1

Shaping the Culture - A Critical Factor to

Business Success with Professor Dave Ulrich
The webinar will begin at 11:00 AM (EST)
Welcome to the webinar!
While you are waiting here are a few notes to review:
Make sure your audio is unmuted and full volume.
All attendees will be muted. Presenters are able to speak.
To send a message for technical assistance use the Questions/Chat function
that will appear in your Menu Panel. Devices other than a PC may have
different views.
There will be a Q&A period at the end of the webinar. Due to the high
attendance we will not be able to answer all questions in the webinar.
Commonly themed questions will receive responses in a post webinar email.
The recording link will also be sent to all registrants.
Managing Culture as a Capability
Dave Ulrich
dou@umich.edu

December 12, 2017

 3
Importance of culture as a capability

If Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast.(Peter Drucker)

How do you harness Culture to enable strategy

execution?
 4
Overview of content

There are 4 key areas of focus:

Business case for Changing a culture

Culture Defined Acceptance of culture
culture
 5
What is culture?
What is the right culture?

When you think

of a company
culture what
comes to mind?
 6
What is culture?
Culture is the ability to shift from an event to a pattern and ultimately to an identity

Event Pattern Identity

Values (what we believe) Customer: What are our

Norms (our expected customer buying
Symbols behaviors; unwritten rules; criteria/value proposition?
Rituals rituals) Brand: What is our
Stories Ways we make decisions, desired brand?
Physical manage information, treat Identity: what are known
setting people, handle for?
conflict/differences Reputation: what is our
community image?
 7

The value of values: culture outside in

Our values The value of values:

1. Are these the things (values) you would

like us to be known for?
2. What do we have to do to show that
we live them better than competitors?
3. When we do these things you want,
will you buy more from us?
 8
Overview of content

There are 4 key areas of focus:

Business case for Changing a culture

Culture Defined Acceptance of culture
culture
 9
Importance of Culture
 10
Culture impact on stakeholders
Business case starts with a look at your firms stakeholders and a review of
impact of culture on their interests.

Stakeholder If we have the right culture, what happens to each stakeholder?

Employee Attraction of key talent (talent magnet)
Commitment organizational habits
Productivity/expectations
Organization Strategic focus (core competence)
Culture eats strategy for lunch
Customer Firm identity/reputation that affects customer share
Culture as internal manifestation of firm brand
Investor Intangible value that investors value over time
Part of Leadership capital Index
Community Reputation for present and future
 11
Overview of content

There are 4 key areas of focus:

Business case for Changing a culture

Culture Defined Acceptance of culture
culture
 12
How do we change culture?
1: Define desired culture
What are the top 3 things we want to be known for by our best customers (or
other key stakeholders)?
Make identity real to employees

2: Top/down
Intellectual agenda

5: Leadership
Brand

4: Side to side 3: Bottom/up :

Process agenda Behavioral agenda
 13
Step 1: Define your desired culture

Defining the right culture Application to my organization

What organization unit is facing culture change?

What is driving that culture change? (e.g.,

governance, customer, leadership change?)

What do we want to be known for by

our key customers?

Have we vetted it with external stakeholders?

 14
Step 2: Top/down intellectual agenda
Communicate a clear and simple message and communicate clearly

Message Audience Timing Method

What is the Who should When should How do I
message I hear the I share the share my
want to message? message? message?
share?
Be specific Be consistent Be
Be Simple about receiver and redundant
(KISS) of your ideas redundant
Reduce noise
from sender
(you) to
receiver
 15
Step 3: Behavioral Agenda
Make it real to employees; teach
correct principles, let them govern
themselves
Ask employees to own the ideas
Make employee behaviors specific
(more of/less of)
Have leaders do work out to remove
unnecessary work

Culture is impacted by process and structure

Some organizations can get trapped in the bureaucracy thats
created.instead of helping, it can become stifling and burdensome
Many companies that experience downsizing dont take time to ask what
they should stop doing which would allow resources to be focused on
forward moving programs and change
Work-Out allows you to identify areas of unnecessary bureaucracy and
either eliminate them or revise how the work gets done.
 16
Step 4: Process agenda
Adapt systems to align with strategy story
Staffing: who we hire and promote
Training: how we train people
Performance management: how we reward
Decision making
Information technology

Make sure processes align with strategy and customer along 4

Desired culture areas: People Performance Information Work

Recruit from places known for Make innovation an Reinforce Adapt the team
Innovation creativity and innovation explicit aspect of innovation by structure to support
performance celebrating innovation
management innovators
Ensure an effective process Rigorously define and Measure retention Provide P/L
Leadership of succession planning assess leadership of top talent responsibility early to
Depth performance and grow and test future
competence leaders
 17
Step 5: Leadership brand
True culture change is difficult to achieve without developing a leadership brand that is recognized
internally and externally to your customers.

Celebrity Leaders Leadership Brand

OUTSIDE

Competent Leaders Leadership Systems

INSIDE

LEADER LEADERSHIP
Source: Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood, Leadership Brand: Developing Customer-Focused Leaders to Drive Performance and Build Lasting Value (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2007).
 18
Overview of content

There are 4 key areas of focus:

Business case for Changing a culture

Culture Defined Acceptance of culture
culture
 19
Making change stick
Effective change has two components: Quality and Acceptance

Effective Change = Quality * Acceptance

Quality of change Acceptance of Change

Content of change
The why of change the business
case
The what of change the intellectual
and side to side agenda
Process of change
Acceptance is about making
change stick
We are great at initiating change,
but struggle with sustaining it

In many cases we know what to do, but there is a gap in

knowing and doing. For acceptance, you have to close the gap.
Reference: Steve Kerr
 20
Overview of content

There are 4 key areas of focus:

Business case for Changing a culture

Culture Defined Acceptance of culture
culture

Event Inside (employee) 1: define it Get acceptance

Pattern Outside (customer 2: top down Identify and
Identity and investor) 3: bottom up delete viruses
(brand) 4: side to side
5: leadership
 21
Lets Stay Connected!!!
For a deeper dive into HR and culture, join
Dave Ulrich and other world-class HR
faculty in person for the Advanced
Human Resource Executive Program.
Explore the latest insights and innovations
on talent, leadership, organization, and HR
practices and learn to create sustainable
value for employees, customers, and
investors.
Turn corporate strategy into HR priorities in
Advanced Human Resource Executive Program
March 12-23, 2018
the worlds preeminent HR executive
July 9-20, 2018 program.
October 22-November 2, 2018
Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Contact: Christine Fischer, Director Open Enrollment Programs
chrisfis@umich.edu
http://michiganross.umich.edu/executive-education
 22

Join us on
Let's keep in touch via LinkedIn.

Connect with Dave:

Professor Dave Ulrich

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveulrichpro/

Join our Michigan Ross Executive Education group:

University of Michigan Ross School of Business Executive

Education
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1547287
 23

Questions and Answers

Answers to commonly themed questions will be provided in a post webinar email to all registrants.
 24
Thank you

University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business

On behalf of the University of Michigan Ross School of

Business and Professor Dave Ulrich, thank you for attending.