...Culture within an organisational context is a widely explored paradigm. It's nature and mottled definitions have formed the basis of organisational study for many decades. From Handy's cultural forms in the notorious "Gods of Management"3, to the Morganest metaphoric representations of the concept such as, culture as a web, an onion, or an iceberg6. Therefore, the contents of culture encompasses a wide range of organisational phenomena including surface features such as values and forms of expression: preconscious factors such as symbols and norms: and deep structures such as basic assumptions and worldviews (Pettigrew 1979; Frost et al 1985)7. They all imply that culture is an integral part of organisations, that without due consideration, development of strategy will ultimately lead to failure, leading to the assumption that culture should always fit with organisational strategy. Revenaugh2 suggests that most researchers assume that corporate culture is an important consideration for understanding and effectively managing organisations, and thus supports that argument. Bringing me to the purpose of this essay, which is to explore the context of organisational culture in more depth and come to a more discernable conclusion about its relationship with strategic management. As a result of its wide and varying definitions, corporate culture can be hard to define, measure or manage; these definitions reveal culture to be a complex concept that involves many factors as suggested...
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...Culture and strategy Introduction In the strategic literature the need to develop a strategy that requires the foundations of a culture that is compatible with the intended strategy is widely recognized. However, what is less widely understood is what happens when you have to fast track both cultural and strategic change when the strategy and its desired outcomes are both incompatible with the culture of the organization. How should managers deal with these challenges? How should such cultural appreciations be brought in to the discussion to develop and implement the business strategy? Cultural change is strategic change It is important to understand cultural change as also involving strategic change. Strategy can be considered as a cultural production that may involve cultural adaptation, or transformation, or both. This conceptualization is particularly useful if the organization is “betwixt and between” cultures and organizational identities i.e. a local authority department aspiring to become a commercially driven company. I will use a case study of such an organization that was changing from a council department into a Limited Liability Partnership to flesh out some ideas that illuminate the relationship between strategic development and organizational culture. Culture is not like a skin that an organization can discard as it selects a new organizational culture that is perceived to have strategic fit with its commercial strategy. In my view culture is the organization...
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...competitor can mean the difference between maintaining market leadership and barely surviving (Davila, Epstein& Shelton, 2006). To regain its long held standing as a leader in the snack industry Best Snack, Inc must implement a plan that focuses on creating a culture that cultivates innovation, developing management systems that are aligned with the new strategy, and creating a new product line that will bring the company back to the forefront in the snack industry. Describe the Situation Issue and Opportunity Identification Best Snacks, Inc has been a leader in the snack industry for many years. As the snack industry began to change to meet the demands of a consumer market that is more health conscious, Best Snacks has failed to meet the challenge. Best Snacks has been slow to adapt to change and stray away from its tried-and-true research, development, and marketing activities (University of Phoenix, 2006). The complacency of Best Snacks, Inc has caused it to have falling sales and stock prices. Successful organizations tend to become complacent and conservative in order to preserve their core competencies (Davila, 2006, p.239). Best Snacks, Inc has an opportunity to evaluate its current strategy and develop a new strategy that is conducive with innovation and creativity. The lack of innovation at Best...
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...Chapter 5: Culture and history The Chapter 2, 3 and 4 have considered the important influences of the environment, internal capabilities and stakeholder expectations on the development of an organization’s strategic. However, it is danger that mangers only take into account relatively recent phenomena without understanding how those phenomena have come about or how the past influences current and future strategy. Many well-established organizations such as Mitsui Group are strongly influenced by their historical legacies that have become embedded in their cultures (JSW, 2008). The business environment cannot be understood without considering how it has developed over time. The capabilities of an organization, especially those that provide organizations with competitive advantage may have historical roots and hove built up over time in ways unique to that organization. Therefore, such capabilities may become part of the culture of an organization which is difficult for other organizations to copy. However, they may also be difficult to change. So understanding the historical and cultural base of such capabilities also informs the challenges of strategic change. The powers and influence of different stakeholders are also likely to have historical origins that are important to understand. Thus, this chapter will explain the importance of history and culture in relation to strategy development in section 5.1 and 5.2; then followed by section 5.3 to address the challenges...
