Page 231 - Executive Warfare

Culture

on the lap of an agency executive at Nobu 57, a high-end sushi restaurant
in New York.
Vodka, sushi, inappropriate relationship—it was entirely too lively for
Bentonville,Arkansas. Roehm told BusinessWeek what she’d learned:“The
importance of culture. It can’t be underestimated.”
If you are new to an organization, you can be as conservative as a nun
and still unwittingly break some taboos. For example, how do you decide
where to hold an off-site meeting for
your group? If you choose the Holiday
Inn on one of the beltways surrounding
IF YOU ARE NEW TO
your city and your peers all choose
AN ORGANIZATION,
Hawaii, you may appear to the powers-
YOU CAN BE AS
that-be to be suspiciously low-rent, and
CONSERVATIVE AS
it can hurt you. On the other hand, if
A NUN AND STILL
you bring your senior staff and their
UNWITTINGLY
spouses to Hawaii, in some organiza-
BREAK SOME
tions that would be considered an out-
TABOOS.
rageous waste of money. And you’d be
punished for it.
You have to be aware of the cultural taboos in the way you treat your
employees, too. How much process do you have to have before you fire
somebody? How much latitude do you have in rewarding somebody else?
What is the behavior in meetings? In some companies, you’re allowed
to take out a long knife with your bosses present, and in other cultures, if
you take out a long knife, you may as well commit hara-kiri.
When you rise to the senior level, there is even more of an expectation
that you will demonstrate whatever the culture is and that it will cascade
down from you. At the same time, you may find that the culture is differ-
ent at the top, with its own set of taboos. The rules change.
For example, in certain cultures, the middle managers make all the pre-
sentations. The senior executives talk less but listen more and then make
their decisions. If you become a senior executive in a culture like this but

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