Emphasis on Culture Not Leading to Higher Performance

Performance Culture: Corporate culture describes a set of practices or behaviors that characterize the way a particular company operates. Although the idea of building a strong corporate culture has gained steam in many companies in recent years, few organizations have been able to parlay it into high performance. According to a survey by executive management firm Bain & Co. of New York, “fewer than 10 percent of companies currently succeed at building high-performance cultures,” despite nine of 10 CEOs acknowledging that “corporate culture is as important as strategy for business success.” Bain surveyed about 1,200 international executives for its annual survey. Also notable: 70 percent of executives rank having environmentally friendly products and policies as “an important part of their mission,” particularly for operating in countries with emerging markets.