Culture, Process, and Business

In 1982, Peters and Waterman published "In Search of Excellence", and it became one of the most stimulating and influential researches that linked performance to culture. In one way, their research was a revolution against the mechanical perspective of organizations. As Peters said in an interview with reason online “My problem is not that I see all 17 sides of any issue, but I'm equally passionate about all 17 sides simultaneously”. In 1990, Peter Senge published his book “The Fifth Discipline”. The book rivaled In Search of Excellence in its influence, commonalities, and contrasts. While Peters and Waterman adopted a generic Loose-Tight principle, Senge adopted a holistic thinking that he called “Systems thinking”. This systems thinking sees patterns not just snapshots and is governed by “set of specific tools and techniques” not just general principles. It is both a science and an art but in a defined way. Hammer (2003) provided another unique view and argued the need to put process first. He stated: “No matter how hard individuals work, they can not overcome a flawed design, much less than the burden of no design at all.