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Transparency hits corporate culture

Building a positive organizational culture is more important than it historically ever has been, with sites like Glassdoor and Kununu giving employees and job-seekers alike the visibility into how a company actually functions versus what glossy words are used on the company’s career homepage.

• 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a distinct workplace culture is important to business success.

In other words, leaders and employees alike believe that culture is a key signal of how well a company is doing, and company success is highly motivating and exciting.

Corporate Culture – Infographic

Culture more important than compensation

How it possible that culture is more important that compensation and benefits? Simply because research has shown there is a correlation between employees who say their organization has a clearly articulated and lived culture and those that say they are “happy at work” and feel “valued by (their) company”. In other words, engagement. And engagement leads to greater participation in health and wellness programs, as well as other important company initiatives.

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What is organizational agility?

Competitive advantage depends on the ability to move quickly, decisively and efficiently in sensing, responding to and exploiting change in the business environment. Organizational agility is needed:

Organizational agility is the capacity to be infinitely adaptable without having to change. Agile organizations strive to develop a built-in capacity to shift, flex, and adjust, either alone or with alliance partners, as circumstances change, and to do so as a matter of course

Being infinitely adaptable is the key here, and there’s really only one way to do that: Create the culture that has the built-in capacity for agility.

 Organizations must change and adapt repeatedly

Agility does more than allow companies to adapt. It makes them adaptable and proactively nimble as part of their culture.

Like a cheetah – which can accelerate, decelerate and change direction faster than anything else on the African savannah, and has evolved into the fastest animal on land and one of the most agile creatures on earth – organizations must change and adapt repeatedly if they are to maintain their environmental fit and survive – and stay ahead of the forces that will signal tough times or the company’s demise.

Agile companies focus on the ability and capacity to implement changes, both incremental and discontinuously, as well as the ability to verify the contribution of execution to performance.

What are common traits of agile organizations?

• Agile organizations never rest on their success and regularly seek to improve even when they are successful
• There is alignment and clarity around the mission, and vision and values
• They embrace failure as a learning opportunity, have a strong purpose, a vitality and a learning mindset
• Rapid decision-making happens not just during a crisis, but every day
• There is a strong ability to execute, high levels of accountability, customer-centric thinking and strong cross-organizational synergy

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Wave after wave of change – pressure to make transformational change

In an industry that historically has changed at a sedate pace, big banks have been altering the way they do things at dizzying speed.

The banking sector has been under intense scrutiny and pressure to make transformational change in recent years in the wake of the financial crisis.

Facing narrow margins, tighter regulation and wary customers, they are forging new business models, transforming operational processes and re-orienting around service. At the same time, the ongoing digital and data revolution continues to bring wave after wave of change, making banks more technology-driven than ever. And in perhaps the most interesting about-face, financial services organizations are now taking culture change very seriously.

Taking culture change very seriously

Many banks, including Deutsche Bank, Citi, Barclays and Lloyds are responding with sweeping culture change strategies to restore trust, accountability and put customers back at the forefront.

Cultural change has become a core component of Deutsche Bank strategy. That powerful that Deutsche Bank have dedicated several pages about corporate culture in their latest annual report:

They know that strategies, operating models and organizational structures are only as durable and effective as the culture that holds them together. And they know that when they dramatically change those fundamental elements of business, they must also change the culture that underpins them.

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The band

The band “Curiosity Killed the Cat” appeared out of nowhere, as if they were transported from a parallel universe wherein blue-eyed soul was seen as rock & roll’s salvation in the late ‘80s. Like-minded groups like Johnny Hates Jazz, Waterfront, Living in a Box, and Curiosity Killed the Cat all debuted and disappeared at the same time.

Of the four, Curiosity Killed the Cat leaned more toward the teen girl population that hung “Smash Hits” posters on their bedroom walls. The band’s lightweight funk and photogenic looks rewarded them with mainstream acceptance in their native England. But then they disappeared.

