Reasons for Changing Organisational Culture

Symptoms of the Need for Culture Change:

• Evidence of declining customer service

• Internal fighting; management criticism ("us & them mentality")

• Higher staff turnover and absenteeism

• Processes become more bureaucratic

• Innovation is no longer valued

• Leadership show double standards or decision-making

• becomes inconsistent

• Communication is more closed and restricted

Key Reasons to Change Organisational Culture:

• Business Performance

• Change in External Environment

• New Leadership/ Strategy

• To Support Change Management

Successful Culture Change examples:

• Netflix shifted from a hierarchical model to one that is agile and innovative, emphasising freedom and responsibility.

• Microsoft moved from a competitive and siloed culture to one that is more collaborative and customer-focused.

• Zappos created a culture based on its core values, empowering employees to make decisions, take risks, and express themselves.

Failed Culture Change Examples:

• Uber faced a series of scandals and controversies due to its aggressive and toxic culture, which it attempted to reform by hiring a new CEO and introducing new values and policies. However, it struggled to overcome its deep-rooted cultural problems.

• GE tried to reinvent its culture from a bureaucratic and hierarchical one to a more lean and agile one, inspired by the startup mentality. It launched FastWorks, but faced many challenges in implementing it.

• Sears attempted to change its culture from a traditional and centralized one to a more entrepreneurial and decentralized one, but this created a culture of distrust, conflict, and dysfunction. Additionally, Sears neglected some of its core competencies.