guía para poder conocer la identidad de vuestra organización y un método para conseguir cambiar la identidad. No me voy a extender más en el tema, si necesitáis mas información podéis leer el libro, o comentádmelo y os envío mi resumen.
De lo que me gustaría hablar ahora es de la identidad personal. Yo creo que esta está formada por el género, la nacionalidad, el grupo social, pero sobre todo por los estudios, las creencias, los valores y la aptitud. ¿Y no pensáis que lo dicho anteriormente aplica también en vuestra identidad personal en el trabajo como líderes? Yo creo que sí, todo es aplicable, pero espero que os animéis en los comentarios.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Review in THE HINDU NEWS
http://www.hinduonnet.com/holnus/006200801270343.htm
Business
Don’t wipe out divergence
By D. Murali
This is ‘the Age of Identity’ proclaim Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly in The Soul of the Corporation (www.crosswordbookstores.com). They find that identity is increasingly problematic across all levels of human organisation, owing to globalisation, M&As (mergers and acquisitions), disruptive innovation, accountability and more.
To respond effectively to these challenges, leaders have to see if they can leverage their identity as an asset. The I*Dimension, as the authors explain, is the set of shared beliefs, both implicit and explicit, that gives the visible elements of the firm coherence and ‘puts boundaries around how much change is possible without altering its essence.’
Just as an individual’s identity can be anchored in gender, nationality, social group, educational credentials, or particular skills, the I*Dimension of an organisation ‘resides in multiple anchors,’ such as core business, knowledge base, operating philosophy, a legendary founder, and a governance structure.
“Leaders who are sensitive to the I*Dimension focus on where and how to drive a company to high convergence among key stakeholders about its essence,” the book states. “As long as identity is in harmony with the firm’s industry and with the wider environment, it is a very effective compass for management.”
But don’t wipe out divergence, Bouchikhi and Kimberly caution. “Extreme convergence in an organisation’s identity brings about narcissism and insulation from the outside world.”
Leaders should therefore strive “to maintain some tension between the two forces to achieve the minimum of consensus without which collective action is impossible, and the minimum of dissent without which change is impossible.”
I*Dimension has both pluses and minuses, the authors find. The positives include loyalty and commitment, cooperation, guidance for problem-solving, recognition, predictability and so on.
And the ‘dark side’ of the dimension has identity conflict (caused by mutually exclusive views of the employees), drift (with a clear and consistent identity progressively losing focus), and fragmentation (arising from individuals and groups identifying more with subunits than with the organisation as a whole).
The authors compare corporate identity change or rebranding to an individual changing his appearance by changing the clothing, makeup, cosmetic surgery or name. In contrast, changing the I*Dimension reaches much deeper, say Bouchikhi and Kimberly.
They note that the substantive levers of identity change are decisions about the firm’s more tangible dimensions. “Among all substantive levers, however, the choice of the chief executive has the highest potential impact on a firm’s identity.”
There are five ingredients of successful identity change, the authors list, as follows: vision, effective communication, consistency, leadership continuity, and luck and positive signals.
You may count yourself lucky if you can lay your hands on the Soul.
http://BookPeek.blogspot.com
Business
Don’t wipe out divergence
By D. Murali
This is ‘the Age of Identity’ proclaim Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly in The Soul of the Corporation (www.crosswordbookstores.com). They find that identity is increasingly problematic across all levels of human organisation, owing to globalisation, M&As (mergers and acquisitions), disruptive innovation, accountability and more.
To respond effectively to these challenges, leaders have to see if they can leverage their identity as an asset. The I*Dimension, as the authors explain, is the set of shared beliefs, both implicit and explicit, that gives the visible elements of the firm coherence and ‘puts boundaries around how much change is possible without altering its essence.’
Just as an individual’s identity can be anchored in gender, nationality, social group, educational credentials, or particular skills, the I*Dimension of an organisation ‘resides in multiple anchors,’ such as core business, knowledge base, operating philosophy, a legendary founder, and a governance structure.
“Leaders who are sensitive to the I*Dimension focus on where and how to drive a company to high convergence among key stakeholders about its essence,” the book states. “As long as identity is in harmony with the firm’s industry and with the wider environment, it is a very effective compass for management.”
But don’t wipe out divergence, Bouchikhi and Kimberly caution. “Extreme convergence in an organisation’s identity brings about narcissism and insulation from the outside world.”