Complacency will kill the cat

2010 saw the start of the inevitable demise of Blockbuster Video. The once formidable video rental company, who at its peak saw profits of up to £534.8 million in 2000, filed for bankruptcy. The news of Blockbuster’s fall from grace may have come as a shock to some people, but for others the company’s writing was already on the grave with its diminishing profits since the innovative surge and increased competition by Netflix and other streaming services.

The illusion of the comfort zone was probably Blockbusters main underlying problem. The company had enjoyed vast success in the past and were seeing large profits. Directors had become wealthy and it seems that the main focuses were being lost. There was a reluctance for change as methods that had worked before were perceived to be certain to continue working for the foreseeable future. Online streaming was dismissed as the board struggled to see any potential for profit in this area.

Blockbuster Video was in love with its comfort zone and its failure to adapt to changes in its market environment cost the company dearly.

Struggle to stay relevant

Kodak. Sears. Borders. The mere mention of any of these companies brings to mind the struggle to stay relevant amid today’s technology and boundless alternatives. Curiosity may have killed the cat but complacency have killed many once successful companies.

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The culture of an organization is practically its DNA

An organization’s culture is deeply embedded in the system and is therefore extremely difficult to change.

Changing an organization’s culture is one of the most difficult leadership challenges. That’s because an organization’s culture comprises an interlocking set of goals, roles, processes, values, communications practices, attitudes and assumptions.

But what is organizational culture?

Why is organizational culture change difficult

Here are some reasons why:

• The culture of an organization is practically its DNA. Culture determines how everything else in the organization unfolds. As Peter Drucker said: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”
• The organization and its culture are reciprocal and interdependent: the organization, its design and strategies influence its overall culture and vice versa
• An organization’s culture reflects its deepest values and beliefs. Trying to change it can call into question everything the organization holds dear, often without that conscious intention
• The culture of an organization is embedded in the entire organizational system. Each little change effects every layer of that system
• Organizational culture evolves over time. An organization’s identity is based on its culture, which is deeply linked to its history and development

In sum, the culture of an organization creates its unique, complex face and character. As such, it is as difficult to change in its entirety as the whole personality of a human being or that of a nation.

Changing a culture is a large-scale undertaking, and eventually all of the organizational tools for changing minds will need to be put in play. Let’s not forget that organizational culture is like an iceberg with most of its weight and bulk below the surface.

Changing culture is a bit like changing the course of a large ship – it takes time to man oeuvre and whilst the engines are pushing one way the tides and winds are pushing another

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Culture is not something companies can add on as “decor”

To survive and grow, and even regain competitive advantage, many companies are grappling with ways to transform their businesses in the face of radical change.

They are responding in many predictable and time-tested ways: Changing CEOs and leadership teams, shifting strategies, rolling out new product lines, amping up innovation, cutting costs and restructuring.

These are all the necessary things to do to react to change, but these actions usually only treat the symptoms of a chronic illness – hardening of corporate arteries – without curing the underlying cause. Companies may be missing out on the most important strategy of all: Creating a culture of agility.

Culture is not something companies can add on as “decor” once the building is complete, it is the foundation on which the house is built. Top 20+ must reads on organizational culture:

# 1 – What is organizational culture? Why care about culture?

Anyone can copy a company’s strategy, but nobody can copy their culture! Culture is key to building a company.

 What is corporate culture?

#2 – Why is organizational culture change difficult

Changing culture is a bit like changing the course of a large ship – it takes time to man oeuvre and whilst the engines are pushing one way the tides and winds are pushing another

#3 – What is organizational agility?

Competitive advantage depends on the ability to move quickly, decisively and efficiently in sensing, responding to and exploiting change in the business environment. Organizational agility is needed

#4 – Titanic sank after colliding with an iceberg

Some aspects of organizational culture are visible on the surface, like the tip of an iceberg, while others are implicit and submerged within the organization.

