Andries zeeman abb

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Culture Change in Chaotic Times Andries Zeeman For: The Conference Hub June 2010

Transcript of Andries zeeman abb

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Culture Change in Chaotic Times

Andries ZeemanFor: The Conference Hub

June 2010

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Culture Change in Chaotic Times

• Overview– Introduction & definitions– 5 reasons why paying attention to culture is one of the most

pressing issues facing organisations today– Some of the challenges of culture change– 5 key culture patterns that support organisational agility– New cross-industry learning about culture– How focusing on strategic culture patterns builds culture to fit

strategy

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Change is not the only constant anymore. In today’s world, even change

is changing

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Introduction

• What is organisational culture?– Many definitions available– Simplest definition: It is a social comfort zone

throughout the organisation, agreed to, or accepted by, the organisation’s inhabitants

– Culture is an inseparable part of any organisation

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Introduction

• Strong Organisational Cultures– 40 – 50 years ago

• Strong culture = Stable organisation– 1980’s – 1990’s

• Strong culture = Competitive advantage & differentiation – Post 2000

• Strong culture = Adaptability

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5 Reasons why paying attention to culture is one of the most pressing issues facing organisations today

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Culture as a pressing issue

• Culture is what ultimately causes an organisation’s attitude towards change and the world around it – Change is inevitable– Willingness to change and acceptance of different

levels of change– Generational conflict between Boomers, GenXers and

GenYers– Inability to change is almost certainly a death

sentence

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Culture as a pressing issue

• Organisational culture directly influences productivity – Tougher economic times bring with less tolerance for

mediocre performance– Reliability of internal processes– Communication structures– Internal conflict & the ability to contain mistakes

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Culture as a pressing issue

• Culture directly influences the level of talent the organisation is able to attract – Strong cultures by definition attract strong talent

• Adaptability of modern organisational cultures to adapt to and accept Generation X & Generation Y influences

• Annual ‘Best Companies to Work For’ Competition– Accenture, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs, Ernst & Young, BHP

Billiton, Coca Cola, Microsoft, Shell, British American Tobacco, ABSA, SAB

• Recruitment drives at Tertiary Institutions

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Culture as a pressing issue

• Downsizing is a reality; such actions must at all times take organisational culture into account – Indiscriminate job cutting is called ‘dumb-sizing’

• Drop in morale• Loss of social networks

– Loss of corporate memory– Loss of productivity

• Loss of trust – especially true for GenXers as they are mistrusting of ‘organisations’ in general

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Culture as a pressing issue

• Culture defines the way in which business is done – Ethics, or the lack thereof

• Eli Lilly (Fined $1.415 billion)• Microsoft (Fined €1.35 billion)

– Complex business models– Duplicated (and unsustainable) work in ‘silo’ type

organisations• General Motors (GMC, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet)

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The challenges of culture change

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Challenges of Culture Change

• ‘Having a go’ at cultural change– “Let’s see if we can do this”– No clear, firm decision to change the culture– No clear vision of what the culture should be like– No properly planned process to phase out the old and

phase in the new

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Challenges of Culture Change

• Star employees leaving the organisation– Not all employees will like the change in culture– Insufficient clear communication of the new vision will

ensure a lot of uncertainty– Employees might lose faith in management– Generation X employees leave companies relatively

easily • GenX is the next level of senior management - the loss might

be bigger than anticipated

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Challenges of Culture Change

• Having an honest look at current organisational culture– Few companies are good at this– Most end up focusing on what they are good at and

ignore their own weaknesses– To make changes, the weak areas of culture needs to

be identified and recognised– Accommodation of Generation X and especially

Generation Y in culture discussions

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Challenges of Culture Change

• Executive management not driving cultural change– “Everything rises and falls on leadership” John Maxwell

– Not nearly enough for executives to ‘support’ the change

– Executives must live the change daily– Executives must drive and push the change

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Challenges of Culture Change

• Delegating cultural change to HR– Yeah, right– HR is not yet seen as a driving function– HR is a facilitation function in the eyes of many– This is only slowly changing

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5 Key culture patterns that support organisational agility

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5 key patterns supporting organisational agility

• Employee engagement– Getting people to want to come to work– People who want to come to work spend more

productive and creative energy at work

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5 key patterns supporting organisational agility

• Employee self-expression– Make room for opinions– Allow some flexibility in as many aspects of company

life as possible– Flexibility is very important for GenX and GenY

employees– GenY employees often question, rather than accept

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5 key patterns supporting organisational agility

• Actively create synergy– Bring people together– People knowing people on a personal level– Introduce elements of informality into company

culture– Relationships are critically important to Generation X

and very important to Generation Y

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5 key patterns supporting organisational agility

• Flexibility– Multiple feedback loops– Allow for exceptions to standard processes– Greater flexibility allows for quicker reactions to

change– Flexibility will become more and more important as

Generation Y employees increase

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5 key patterns supporting organisational agility

• Revelling in diversity– Not enough to only accept diversity, must actually

seek it out– More varied experiences– Different points of view and experiences on similar

situations

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Cross-industry learning about organisational culture

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Cross-industry learning

• Survival, same as politics, makes strange bedfellows– Shorter periods in which to adapt has caused

organisations to seek (or at least accept) learning from wherever it can be found

– Progressive organisations actively seek learning from outside their own industry

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Cross-industry learning

• Desperation requires thinking out of the cultural box– The old habit of recruiting only from a specific culture

is being discarded– Hiring employees from other industries are becoming

more and more prevalent• Shortage of skills in almost all industries• Varied experiences from employees in other industries

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Cross-industry learning

• Organisations are starting to adopt strong elements from other industries in order to strengthen their own cultures– Manufacturing teaches efficient processes– Retail teaches a sense of urgency– Construction teaches flexibility

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How focusing on strategic culture patterns builds culture to fit strategy

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Focusing on strategic culture patterns

• Organisational Climate Assessment Instrument (OCAI)– Use OCAI to plot the climate on a graph– 4 basic culture patterns are identified by the OCAI

• Internal v External focus• Flexibility v Stability

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Focusing on strategic culture patterns

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Focusing on strategic culture patterns

• Clan Culture– Internal maintenance– Flexible– Concern for people– Customer sensitivity– IT Industry

• Customer solutions driven• Very flexible, almost unstable• Internal focus with heroes and icons very prevalent

– Google– Apple

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Focusing on strategic culture patterns

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Focusing on strategic culture patterns

• Hierarchy Culture– Internal maintenance– Inflexible– Controlled– Manufacturing Industries

• Process driven• Stable with relatively little change• Internal systems controlled by product and quality needs

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Focusing on strategic culture patterns

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Focusing on strategic culture patterns

• Adhocracy Culture– External focus– Highly flexible– Highly individual– Construction industry

• Personal preferences important in execution of tasks / taking on of new projects

• Lots of temporary employees

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Focusing on strategic culture patterns

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Focusing on strategic culture patterns

• Market Culture– External maintenance– Very stable – Control very important– Medical aid organisations

• Focuses on clients & service providers• Heavily regulated and controlled

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Conclusion

• Culture is an integral part of any organisation• Culture is of strategic importance to

organisations as it is a foundational aspect of the organisation

• Strong cultures attract strong talent• Organisations must seek to learn from other

industries’ cultures in order to strengthen their own culture

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Suggested reading

• Maverick – Ricardo Semler• The 7-day Weekend – Ricardo Semler• How would you move Mount Fuji?

– Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle - How the World's Smartest Company Selects the Most Creative Thinkers – William Poundstone

• Staying Power– Six enduring principles for managing strategy and innovation –

Michael A Cusumano

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Thank you