Company culture and values reinforcement

As companies in South East Asia attempt to rebound from the economic woes and scandals that many have experienced over the last 18 months, reshaping corporate culture will be a key issue on the plates of executive leaders everywhere.

Dictionary corporate culture definition: the professional atmosphere of a company, along with its values, customs, and traditions; Expanded corporate culture definition: it encompasses ethical and behavioral standards and how they are communicated and reinforced.

As an example of a company where bad corporate culture was a primary culprit for negative outcomes, Siemens AG, which found itself in major trouble for bribery and corruption late last year. Siemens’ culture encouraged employees to seek and accept bribes. As the company now tries to rebound, priority #1 is to change the culture that led to the negative behavior. Their new culture change is toward a more values-based leadership, where people don’t need to look at the rule book, where they know intuitively what the right thing to do is!

Many mortgage generators, credit card companies, and investment banks are examples of types of companies who, in general, have experienced recent failure in part because of their inability to develop healthy corporate cultures.

It is the responsibility of CEOs and the senior executive team to understand a company’s current corporate culture and what changes may be required for improvement. more...