Culture and Change

Author: Sun Zhen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: This series compiles outstanding works published in Harvard Business Review since the 1990s, as well as classic pieces frequently cited by readers. The authority, foresight, innovation, adaptability, and practical guidance of Harvard Business Review make this series the preferred reading for senior managers, government officials, business executives, management school faculty, MBAs, and students in related management disciplines. This book focuses on the topic of corporate culture. In the field of management, corporate culture has become a widely discussed subject. However, the unique feature of this book lies in its avoidance of lengthy, overwhelming arguments, instead presenting insights through engaging short stories. Although written by different authors, the writing styles share a harmonious similarity. In the translator's view, there are three levels of writing in economics or management-related articles:
The first level is mechanically assembled, seemingly profound yet entirely based on borrowed ideas. It piles up a heap of jargon, at best capable of intimidating outsiders as a form of enlightenment.
The second level is laboriously crafted, using numerous mathematical models and countless sleepless nights of reasoning and calculation. It achieves some success but often becomes incomprehensible. Nevertheless, it offers some comfort to the writer.
The third level flows from the mind, incorporating both reflection on previous theories and personal, firsthand experiences. The insights are profound yet easily understood, leaving readers enlightened and feeling as though they have discovered a long-lost friend.
Several articles in this book can be considered as belonging to the third level. The authors are seasoned scholars in the field of management, as well as successful practitioners in real-world corporate operations. Their experiences hold significant practical value for senior managers in Chinese companies, as well as for government and nonprofit organizations outside the corporate world.