It seems quite ironic, that organizations are often not aware, or may choose to ignore the attributes that are beneath the surface and not seen.  Sometimes leaders make decisions only on that is visible to them.

# 5 – Changing organizational culture is daunting

Successful execution of a growth strategy depends heavily on having a culture that drives high performance. Changing the culture, however, is daunting for any organization. Culture is deeply embedded in values, assumptions, behaviors, and attitudes.

#6 – What are the keys to CREATE a cultural change?

The hardest part of a business transformation is changing the organizational culture. So, what are the keys to CREATE a cultural change?

#7 – It’s not enough anymore to just create the strategy

Culture and strategy need to eat lunch together – Culture is either driving the strategy or undermining it!

#8 – Is culture more important than strategy

The most important thing about culture is that it’s the only sustainable point of difference for any organization. Anyone can copy your strategy, but nobody can copy your culture.

#9 – Organizational culture is largely invisible – organizational roadblocks

Watch out for “We have always done it that way”, “That’s not the way we do things around here”, “We are different” etc. These phrases and others like it typically refers to the complex, subtle practices that become ingrained in an organization’s culture, to the point where they become part of its identity.

Ignoring what’s below the surface is what will ultimately undermine organizational transformation.

#10 – Barriers to organizational change

The more things change, the more they stay the same – Barriers to organizational change.

#11 – The organizational Pac-Man is always hungry

Culture is today’s major performance differentiator. Culture creates the foundation for strategy and will either be a company’s greatest asset or largest liability.

Successful execution of strategy depends very much upon the organizational culture. Don’t leave the organizational Pac-Man unattended!

#12 – Organizational culture eats strategy for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Does culture eat strategy for breakfast, lunch and dinner? The answer is YES! To strengthen a company’s culture get ready for a time of deep, reflective thinking.

#13 – Managing organizational culture

High-performance organizations set, manage, and monitor their culture to achieve strategic objectives. They start by defining the desired culture required to enable their strategy, then define values that align with their culture and intentionally cultivate these in their workforce.

# 14 – The shadow of the leaders

Organizations are shadows of their leaders ….. that’s the good news and the bad news. The behavior of the senior team has a direct impact on the performance and productivity of the entire organization.

#15 – Killed by a corporate culture of complacency

Complacency almost always comes from a sense of success and lives long after the success that created it has disappeared. Organizations that are complacent do not look for new opportunities or hazards.

#16 – Successful rowing eights operate as a unit

The most critical element in any strategy is its translation into reality. The only true measure of success is in its execution. And one of the key determinants of successful strategy implementation is organizational alignment.

#17 – Measuring organizational alignment

As the world becomes progressively more competitive and globalized, companies need to align their organization with the market and customers’ requirements. Measuring organizational alignment allows companies to identify backsliding, correct course where needed and demonstrate tangible evidence of improvement – which can help to maintain positive momentum over the long haul.

#18 – The relationship between culture and strategy

Corporate culture is an incredibly powerful factor in a company’s long-term success. No matter how good a companies strategy is, when it comes down to it, people always make the difference. A strategy that is at odds with a company’s culture is doomed. Culture trumps strategy every time.

Every organization that excels at building, reinforcing, and leveraging their unique culture in support of delivering sustainable performance has built a strong “culture foundation”.

#19 – Organizational values

Core values are what support the vision, shape the organizational culture and reflect what the company values. They are the essence of the company’s identity – the principles, beliefs or philosophy of values.

#20 – The operating system that powers the organization

Company value statements typically have a tendency to be a bit vague and lacking instructions that tell employees what the most important guidelines are for the company. That’s way it make sense to add organizational guidelines – culture code, the operating system that powers the organization.

#21 – Organizational culture a key signal

Building a positive organizational culture is more important than it historically ever has been.

#22 – Corporate culture infographics

Top 4 corporate culture infographics – From what is organizational culture to CREATE a culture change

#23 – Corporate culture comics

How does Dilbert see the current status of corporate culture?

