Finally, a salty Ford veteran by the name of Charlie Beacham
said, “Why don’t we close down all the plants and then we’ll really
start to save money?”
Everyone cracked up. The decision was made to postpone any
more closings for a while, and the bean counters went back to
working for the company rather than running it.44
In fact, Charlie Beacham’s humorous comment, and the retelling of it
in story form at Ford, was consistent with founder Henry Ford’s belief
that costs should not be cut for the sake of cutting costs (and making
more profit), but to make cars more affordable for customers.45
A second way in which organizational culture is sustained is by creating
and celebrating heroes. By definition, heroes are organizational
people admired for their qualities and achievements within the organization.
For example, when Jack Welch became the CEO at General Electric
Corporation, he tried to change the then-conservative corporate culture
by encouraging managers and employees to be creative and innovative
and to take risks. After a $20 million project failed, Welch rewarded the
project manager with a bonus and a promotion. The members of the project
team were rewarded with bonuses and videocassette recorders. Welch
was not celebrating their failure. He was celebrating their willingness to
take risks. In other words, he treated the manager and the project team
as heroes for other GE employees to emulate.46