Ducks in a Row: Culture Drives Profit Up—and Down
by Miki Saxon
Recently Fast Company told the story of why the acquisition of Ben & Jerry’s worked for the giant Dutch conglomerate Unilever.
The reason boiled down to two words: Yves Couette—the man Unilever put in as CEO—and how he maintained the culture and customer focus even as he streamlined and moved the company in new directions.
Several years ago I wrote about being ‘cultureblind’ and used Home Depot and its new CEO Bob Nardelli as a prime example of what happens when the new boss trashes the culture and more or less abandons customer service.
Last week a new article focused on how Home Depot turned itself around by harking back to its pre-Nardelli culture of customer service.
Compare the difference between Couette and Nardelli and you will have a perfect template of what to do and what not to do as a new boss no matter what level you are on.
So the next time you take over a new group, whether as CEO or a newly minted team leader, remember this useful mantra along the lines of ‘you are what you eat’: ‘culture drives profit’.
Flickr image credit: Bruce Fingerhood