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...Leadership and Corporate Culture What is Leadership? What is Leadership? Ability to persuade others to do things for the good of the organization make difficult decisions make unpopular decisions deliver results create long-term commitments Why is the Leader Important to An Organization? Why is the Leader Important? Establishes vision Develops and implements strategies Allocates and controls resources Chooses key employees Shapes culture Affects organizational performance Projects image to the public Levels of Leadership (Jim Collins, HBR, Jan. 2001) Highly capable individual Contributing team member Competent manager Effective leader – catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear & compelling vision, stimulate high performance Executive – builds enduring greatness through humility and professional wills What are the Leadership Traits of Highly Productive Organizations? Leadership Traits of Highly Productive Organizations Attention to details Highly ethical and moral Embracing simplicity & disdain for waste Long-term focus Humility Coaching leadership style Trust and believe in others Management Practices That Work (Nohria, et al., HBR, 2003) Primary Strategy, Execution, Culture, Structure Secondary (Two of Four) Talent, Leadership, Innovation...
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...Organizational Culture Critical thinking questions 2. Some people suggest that the most effective organizations have the strongest cultures. What us meant by the "strength" of organizational culture, and what possible problems are there with a strong organizational culture? -The strength of an organizational culture lies in the beliefs, values and assumptions of an organization. When an organization has a strong culture the company is defined as one that believes, across the board, the values and beliefs of the company. Many organizations have sub-cultures that will ‘buck’ the system, but when the company is defined as having a strong culture, even the sub-cultures are in line with the company values and beliefs. Where the problems may arise is organizations that are so embedded in their belief and value systems that they may not be open to changing times in the market, organizational changes, or human resource changes. The organizations may be missing out on new ideas from new employees because they are too busy trying to conform employees into their total way of thinking. I believe there is room for learning the corporate culture, especially if that culture is working but I also believe there is always room for change and improvement in the organizations culture too. 8. Acme Corp. is planning to acquire Beta Corp., which operates in a different industry. Acme’s culture is entrepreneurial and fast-paced, whereas Beta employees value slow, deliberate decision making by...
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...TEACHING NOTE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND CHANGE By Romuald Stone, DBA The construct of organizational culture has raised considerable interest of both academics and practitioners in the field of change management. Organizational culture is “derived from the anthropological concept of culture that attempts to explain why people in societies believe and behave as they do.” It has “become a common way of thinking about and describing an organization’s internal world—a way of differentiating one organization’s ‘personality’ from another.” This organizational self-image develops over a period of time with the core elements typically coalescing during the organization’s formative years. In many organizations we find a strong dominant culture that is pervasive not only in the headquarters element but across divisions and geographic regions. However, in large organizations this culture is not uniform but instead is composed of many subcultures. Subcultures may share certain characteristics, norms, and values yet they can be totally different with some functioning collaboratively and others in conflict with each other. Definition Organizational culture is defined as a complex set of shared beliefs, guiding values, behavioral norms, and basic assumptions acquired over time that shape our thinking and behavior; they are part of the social fabric of the organization—its genetic code. As such, culture drives the organization and guides the behavior of everyone in that...
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...Organisational culture is defined as the shared values and beliefs that interact with an organisations’s structure and control systems to produce behavioural norms (Uttal 1983). Strategic management consists of the analysis, decisions, and actions an organistion undertakes to sustain a competitive advantage (Gregory 2005) . Scholars, such as a Drucker, argue that “culture eats strategy for breakfast”, meaning organisational culture is far more significant and influential compared to strategic management. No matter how brilliant your strategy is, it won’t be accomplished if it is not supported by your ogranisation’s culture. However, some scholars argue that due to the intermittent challenges facing organisations in the contemporary business enivornment, culture can often be influenced by strategy. An organisation’s culture is extremely influential to business success. The organisation’s values and beliefs affect marketing, productivity and customer interaction. A strong organisational culture is achieved through the use of language, rituals and symbols to communicate key values throughout the organisation. A weak organisational culture exists when core values are not clearly defined, not clearly communicated or not widely accepted within the organisation. This can lead to inconsistant customer experiences and a unfavourable business reputation. (1) presents a strong organisational culture as a competitive advantage, “ A strong culture helps you attract and keep top talent,...
