Drucker's Lost Art of Management by Joseph A. Maciariello & Karen E. Linkletter

Author:Joseph A. Maciariello & Karen E. Linkletter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
Published: 2011-11-16T16:00:00+00:00

DACOR

A number of executives have been inspired to emulate the Service-Master example, especially its Objective 1.12 We cite just one, Dacor, a high-end kitchen appliance manufacturer in Diamond Bar, California, which in 2004 had sales approaching $200 million. Dacor developed its Statement of Corporate Values in 1999. The statement, as it appears below, is engraved in a highly visible position on a marble wall at company headquarters in Diamond Bar (Dacor, n.d.).

TO HONOR GOD IN ALL WE DO:

By respecting others

By doing good work

By helping others

By forgiving others

By giving thanks

By celebrating our lives

It is one thing to come up with the words in a value statement and quite another to put them into action. Here is a very brief sketch of how the value system was put into action by Dacor.13 First, the company identified the values. The values were defined and elaborated by Michael Joseph, CEO of Dacor.

The principal value—“To Honor God in All We Do”—was borrowed directly from ServiceMaster. The subordinate values came from phrases that Joseph was drawn to from time to time and from various sources, including homilies of his parish priest.

After defining and elaborating these values, Joseph sought to obtain comments and buy-in from owners and members of the executive team and from middle managers, associates, dealers, customers, and other key stakeholders. (Dacor had 1,200 dealers at the time.) Then, Dacor articulated the values widely by including them in virtually every communication vehicle of the company. Also, an eight-hour training session was conducted with members of the executive team in March 2002. This session explained the values and implementation steps to make the values work. Dacor aligned the values at three different levels of practice: individuals, teams, and organization. Finally, the company adopted a process of continuously improving upon its adherence to the values.

The company is building an “egalitarian organization”—their words—in which dignity and respect for all is being sought both within the organization and with external stakeholders, such as customers, dealers, and members of the community. Profits are a very important by-product of Dacor’s business, but they are not the essence of the business. The essence of the business is to improve the quality of life of Dacor’s “CEOs”—an acronym for customers, employees, and owners and other stakeholders.

Behavior must reflect values, if the values are to be effective. In a company managed by values, Dacor believes, there is only one boss: the company values. The company attempts to make its people feel good about themselves and their abilities. Self-esteem is the issue. The company believes that if its people are to do their best they must feel good about themselves and their potential to contribute to the organization.

In an effort to test the effectiveness of implementation of the values within the company, Dacor participated in a study conducted by a team of researchers from the Max De Pree Center for Leadership in Pasadena, California. The research team conducted extensive formal and informal interviews as well as focus group studies to determine how closely Dacor was approaching successful implementation of its values with all stakeholders.

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