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If there was anyone left who thought Amazon was a doe-eyed startup with a penchant for brightly coloured bean bags and office trampolines, they must have been shocked after a recent New York Times article about the business culture at Amazon.

Having spoken to more than 100 current and former Amazon employees, the NYT painted a picture of a firm “where overachievers go to feel bad about themselves”, where workers are encouraged to tear apart each other’s ideas in brutal meetings or stab colleagues in the back with anonymous reviews, and where the bottom-ranked employees are sacked in a kind of ritual, annual cull.

Some “Amazonians” backed up the article’s description of a brutal, unrelenting workplace. Others – including CEO Jeff Bezos himself in a memo to his employees – questioned its accuracy:

The article goes further than reporting isolated anecdotes. It claims that our intentional approach is to create a soulless, dystopian workplace where no fun is had and no laughter heard.

I don’t recognize this Amazon, and I very much hope you don’t, either. I strongly believe that anyone working in a company that really is like the one described in the NYT would be crazy to stay. I know I would leave such a company.

But hopefully, you don’t recognize the company described. Hopefully, you’re having fun working with a bunch of brilliant teammates, helping invent the future, and laughing along the way.

In the memo he asked anyone who witnesses such displays of corporate callousness to report it to human resources or e-mail the CEO.

Iceberg symptom

Are the allegations true? It’s hard to say! It’s true that the article was mostly built on interviews with ex-employees, who are by definition more likely than current employees to have fundamental differences with Amazon’s way of doing things. But, on the other hand, it’s also true that current employees aren’t exactly likely to go on the record against it.

But one thing is for sure – there is a mismatch between “The way Amazon say they get things done” and “The way Amazon really get things done”.

The allegations about challenging working conditions at Amazon are not new. In 2013, the BBC reported that an investigation into a U.K. warehouse found conditions that could cause “mental and physical illness.” What was different about the Times’s story was that is focused almost exclusively on the company’s white-collar workers.

Has Amazon’s reputation just taken a blow?

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Corporate culture at Amazon hit by iceberg symptom — http://www.torbenrick.eu/t/r/biv

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What have the invisible man and the organizational culture in common

Too many leaders assume they know what their organizational culture is. Often they think that it can be summed up in a slogan, like: “We have a culture of innovation” or “We’re an action based culture.” Others assume their values statement adequately represents their unique culture.

But in many cases the are ignoring or not paying attention to what’s below the organizations surface. They have a tendency to focus on “The way we say we get things done” and don’t focus on “The way we really get things done”. Ignoring what’s below the surface will ultimately undermine organizational change.

Organizational culture is largely invisible, until it’s not

The value of an organization will be measured by its capability to change

When crating a list of questions to asses the current culture, take into consideration aspects above AND below the surface: What specific cultural changes will visibly improve business results within 12 months?

• Is the organizational culture aligned with the strategy?
• Does the organizational culture encourage strategy execution?
• Does the organizational culture create competitive advantage for companies strategy?
• How effectively does the organizational culture currently drive internal and external performance metrics such as profit, sales/market growth, employee engagement, innovation etc.?
• Does the corporate culture bring out the best performance in the companies employees?

• What are the most common complaints employees make about the company culture?
• Does culture fosters trust?
• Does the culture that promotes quick responses to needed changes?
• Does decision-making authority exists at all levels, not just top management?
• What does the workplace “feel” like?
• Who is talking to whom (and who isn’t?)
• How do people interact?
• What stories do people tell about the organization or its “heroes?”
• How are customers, suppliers and other external stakeholders treated?
• Are there “rites of passage”? If so, what do they celebrate?

Any questions missing?

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Understanding employee motivation and aspiration is key to creating a high performance culture

A new global career survey of employees released today by Right Management finds that only 10 percent of employees define career success as high performance and productivity. These findings indicate an ongoing disconnect between employee aspirations and the performance demands of employers worldwide.

