OBAT WORK362 Part 4Sharing the Organizational Vision
CBC VIDEO CASEINCIDENT
Corporate Culture Meets G.A.P Adventures
Bruce Poon Tip, owner of G.A.P Adventures, is one of
Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs. G.A.P Adventures
is a travel company that offers eco-friendly tours with a dif-
ference—adventure and adrenaline.
Poon Tip has managed to take G.A.P Adventures from a
business with 2 employees to one with more than 70
employees and over $12 million in annual sales—in 10 years.
Since the company’s beginnings, Poon Tip has run G.A.P
Adventures as more of a family business than a corpora-
tion. He considers himself better at building than maintain-
ing businesses and wants to move on to new challenges in
expanding and diversifying G.A.P Adventures’ operations.
Poon Tip believes it’s time to take G.A.P Adventures to a
new corporate level.
It’s the 1990s. G.A.P Adventures’ staff is at the annual
spring retreat in Ontario’s cottage country. To the surprise of
all, Poon Tip announces a new division and the develop-
ment of a travel TV show, and introduces a new “hired
gun.” Poon Tip has hired Dave Bowen, an aggressive mar-
keting director with a corporate background, from one of
G.A.P Adventures’ biggest competitors. He wants Bowen
to shake up the company, which he is concerned is not put-
ting enough emphasis on the customer.
Bowen’s challenge is to bring corporate discipline to the
company without losing employee enthusiasm. Bowen uses
his New York savvy and southern charm to transform G.A.P
Adventures’ corporate culture. The inefficient, handwritten
reservation system is organized and converted to a high-tech
reservation system, and reservation policies are formalized.
The company’s annual brochure will include more large,
glossy pictures, more exciting titles, and only brief tour
descriptions. Bowen insists that it’s important to gain the
interest of the customer first with the positive aspects of the
tour, and then give the details (such as long bus rides) later.
How has G.A.P Adventures fared since the change to a
corporate culture? Although some G.A.P employees have
left the company, others have adjusted to a work environ-
ment that is more serious, more controlled, and less relaxedand open. G.A.P Adventures’ 1999 sales were $12.9 mil-
lion, up from just $500,000 five years earlier. The events of
September 11 made 2001 a financially challenging year for
many travel companies, yet it was a profitable year for G.A.P
Adventures.
This year’s annual spring retreat is a bit different—the staff
is staying in the executive suites of the upscale Blue Mountain
resort in Ontario. Poon Tip announces another surprise: The
company will be split into two divisions: the G.A.P division
and the Real Tours division. The G.A.P division will market
the company’s own brand: G.A.P tours. The new Real Tours
division will market other contracted-out tours. G.A.P
Adventures has also partnered with Signature Vacations to
market G.A.P tours. The reservation system is also changing,
with a new IT company supporting it. Where will G.A.P
Adventures’ journey in the world of corporate culture take
it next?Questions
1. What benefits can come from bringing an “out-
sider,” such as Dave Bowen, into a growing company
like G.A.P Adventures? In your opinion, was Bowen a
good fit for G.A.P, or should someone more suited to
the company’s existing organizational culture have
been brought in?- Did G.A.P Adventures have a strong or weak culture
before Bowen was hired? Justify your answer. - The impact of Bowen’s changes around the work-
place quickly caused two key employees to quit
G.A.P Adventures. Why do you think these employ-
ees were so resistant to the new changes to G.A.P’s
culture?
Sources:Based on “Corporate Culture Meets G.A.P Adventures,”
CBC Venture,June 23, 2002, 833; G.A.P Adventures: World Wide
Adventure Travel and Eco Tour website, http://www.gap.ca (accessed
January 13, 2006); http://www.profitguide.com/magazine/article.jsp?
content=261 (accessed January 13, 2006).