Leaders should therefore strive “to maintain some tension between the two forces to achieve the minimum of consensus without which collective action is impossible, and the minimum of dissent without which change is impossible.”
I*Dimension has both pluses and minuses, the authors find. The positives include loyalty and commitment, cooperation, guidance for problem-solving, recognition, predictability and so on.
And the ‘dark side’ of the dimension has identity conflict (caused by mutually exclusive views of the employees), drift (with a clear and consistent identity progressively losing focus), and fragmentation (arising from individuals and groups identifying more with subunits than with the organisation as a whole).
The authors compare corporate identity change or rebranding to an individual changing his appearance by changing the clothing, makeup, cosmetic surgery or name. In contrast, changing the I*Dimension reaches much deeper, say Bouchikhi and Kimberly.
They note that the substantive levers of identity change are decisions about the firm’s more tangible dimensions. “Among all substantive levers, however, the choice of the chief executive has the highest potential impact on a firm’s identity.”
There are five ingredients of successful identity change, the authors list, as follows: vision, effective communication, consistency, leadership continuity, and luck and positive signals.
You may count yourself lucky if you can lay your hands on the Soul.
http://BookPeek.blogspot.com
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The Soul of The Corporation on the Handelsblatt.com
http://www.handelsblatt.com/news/_pv/_p/205261/_t/ft/_b/1379088/default.aspx/
„The soul of the corporation: How to manage the identity of your company?“ von Hamid Bouchikhi und John R. Kimberley, Professoren an der Essec Business School, beschreibt systematische Ansätze zur Schaffung eines Firmenimages. An Hand zahlreicher Beispiele zeigt das Buch, dass Identität zum Trumpf, aber auch zum Nachteil für ein Unternehmen werden kann, falls diese nicht richtig gemanagt wird.
„Moral Foundations of Management Knowledge“ enthält 12 Beiträge zu den moralischen Grundlagen der Betriebswirtschaftslehre. Das Buch geht zahlreichen Fragestellungen nach: Wie lautet die Definition von „gutem Benehmen“ im Gegensatz zu „schlechtem Benehmen“ in den Managementtheorien? Welche Vorstellungen von der menschlichen Natur und der sozialen Realität prägen die modernen Managementtheorien?
Das Werk wurde im Anschluss an ein internationales Seminar realisiert. „Das Buch verdeutlicht den humanistischen Ansatz an der Essec Business School zur ethischen und verantwortungsbewussten Verankerung von Management“, kommentiert Marie-Laure Djelic, Professorin an der Essec Business School und Koautorin des Buchs.
In „La médiation, modes d’emploi“ erklären Alain Pékar-Lempereur, Professor an der Essec Business School und Direktor des Institut de recherche et d’enseignement sur la négociation en Europe (Iréné) und seine Koautoren, wie Schlichtung, das heißt, die gütliche Einigung in Konfliktfällen, in Beruf und Alltag funktioniert. Anhand von konkreten Beispielen weisen sie ihren Erfolg und dessen Grenzen nach. Die verschiedenen Schlichtungsarten werden vorgestellt und interpretiert.
Die Bücher sind auf Anfrage erhältlich.
„The soul of the corporation: How to manage the identity of your company?“ von Hamid Bouchikhi und John R. Kimberley, Professoren an der Essec Business School, beschreibt systematische Ansätze zur Schaffung eines Firmenimages. An Hand zahlreicher Beispiele zeigt das Buch, dass Identität zum Trumpf, aber auch zum Nachteil für ein Unternehmen werden kann, falls diese nicht richtig gemanagt wird.
„Moral Foundations of Management Knowledge“ enthält 12 Beiträge zu den moralischen Grundlagen der Betriebswirtschaftslehre. Das Buch geht zahlreichen Fragestellungen nach: Wie lautet die Definition von „gutem Benehmen“ im Gegensatz zu „schlechtem Benehmen“ in den Managementtheorien? Welche Vorstellungen von der menschlichen Natur und der sozialen Realität prägen die modernen Managementtheorien?
Das Werk wurde im Anschluss an ein internationales Seminar realisiert. „Das Buch verdeutlicht den humanistischen Ansatz an der Essec Business School zur ethischen und verantwortungsbewussten Verankerung von Management“, kommentiert Marie-Laure Djelic, Professorin an der Essec Business School und Koautorin des Buchs.
