Take any two organizations with which you are or have been engaged with.

Analyze, compare and contrast the cultures of each. What factors explain the development of the cultures? How does the culture affect people and performance issues of each organization?

I am not engaged with any of the two companies which I choose to compare and analyse. Still, my interest in the happenings in powerful business companies prompts me to analyse and know it for myself.

I choose to analyse the two Companies, Bajaj Group and the Mahindra Group. Both the groups are primarily engaged in automobile manufacturing. Both have long standing history of high end performance.

BAJAJ GROUP Engaged in auto industry. Many years of successful market leadership. Mostly, family controlled type. Decision making is vested in promoters. No diversification worth big has taken. Mostly traditionally run business/industry. Barring a few variants in the same line, nothing worth mentioning has been developed. Perpetual capabilities of competence are at stake once the next generation takes over. Feuds in the family likely to rock the Co. People discharge duties as a matter of routine in a moulded manner. Little R & D is seen over many years.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

MAHINDRA GROUP Engaged in auto industry. Many years of successful market leadership. Widely held. Decision making is vested in professionals. Widely diversified into various activities. Quick to adopt, adapt a new line of activity. From auto, the Co. has ventured into technology,space,holiday resorts,tourism,space aviation too. Perpetual capabilities are well in place as the organization is professionally managed. Family feuds have no role to play. People discharge duties in a manner quite scientific, ever improvised. R&d is an on going priority. Sustaining market share in the product line. Innovation, recognition and reward are in place. Mahindra have introduced a record breaking 9 auto variants in one calendar

1 0 1 1 Sliding market share in the product 1 line. 2 Innovation is not in place, in general. 1 3 Barring cosmetic changes in the 1 design, no new variants hit the market. 4

year not long ago. Factors that have developed the adopted cultures in both the above Companies:

Leadership style of the main promoter. Rahul Bajaj is an authoritative and dominating personality who would like to have the things in the way he likes not in the way consumers like. As a result the Bajaj companies have grown not owing to the true professional culture of the organization but due to advantages of early entry into the field. I am the boss concept best suits Rahul Bajaj.

In contrast, Mahindras are participative leaders who have their feet on the ground and hands on the job. This has resulted in a greater degree of peoples participation in the growth of the organization which has paved the path to market leadership despite the acute competition from foreign players too.Customer is the boss concept best suits the Mahindra group.

Where discipline is imposed more than self maintained, no innovation takes place. This was so in case of Bajaj. Where people are given freedom to innovate, ideas brain storm. This could be seen in case of Mahindra who have been quite innovative and have branched out into various business activities, which are quite far from the main line of activity.

Welfare of people working in the organization matter more to the first group. Hardly any welfare measure worth the name for both serving and retired employees.this has resulted in a sense of disconnect between the workers and the Company.

Welfare of the people belonging to the organization matter more to the second group. The company fully takes care of medical, educational expenditure of the dependents and doles out scholarships to the meritorious children of the staff who contribute to the company. Thus a sense of belongingness is clearly visible in case of Mahindras.

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