Organizational Behavior

Analyzing the culture of an organization in which one is intimately familiar due to length of service or employment can be challenging. "Culture is ubiquitous. It covers all areas of group life" (Schein, 1990). To do so for a new organization might be even more challenging. Since transitioning from my nonprofit career of the past four years, I've immersed myself in life at Bain Capital, concurrently learning concepts about organizational behavior. Perhaps my new skill set and fresh set of eyes will allow me to use such analytical skills as intended. One key to my potential success will be "learning how to learn" (Argyris, 1991). Relying on my past successes will not be enough to advance at Bain; I will need to make a habit of productive reasoning on a daily basis.

One of the biggest cultural differences between the corporate finance department at Bain and my nonprofit experience is size. The nonprofit employed only 17 people in total, whereas Bain has more than 17 people just in my department, and over 400 total employees. Concerning artifacts of the department and Bain in general, there is much I am still learning. However, the organizational language has 2 distinct subsets: language used between associate employees, and language used between management and associates. Overall the tone of associate conversation is reserved and casual. Management tends to be more outgoing, and conversation loosens up between management and associates only when initiated by management. As far as office layout, there is a clear distinction between associates and management; offices and cubicles. This is common in many corporate workplaces, but a lot of consideration was used in placement of the cubicles. The John Hancock Tower is somewhat narrow, which leads to lots of window settings and limited interior settings. All of the interior settings are offices, which leads to every cubicle being near a window (there are still some offices with window views, just no interior cubicles). Having a window view for all associates is definitely a morale booster.

The largest driving factor for many private equity firms is profits. This is a key espoused value at Bain Capital, as best as I can tell from one month of observations. In departments outside of corporate finance, I've observed an aggressive culture filled with late nights and much stress surrounding upcoming deals. This leads to a heightened emphasis on all supporting work relating to such deals; late nights and priorities closing deals are assumed across many departments. I have a few long-term concerns in this area, specifically the time commitments as they relate to my current education. Additionally there are concerns in the not-so-distant future for work-life balance and family time. I'm curious to see what time of flexibility is given to tenured veterans of the company.

Another area in which I've noticed shared values and assumptions is in collaboration.