In „La médiation, modes d’emploi“ erklären Alain Pékar-Lempereur, Professor an der Essec Business School und Direktor des Institut de recherche et d’enseignement sur la négociation en Europe (Iréné) und seine Koautoren, wie Schlichtung, das heißt, die gütliche Einigung in Konfliktfällen, in Beruf und Alltag funktioniert. Anhand von konkreten Beispielen weisen sie ihren Erfolg und dessen Grenzen nach. Die verschiedenen Schlichtungsarten werden vorgestellt und interpretiert.
Die Bücher sind auf Anfrage erhältlich.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Review by Donald Mitchell
What Does a Company Stand for in Peoples' Minds?, January 21, 2008
By
Donald Mitchell "Adventures of an Optimist Au... (founder of the 400 Year Project to demonstrate how to make improvements 20 times faster -- www.fastforward400.com -- in Boston)
See all my reviews
For centuries, corporations have been treated as "fictitious persons" for legal purposes. Since the mid-20th century, academics have been interested in "corporate culture" and how that influenced performance by employees. In the late 20th century, people began to write books about the customer, employee, and stakeholder benefits of companies standing for accomplishing something more than making a profit . . . citing firms like Timberland, Ben and Jerry's, Starbucks, and other consumer products and services firms. With The Soul of the Corporation, identity is separated from reality to explore as a central manifestation of these and other effects on living, breathing people who are somehow affected or influenced by corporations. The concept is encapsulated into something called The I*Dimension which is the cumulative effect of shared values and beliefs; structures, systems, and policies; ownership mode and governance structure; goals and strategies; products and technologies; and people characteristics and skills feeding back into shared values and beliefs again. Is it real or is it an academic concept? My experience suggests it is real. When I start working with a new client company, I interview the leaders I will be working with to see what the shared values and beliefs are. I always find a very strong core of those values and beliefs . . . as well as assumptions about the world and the future. Usually, the leadership team is unaware of this consensus because these areas aren't much talked about. When you do surveys of customer and potential customer perceptions, there is usually a strong identity among the customers that's different from the non-customers. And on it goes. This is the first book I've read about identifying, managing, and improving identity as opposed to the company's purpose. I thought it was a useful addition to the literature with its examples and paradigm. I suspect that an in-depth study of how one company changed all of the elements will be needed before the field will seem very meaty. I hope the authors will have a chance to explore such a situation and report on it to us.
By
Donald Mitchell "Adventures of an Optimist Au... (founder of the 400 Year Project to demonstrate how to make improvements 20 times faster -- www.fastforward400.com -- in Boston)
See all my reviews
For centuries, corporations have been treated as "fictitious persons" for legal purposes. Since the mid-20th century, academics have been interested in "corporate culture" and how that influenced performance by employees. In the late 20th century, people began to write books about the customer, employee, and stakeholder benefits of companies standing for accomplishing something more than making a profit . . . citing firms like Timberland, Ben and Jerry's, Starbucks, and other consumer products and services firms. With The Soul of the Corporation, identity is separated from reality to explore as a central manifestation of these and other effects on living, breathing people who are somehow affected or influenced by corporations. The concept is encapsulated into something called The I*Dimension which is the cumulative effect of shared values and beliefs; structures, systems, and policies; ownership mode and governance structure; goals and strategies; products and technologies; and people characteristics and skills feeding back into shared values and beliefs again. Is it real or is it an academic concept? My experience suggests it is real. When I start working with a new client company, I interview the leaders I will be working with to see what the shared values and beliefs are. I always find a very strong core of those values and beliefs . . . as well as assumptions about the world and the future. Usually, the leadership team is unaware of this consensus because these areas aren't much talked about. When you do surveys of customer and potential customer perceptions, there is usually a strong identity among the customers that's different from the non-customers. And on it goes. This is the first book I've read about identifying, managing, and improving identity as opposed to the company's purpose. I thought it was a useful addition to the literature with its examples and paradigm. I suspect that an in-depth study of how one company changed all of the elements will be needed before the field will seem very meaty. I hope the authors will have a chance to explore such a situation and report on it to us.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Comment from SignatureStrategies.com
http://signaturestrategies.com/branding_strategies/is-there-a-difference-between-corporate-identity-and-corporate-brand/#more-24
Is there a difference between corporate identity and corporate brand?
