Articulating Corporate Culture

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Articulating Corporate Culture

• Timothy Devinney

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The ImperativesA General IBS Framework
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Strategic Decision Making

• In a perfect world decision making would be
  logical and rational. However, our decision
  making often looks like this

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Strategic Decision Making

• It is also affected by organizational beliefs and
  culture

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Organizational Belief Systems

• A system or paradigm shared by management that
  includes
• an understanding of why we are (un)successful
• definition of what we do and what we are
• a pool of tacit systemic knowledge
• And serves as both a strength and weakness in
  that
• it enables quick action without control or
  hinders actions that should be taken quickly by
  being too strong a control
• it provides focus to employees albeit at times an
  incorrect focus
• defines the firms strategic intent or reveals
  its lack of intent

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Articulating Culture
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A Culture Web for Walmart
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A Regional Newspaper
Stories and Myths
Macho personalities and behavior. Scoops and
coverage of major events. Stories of the
past. Major errors in print.
Symbols
Symbols of hierarchythe MDs Jaguar, portable
phones, car-parking spaces etc. The
press. Technical production jargon. The street
vendors.
Power Structures
Slaves to time to meet deadlines for
publication. Product developed in hours and
minutes not days and months. Long work hours
common. Ritualized executive meetings at senior
level.
We are in the newspaper business. Our
paid-for-daily will always be there. Readers
will pay for news. Advertisers need us. We serve
the local community. We re-make our business
every day.
Rituals and Routines
The parent company a newspaper group. The
autocratic CEO. Departmental rivalry between
production, commercial and editorial
departments.
Emphasis on targetting and budgeting. To achieve
low costs
Vertical, hierarchical system little lateral
communication and much vertical
referral. Autocratic.
Organisational Structures
Control Systems
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Cultural Differences Between Philips and
Matsushita

• Spend a few minutes thinking of how the culture
  web applies to the case of Philips-Matsushita
• Each small group should articulate the
  differences between the two companies on one
  assigned dimension
• Overall what are the implications of their
  internal cultural orientations on the pursuit of
  their strategies?

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Force Field Analysis
Forces for Change
DEVELOPMENT of STRATEGY
CORPORATE PERFORMANCE
THE PARADIGM
IMPLEMENTATION
Forces for Status Quo
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The Role of the Paradigm
DEVELOPMENT of STRATEGY
CORPORATE PERFORMANCE
THE PARADIGM
IMPLEMENTATION
IF UNSATISFACTORY
STEP 1 TIGHTER CONTROLS
STEP 2 RECONSTRUCT OR DEVELOP NEW STRATEGY
STEP 3 ABANDON PARADIGM AND ADOPT NEW ONE
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Whither Culture?

• Culture can be a damaging constraint on the
  ability of the organization to grow and develop

or

• Culture can be an asset that pulls you excitedly
  into the future