Employees rank work/life balance higher than performance

26 percent of employees define success in the workplace as enjoyment/happiness, followed by salary (19 percent), doing the best work (18 percent), respect and recognition (15 percent), and high performance (10 percent).

With only 10% of employees defining career success as high performance and productivity, it’s clear that organizations must make development a priority, and enable their leaders to mentor employees to expand their skills, capabilities and experience.

Leaders need to show respect

53 percent of employees say respect for their knowledge and experience is their top expectation of leadership. Others include mutual trust (51 percent), transparency (37 percent), learning and development (32 percent) and a relationship of equals regardless of job title (30 percent). In Europe, mutual trust is the top expectation of leadership.

Choosing the road to high performance

Many companies claim to have a high-performance culture, but the reality is that very few do. Maybe this infographic can help! But remember change does not come overnight!

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What is key to creating a high performance culture — http://www.torbenrick.eu/t/r/yal

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How to mess up company culture

Organizational culture is a delicate and precious thing. Getting it just right is a tremendous challenge, and it’s oh-so easy to absolutely mess up! Company culture is something that takes a long time to build, and even the smallest of things can make it or break it.

#1 – Not knowing what culture actually is

A sure way to completely mess something up – not knowing what the company’s culture is! Or even worse ignoring what’s below the surface.

#2 – Don’t allow leaders who don’t walk the talk to reign supreme

Leaders don’t always initiate company culture, but they certainly contribute. Don’t allow leaders within organizations to undermine the stated cultural norms. Deal with managers who aren’t on the bus. Hold them accountable for culture creation and support. Expect them to contribute positively and to embody the organizational culture in their everyday actions. If they can’t – or won’t – replace them with someone who can, and will.

#3 – Don’t allow the brightest people to put themselves above everybody else

Intelligence is obviously highly valued by employers. At the same time, the brightest people can be among the most difficult to manage. That difficulty is heightened if they’re used to getting exceptions and special treatment due to their high performance.

Sometimes the brightest people, whether it’s their intention or not, can be seen as trying to put themselves above everybody else or advance at others’ expense. Their colleagues feel marginalized, which leads to a culture that’s less collaborative, less trusting and centered on individuals

The challenge for managers is to create an environment where people have enough in common that they feel like they trust each other, and where the norm is always respect. High performance or intelligence can’t be grounds for exceptions, or it doesn’t end up working for anybody.

#4 – Negative attitudes at work stand to contaminate a company’s culture

An article on CNN stated that approximately 5 percent of companies employees could be accounting for 90 percent of people’s work-related woes. Just like the old saying, it’s completely possible in a work setting for one bad apple to spoil the bunch. So better make sure to deal proactively with “toxic employees”.

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Create a compelling purpose – A philosophical heartbeat

Most businesses have a mission statement and some even have vision or value statements. But despite the importance of defining a purpose for the business, few companies have developed business purpose statements.

But must organizations have a compelling purpose? – and what does that mean? Aren’t there already a host of labels out there that describe organizational direction?

• A vision statement says what the organization wishes to be like in some years’ time
• The mission describes what business the organization is in (and what it isn’t) both now and projecting into the future. Its aim is to provide focus for management and staff.
• Values describe the desired organizational culture

So how does purpose differ from all the above? Why do business need a philosophical heartbeat? The reality is that people care less about working for a company and much more about working for a compelling cause.

Let’s have a look at some “philosophical heartbeats” that connects with the heart as well as the head:

Turning moments into memories for our guests – Fairmont Hotels

The Ritz-Carlton is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission – The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

Nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive – Kellogg food company

Finding a purpose beyond profit

Empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business – Financial services company ING

The needs of the patient come first – Mayo Clinic

To make the property process simple, efficient, and stress free for people buying and selling a property – REA Group

Caring for the world … one person at a time – Johnson & Johnson

Without a statement, the company will lack soul

Purpose – which should last at least 100 years – should not be confused with specific goals or business strategies – which should change many times in 100 years. Yet although purpose itself does not change, it does inspire change. The very fact that purpose can never be fully realized means that an organization can never stop stimulating change and progress.

