Corporate culture: A case study of a high-tech firm

This descriptive research is a historical case study to determine how culture formed at a high tech company. A history of the firm was developed to serve as the background for understanding the culture that developed.; The primary method of data collection was interviewing. Interviews were conducted with 8 people including the founder and co-founder. The founder was interviewed 4 times. The Four Framework approach of Bolman and Deal (1984, 1991) was used to analyze the data collected.; The researcher interviewed the founder, other respondents including current and ex-employees, reviewed written documents and other artifacts, and observed various rites and rituals in order to retrospectively develop a company history and to show how culture formed as the company developed. The interviews revealed what is not in the written record or other forms of documentation and provided the basis for conclusions about the role of the founder and the formation of corporate culture at the firm. The difference between this historical case study and many others is that the researcher worked for the company in the study for 5 years and thus was an insider. The researcher had easy access to all the key actors and did not need to deal with gatekeepers.; The research took place at a time when the founder was replaced by a new CEO at the direction of the Board of Directors and the company was faced with severe financial problems and survival.; The research found that (1) a severe crisis at the start of the company changed the focus of the company from research and development to doing anything it could in order to survive, (2) the founder's success with his first acquisition led to more acquisitions, most of which were unsuccessful, and (3) integration issues began early in the company history and continued throughout its existence.