Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.bonus From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: bonus Fri, Jul 24 1992 Date: Fri, 24 Jul 92 04:47:16 EDT Message-ID: 07-24 0000 BONUS: Firms loosen dress codes USA TODAY Update July 24-26, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network If you're reading this in a typical office setting, you can look around at the way your colleagues are dressed and quickly determine that you work for one of two kinds of companies. You might work in an old, established business in which suits and dresses rule. Everyone has read Dress for Success at least once, nobody bucks the boss or the hierarchy, everyone plays by strict written or cultural rules and the company will be lucky to still be in one piece 10 years from now. WHAT IS THE OTHER OPTION? A new or revived business in which anything from Hawaiian shirts to sandals is appropriate attire - for both genders. Dress for Success is a running joke, nobody's afraid to argue with the boss, rules are made to be broken and the company is heading ever skyward. Well, at least that's the way the theory goes. IS CASUAL DRESS SEEN IN MANY OFFICES? It is infiltrating U.S. offices and summer typically brings a fresh wave. You may think just Silicon Valley wears jeans to work, but the trend has spread to all corners of the country and to once-stodgy offices such as Ameritech headquarters and the Edmund S. Muskie Institute of Public Affairs. Even General Motors headquarters may go hip. At clothesmaker AnnTaylor, dress codes are easing - somewhat. Women employees had been forbidden to wear pants on the job. Sally Frame Kasaks changed that in February on her second day as CEO. HAVE ANY SURVEYS BEEN DONE? A recent survey paid for by Levi Strauss - self-serving as it is for that casual clothing maker - found that 38% of 500 companies surveyed switched to more casual dress codes in the past five years, and 67% allow at least occasional casual dress. A Cotton Inc. survey showed similar results and other experts agree with the findings. WHAT IS PUSHING THE TREND? Changing culture plays a part. Baby boomers are the first generation that mostly wore sneakers and jeans to school instead of dress clothes or some daffy uniform. "Many are now in management positions, where they can influence dress policies," says Dan Chew, Levi's marketing manager and a boomer wearing jeans and a chambray shirt in his office. In the boomer mind-set, Chew says, casual dress "doesn't mean people are any less creative or smart. It just means they're more comfortable." IS THE COMPETITIVE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT HELPING THE TREND? "A lot of companies are struggling with how to create an atmosphere where people are ready to take the initiative, tell the truth to the boss and grab hold of an issue instead of saying, `It's not my job,' " says Allan Cohen, dean of faculty at Babson College, who has studied office environments. "That's forcing a lot of things, including the attempt to create openness and break down barriers by going informal in dress." ARE THERE EXCEPTIONS? For one, salespeople, consultants and other employees who regularly meet with people outside the office still dress formally across all industries. Second, as Cohen says, "You can take off your tie and still be a tyrant." WHERE IS THE TREND SEEN THE MOST? The heartland of the suit-free office is Silicon Valley - home to Apple, 3-Com, Sun Microsystems and Genentech. The image is burned into the business world's conscience. At those companies, computer whizzes dressed in sweatshirts and jeans push technological advances at a mind-boggling pace. Managers and employees consort at Friday-afternoon beer bashes in the California sun. Wealthy company founders own more cars than neckties. Scott McNealy, Sun's chairman, says: "We don't have a dress code. The only rule is that you must." IS THIS A CALIFORNIA FAD? They don't dress that way simply because it's California. "High-tech companies are organizations that have had to depend on really smart people at all levels," Cohen says. The industry moves so fast and is so ultra-competitive, he says, that Silicon Valley firms "could never risk barriers. They need to have people willing to march into the boss' office and say, `We're blowing this opportunity.' The dress code, the beer busts, it's all very related to the nature of the business." DOES DRESS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH SUCCESS? Other images from outside Silicon Valley have shown us that you can be tremendously successful and never look the part. Bill Gates, founder of software giant Microsoft near Seattle, is quite likely the worst-dressed billionaire in history. Sam Walton, the late billionaire founder of Wal-Mart in Bentonville, Ark., was fond of baseball caps and hunting clothes. WHERE ELSE IS CASUAL DRESS POPULAR? Ameritech, the regional telephone company based in Chicago, was once part of the regulated AT&T. Since the breakup of AT&T, it's in the deregulated world of free competition. And it just changed from an institutional shirt, tie, suit, etc. dress code to a more casual approach, says spokesman Mike Brand, wearing an open-collar shirt. "I woke up this morning and said, `I really don't want a tight collar today.' " WHAT IS AMERITECH TRYING TO CONVEY? It is attempting to change the company's culture. "A more informal office atmosphere helps show employees they have more leeway in making decisions," Brand says. In Portland, Maine, staffers at the Muskie Institute wear just about anything, which is a big change from the 1970s. Then, the place was full of suits and dresses. But attitudes have been altered by the times. A recent but somewhat outdated office memo on dress says: "Today, in the days of H. Ross Perot and `question authority' feelings about everything, the halls are filled with some shorts, wild prints on ties and colorful dresses." ARE ALL FIRMS GOING CASUAL? A lot of older companies are sticking with dress codes. Is there casual dress at Eastman Kodak? "No such thing," says Leann Appenzoller in the company's Arlington, Va., office. One of the most celebrated dress cultures of years past belonged to IBM: White shirts, conservative ties, dark suits for men; business dresses or suits for women. ARE THINGS EVEN CHANGING AT IBM? Spokesman Andy McCormick says IBM has no written dress code. At the IBM personal computer software group in Boca Raton, Fla., technicians wear sandals, long hair and jeans. And because of its joint venture with Apple Computer, IBM-ers are adopting Silicon Valley's casual dress code. "All we ask is to dress appropriately to one's tasks," McCormick says. But in practice, IBM insiders say, most employees still wear a shirt, tie or dress in conservative colors and patterns. WHAT IS HAPPENING AT GM? General Motors, too, is trying to break its conservative mind-set. As GM races to update itself, part of the change will probably include a measure of casual dress. Bruce MacDonald, GM's new vice president for public relations, says that one of the first things he wants to do is institute a casual day at headquarters in Detroit. The reason is clear. MacDonald is joining the corporate staff from GM's hugely successful Saturn division, the only place in the company where every day is casual day. Bonus Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM