Successful organizations, he felt, exude a vibrancy which uniquely defines the “Smell of the Workplace”. Ghoshal describes the smell of the air in the forest of Fontainebleau, 40 miles south of Paris, the vibrancy which spurs the casual walker to run, jog or do something, and is in essence revitalising.
He compares it to downtown Kolkata in summer which is hot and drains energy and vitality. Most large companies in India and abroad, he felt end up creating downtown Kolkata in summer inside themselves. The smell of the workplace then becomes encapsulated in an environment of constraints, where jobs/relationships are only contracts and actions are defined by control and compliance.