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by Prasanna Perera, Marketing and Management Consultant, Chartered Marketer, CIM, UK

Many books and articles have been written on the subject of corporate culture. However, the hunger never subsidies and the mystic continues, with many corporates trying to understand its relevance and importance. In this brief article, I will endeavour to shed further light on this fascinating subject.

Corporate culture - one more time

Between business plans and reality, lie years of habits, customs, vested interests, unwritten rules, procedures and policies...... in short the corporate culture. Culture cannot only stop a change effort dead in its tracks, it can also propel it to great heights.

People and organisations are creatures of habit and changing habits are much harder than changing structures or systems. Organisations, like people have personalities and to ignore an organisation's personality traits could be fatal in any change process. To truly change an organisation, you need to change the culture! This is easier said than done, since culture is deep rooted and deep seated, within the fabric of the organisation.

Organisational cultural barriers

Many programs of change in organisations fail, because of cultural barriers. The main obstacle is a hierarchical structure and top-down leadership style. In such an environment, people wait for things to happen and are not encouraged to make things happen.

Communication barriers specially between departments, cause programs of change to fail. In certain organisations, inter departmental politics are rampant, based on the 'we - they' phenomenon. Programs of change also requires Top Management in organisations, to "walk the talk". (Not only to talk!) However, in many organisations, there is no commitment to change programs, on the part of the Top Management. Poor empowerment of employees also leads to blocks in programs of change, since employees cannot take timely decisions.

Therefore, organisations that are keen to initiate change programs, would do well to break away from the shackles of corporate culture and charter new ways for future prosperity.

Value of a positive organisational culture

High performance cultures are a launching pad for new initiatives, and are characterised by the following behaviour.

- Can-do spirit - Mutual support
- Bias for action
- Passion for the customer
- Collaboration - Positive attitudes
- Creative/Innovative
- Willingness to change

GE is recognised as one of the world's most successful business organisations. The secret of GE's success, is its focus on a set of core values, which defines the culture. It really is the power of a healthy culture. GE leaders throughout the company demonstrate these core values. They are:

* Having a passion for excellence and hating bureaucracy and all the nonsense that comes with it.

* Relish change and are stimulated by it. They see change as an opportunity, not as a threat.

* Understand that speed is a competitive advantage and the organisational benefits that can be achieved from a focus on speed.

* Willingness and confidence to empower others.

* Commitment to work and to walk-the-talk. Not only to talk!

* Demonstrate loads of energy and the ability to energise and motivate others.

Another example of a positive culture is David Novak and the leadership he provided KFC. KFC was an old American Institution, that had gone through a number of changes in ownership. David saw his job as leading the rebirth of a great American giant. His vision included shaping a new culture, refocusing on the customer and rebuilding healthier relationships with employees.

David convinced the top management at KFC to focus all of the organisation's attention on supporting the Restaurant General Managers (RGM's) and the restaurant operations. In order to demonstrate this commitment a theme was developed; "The RGM is No. 1 - The customer is the reason why". The result of these initiatives was the re-emergence of KFC as the leading player in the fast food industry.

Values and beliefs: the inner fabric of culture

Corporate values are the guiding principles, underpinning what is important within the company. Values often include integrity, business ethics and concern for key publics. Beliefs on the other hand, refer to things that are believed and "the way we are supposed to be around here." Examples of beliefs include working as a team, having an open door policy, managers are paid to make decisions, people should follow rules.

When values and beliefs are shared by a group of people, they become a powerful set of unwritten ground rules that guide daily decisions and actions. Take for example Johnson and Johnson and their credo. (Statement of shared values)

* Believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients to mothers, to fathers and all others who use our products.

* Responsible to our employees, the men and women who work with us throughout the world.

* Responsible to the communities in which we live and work.

* Responsibility to our shareholders and that business must make a sound profit. Many organisations are beginning to recognise the power of shared values and make them part of their reward and recognition system. Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, passionately believes in the importance of organisational values. According to Welch, values are a key to success at GE. He also said that in an environment with values, everyone can create a win.

Successful organisations - in cultural terms

It would be interesting to visualise what successful organisations are like in cultural terms.

Organisational structures would be flatter and less hierarchical. (Lower levels of fat!) Team orientation will replace individual attention. Recognition will be granted to team achievements, rather than individual.

Controls will be minimal and will be exercised objectively. The belief is that excessive controls can kill creativity and teamwork. Managers would be more like coaches, training guiding and motivating their teams. Managers would be discouraged to act like supervisors or bosses.

When promotions are granted, they are based on performance, ability and the skills shown in developing others.

Employees are encouraged to indulge in continuous education, in order to match the changing work environment. Instead of command and control, facilitation skills are encouraged in Managers, when dealing with their teams.

As can be observed, organisations with healthy cultures, demonstrate characteristics which are special. The emphasis in such organisations is on people, teams and creating a cohesive working group devoid of internal politics, power and authority.

"Our job is to provide a culture, in which people can flourish and reach their dreams - in which they can be all they want to be". (Jack Welch)

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