The Fourth Factor

Book excerpt: Manage the 800 pound Gorilla- your corporate culture-or it will manage you Editorial Reviews "Culture matters. What Ford calls the fourth factor is at least as important as products, customers, and cash in getting results and generating shareholder value. Any executive who wants to successfully manage culture should heed the practical advice Ford provides." -Jonathan Schwartz, CEO, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Ford's wonderful new book on the Gorilla of corporate culture is brilliantly practical, carefully thought out, and clearly written. To mix metaphors, the blind men (and women) can finally begin to see the sides of the elephant when it comes to culture." -Michele Bolton, Author of The Third Shift "Ford has done a great job of creating a book that allows leaders at all levels of the organization to lead more effectively by understanding and managing culture. A must read for executives " -Brian Scudamore, Founder and CEO, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? Book Description Corporate culture is the 800 pound Gorilla in your organization-it does whatever it wants to. You can't ignore it. If you focus only on managing products, customers, and cash, leaving the fourth factor- culture-to take care of itself, your culture may undermine your success in the first three. Managing the fourth factor is crucial to any leader's success and this book will show you how to do that. Failure to manage corporate culture can result in - Inability to change strategic directions more quickly than your competition - A failed merger or joint venture - The isolation of functional silos in the organization. Most executives hate dealing with culture because they don't know how to manage or measure it, let alone change it. So they focus on managing products, customers, and cash, leaving the fourth factor-culture-to take care of itself. All too often, the neglected fourth factor undermines success in the first three. A successful culture provides a competitive advantage that is virtually impossible to duplicate. This will be increasingly important as the global talent shortage becomes more severe. Statisticians estimate that in 2008, approximately 12 million experienced workers will leave the workforce and only 3.5 million new workers will enter the workforce. Your organization needs to be able to attract and retain talent in that market. Managing culture is vital to your ability to do that. Understanding how culture maintains and reproduces itself is the key to managing culture. Dr. Ford provides plenty of real-world examples and specific behaviors to make culture real and visible. And she deals specifically with the pragmatics of managing culture change. In this engaging, practical look at organizations, you'll learn how to take charge of your destiny by managing the fourth factor. Dr. Ford takes culture from a soft, nebulous concept that can't be managed to a strategic asset that must be managed. More Editorial Reviews "Ford has finally provided an answer to every CEOs question: "We've tried everything and the problem persists. What's wrong?" Read The Fourth Factor, and you'll pick up that missing organizational link." -George W. Kessinger, CEO, Goodwill Industries International "This is an important work on a significant subject for serious leaders who want to grow extraordinary organizations. Dr. Ford elaborates with clarity and wisdom about the power of culture in any environment." -Nido R. Qubein, Chairman, Great Harvest Bread Company, President, High Point University About the Author Maverick, entrepreneur, catalyst, leader, sage advisor, change agent. Dr. Linda Ford is all of these. Linda is committed to helping senior executives manage the fourth factor-culture. She consults and speaks on improving business performance. After twenty five years in Silicon Valley, Linda is back home in Texas. She lives in Austin with her cat, Lizzie.