A compelling purpose provides direction and a way for everyone to see how they connect to the larger whole. When people understand how they fit and what their role is, the company create a new sense of engagement.

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For decades, Volkswagen has been a byword for state-of-the-art German engineering, its distinctive badge seen around the world as a cast-iron guarantee of the latest, safest and most carefully crafted technology.

Having admitted to deceiving regulators over emissions from its diesel cars, that reputation now lies in ruins and the company sits alongside Enron, Worldcom, Deutsche Bank, Toshiba and BP, among the corporate giants that became synonymous with shoddy practices.

Volkswagen hit by the corporate iceberg – Scandal due to corporate culture

The scandal at Volkswagen might look like the sort of stupid mistake that could easily have been avoided. Not so!

How could something like this happen at the company whose name literally translates to the “people’s car?” The company whose values page on their website reads, “Sustainable, collaborative, and responsible thinking underlies everything that we do.”

Our values provide the basis for our motivation and our decisions. It’s exactly the same with the Volkswagen’s values – our Group values. Once they are firmly established in our heads and our hearts, they will influence our behavior and decisions in addition to our personal values.

With nearly 600,000 employees, there must have been knowledge of the “defeat device” beyond those directly involved. Why no whistle-blowers at a company who says they value “sustainability” and “collaboration?” What was it about Volkswagen’s culture that kept employees silenced – was it because no one would listen, or because no one had the courage to speak?

Address the culture that enabled it

Volkswagen’s ability to rebound from this cheating scandal hinges on the company’s willingness to address the culture that enabled it.

They needed to become more open and leaner to help prevent any repeat of the scandal.

This company has to bloody learn and use this opportunity in order to get their act together, and 600,000 people worldwide have to be managed in a different way. This is very, very clear – Volkswagen Group of America CEO Michael Horn

We need in future a climate in which problems aren’t hidden but can be openly communicated to superiors. We need a culture in which it’s possible and permissible to argue with your superior about the best way to go – Osterloh, who as chief of the VW works council represents employees on the board

Integrated into a company’s culture

Values are put in place to provide guidance for actions and decisions made on behalf of the company. They can’t just be trite words on a website – they need to be integrated into a company’s culture at a fundamental level. Maybe the time has come to integrate a new core statement into Volkswagen’s corporate value or/and organizational culture code:

We behave properly – We take constant care

At Volkswagen, the time to redesign the culture is now!

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Scandal due to corporate culture — http://www.torbenrick.eu/t/r/yep

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The dark side of business – Rotten corporate cultures

Do companies with rotten corporate cultures spawn scandals, like the one this year at Volkswagen where engineers apparently felt at liberty to rig diesel engines to fool pollution-monitoring devices? Or the unconscionable accounting lies at Toshiba, where executives reportedly overstated profits by a stunning $2 billion over seven years? Or the endless numbers of scandals at Deutsche Bank?

Corporate culture matters a lot

In a study from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, executives say corporate culture drives profitability, acquisition decisions and even whether employees behave in ethical ways:

Executives overwhelmingly indicate that an effective corporate culture is essential for a company to thrive in the modern business world

Among the findings:

• More than 90% said that culture was important at their firms
• 92% said they believed improving their firm’s corporate culture would improve the value of the company
• More than 50% said corporate culture influences productivity, creativity, profitability, firm value and growth rates
• Only 15% said their firm’s corporate culture was where it needed to be

Leadership needs to spend more time to develop the culture

The paper’s bottom line finding reinforces: Corporate culture is an essential element of success. Let’s hope that the fractured corporate culture at VW, Toshiba and Deutsche Bank opens a new discussion about the importance of corporate culture.

