This is really an old fangled engineering and manufacturing company at the core, trying to convince itself (and the world) that it is a design innovator. It's not. Innovation is a painful, mostly futile exercise at Haworth, as is collaboration. The company culture is rooted in an old school "command and control" management style, with a passion only for sales volume and operational efficiency. The morale at HQ in Holland is low; there is almost a sense of despair from the employees who have to deal everyday with the shifting whims and upside down priorities of management. This all emanates from the executive level - the handful of high-rollers who crash about in their struggle for power, putting on a show for visitors and the public, while failing to agree upon a vision and strategy to elevate the company. Selling millions of dollars of furniture to the government does not an industry leader make! The frenetic pace seems to fool management into thinking it has actually succeeded in being more than a very ordinary enterprise. Don't be taken by the marketing spin; this is a company stuck in neutral, and oddly comfortable with chaos. But, hey...everyone keeps smiling!
