Seeing is Believing – The Role of Personnel in Reading and Shaping the Metaphors that Govern Business Life

The metaphors used in various organisational cultures are reviewed – such as club, family, team, pragmatist, intellectual. These describe and explain behaviour prevalent in particular organisational cultures, and are extremely powerful. It is concluded that existing metaphors will be found inappropriate, as they treat people as an expendable resource rather than a long‐term asset meriting continuous renewal.