Jaques First To Use “Culture” About Companies
In Britain, a book by Professor Elliot Jaques (1951) was titled The Changing Culture of a Factory — to my knowledge the first use of the word culture in the management literature. The book describes Jaques’s long-term involvement with the Glacier Metal Company, London.
Hofstede, Geert (2001). Culture’s consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks: SAGE. P. 392
I hadn’t thought about it but I suppose this is true. It’s an interesting factoid considering how much we use the term these days. I got my degree in sociology back in the day — my days of being a draft editor for sociologists is past — so to me being the first to talk about corporate culture is a big deal.
Odd that it never gets mentioned when people point out that he coined the term “mid-life crisis”.
