The Reason "Why Culture"?

Over the years I have failed to understand why history is taught. Only to realize recently that for us to make better decisionswe need to know what mistakes our ancestors made. In a way the past educate the future while enlightening the present, for the present today will be the past tomorrow. On that point we have to take history of important so as to avoid the past pitfalls while addressing the present problems and clearing the way for the future.

For this article we have decided to venture a bit into what makes the big blue chips companties on the globe tick. What really make their success story different from other failed companies. When most of us hear this, we are quick to say that it is because of their brilliant marketing - public relationship department. But the honest truth is at one time they did not have that. Let us take a look at Coca-Cola, when they started they only managed to sell a few bottles in there first year in their home country (USA). However that did not deter them from seeking a place on the local market and later on a global market.

We can even take a look at Starbucks the coffee franchise company. They start as a small company which they late turned into a global phenomenal. Most of us may argue that their business is selling coffee of which it is not for there are more of a real estate company before selling what there are well known of.  All the cases we have point out above we can argue that culture plays a major role in the formation of blue chips companies. Thus before the marketing and public relations department were effective the companies setup a good culture that foster innovation and continuity. Yes most of us would love to argue against that by saying they have a great branding strategy behind are great products. To some extent you are right however branding does not work without a great culture.

Most of those companies that have stood the test of times over couple of decades got to understand the importance of culture. That is culture is what have made them to stay afloat despite the global economic turmoil, scandals, failed branding activities and poor product development. The major reason is because they have managed to cultivate a culture that has a buy in by all the stakeholders who are affected or influenced by those companies. In Africa we can talk about brands like MTN, Econet, Old Mutual etc. These companies have managed to create a culture that have a high influence on the community that they operate in. Thereby creating are lifestyle that people rally behind.

In our next post we will further explore the relationship between history, culture development and the impact it have on any organization success or growth.