What Makes Great Companies Great?

January, 2008 from Computerworld, based on a research report in the current Harvard Business Review – “What differentiates the companies you wrote about? They’re part of a shift from command-and-control, rules-based hierarchies to a more open, free-form flexible organization where guidance comes from values and principles supported by templates and IT systems that allow people much more freedom to cross what would have been traditional lines of jobs.”

180 View (written by Lawrence Young) – In this informative article, Computerworld reporter Kathleen Melymuka interviews Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, whose two year research project set out to discover what’s behind the greatness of companies such as IBM and Proctor & Gamble.

Professor Kanter reveals that what she discovered ‘is simpler and more profound than you might imagine’. For example, she concludes that great companies ‘are very clear about values and principles’. She also discovered that great companies ‘have standardized platforms, templates and processes that give people a common way of doing things’. Finally, she tells us that great companies show their employees respect and give them autonomy in performing their tasks.

Hardly rocket science or mind altering, I’m sure you’ll agree. And if my two cents are worth anything, I can tell you that my observations of corporate greatness over the past 33 years in the field correlate fully with Professor Kanter’s findings.

Need more proof that human resource management is all about the time-proven ‘simple stuff? Then consider this-the two best-sellers of all time are the Holy Bible and Dale Carnegie’s 1936 masterpiece ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’.

The Good Book tells us about God’s Ten Commandments, one of which is ‘Do unto Others as You’d Have Them Do unto You’. Dale Carnegie tells us to ‘Put yourself in the other guy’s shoes, and ask yourself what’s in it for him’.

Empirical observation will undoubtedly show you that an employee’s productivity is inextricably linked to their overall level of contentment in the workplace. Sure, other factors play a significant role too, like organizational structure, tools and processes. But if your employees lack respect and motivation, your company will join the long and never-ending list of ‘me-too’ companies that never achieve greatness.

For a comprehensive study on what makes companies great, you may wish to read Jim Collins’ book entitled ‘Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't’ (Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 2001).