Perceptions and reality in the implementation of formal management systems: a study of the human interface in Chinese and Polish factories

This paper uses the organizational culture literature, and data derived from field work and consultancy in Poland and China, to argue that the lack of a logically coherent culture (for the company ideology) communicated from top management can lead to misunderstandings, willful or otherwise, both at the operator levels (the agencies), which are meant to carry out management policy, and also at the various management levels responsible for action-related decisions. Further, sub-cultures arising at lower management levels constrain any coherent drive for improvement in systems for innovation, product design and product and system users. An analysis of the perceptions of twelve managing directors and 152 managers and supervisors, related to knowledge, engineering, environmental and risk issues in twelve manufacturing factories is presented. These perception patterns are used to reflect the organizational cultures of each factory and thereby to understand more clearly why things do not happen the way they are supposed to. The paper concludes with a number of suggestions about how management can more effectively implement change in its culture for the better realization of the internal and external objectives sought in the implementation of formal management systems.