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...Executive Leadership Summary Change Management All successful companies must incorporate progressive change into their business strategies. The success of change is dependent on the management of the change process. Failure in the change process is common. To better protect against failure, it is recommend that business have an unfreezing process in prelude to implementing change. “Unfreezing in the context of organizational change includes the process by which organizational members beliefs and attitudes about a change are altered so that they perceive the changes as both necessary and likely to be successful” (Choi & Ruona, 2011, P.46). Employee Resistance A management team must understand the reasons why a workforce may resist change and must influence the organizational culture into accepting change as a necessity to grow the business and prosper. Resistance is “… a natural reaction by people who want to protect their self-interests and sense of self-determination” (Yuki, 2010, P.299). There are many reasons at its core. These include (Yuki, 2010, P.299): • Lack of trust • Belief it is unnecessary • Belief it is unfeasible • Economic threats • High costs • Fear of failure • Loss of power • Threats to values • Resentment The management team should be aware that the resistance may come in stages. The stages include denial, anger, mourning, and adaptation. The duration of any particular stage may vary in groups and individuals. Patience, understanding, and a positive...
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...Subcultures and employment modes: translating HR strategy into practice Jennifer Palthe Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA Subcultures and employment modes 287 Received 15 March 2002 Revised 15 September 2002 Accepted 9 December 2002 Ellen Ernst Kossek Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA Keywords Human resource development, Employment, Human resource management, Culture Abstract Past research suggests that most culture change efforts proceed with limited attention to the pluralistic nature of contemporary organizations. We argue that the relationship between organization subcultures and the implementation of new HR strategies into HR practice has not been adequately explored because of the lack of a comprehensive framework for de®ning and integrating culture change and the strategic HR literature. We review the organization culture and strategic HR literature and present a heuristic that serves as a step toward exemplifying the role of changing employment modes and organizational subcultures in enabling or constraining the implementation of HR strategy. Adjusting to changing environmental demands has been an ongoing pursuit of organizations for centuries, but the task has become even more perplexing over the last decade. In response to the accelerated pace of change worldwide, organizations are becoming ¯atter and more agile, and are manifesting more diverse forms of organizational cultures. Recent trends in the changing nature of the...
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...MODULE 6 – LEADING AND IMPLEMENTING STRATEGY Identify & discuss the key challenges that confront the strategy implementation process * It needs a supportive environment & has pressures of changing external environment. * Reasons for failure or under-achievement: * Transforming strategic thinking into action * Implementation treated as an add-on & a lower-level employee task. * Strategy achieved best when those in charge of implementation also involved in strategic analysis & formulation process from the start. * Managers who implement are usually too busy with everyday running of operations to become involved in planning process or may be excluded. * Failing the 3Cs of communication, commitment & coordination * Poor communication & lack of commitment & inability to manage change effectively. Poor or vague strategy. Lack of buy-in & ownership from key manager & employees. * Lack of coordination or alignment between an organisation’s strategy & its functional units, processes & systems. * Lack of a model, inadequate information sharing, unclear lines of responsibility & accountability, unsupportive power structure. * Paralysis by analysis * Too much focus on analysis & formulation, relaxing on way resources are allocated & way in which operational decisions are made. Leaders trained to formulate not implement. * Important...
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...Change Management Organisations Change Management Strategy Report Organisations are highly specialized systems and people working within the organisations are generally cynical to change in the work environment as they don't want to get into uncharted territory. It is the natural tendency of human being to live in their comfort zone and no one likes to be comfortable being uncomfortable even for a short duration (during the change process). But, for organisations to survive and succeed in the current environment change is no longer optional. Organisations have to learn to love change to stay ahead of competition. * An overview of change management Definition - Change management is about moving from one state to another, specifically, from the problem state to the solved state (Jung, 2001). But, the organisational terminology for change management can be varied and ‘change' may be used under different terms. E.g. when a company talks about re-engineering, restructuring, promoting cultural transformation, or keeping pace with the industry, then it is talking about change. Lewin (1951) conceptualized that change can occur at three levels. * Change in the individuals who work in the organisation – that is their skills, values, attributes, and eventually behaviour. Leaders have to make sure that such individual behavioural change is always regarded as instrumental to organisational change. * Change in the organisational structures and systems – reward systems, reporting...