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Top 5 corporate culture infographics

From what is organizational culture to the dark side of corporate culture:

#1 – What is organizational culture

Anyone can copy a company’s strategy, but nobody can copy their culture! Culture is key to building a company. It is either driving the strategy or undermining it! If culture can help foster strategic initiatives, it also can spell their downfall!

But what is organizational culture?

#2 – Barriers to organizational change

The brutal fact is that about 70% of all change initiatives fail. But why?

The most general lesson to be learned from the many studies is that organizational culture is the most common barriers.

# 3 – Below the organizations surface

Some aspects of organizational culture are visible on the surface, like the tip of an iceberg, while others are implicit and submerged within the organization.

Because these ingrained assumptions are tacit and below the surface, they are not easy to see or deal with, although they affect everything the organization does.

#4 – How to CREATE a culture change

An existing culture is based on shared philosophies, ideologies, values, assumptions, beliefs and attitudes.

Transforming, sustaining and allowing for evolution of a culture is a complex process requiring a clearly articulated strategic aim, underpinning objectives and long term programme coordination and mobilization of resources.

So, what are the keys to CREATE a cultural change?

# 5 – The dark side of corporate culture

Do companies with rotten corporate cultures spawn scandals, like the one this year at Volkswagen where engineers apparently felt at liberty to rig diesel engines to fool pollution-monitoring devices?

Or the unconscionable accounting lies at Toshiba, where executives reportedly overstated profits by a stunning $2 billion over seven years?

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Top 5 corporate culture infographics — http://www.torbenrick.eu/t/r/inj

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Top 5 corporate culture infographics

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Strategy and culture are working at cross purposes with each other

A common issue at a leadership level is not understanding the interplay between strategy and organizational culture. Companies cannot sustain growth, profitability and competitive edge without harmony and alignment between business strategy and culture.

So many companies fall short in their goals because they overemphasize strategy with little/no attention to the cultural aspects that drive it. The most ingenious strategy in the world will never come to fruition without creating the right culture to drive it.

The dark side of corporate culture

Allowing the organizational culture to become infected by “The dark side of corporate culture” is a death blow to any strategy. And in extreme cases it can threaten a company’s existence – Volkswagen and Deutsche Bank are some reasonable good examples of “The dark side of corporate culture”.

Wondering why many organization’s change initiatives fail? In many cases, the organizational culture is the roadblock that impede change programs. Culture is a complex topic that impacts every major change effort – so don’t leave it unattended.

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The dark side of corporate culture — http://www.torbenrick.eu/t/r/acm

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Torben Rick
The dark side of corporate culture

Organizational agility is no longer a luxury, but a necessity It’s harder to stay on top than to get there. For every Apple, there is an Atari, for every Fuji a Polaroid, and for every Zara an American Apparel. How can you avoid the seemingly inevitable and remain a profitably growing “evergreen company” that stays […]

The silent business killer that strikes without warning It’s out there right now. Hiding where companies least expect to find it. It is the silent business killer that strikes without warning and can bring even the biggest and the brightest companies to their knees. What is this hidden terror? Complacency. Don’t think it can happen? […]

Strong organizational culture a true USP Organizational culture can be a fuzzy concept, but basically it is the amalgamation of values, vision, mission, and the day-to-day aspects of communication, interaction, and operational goals that create the organizational atmosphere that pervades the way people work. It’s hard to define and even harder to get right. Some […]

A cobblestone sails through the window A cobblestone sails through the window of an office building, shattering the glass in its wake. This act of vandalism impacts more than just the person who owns the building. It impacts the people who work there and the surrounding community. In 1982 James Wilson and George Kelling, used […]

Who is responsible for employee engagement The research is clear that employee engagement is a major driver and competitive advantage for an organization to become high performing and achieve its goals. But most employee engagement dialogue are focused on what the company should do to engage employees. There’s normally nothing on what the employee needs […]