December 14th, 2007 · 1 Comment
This question is addressed in a new book, Soul of the Corporation: How to Manage the Identity of Your Company. It was written by two academics, John Kimberly of University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and Hamid Bouchikhi, a professor at International Business School in Eurpoe (ESSEC).
An interview with author John Kimberly is available at Knowledge@Wharton. But if you don’t have time to go there, here’s my interpretation of his answer to the question: is there a difference between company identity and corporate brand.
The answer: it depends.
Sorry to be wishy-washy, but it really does depend. It has to do with corporate culture, heritage, management, vision, mission, philosophy, structure and drivers. (That’s my opinion, not necessarily John Kimberly’s.)
Examples:
In France, since all McDonald employees, execs on down, are French, and since they only buy French ingredients, is the image/identity French, American or global?
A Chinese company called TCL is the largest TV maker in the world, yet it only sells through marketers worldwide by the brands of the marketers – RCA is one of them. So does TCL have an identity? It surely does foe TV marketers, it sure doesn’t for TV consumers.
Last example: Johnson & Johnson has a strong corporate identity which it has acquired through its products while their products have acquired an identity from the company. Yet Johnson & Johnson also have product lines distinct from the corporate identity, mostly acquisitions they have let alone as far as brand association, management and operations.
Two things the interview left me thinking were: 1) identity can be elusive but is terribly important to structure in any company, and 2) identity is a strategic issue that should be on the agendas of executive board meetings.
Is there a difference between corporate identity and corporate brand?
December 14th, 2007 · 1 Comment
This question is addressed in a new book, Soul of the Corporation: How to Manage the Identity of Your Company. It was written by two academics, John Kimberly of University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and Hamid Bouchikhi, a professor at International Business School in Eurpoe (ESSEC).
An interview with author John Kimberly is available at Knowledge@Wharton. But if you don’t have time to go there, here’s my interpretation of his answer to the question: is there a difference between company identity and corporate brand.
The answer: it depends.
Sorry to be wishy-washy, but it really does depend. It has to do with corporate culture, heritage, management, vision, mission, philosophy, structure and drivers. (That’s my opinion, not necessarily John Kimberly’s.)
Examples:
In France, since all McDonald employees, execs on down, are French, and since they only buy French ingredients, is the image/identity French, American or global?
A Chinese company called TCL is the largest TV maker in the world, yet it only sells through marketers worldwide by the brands of the marketers – RCA is one of them. So does TCL have an identity? It surely does foe TV marketers, it sure doesn’t for TV consumers.
Last example: Johnson & Johnson has a strong corporate identity which it has acquired through its products while their products have acquired an identity from the company. Yet Johnson & Johnson also have product lines distinct from the corporate identity, mostly acquisitions they have let alone as far as brand association, management and operations.
Two things the interview left me thinking were: 1) identity can be elusive but is terribly important to structure in any company, and 2) identity is a strategic issue that should be on the agendas of executive board meetings.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Review at Amazon.com by Charles Ashbacher
Read it because corporations do indeed "have personality", November 5, 2007
By http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1S3C5OFU508P3/ref=cm_cr_dp_pdp (Marion, Iowa United States(cashbacher@yahoo.com)) -
The claim that a corporation has a soul is one that many commentators and capitalist watchers will consider absurd to the point of stupidity. In their minds, a corporation is a callous non-entity, given legal rights but existing only to further its' own economic advancement by whatever means. While true to a large extent, the cynical exploitative actions of the leaders of Enron are the prime example; many corporations do have a collective identity with a moral compass. It is the expression of that moral compass that is the purpose of this book. Many founders of corporate organizations did so because they truly had a vision for what they wanted to do, and that vision was positive. Corporations have been formed where the goal was to heal the sick, produce food that was cheap enough so that formerly hungry people could eat and to make other positive changes in the world that would benefit all. The early workers joined those companies believing that what they were doing mattered more than simply bringing home a paycheck where the numbers were bigger than they could get elsewhere. This book is about those companies and others where there is a common and somewhat noble purpose to what the company does. It is also about the collective personality that a company can take on early and over time and how new blood can come in and believe that they can change it into something that it has not been before. While the new management sometimes is able to make the changes, in many cases they find that the end result is early success and then a greater disaster than if they had never set foot in the door. The authors refer to the collective soul of a company as I*Dimension, and they list several case histories where they describe the I*Dimension of a particular company and how that feature has successfully been altered by persons or altered those who tried to alter it. In their hands, it is not some mystical entity, hard to define but easy to "see." As the authors relate it, I*Dimension is the expression of a personality, which like living personalities can be a formidable force for positive or negative change. Managing that personality correctly can lead to a dynamic and growing company; but if it is mismanaged, a company can grow just as dysfunctional as the most disturbed human psyche. Crowd psychology is a well-known and heavily studied phenomenon. However, when the crowd is composed of the people who work for a corporation, much less is known. In this book, the authors trek into that unknown arena and conclude that distinct personalities can emerge. Those personalities must be understood and managed if that company is to succeed and reading this book is the first step on that route.
