Why Culture is Key
Posted on January 24th, 2012 by Sean Culey, CEO, SEVEN
(Or why ‘the way we do things round here’ stops us from doing things around here!)
Culture exists in every organisation; it controls the way people act and behave, how they talk, how trusting they are, and most importantly, how effective they are at delivering results. It affects staff retention, brand perception and it affects performance. It is completely within the capability of the business to control and shape, yet we often hear people moan about how the ‘organisation’, or its management style prevents work from happening, and projects from succeeding. People complain of being demotivated, disengaged and that the life and energy is being sucked out of the business.
Culture = Innovation killer?
The latest report by Booz & Company called ‘The Innovation 1000 Study’, clearly supports the impact culture has on an organisation. It shows that the success of a company (or a function within a company) is not a matter of how much is spent on R&D, marketing or technology, but rather how they spend it. This study took into consideration two particular qualities:
-
Strategic alignment
-
Culture
Soft issues, hard results
The Booz study found that culture is the key to innovation success, and its impact on performance is measurable. It shows how 44% of companies who reported that their innovation strategies are clearly aligned with their business goals (and that their cultures strongly support those innovation goals) delivered 33% higher enterprise value growth and 17% higher profit growth on five-year measures than those lacking such tight alignment.
Addressing the cultural challenge
SEVEN has spent the last 5 years enhancing its significant SAP and Supply Chain capabilities with tools, approaches, training and skills to help companies develop effectiveness and the right environment for success. If you were to read our website, any of my articles or attend our presentations you will notice that we talk a lot about ‘Culture’ and ‘mindset’, and its impact on an organisations capability to succeed. This report explains why.
The 2011 Booz & Co report on strategy and business is a must-read for business leaders, regardless of industry. You can read the full report here.










