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140 MANAGING KNOWLEDGE WORK AND INNOVATION

Resistance to this knowledge-sharing vision came in large part from middle man-
agement who had been traditionally perceived as information gatekeepers in the
company. The radical cultural change introduced by Bob Buckman had major impli-
cations for the power structure of middle management. In the past, middle manage-
ment had sought to control the flow of information to employees in order to protect
their own roles in the organization.
It took some years for these attitudes to change – learning the new norms and
values involved painfully unlearning the old culture. To help associates understand
the expected behaviour, Buckman sought to put in place a new Code of Ethics which
was presented as the ‘glue’ that would hold the company together. It was seen as
providing the basis for the respect and trust that are necessary in a knowledge-
sharing environment. Buckman asked his employees to think about the company as
a ship, with the Code of Ethics as the waterline of the ship. The message to associates
was simple: ‘You do not shoot below the waterline, because you can sink the ship.
However, you are free to be as innovative as you wish in changing the superstructure
of the ship to meet the needs of the customer’. Buckman thus sought to ensure that
creating and sharing knowledge was no longer seen as the exclusive responsibility of
the R&D department but rather a responsibility of all employees.

>> BUCKMAN LABS’ CODE OF ETHICS

Because we are separated – by many miles, by diversity of cultures and lan-
guages – we at Buckman need a clear understanding of the basic principles by
which we will operate our company. These are:
That the company is made up of individuals – each of whom has different
capabilities and potentials – all of which are necessary to the success of the
company.
That we acknowledge that individuality by treating each other with dignity
and respect – striving to maintain continuous and positive communications
among all of us.
That we will recognize and reward the contributions and accomplishments
of each individual.
That we will continually plan for the future so that we can control our des-
tiny instead of letting events overtake us.

The cultural change at Buckman Labs was also driven through by Bob Buckman’s
stern resolve to ‘manage the managers’. The experience here arguably highlights
another side of leadership: the selective use of sticks as well as carrots to reinforce
certain kinds of behaviour. This led Bob Buckman to write personally to all of those
associates who were deemed to be unwilling to participate in the sharing activities.
These letters conveyed a blunt message about the consequences of refusing to share
knowledge.

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