Steam Whistle Brewing Essay

PART A
Life Cycle
All characteristics of Steam Whistle Brewing indicate they are in the collectivity stage of the lifecycle.
Structure: Steam Whistle appears to have a mostly informal structure; there are not large documents full of rules and procedures. While a hierarchy is present, it is as flat as possible, which can be illustrated by their office setup, which puts together high-level management with new hires.
Products: Steam Whistle has only one product, which is their main product, the pilsner. While this was not their original plan, after realizing the benefits they could gain, they decided to stick with one beer. Such benefits are, that it allows Steam Whistle to stand apart from their competitors who offer a wide variety of products

The company has many employees that “live and breathe” Steam Whistle and the company spends a great deal of time ensuring that their employees love the products they make. So, it could be assumed that employees have some creative and development input in the product.
Goal: While the company has expanded in recent years into all provinces in Canada, excluding Quebec, their goal is continual growth. This can be achieved by reaching new consumer markets in different geographical locations. While the case does not specify how Steam Whistle wants to grow, whether it be into international markets or simply increasing their market share in current markets, Steam Whistle has a good foundation to continue their development. In addition to growth, another goal is to strive towards being Canada’s “most respected beer.”
Top management Style: Top management – Taylor and Heaps – appear to be charismatic; they love their company and is clear by the way they manage it. Employees at Steam Whistle are very devoted, they “bleed green,” they have long employment relationships and they travel around Canada promoting and finding new customers for Steam Whistle. Such enthusiasm for a company can only be created by charismatic leaders, who inspire their employees to become as passionate and involved with the company as they themselves

One of these artifacts is stories; the origin story of how Steam Whistle came in existence, acts as a means for employees to understand how and why Taylor and Heaps run the company the way they do. This story allows for all employees to have a shared understanding of the key values held by the company heroes.
Another artifact is the use of ceremonies, which are used to celebrate five and ten-year anniversaries with the company. Steam Whistle acknowledges these anniversaries with team trips to Munich for Oktoberfest. In celebrating these anniversaries, management is reinforcing the cultural value that employees are a central and important key to the success at Steam Whistle.
Using language such as, “Good Beer Folks” and they “bleed green” to describe employees, highlights how greatly valued they are within the company. While beer may be what Stream Whistle produces, happy employees are also something that Taylor and Heaps strive