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...new subsidiary and new low-cost elevator strategy in India, Napoli also has the added challenges of incorporating essentially three cultures (Italian, Swiss, and Indian) (Bartlett, C., Fagan, P., Yoshino, M. 2006). It is difficult to know Napoli’s level of adaptation to Swiss culture, so I will consider him to be Italian, and thus discuss his interactions with both Swiss and Indian culture. In the below case study analysis I will analyze various cultural assumptions within Italian, Swiss, and Indian cultures and provide Napoli with a specific action plan to incorporate the cultures successfully, gain true consensus among managers, provide insight on strategy deployment and advise him on whether he should share the situation with Luc Bonnard. Cause and Problem Analysis In the below section, I will analyze key assumptions of the three national cultures and discuss strategy deployment. These assumptions include the relationship with nature, nature of truth and reality, controlling vs. adapting strategy, relationships with people, time, language and communication. Assumption 1: Relationship with Nature Italy’s relationship with nature is very different from that of Switzerland and India. Italian culture lends the idea that situations can be controlled by regulations and rules, whereas Switzerland and India have a culture that denotes fewer rules and regulations (Barsoux, JL., Schneider, S. 2003). Additionally, Indian culture encompasses fatalism, thus they relinquish...
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...1. Introduction. JD Wetherspoon plc was founded by Tim Martin who opened the first pub in 1979. This offered cheap beer, good conversation and solid architecture. The motto of JDW is “cleanliness, beer, services and maintenance”. JDW is committed to expansion the new pubs that over 600 pubs. JDW was opened the new pubs that over 50% of the finance generated by the own business. JDW had developed the Lloyds Number One brand in 2000. In 2002, share price increased more than ten times its original value. In the late 1990s, JDW begun developed the budget hotel accommodation. The purpose of this report is analysis the organization strategy and culture of JDW plc. It should be set out the external environment, organizational culture, business strategy and change of JDW plc. 2. Findings. Section 1: External Environment. Social: J D Wetherspoon pubs have many distinguishing characteristics in the case. For example at least a quarter of the space is non-smoking. If customer did not smoke, environment of JDW pubs can attract more customers no smoking. It will bring more profits for JDW pubs. Technological: In 2002, J D Wetherspoon pubs did not TV technology. JDW miss World Cup football result in sales decreased. Now JDW pubs did have TV screen and they also can show World Cup football. Previous customer may come back again. JDW pubs can deficit coverage and to increase new profit. Economic: Supermarket was selling premium larger and using loss-leader...
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...Assessment task instructions This assessment covers Outcome 2 of Business Culture and Strategy. It is based on the case study of Alphabet Games. Each of the following questions must be correctly answered. In some cases it is possible, to make use of diagrams or tables in your answer. You do not need to do this if you do not feel it is required. However, a diagram or table on its own is not likely to be enough to provide a full answer. If you do use a diagram or table, you will probably need to provide some accompanying explanation or discussion. a Explain the importance of organisational culture to Alphabet Games and suggest an example of where both shared values and taken for granted assumptions contribute to the continued success of Alphabet Games. Using a recognised theoretical model, identify and justify the organisational culture of Alphabet games and assess how this shapes current management approaches. To reflect the changing environments within which Alphabet games operates, suggest a possible alternative organisational culture for the company Games and assess the impact this change in culture would have upon managerial approaches. Using a recognised framework, assess the importance of the relationship of the relationship between organisational culture and organisational behaviour. b c d Scottish Qualifications Authority HN Assessment Exemplar/F7J7 35/AEX001 V1.0 Business Culture and Strategy 11 May 2011 Assessment task 3 Outcomes covered 3, 4 Assessment...
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