By http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1S3C5OFU508P3/ref=cm_cr_dp_pdp (Marion, Iowa United States(cashbacher@yahoo.com)) -
The claim that a corporation has a soul is one that many commentators and capitalist watchers will consider absurd to the point of stupidity. In their minds, a corporation is a callous non-entity, given legal rights but existing only to further its' own economic advancement by whatever means. While true to a large extent, the cynical exploitative actions of the leaders of Enron are the prime example; many corporations do have a collective identity with a moral compass. It is the expression of that moral compass that is the purpose of this book. Many founders of corporate organizations did so because they truly had a vision for what they wanted to do, and that vision was positive. Corporations have been formed where the goal was to heal the sick, produce food that was cheap enough so that formerly hungry people could eat and to make other positive changes in the world that would benefit all. The early workers joined those companies believing that what they were doing mattered more than simply bringing home a paycheck where the numbers were bigger than they could get elsewhere. This book is about those companies and others where there is a common and somewhat noble purpose to what the company does. It is also about the collective personality that a company can take on early and over time and how new blood can come in and believe that they can change it into something that it has not been before. While the new management sometimes is able to make the changes, in many cases they find that the end result is early success and then a greater disaster than if they had never set foot in the door. The authors refer to the collective soul of a company as I*Dimension, and they list several case histories where they describe the I*Dimension of a particular company and how that feature has successfully been altered by persons or altered those who tried to alter it. In their hands, it is not some mystical entity, hard to define but easy to "see." As the authors relate it, I*Dimension is the expression of a personality, which like living personalities can be a formidable force for positive or negative change. Managing that personality correctly can lead to a dynamic and growing company; but if it is mismanaged, a company can grow just as dysfunctional as the most disturbed human psyche. Crowd psychology is a well-known and heavily studied phenomenon. However, when the crowd is composed of the people who work for a corporation, much less is known. In this book, the authors trek into that unknown arena and conclude that distinct personalities can emerge. Those personalities must be understood and managed if that company is to succeed and reading this book is the first step on that route.
Review at Amazon.com by Thomas Duff
By Thomas Duff "Duffbert"
http://www.amazon.com/review/RCB96C2CG7TYL
The Soul of the Corporation: How to manage the identity of your company by Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly is one of those books that seems like it will be dealing with a lot of ethereal concepts and not much in the way of hard facts. Surprisingly, the book was far more reality-based than I expected, and business leaders would do well to consider their business in terms of its identity. Contents: Leadership Challenges in the Age of Identity; The I*Dimension; The Bright Side of the I*Dimension; The Dark Side of the I*Dimension; Casualties of the I*Dimension; To Blend or Not to Blend - Identity Integration in Mergers and Acquisitions; When Should the Cord Be Cut? Managing Identity in Spin-Offs; Identity in Strategic Alliances and Joint Ventures; Managing the I*Dimension at Organizational and Brand Levels; Masters of the I*Dimension; Diagnosing Your Firm's Identity; Leading in the Age of Identity; Epilogue; Index For better or worse, your business has an identity in the eyes of the employees and the public. It's quite possible that those two identities are complete mismatches when it comes to reality. Bouchikhi and Kimberly examine how an organization's identity comes into play in the global marketplace, as well as how that can be a strength or weakness. For instance, Phillip Morris had an identity tied to tobacco sales and products. Not a good thing with today's view of smoking. The Board felt that a name change to Altria could help remove that association in the mind of the public. But in reality, they still continued to market heavily in tobacco. As a result, their identity change failed. On the flip side, the change of BSN to Danone marked the shift from manufacturing to food production. This identity shift was highly successful, as it marked the end of an old mindset (and product focus) to what the company had become. Obviously, there's a lot more to identity than just the name of a company, but the authors do a very good job in exploring all the facets of corporate identity. They use a wide number of examples, so very little of the book came across as "theory" rather than fact-based practice. In addition, the examples are global in nature, so the concepts span cultures and geography (which is good given the global and cross-culture nature of so many businesses these days). It's tempting to look at a book like this (or any other book that focuses on a narrow element of business) and declare this the missing link in the success or failure of an organization. The authors acknowledge that other factors can be in play, but argue that the identity factor is more important than many think. In hindsight, it's easy to pick out the winners and losers in the identity battle, while it is far harder to tell how those decisions will play out over time when they are made. Still, taking the time to consider identity issues can't help but increase the chances that your organizational moves will be successful. You may still make some bone-headed mistakes, but at least you'll be able to recognize them... :) Definitely a worthwhile read for anyone in the executive suite of a company...
