Corporate Culture Powers Growth, Researchers Say

Learning Cultures: Researchers at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, say corporate culture is more than a buzz term. They cite it as pivotal to employee growth and development. Early conclusions of a multi-year study, which researchers expect to complete in 2008, find that companies often lose more than they gain by cutting back on employee training during bouts of belt-tightening. In fact, “sustained corporate growth is linked more with how companies value creativity, risk-taking, change and employee development” than with gains made by using the decades-old pattern of cost cutting, according to a news report about the research in the Peoria Journal Star. The article quotes Bradley management professor Laurence Weinzimmer, who says CEOs’ pressure to maintain strong stock prices often comes at the expense of employee training and development.