Best Practices in Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement: A Deeper Look

Chapter 8. Fortress by Culture

For a few companies, the key competitive asset is a long-lived, deep-seated culture that reaches out beyond the company. Four examples come to mind: Nordstrom, 3M, Medtronic, and Hewlett-Packard. Of the four, the first two have retained most of their strong cultures to the present, but the latter two appear to have lost some of their cultural punch. The four cultures are not at all alike. Each revolves around a different component of business excellence.

NORDSTROM: CUSTOMER SERVICE IS OUR BUSINESS

Nordstrom, which began as a small Seattle shoe store in 1901, now has its upscale clothing department stores in cities throughout the United States. The Nordstrom Way, as detailed in a 1996 book by that title,^[108] boils down to this: Do whatever is necessary to make it right for the customer. Nordstrom's company storytelling includes the one about the customer who dashed to the airport after last-minute shopping, leaving her airline tickets on a sales counter; whereupon the saleslady grabbed some money from petty cash, hailed a cab to the airport, paged the woman, and handed her the ticket.^[109]

This kind of culture may be more prevalent in retailing than elsewhere. Being face-to-face with customers exerts a pull toward doing what's right for them. That pull can be harnessed to offset opposing inclinations that reside in the complex makeup of human beings. Many communities throughout the world have at least one smallish retailer recognized for maintaining such ...