Previously, we talked about culture, its importance, and what it really means to a company. Do we hire from the outside or promote from within? The thought is if we can find someone who is a good fit, they’ll be successful and the business will carry on.
In the book Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, the authors look at a dozen or so successful companies, versus their not-so-successful counterparts. One company, RJ Reynolds, acquired Nabisco and replaced the CEO with Ross Johnson. While Johnson was a capable employee in the past, his vision of what Nabisco should be didn’t align to what Nabisco’s vision had been prior to the merger, and the company opened itself to eventually be bought out by RJ Reynolds’ competitor Philip Morris.
Not every company that promotes from within is successful. There does need to be grooming, and one way you can know if you’re on the right track is to ask yourself, “If tomorrow morning the CEO/boss/manager was hit by a bus, would the company be able to continue?” If the answer is yes, then there is a clearly defined culture inside the organization. If no, the next question is, “Why not?”
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