http://www.amazon.com/review/RCB96C2CG7TYL
The Soul of the Corporation: How to manage the identity of your company by Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly is one of those books that seems like it will be dealing with a lot of ethereal concepts and not much in the way of hard facts. Surprisingly, the book was far more reality-based than I expected, and business leaders would do well to consider their business in terms of its identity. Contents: Leadership Challenges in the Age of Identity; The I*Dimension; The Bright Side of the I*Dimension; The Dark Side of the I*Dimension; Casualties of the I*Dimension; To Blend or Not to Blend - Identity Integration in Mergers and Acquisitions; When Should the Cord Be Cut? Managing Identity in Spin-Offs; Identity in Strategic Alliances and Joint Ventures; Managing the I*Dimension at Organizational and Brand Levels; Masters of the I*Dimension; Diagnosing Your Firm's Identity; Leading in the Age of Identity; Epilogue; Index For better or worse, your business has an identity in the eyes of the employees and the public. It's quite possible that those two identities are complete mismatches when it comes to reality. Bouchikhi and Kimberly examine how an organization's identity comes into play in the global marketplace, as well as how that can be a strength or weakness. For instance, Phillip Morris had an identity tied to tobacco sales and products. Not a good thing with today's view of smoking. The Board felt that a name change to Altria could help remove that association in the mind of the public. But in reality, they still continued to market heavily in tobacco. As a result, their identity change failed. On the flip side, the change of BSN to Danone marked the shift from manufacturing to food production. This identity shift was highly successful, as it marked the end of an old mindset (and product focus) to what the company had become. Obviously, there's a lot more to identity than just the name of a company, but the authors do a very good job in exploring all the facets of corporate identity. They use a wide number of examples, so very little of the book came across as "theory" rather than fact-based practice. In addition, the examples are global in nature, so the concepts span cultures and geography (which is good given the global and cross-culture nature of so many businesses these days). It's tempting to look at a book like this (or any other book that focuses on a narrow element of business) and declare this the missing link in the success or failure of an organization. The authors acknowledge that other factors can be in play, but argue that the identity factor is more important than many think. In hindsight, it's easy to pick out the winners and losers in the identity battle, while it is far harder to tell how those decisions will play out over time when they are made. Still, taking the time to consider identity issues can't help but increase the chances that your organizational moves will be successful. You may still make some bone-headed mistakes, but at least you'll be able to recognize them... :) Definitely a worthwhile read for anyone in the executive suite of a company...
Summary by The Business Digest
http://bdt.business-digest.fr/frame/?lg=fr&sid=&th=Prospective%20et%20strat%E9gies&sth=Cr%E9er%20de%20la%20Valeur&do=list
The Soul of the Corporation: How to Manage the Identity of Your Company Pour Hamid Bouchikhi et John R. Kimberly, l’identité de l’entreprise est un actif concurrentiel décisif sur lequel il est indispensable de capitaliser. Il est donc fondamental, selon eux, d’en prendre toute la mesure et d’apprendre à la gérer en accord avec les objectifs stratégiques de l’entreprise.de Hamid Bouchikhi, John R. Kimberly, paru chez Wharton School Publishing - octobre 2007 Ouvrage présenté en bref.
The Soul of the Corporation: How to Manage the Identity of Your Company Pour Hamid Bouchikhi et John R. Kimberly, l’identité de l’entreprise est un actif concurrentiel décisif sur lequel il est indispensable de capitaliser. Il est donc fondamental, selon eux, d’en prendre toute la mesure et d’apprendre à la gérer en accord avec les objectifs stratégiques de l’entreprise.de Hamid Bouchikhi, John R. Kimberly, paru chez Wharton School Publishing - octobre 2007 Ouvrage présenté en bref.
