I bet you never thought culture would do this to us.
The best definition of culture I have ever heard is that it is the most difficult thing to talk about. It is no more than a feeling you have about how things should be. Culture does not go through your brain, it goes through your gut.
In our post-subprime world, culture is gaining a whole new meaning. As Dov Seidman wrote, “culture has taken on greater significance. Today it is the measure by which companies are judged”.
Employees, customers, suppliers and investors are going to judge companies on the basis of the cultural environment they are able to create in and around them. In order to do this, they will have to master new dimensions:
•Emerging economies are introducing new business practices and new ways of building relationships in a corporate context.
•The interactive web and social media are creating a new culture, one that goes beyond nationality and ethnic groups.
•People are looking for a new model of capitalism. Corporate Social Responsibility and social entrepreneurship are no longer fads. They are here to stay. I believe they will play a big role in shaping the corporate behaviour in the years to come.
•Women were never part of the economic system that failed us. This is probably why more and more businesses are now trying to figure out how to tap into the female economy and its potential.
It feels as if we had just boarded a time machine ready to catapult us into a new era.
And the Year of the Ox (the sign of leaders) starts on Monday. I love Chinese New Year!
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