Sumantra Ghoshal on Management: A Force for Good

Chapter 6. Rebuilding behavioral context: Turn process reengineering into people rejuvenation

<authorgroup>Christopher A. Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal</authorgroup>

This paper presents the core argument of Sumantra and Chris Bartlett’s book The Individualized Corporation. Why, they ask, are some companies able to remain vital, even after extensive reengineering, while others flounder and fail? The answer lies in a firm’s ability to rejuvenate its employees by establishing a behavioural context with four characteristics – discipline, support, trust and stretch. By comparing the post-war performances of GE and Westinghouse, Chris and Sumantra show how Westinghouse allowed itself to be sucked into a downward spiral of compliance, control, constraint, ...