What’s for Breakfast?: Culture, Strategy, and the New Little Shop of Horrors

“An organization’s culture is the only sustainable point of difference for any organization. Anyone can copy a company’s strategy, but nobody can copy their culture.”

- Torben Rick

Culture?• “How organizations do things”

• “The values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization”

• “A jointly shared description of an organization from within”

• “The sum values and rituals which serve as ‘glue’ to integrate the members of the organization”

Why Culture Matters• Defines what is of primary importance to the organization, the

standards against which success and failure is measured.• Prescribes how organization’s resources are to be used and to what

ends.• Establishes what the organization and its members can expect from

one another.• Sets the tone for how members should treat each another and how to

treat non-members: competitively, collaboratively, honestly, distantly, hostilely, etc.

• Instructs members how to deal with the external environment: aggressively, exploitatively, responsibly, or proactively (Beach, 2006, p. 30)

Culture determines behavior, and thus

• Performance and Turnover,

• Customer Satisfaction and Reputation,

• Market share and Competitiveness

• Employee Retention, etc.

28 Components to constructing effective organizational culture

11. Work/Life balance

12. Conflict

13. Happiness

14. Approachability

15. Rewards

16. Social Glue

17. Benefits and perks

18. Physical facilities and layout

19. Environmental and hygiene factor

20. Professional courtesy

1. Messages

2. Pronouns

3. Meetings

4. Language

5. Reading material

6. Innovation

7. Management structure

8. Internal stakeholders

9. External stakeholders

10. Leadership

28 Components to constructing effective organizational culture

21. Credit sharing

22. Trust

23. Dress

24. Employee Handbook

25. Professional Growth

26. Discipline

27. Termination

28. Evaluation

By the numbers…• 50-75% of change initiatives fail because they don’t

match with culture…

OCAI

Assessing Organizational

Culture

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What is OCAI:• Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument

• Developed by professors Cameron & Quinn

• Based on the Competing Values Framework

• Researched and Validated

• Used by over 10,000 organizations worldwide

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OCAI offers:• Quick, identifiable diagnosis with a visual profile

• A quantitative starting point completed with qualitative information

• Consensus about current and preferred culture

• Momentum for change

• A clear format to change that you customize to your situation

• Basis for successful and sustainable change

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Competing values• The OCAI is based on the Competing Values Framework

• 2 major polarities of values were found to determine organization’s effectiveness:

1. Internal versus external focus

2. Stability versus flexibility

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Quadrant 4 Culture Types

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Clan culture• Internal focus & flexibility

• ‘Family’: friendly

• Leader type: father, mentor

• Communication, commitment, development

• Theory = High commitment and solidarity produce effectiveness

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Adhocracy culture• External focus & flexibility

• Dynamic, entrepreneurial, creative

• Leader type: innovator, entrepreneur

• Innovation, agility, transformation

• Theory = Innovativeness, growth and creativity produce effectiveness

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Market culture • External focus & stability

• Result orientated, competitive

• Leader type: hard-driver, demanding

• Market share, goal achievement, profitability

• Theory = Goal achievement, market share, numbers produce effectiveness

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Hierarchy culture• Internal focus & stability

• Formal attitude, structure, procedures

• Leader type: coordinator, organizer

• Efficiency, reliability, timeliness, consistency

• Theory = Efficiency, timeliness and consistency produce effectiveness

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6 key dimensions of culture:

1. Dominant characteristics

2. Organizational leadership

3. Management of employees

4. Organization glue

5. Strategic emphasis

6. Criteria of success

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The assessment:

• Divide 100 points over 4 descriptions that correspond with the 4 culture types

• Dividing points is just like real life, where you have to divide your time, energy and money

• Assess each of the 6 key dimensions for the current situation

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Select OCAI One:

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After question 1:

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Complete the assessment:

• Assess each of the 6 key dimensions for the current situation

• Then assess each of the 6 key dimensions for the preferred situation (let’s say in 5 years)

• Your personal Culture Profile is emailed to your address immediately after completion

• OCAI One is free for individual participants

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OCAI cultural profile

0

5

10

15

20

25

30Flexibility

Adhocracy

External

Market

Stability

Hierarchy

Internal

Clan

Total

NOW PREF

Now Preferred

Clan 40,32 39,26

Adhocracy 26,02 27,41

Market 13,38 11,39

Hierarchy 20,28 21,94

100 100

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The profile shows:• Dominant organizational Clan Culture, followed

by Adhocracy Culture. Focus on flexibility and professional freedom.

• Hardly any difference Current versus Preferred culture. “I’m content.” “I don’t want change.”

• A strong dominant culture of about 40 points.

• Discuss this profile with colleagues!

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The profile shows (2):• ‘Congruence’ on 6 cultural aspects: are all 6

dominant in the same culture type?

• Comparison with other organizations

• The developmental phase of the organization: starting as a pioneer in adhocracy, growing in clan, structuring in hierarchy and assuring results in market culture.

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OCAI Pro:• An online account for a team or organization

• One price – for any number of participants

• Start and close it yourself and track the number of participants (but not who they are)

• Results of all respondents are combined in a report with collective profiles of the current and preferred culture, incl 6 key aspects of culture.

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OCAI Workshop:• The current & preferred cultural profile is the quantitative

starting point for solid change

• Easy to follow format for a change process that you customize to your situation

• Get qualitative information in the workshop

• Engage employees

• Reach consensus, solve objections and resistance

• Elaborate to concrete behavior: real change!

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OCAI is used:• To help make change, restructuring or downsizing successful

• To assess a possible merger

• To help improve leadership &employee retention

• To check employee satisfaction

• To enhance organizational performance

• To help hiring the right people to fit into culture