PEOPLE.IDEAS.PERFORMANCE

64 Storytellers , who interpret what they see happening and create stories that can be passed on to initiate people to the culture. Gossipers , who put their own spin on current events and feed people a steady diet of interesting information. Employees know not to take the information at face value; however, they enjoy the entertainment value of a gossip's story. Whisperers , who have the ear of the powerful people in the organization. They can be used by anyone with a message they want taken to the top but who doesn't want to use formal communication channels. Spies , who provide valuable information to top management, and let them know what really happens on a daily basis. Priests and priestesses , who are the guardians of cultural values. They know the history, mythology and success and failures of the company inside out, and can be relied on to interpret a current situation using the beliefs, values and present and past practices of the company. As well as holding great influence over the present state of corporate culture, the influences are major players in establishing and delivering performance standards and targets. Especially, storytellers, gossipers and whisperers play a major role whenever the nature of present organization performance is called into question. Spies seek out supporters and opponents of present and envisaged levels and standards of performance, and report accordingly. Priests and priestesses state the present concerns in terms of what has happened in the past, and how the organization either came to the point of destruction, or how it heroically rescued itself from oblivion. &XOWXUDO DUFKHW\SHV Deal and Kennedy developed their work, and presented cultural archetypes. As below, these archetypes indicate the nature of culture in relation to organizations and their activities; and in turn indicate where particular interventions may be made, in order to develop improved and sustainable levels of performance. Especially, the following were indicated: The degree of risk associated with a company's key activities, and the actions that to be taken in order to ensure that performance was not affected; The speed at which companies learn whether their actions and strategies are successful, and the interventions need management collect in order to improve speed and accuracy. Deal and Kennedy believed that the risk involved in making a poor decision and the time it takes to find out whether a decision is the right one both have a bearing on how cultural elements develop and influence an organization’s employees. The ability to intervene where it has become apparent that a poor decision has been taken, is a crucial element in developing performance. The archetypes are as follows: 7RXJK *X\ 0DFKR – This culture contains a world of individualists who enjoy risk and who get quick feedback on their decisions. This is an all-or-nothing culture where successful employees are the ones who enjoy excitement and work very hard to be stars. The banking, financial services, sports and entertainment industries, sports teams and advertising agencies are examples of this cultural type. This cultural type is also found in sub-groups (especially surgical and research groups) in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Teamwork is not highly valued in this culture, and it is a difficult environment for people who blossom slowly. This leads to increases in staff turnover, and this in turn impedes efforts to build a cohesive culture. A high measure of self service and individualism therefore continues to exist; and this in turn leads to conflicts of objectives, and professional and occupational (and personal) disagreements and conflict.