Can Kevin Rollins Find the Soul of Dell?

I thought that was a nice comment on the ethics of companies that say, "Well, legally, it was just fine." We believe you have to aspire to something higher than what's legal. Is what you're doing right?

And what did a 19th-century German sociologist teach one of the 21st century's great capitalist success stories?
Weber talked about ethical responsibility. We think that we have had an ethic of blame in business when what we need is an ethic of responsibility. So we've got something called a Business Process Improvement. We target cost savings that we can gain by doing things better. But it's a grassroots program. It says, "You have control of what goes on. If there's stuff that's broken, and you don't say anything, it's your fault. If ethics are violated and you don't say anything, it's your fault. It's not Kevin's fault or Michael's fault."

How does that work in practice?
On the business-improvement side, anybody can say, "I'm going to gather the appropriate people, learn the process, follow through, and see savings." On the ethics side, there are hotlines where anyone worldwide can call anonymously and be connected with an ombudsman. The only people who know about the calls are our ethics committee members and me. On the basis of calls to that line, we've investigated, we've disciplined, we've fired, and we've fixed issues.

A year from now, what words would you like to hear people use when they describe Dell?
Respect, integrity, honesty, and forthrightness. Outside the company, the only thing people want to know is how much money you're making. Internally, I would like our employees to say, "That's what I believe in, that's what the company believes in, and that's why I'm proud to be at Dell."

Sidebar: What's Fast

4 Ways to Feed Your Soul
In today's tough economic environment, most companies are fixated on their financial performance. But Dell has chosen a different route, focusing on the company's "soul." Here are a few lessons.

1. Use hard numbers to drive a soft revolution. While the "Soul of Dell" initiative focuses on culture and values-driven programs, its roots are as much in the metrics as any of the company's hard-driving business processes. How will Dell know if the program is working? The numbers on employee surveys will tell.

2. You can't buy cultural change off the shelf. Dell's business model is all about building a customized product. So too is its approach to designing and implementing cultural change. Rather than mimicking programs at GE, IBM, or Wal-Mart, the company is devising a program that fits Dell: "We have a direct culture," says president Kevin Rollins. "We sell directly; we communicate directly."

3. For unconventional thinking about leadership, throw out the conventional business books. Instead, Rollins, who studied the humanities in college, looked to biographies of Jefferson, Lincoln, and Washington. "George Washington wasn't the smartest guy," Rollins says, "but everybody followed him, because he inspired people to do better. We thought that was a very interesting model - an aspirational model."

4. Replace a culture of blame with an ethic of responsibility. From the factory floor to the boardroom, Dell employees are being put on notice that the success of the company lies in their own hands. If something is broken, it's an employee's responsibility to fix it - or to alert somebody who can.

Linda Tischler (ltischler@fastcompany. com) is a Fast Company senior writer.