From Executive Books Summaries
http://www.summary.com/cgi-bin/Soundview.storefront/478f4271002b7a0f2717ac100b10062e/Catalog/1836
Drawing on real-life stories from the world’s most prominent companies, The Soul of the Corporation shows how identity can be an extraordinarily valuable asset — and how, if not managed properly, it can become a huge liability. Discover how your firm’s identity is related to — and different from — its organizational culture, brand positioning and reputation. Learn how to manage the unconscious shared beliefs that give your organization coherence. See what you'll learn in this summary
Drawing on real-life stories from the world’s most prominent companies, The Soul of the Corporation shows how identity can be an extraordinarily valuable asset — and how, if not managed properly, it can become a huge liability. Discover how your firm’s identity is related to — and different from — its organizational culture, brand positioning and reputation. Learn how to manage the unconscious shared beliefs that give your organization coherence. See what you'll learn in this summary
From The Board Agenda
http://www.edgevantage.co.uk/categories/article.asp?i=3905
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRAND AND IDENTITY? The concept of branding has become so central to discussions of marketing that we must all know what it means. Or do we? In a world where a lot of companies seem to live only for their brands, you occasionally have to wonder what lies at the heart of the enterprise. A corporation like, say, The New York Times Company means something larger, more important, than what we would normally call a brand. Nike, by contrast, is a brand. But if there is a distinction, what's the dividing line? A couple of academics with quite different backgrounds – Hamid Bouchikhi of Essec in France and John Kimberly at the Wharton School in Pennsylvania – make the case for a "soul" of the corporation. In an interview, Kimberly said that soul is tied up in the company's identity. "Companies can have a variety of phenomena in which their identity is anchored: It may be a brand, it may be a mission, it may be a particular form of business. But every company has a constellation of things which, together, define an answer to the question, Who are we?'," he said.
How does identity become a source of competitive advantage? Kimberly says identity "acts as a focal point for people's motivation and energy", creating convergence internally around this questions of "Who are we?" and "Why are we here?" Kimberly continues: "What that does is act as a force for bringing people together around a common purpose. And at the end of the day, that's what makes a company go, when people come together around a common purpose and are motivated in the same direction. It sounds very simple. Of course, it's a lot more complex than that, but at the most general level, that is, I think, the answer to the question," he said.
The two scholars have teamed up for a book on these ideas, giving examples of companies like TCL and Lenovo, whose brands mean little but which have identities, and those like Harley Davidson, where the brand and identity merge. "And in the mind of the consumer, when you buy a Harley-Davidson, you're buying into the organization that is behind the brand," Kimberly says.
Perhaps. Remember that a lot of Harley Davidson merchandise is made by organisations that have nothing to do with motorcycles but who merely license the brand. Consumers are buying the lifestyle, but are they really buying into the organisation? Or is the organisation – internally – struggling to make sure it still buys into the consumer's image of the brand? If so, where is that "soul" Bouchikhi and Kimberly think they've found?
Source documents: The interview and podcast are available from the Knowledge@Wharton website. You can also buy the book The Soul of the Corporation by Hamid Bouchikhi and John Kimberly.
04 January 2008
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRAND AND IDENTITY? The concept of branding has become so central to discussions of marketing that we must all know what it means. Or do we? In a world where a lot of companies seem to live only for their brands, you occasionally have to wonder what lies at the heart of the enterprise. A corporation like, say, The New York Times Company means something larger, more important, than what we would normally call a brand. Nike, by contrast, is a brand. But if there is a distinction, what's the dividing line? A couple of academics with quite different backgrounds – Hamid Bouchikhi of Essec in France and John Kimberly at the Wharton School in Pennsylvania – make the case for a "soul" of the corporation. In an interview, Kimberly said that soul is tied up in the company's identity. "Companies can have a variety of phenomena in which their identity is anchored: It may be a brand, it may be a mission, it may be a particular form of business. But every company has a constellation of things which, together, define an answer to the question, Who are we?'," he said.
How does identity become a source of competitive advantage? Kimberly says identity "acts as a focal point for people's motivation and energy", creating convergence internally around this questions of "Who are we?" and "Why are we here?" Kimberly continues: "What that does is act as a force for bringing people together around a common purpose. And at the end of the day, that's what makes a company go, when people come together around a common purpose and are motivated in the same direction. It sounds very simple. Of course, it's a lot more complex than that, but at the most general level, that is, I think, the answer to the question," he said.
