There are two extremes of corporate culture: the hard-driving, aggressive category; and the warm, open-hearted type. But which is more successful at motivating a team, and delivering outstanding financial results?
An example of the “agreeable” philosophy of management is described in Peter Mead’s autobiographical book, When In Doubt Be Nice. He was a co-founder of the highly regarded advertising agency Abbot Mead Vickers, now AMV BBDO. A slightly daunting 380-plus pages, the book has plenty of cosy, sensible advice, such as treating staff well (“be a father to your workforce”), always do your best, focus on quality not price and so forth. They are wise words, but I’m not sure these beliefs would all pay off in some cut-throat markets. His view is that if you do good work and look after your people, profits are sure to follow. In their heyday ad agencies could afford, for instance, to give all the staff the afternoon off before public holidays. Sadly, lots of industries are intensely overcrowded and offer miserable margins, with little time or money for kind words and sympathetic employment policies.
A contrast with AMV might be Rocket Internet, the newly public vehicle for the online ambitions of the Samwer brothers. The business clones digital operating models from America like eBay and Groupon and launches them in emerging economies.