Corporate culture

The Elfin Ethicist's ongoing love/hate relationship with "the real world" continues.

As part of an assignment for my management course a few days ago, I looked up the corporate culture statement of AES. The "corporate culture" of a business describes its atmosphere and worldview; a company has a culture of its own just as a larger society has a defining culture. AES Corporation lays out its cultural goals in a list of four "AES Values."

At first glance, these values sound like those of any well-marketed company: integrity, fairness, social responsibility, and fun. No one could possibly find fault with a business that operates on such principles. Closer inspection, however, reveals a much more interesting construct.

Social responsibility, AES says, is a high priority at the company. I wonder whether it would be so highly prized if it were not defined as follows: "AES people ... believe that working to fulfill AES's mission is their primary social responsibility at AES." Such an altruistic place.

Fun, likewise, has a downright insulting definition.

"AES people desire that fellow employees and those with whom AES people interact have fun in their work, in the sense that striving to achieve a high level of performance, being trusted to make decisions to achieve such performance, and being held accountable for decisions, is fun."

I must admit that I found this description of corporate culture refreshing, in a sense. AES did not bother heaping up platitudes into a long statement of little meaning. The writing is simple and direct. On the other hand, the document is blatantly patronizing. The writers and redactors evidently felt no need to hide the company's authoritarian nature.

I would rather starve.

| Posted by Wilson at 23:59 Central | TrackBack
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