e's home life, and making observations to the single men that they would be happier if they were married and had children. The issue of family pervades the company, with employees who are unable to assimilate, at least superficially, not lasting a long time. At this point, some of the managers have been with Ken nearly from the beginning (as the college graduates he initially hired) with the result that there are members of the organization who perpetuate the family culture since they have been part of it for as long as 15 years.
Although the organization itself is composed of diverse individuals, the decision makers remain exclusively male, and, with the exception of one Iranian, white Americans. The management group is made up of Ken, John (now controller and CFO), Ken's son Mike, Carl (head of programming), Rich (head of marketing) and Moe (head of technical services). A privately held company, Ken owns the majority of the stock; all others on the management group hold some shares. Stock options have been made available to employees as they reached their fifth anniversary.
Ken has established a "laissez-faire" attitude toward the day to day operations of the company. He has made it clear the path he believes the company should take, and this is reinforced at company meetings (held once a month), company picnics (held once a year) and the annual Christmas party. Each department conducts its business the best way it sees fit; because the organization is small and because members of the management group have been there for a long time, communication is largely informal with few written reports or other formal instruments being produced.
At the heart of the root system is the underlying belief that only men who are related to Ken (either as relatives or as members of his church) will advance to the highest levels of the organization. Although Moe is a notable exception to this, even he goes along with the idea in that he...