Culture and Leadership in

Managing Strategic Change

Implementing and Executing Strategy

BUILD A STRATEGY-SUPPORTIVE
CORPORATE CULTURE

What Makes Up a Companys Culture?
Where Does Corporate Culture Come
From?
How Is a Companys Culture Reinforced?
What Forces and Factors Cause Culture
to Evolve?
Culture and Strategy Execution:
Ally or Obstacle?
Culture can contribute to -- or hinder
-- successful strategy execution
Requirements for successful strategy
execution may -- or may not -- be
compatible with culture
A close match between culture
and strategy promotes effective
strategy execution
Why Culture Matters:
Benefits of a Good Culture-Strategy Fit
Shape mood and temperament of the work force
Provide standards, values, informal rules and peer
pressures
Strengthen employee identification with the
company, its performance targets, and strategy
Stimulates people
Optimal condition: A work environment that
Promotes can do attitudes
Accepts change
Breeds needed capabilities

Types of Corporate Cultures
Strong vs. Weak Cultures
Unhealthy Cultures
Adaptive Cultures
Strong vs. Weak Cultures
Characteristics of a Strong Culture
How does a Culture become Strong?
Leader who establishes values
A deep, abiding commitment to espoused
values and business philosophy
Genuine concern for well-being of
Customers, Employees, Shareholders
Characteristics of a Weak Culture


Unhealthy Cultures

Characteristics of Unhealthy or Low
performance Cultures
Politicized internal environment
Hostility to change
Promotion of managers more concerned
about process and details than results
Aversion to look outside for superior
practices




Characteristics of Adaptive Cultures
Introduction of new strategies to achieve superior
performance
Strategic agility and fast response to new
conditions
Risk-taking, experimentation, and innovation to
satisfy stakeholders
Proactive approaches to implement workable
solutions
Entrepreneurship encouraged and rewarded
Top managers exhibit genuine concern for
customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers
Diagnose which facets of present
culture are strategy-supportive and
which are not
Talk openly about why aspects
of present culture need
to be changed
Follow with swift, visible actions to
modify culture - include both
substantive and symbolic actions
Creating a Strong Fit
Between Strategy and Culture
Culture-Changing Actions

Types of Culture-Changing Actions

Symbolic Culture-Changing Actions

Substantive Culture-Changing Actions

Value Statements/Codes of Ethics
Training programs
Applicant screening
Communication
Management involvement and oversight
Strong endorsement by CEO
Word-of-mouth
Instilling Values and Ethics
in the Culture
Building a Spirit of High
Performance into the Culture
Emphasize achievement and excellence
Promote a results-oriented culture
Pursue practices to inspire people to excel
Approaches?
Management Practices?


Strategic Leadership

What Roles may a Strategic Leader
take?
Strategic Leadership: Leadership
Roles of the Strategy Implementer
1. Stay on top of whats happening
2. Promote a culture energizing organization
to accomplish strategy
3. Keep firm responsive to changing
conditions
4. Exercise ethics leadership
5. Take corrective actions to improve overall
strategic performance
Role #1: Stay on Top
of Whats Happening
Develop a broad network of formal and
informal sources of information
Talk with many people at all levels
Be an avid practitioner of MBWA
Monitor operating results regularly
Get feedback from customers
Watch competitive reactions of rivals
Role #2: Foster a
Strategy - Supportive Culture
Successful leaders spend time convincing
organizational members, nurturing values, building
a culture
Role in matching culture to strategy
Implement a stakeholders-are-king philosophy
Challenge status quo with very basic questions
Create events where all managers must listen
Energize employees to make new strategy happen
Initiate substantive actions to reinforce desired cultural
traits
Reward people exhibiting desired cultural norms


Role #3: Keep Internal
Organization Responsive
Promote openness to fresh ideas
Pursue attractive new opportunities
Support people who are willing to champion
Promote continuous adaptation to changing
conditions
Build new competencies and capabilities
Role #4: Exercising Ethics Leadership
Display unequivocal commitment to ethical and
moral conduct
Encourage compliance and establish tough
consequences for unethical behavior
Make it a duty for employees to Observe ethical
codes and Report ethical violations
Managers role in exercising ethics leadership
Key approaches to Enforcing Ethical Behavior
Actions demonstrate corporate citizenship and
social responsibility
Role #5: Lead the Process of
Making Corrective Adjustments
Requires both
Reactive adjustments
Proactive adjustments
Involves
Reshaping long-term direction, objectives, and
strategy to unfolding events
Promoting initiatives to align internal activities
and behavior with strategy
Transformational Leadership
The Leadership Challenge Practices
Model
the
Way
Inspire a
Shared
Vision
Challenge
The
Process
Enable
Others
To Act
Encourage
The
Heart
Idealized
Influence
Individualized
Consideration
Inspirational
Motivation
Intellectual
Stimulation
Transformational Leadership