Abstract
Corporate cultures can be tested with the loss of founders and the addition of outside leaders. This project is intended to analyze four companies, Cantor Fitzgerald, Hewlett Packard, Walt Disney Company and Apple to identify the characteristics that build a sustainable, high performance culture as well as the forces that apply pressure to change it. Sources for this project include the books HP Phenomenon, On Top of the World, Steve Jobs, The Disney Way and Corporate Cultures – The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life. In addition, multiple articles from Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle and LA Times were referenced for current events of these companies, as well as academic databases (Mergent Online) for financial data. It was determined that strong cultures will win in clashes with outside leaders trying to make aggressive changes, especially to cultures built on teamwork, integrity and transparency. In order to adjust the direction of the company a leader must us a mixture of acknowledging founding values and a forward vision to institute evolutionary instead of revolutionary change.