Two Great Companies - Two Completely Different Cultures

This coming week, I have the privilege of being a guest presenter at the University of Minnesota.  The class I will be attending is Management 4008 - Entrepreneurial Management - Launch to Maturity. The easy part of my presentation is talking about my move from companies like Honeywell and Pillsbury to 'lesser known' entities like Career Dynamics (now part of the Minnesota office of Right Management) and Abeln, Magy, Underberg & Associates.  The more interesting part will be participating in a discussion on two readings describing company operating principles.

Berkshire Hathaway versus The Bergquist Company

Many students coming out of the business program of a large university seek large, well-known employers.  In this market, employers like Target, Cargill, 3M and Medtronic are present on campus, targeting top students.  Top students are commonly pursuing them as well - in and out of the Career Services office.  Berkshire Hathaway is less well known as a 'brand', although it is certainly known to business students.  The Bergquist Company is relatively unknown (a medium-size private employer headquartered in Chanhassen) as a company.

Being part of a culture that fits you is critical.

The two companies being contrasted in class are both great employers in their own right.  The professor of the class, Linda Hall Keller, PhD, has assigned the students a reading about each company.  For Berkshire Hathaway, it is a booklet entitled An Owner's Manual written by Warren Buffet himself.  For The Bergquist Company, it is a document called A Supervisor's Plumbline written by the company founder (similar to the above scenario), Carl Bergquist II.  You don't get the benefit of seeing the readings here, but in your mind you see cultural differences in companies.  Target and Cargill are both great employers.  That said, their reputations for how they manage staff and make changes within their companies could not be more different.  While many business students pursue both (employment being the objective), the discerning student with both offers will likely fit best in one over the other. The Berkshire Hathaway document is all about financial management.  Warren Buffet and his key partner, Charlie Munger (Vice-Chairman), talk about the value they place on their shareholders.  The document (5+ pages - small font) goes on and on about 13 owner-related business principles.  While none of them use the word culture, the focus of each principle is conservative, growth-oriented business decisions that will maximize Berkshire's "average annual rate of gain in intrinsic business value on a per-share basis."  The Bergquist document has little mention of finances; it is a general guide on how each supervisor/manager is "expected to deal with five separate groups of people - employees, stockholders, the community, suppliers and customers."  Carl Bergquist's principles are biblically based (Carl's mission in life is to serve God); he wants the prospective employee to deal with the five groups in a manner he feels is acceptable to him (a servant leader to employees, etc.).

No value judgement intended.

Having sat through this discussion as an onlooker one time in the past, I can tell you that the class was divided in their feelings about the two companies.  Berkshire Hathaway (and all of the companies mentioned in this Blog) is an excellent employer.  What is critical is that each prospective employee and every current employee at every level truly understand the culture of their (next/future/current) employer. We all make choices in life that make a statement about us.  A Rolex and a Timex serve the same basic function, but make different statements to the world.  A Yugo and a Rolls Royce serve the same basic function as well.  We have to decide what fits us best and pursue it.  My belief - joining a company that fits who we are will make us more productive.