Corporate Cultural Change
Making significant changes in corporate culture may be necessary, but it will often be met with resistance. That resistance may be intense or minor, depending on the circumstances, but senior executives must expect that changing corporate culture will create unease in some people no matter how needed the action is.
In some cases, changes in corporate culture may actually bring a sense of relief. Tyco, a company recently rocked by scandal, looked at its functioning at every level. Tyco replaced the entire board of directors as well as the senior management, to bring about a corporate culture about the company's changed course. While Tyco's situation was unfortunate, it at least communicated to employees that the changes were badly needed. But even then, the company needed to actively retrain employees to work within the new perspective (McClenahen, 2005).
Most companies will not have such obvious and compelling reasons for bringing about cultural change, so their task may be even more difficult than Tyco's was. Drummond (2003) recommends a multi-step approach. He recommends that companies start by building a detailed organizational chart that clearly shows how the company currently operates. This may be a complex task requiring detailed input from all levels. He also says that the company's mission and corporate values should be clearly articulated (Drummond, 2003). He also recommends that the final plan be written down clearly so that everyone has a roadmap to help in times of change.
As Seijts (2004) says, "The true test of leadership is being able to take people in a direction where they would not go on their own." That journey will be most successful when everyone knows where they are going and why, and when they have clear guidelines, exactly what they have to do to help bring the needed cultural changes about.
Bibliography
Drummond, Carl N. 2003. "Strategic planning for research administration (Case Study)." Journal of Research Administration, July.
McClenahen, John S. 2005. "Restoring Credibility." Industry Week, February 1.
Seijts, Gerard H. 2004. "Walking on water or sinking without a trace? Six behaviours that describe strong crisis leaders." Ivey Business Journal Online, November.
