Published on 12:00 AM, January 20, 2024

Readers’ corner

‘Country first, company second, culture somewhere’

Rabindranath, not the Bard of Bengal, began an internship at a renowned local company in quest of the actual essence of corporate culture. He studied BBA to keep up with the trends, but now he regrets doing so.

Rabindranath believed getting a job would teach him how to administer businesses properly. Unfortunately, after beginning his internship, Rabindranath only realised how to be more resilient. He throught to himself that he would have been better off if he had studied Disaster Management to learn about resilience.

He majored in Organisational Behaviour (OB). He was more interested in learning about company culture and writing an internship report on it during his internship.

When Rabindranath asked about the company's culture for the eighth time during a session, Foshol Khan, his organisation's head of HR, became furious. "I can hear; I am not deaf," Foshol Khan responded, inspired by the latest Bellywood hit "AniMale".

"Sorry, Papa," Rabindranath said unwittingly, picturing himself as the AniMale protagonist.

Foshol Khan was taken aback. He toned down, adding, "Son, country comes first and above anything else. The company comes afterwards. There is nothing special about company culture. It's there, but I'm not sure where."

Rabindranath seemed perplexed.

According to Foshol Khan, "Our national legacy is the 'Yes Boss' culture -- and that is the only thing we should care about."

"But sir..." Rabindranath was unable to complete the statement.

"There is no 'but', 'if', 'whether', or 'or' in corporate culture; erase these words from your dictionary. Remember that the boss is always right."

"But you're not my boss," Rabindranath pointed out.

"I am your boss's boss. I am super right."

Foshol Khan had just finished speaking when his phone rang. When he answered the phone, all Rabindranath could hear was:

"Sir, Sir"; "Yes Sir"; "Yes Sir" ... "Yes Sir"; "Sir, Sir"; "Yes Sir."

Instead of writing a report following the three-month intense internship searching for examples of great corporate culture, Rabindranath authored his a best-seller titled "Country First, Company Second, Culture Somewhere".