The Ownership Quotient: A Better Corporate Culture
by Miki Saxon
An excerpt at HBS Working Knowledge from the newly published Ownership Quotient: Putting the Service Profit Chain to Work for Unbeatable Competitive Advantage
As stated, a strong culture outlasts any charisma offered up by the so-called leaders; in fact, it’s the foundation of any company’s success.
Here is the short version of ten reasons why it’s worth the effort to build a great culture.
- Leadership is critical in codifying and maintaining an organizational purpose, values, and vision. Leaders must set the example by living the elements of culture…
- Like anything worthwhile, culture is something in which you invest.
- Employees at all levels in an organization notice and validate the elements of culture.
- Organizations with clearly codified cultures enjoy labor cost advantages for the following reasons…
- Organizations with clearly codified and enforced cultures enjoy great employee and customer loyalty…
- An operating strategy based on a strong, effective culture is selective of prospective customers.
- The result of all this is “the best serving the best…”
- This self-reinforcing source of operating leverage must be managed carefully to make sure that it does not result in the development of dogmatic cults with little capacity for change.
- Organizations with strong and adaptive cultures foster effective succession in the leadership ranks.
- Cultures can sour.
Read the article; consider the book.
Culture matters and it’s worth your time!
Image credit: Amazon
