Abstract
Culture is strategic, and developing organizational strategies requires wrestling with and shaping culture through backstage work. To understand culture, executives must engage in investigative work and identify the artifacts, espoused values, and assumptions prevalent within their organizations. Good cultural analysis entails good data and deep description, patience, and inquisition to peel back the layers of company conduct and thinking. Once leadership understands (better) their organizational culture, they must focus on the alignment process, creating distinctive tactics that embody desired cultural attributes. The focus of the cultural work is in local adaptation and interpretation given specific firm context rather than universal organizational values.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Duhigg, C. (2012). The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. New York, Random House.
- 2.
Interview with Charlie Rose, November 12, 2002.
- 3.
McGregor, Jena. (2016). “Wells Fargo’s Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Week.” Washington Post, September 16. Retrieved December 10, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2016/09/16/wells-fargos-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/.
- 4.
Corkery, Michael. (2016). “Elizabeth Warren Accuses Wells Fargo Chief of ‘Gutless Leadership’.” New York Times, September 20. Retrieved December 10, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/21/business/dealbook/wells-fargo-ceo-john-stumpf-senate-testimony.html.
- 5.
Van Maanen, John. (1988). Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography. Chicago, Chicago University Press.
- 6.
Fayard, A.-L. and J. Van Maanen. (2014). “Making Culture Visible: Reflections on Corporate Ethnography.” Journal of Organizational Ethnography 4(1): 4–27.
- 7.
Rodriguez, K. (2017). “Management by Wandering Around: Leading on Your Feet.” Experteer Magazine, June 6. Retrieved 10 December, 2019. https://us.experteer.com/magazine/management-by-wandering-around/.
- 8.
Pratt, James. (2016). “Part 2: Language Reveals Company Culture.” Reflective Management, July 4. Retrieved September 30, 2019. http://reflectivemanagement.com/language-reveals-company-culture/.
- 9.
Burkus, David. (2014). “How to Tell If Your Company Has a Creative Culture.” Harvard Business Review, December 2. Retrieved September 27, 2019. https://hbr.org/2014/12/how-to-tell-if-your-company-has-a-creative-culture.
- 10.
Beardsley, David. (1998). “This Company Doesn’t Brake for (Sacred) Cows.” Fast Company, July 31. Retrieved October 1, 2019. https://www.fastcompany.com/34481/company-doesnt-brake-sacred-cows.
- 11.
Schein, E. H. (1999). The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass; Schein, E. (2016). Organizational Culture and Leadership, (Fifth ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
- 12.
Jonsen, K., C. Galunic, J. Weeks and T. Braga. (2015). “Evaluating Espouse Values: Does Articulating Values Pay Off?” European Management Journal 33: 332–340.
- 13.
Tichy, Noel. (2014). Succession: Mastering the Make-or-Break Process of Leadership Succession. New York, Penguin Random House; Wahba, Philip. (2016). “Ex-CEO Ron Johnson Says J.C. Penney Should Have Stuck with His Plan.” Fortune, May 16. Retrieved September 26, 2019. https://fortune.com/2016/05/16/ron-Johnson-penney/.
- 14.
Jonsen, K., C. Galunic, J. Weeks and T. Braga. (2015). “Evaluating Espouse Values: Does Articulating Values Pay Off?” European Management Journal 33: 332–340.
- 15.
Rhode, David. (2012). “The Anti-Wal-Mart: The Secret Sauce of Wegmans Is People.” The Atlantic, March 23. Retrieved September 30 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/03/the-anti-Walmart-the-secret-sauce-of-Wegmans-is-people/254994/.
- 16.
Cothran, Jeremy. (2017). “Don’t Be Afraid to Change Your Company Values.” Small Improvements Blog, December 1. Retrieved September 30, 2019. https://www.small-improvements.com/blog/changing-company-values/.
- 17.
Duhigg, C. (2012). The Power of Habit. New York, Random House.
- 18.
Rumelt, R. (2011). Good Strategy Bad Strategy. New York, Random House.
- 19.
Gerstner, Lou V. (2002). Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? New York, HarperCollins.
- 20.
Gerstner, Lou V. (2016). “The Culture Ate Our Corporate Reputation.” Wall Street Journal, October 4. Retrieved December 10, 2019. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-culture-ate-our-corporate-reputation-1475445084.
- 21.
Walker, Bryan and Sarah A. Soule. (2017). “Changing Company Culture Requires a Movement, Not a Mandate.” Harvard Business Review, June 20. Retrieved September 30, 2019. https://hbr.org/2017/06/changing-company-culture-requires-a-movement-not-a-mandate.
- 22.
Galunic, Charles and Anne-Marie Carrick. (2008). “Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA: Norwich Union Insurance.” Insead Case 03/2008-5502.
- 23.
Kegan, R. & Lahey, L.L. (2001). “The Real Reason People Won’t Change,” Harvard Business Review, (November).
- 24.
Sullivan, Mark. (2016). “Samsung’s Chairman Lee Ordered a Bonfire of Defective Phones in 1995.” Fast Company, October 14. Retrieved October 1, 2019. https://www.fastcompany.com/4021992/Samsungs-chairman-Lee-ordered-a-bonfire-of-defective-phones-in-1995.
- 25.
See Duhigg’s book for more examples of the habit loop at the personal level. Duhigg, C. (2012). The Power of Habit. New York, Random House.
- 26.
Fox, Justin and Charles Duhigg. (2016). “Habits: Why We Do What We Do: An Interview with Charles Duhigg.” Harvard Business Review, December. Retrieved September 30, 2019. https://hbr.org/2012/06/habits-why-we-do-what-we-do.
- 27.
Abrahamse, W., L. Steg, C. Vlek and T. Rothengatter. (2005). “A Review of Intervention Studies Aimed at Household Energy Conservation.” Journal of Environmental Psychology 25(3): 273–291; Delhomme, P., K. Grenier and V. Kreel. (2008). “Replication and Extension: The Effect of the Commitment to Comply with Speed Limits in Rehabilitation Training Courses for Traffic Regulation Offenders in France.” Transportation Research Part F 111: 192–206.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Galunic, C. (2020). Harnessing the Silent Power of Culture and Norms. In: Backstage Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36171-6_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36171-6_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-36170-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-36171-6
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)