"How we manage to maintain the attitude of a challenger, even as we continue to grow at record speeds? Culture is, by far, one of the most enigmatic facets of management that I've encountered. The best way I know to establish and maintain a healthy, competitive culture is to partner with your people – through shared objectives and a common strategy," says Michael Dell, the Founder of the Dell Inc.

"It's one thing to create a culture that works. It's another to use that culture to create a measurable strategic advantage. At Dell, much of our success can be attributed to our people. But it's not enough to just hire well. You need to engender a sense of personal investment in all your employees – which comes down to three things:

❶ responsibility

❷ accountability, and

❸ shared success.

"Creating a culture in which every person in your organization, at every level, → thinks and acts like an owner means that you need to aim individual performance with your company's most important objectives. For us, that means we mobilize everyone around → creating the best possible customer experience and enhancing shareholder value – and we use specific quantitative measurements of our progress toward those goals that apply to every employee's performance. A company composed of individual owners is less focused on hierarchy and who has the nicest office, and more intent on achieving their goals. At Dell, everyone's an owner."... More