The two scholars have teamed up for a book on these ideas, giving examples of companies like TCL and Lenovo, whose brands mean little but which have identities, and those like Harley Davidson, where the brand and identity merge. "And in the mind of the consumer, when you buy a Harley-Davidson, you're buying into the organization that is behind the brand," Kimberly says.
Perhaps. Remember that a lot of Harley Davidson merchandise is made by organisations that have nothing to do with motorcycles but who merely license the brand. Consumers are buying the lifestyle, but are they really buying into the organisation? Or is the organisation – internally – struggling to make sure it still buys into the consumer's image of the brand? If so, where is that "soul" Bouchikhi and Kimberly think they've found?
Source documents: The interview and podcast are available from the Knowledge@Wharton website. You can also buy the book The Soul of the Corporation by Hamid Bouchikhi and John Kimberly.
04 January 2008
Thursday, January 3, 2008
From Media Tampa Bay
http://mediatampabay.com/article.php?id=32
SOUL OF THE CORPORATION NEW BOOK IS A PRAGMATIC GUIDE TO DIAGNOSING AND MANAGING CORPORATE IDENTITY
12/28/07
Philadelphia, PA – In the Age of Identity, the basis of competitive advantage is shifting from what the product is (intrinsic features of a product or a service) to who (the identity of the firm that markets it). Leaders who realize the potential of identity as a competitive weapon will be far ahead in the race to create sustainable advantage. THE SOUL OF THE CORPORATION: HOW TO MANAGE THE IDENTITY OF YOUR COMPANY (Wharton School Publishing, $29.99, ISBN: 0131857266) by Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly, gives them a systematic, accessible, management-oriented way to treat their organization’s identity.
Drawing on stories from organizations such as McDonald’s, Lenovo, Ford, and the Catholic Church, THE SOUL OF THE CORPORATION argues that while identity can be an extraordinarily valuable asset, it can also become a huge liability when not managed properly. Using the strategies illustrated by the authors, readers can discover how their organization’s identity is related to and different from its organizational culture, brand positioning and reputation. Readers will also learn how to manage the unconscious shared beliefs that give their organization coherence and how to face the identity challenges that arise in mergers, alliances, spin-offs, and acquisitions.
Identity is everywhere, but the “average” business manager is poorly equipped for sensing and dealing with it. If they don’t want to suffer the detrimental consequences of identity in their organizations, managers need to master this additional, very challenging, dimension. THE SOUL OF THE CORPORATION opens the “black-box” and offers business leaders a set of “actionable” ideas and guidelines they can use to enhance their ability to diagnose and manage identity issues in their organizations.
SOUL OF THE CORPORATION NEW BOOK IS A PRAGMATIC GUIDE TO DIAGNOSING AND MANAGING CORPORATE IDENTITY
12/28/07
Philadelphia, PA – In the Age of Identity, the basis of competitive advantage is shifting from what the product is (intrinsic features of a product or a service) to who (the identity of the firm that markets it). Leaders who realize the potential of identity as a competitive weapon will be far ahead in the race to create sustainable advantage. THE SOUL OF THE CORPORATION: HOW TO MANAGE THE IDENTITY OF YOUR COMPANY (Wharton School Publishing, $29.99, ISBN: 0131857266) by Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly, gives them a systematic, accessible, management-oriented way to treat their organization’s identity.
Drawing on stories from organizations such as McDonald’s, Lenovo, Ford, and the Catholic Church, THE SOUL OF THE CORPORATION argues that while identity can be an extraordinarily valuable asset, it can also become a huge liability when not managed properly. Using the strategies illustrated by the authors, readers can discover how their organization’s identity is related to and different from its organizational culture, brand positioning and reputation. Readers will also learn how to manage the unconscious shared beliefs that give their organization coherence and how to face the identity challenges that arise in mergers, alliances, spin-offs, and acquisitions.
Identity is everywhere, but the “average” business manager is poorly equipped for sensing and dealing with it. If they don’t want to suffer the detrimental consequences of identity in their organizations, managers need to master this additional, very challenging, dimension. THE SOUL OF THE CORPORATION opens the “black-box” and offers business leaders a set of “actionable” ideas and guidelines they can use to enhance their ability to diagnose and manage identity issues in their organizations.
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