Page 387 - Cultures and Organizations

352 CULTURES IN ORGANIZATIONS

a product-and-technology orientation to a market-and- service orientation.
Before, planning and sales had been based on realizing a maximum number
of fl ight hours with the most modern equipment available. Pilots, techni-
cians, and disciplinarian managers were the company’s heroes. Deteriorat-
ing results forced the reorgan ization.
Carlzon was convinced that in the highly competitive air transport
market, success depended on a superior way of catering to the needs of
the present and potential customers. These needs should be best known
by the employees who had daily face-to-face customer contact. In the old
situation these people had never been asked for their opinions: they were a
disciplined set of uniformed soldiers, trained to follow the rules. Now they

were considered “the firing line,” and the organization was restructured to
support them rather than order them around. Superiors were turned into

advisers; the firing line received considerable discretion in dealing with
customer problems on the spot. They only needed to report their decisions
to superiors after the fact—which meant a built-in acceptance of employees’
judgment with all risks involved. 15
One of the units participating in the IRIC study was the SAS passen-
ger terminal at Copenhagen airport. The interviews were conducted three
years after the turnaround operation. The employees and managers were
uniformed, disciplined, formal, and punctual. They seemed to be the kind
of people who like to work in a disciplined structure. People worked shift
hours with periods of tremendous work pressure alternating with periods of
relative inactivity. They showed considerable acceptance of their new role.
When talking about the company’s history, they tended to start from the
time of the turnaround; only some managers referred to the earlier years.
The interviewees were demonstrably proud of the company: their iden-
tity seemed to a large extent derived from it. Social relationships outside
the work situation frequently involved other SAS people. Carlzon was often

mentioned as a company hero. In spite of their being disciplined, relation-
ships between colleagues seemed to be good-natured, and there was a lot
of mutual help. Colleagues who met with a crisis in their private lives
were supported by others and by the company. Managers of various levels
were visible and accessible, although clearly managers had more trouble
accepting the new role than nonmanagers. New employees entered via a
formal introduction and training program that included simulated encoun-
ters with problem clients. This program served also as a screening device,
showing whether the newcomer had the values and the skills necessary for