A basic premise in The Living Company by Arie de Geus, this month's Spotlight interviewee, is that the average lifespan of even the world's top-ranking companies is surprisingly short, and far shorter than that of 21st century man in developed countries. Mr de Geus attributes this to an over-riding corporate focus on maximizing profits. Mr de Geus is not the only authority to suggest that firms with a wider purpose succeed better than those with a purely economic focus. A study in the 1990s by US authors James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras also pointed to the superior performance of values-based organizations, emphasizing the importance of creating and maintaining a community feeling and community values. But it also offers unusual levels of security and all employees are shareholders.
Turnover is reportedly minimal and no-one has ever been fired for poor work.
This may be down to what sounds like a particularly rigorous recruitment process to weed out unsuitable candidates - but seems just as likely to be down to the supremely motivating work environment which is very much a community of working human beings rather than an economic 'machine'. Such examples pose some intriguing questions. See Emerald Reviews for an abstract of a recent article on St Luke's which was published in Harvard Business Review , Sept-Oct 2000, Vol. The article author was Diane L. Coutu. Toller Lane Bradford England BD8 9BY tel.