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Managing The Personality of the Organisation
Corporate Reputation and Competitiveness
Lecture 9
Lecture Objectives
• To explore what is implied in the way an organisation functions by different aspects of corporate personality
Is Reputation a Strategic Paradigm?
• Matching the resources of the firm to the demands of the marketplace (harmonizing image and identity)
• Providing a sense of direction (improve on those aspects of image that satisfy customers)
• Deliver above average profitability (worth about 5% sales growth merely by comparing what happens internally)
• An asset worth about half a year’s turnover
Changing Reputation
• STEP 1 Recognize too that managing reputation is about managing the way people feel and that emotions are difficult things to assess, let alone manage.
• STEP 2 Reputation functions where they exist have evolved from PR into corporate communications functions. They need to move on to the next stage in their evolution so that they can manage the many facets of a business that contribute to reputation
Changing Reputation
• STEP 3 Measure the image you have with customers and your identity, particularly the view of your customer facing employees
• STEP 4 Identify what co-relates with, co-varies with or drives (chose your own jargon here) stakeholder satisfaction and your commercial performance
Changing Reputation
• STEP 5 Identify those dimensions of reputation where you need to improve
• STEP 6 Ask your employees and customers how they feel you should make these improvements and what specific actions you should take, what changes in micro behavior need to be addressed.
Changing Reputation
• STEP 7 Support the ideas identified in the way employees need to feel about the organization through training, the selection and induction of new employees and internal and external communications.
• STEP 8 Only once the internal view, identity has been improved is it time to communicate to customers.
Changing Reputation
• STEP 9 Check in a year or two whether you have changed your reputation for the good by surveying staff and customers again. It takes time to change reputation so don’t try to measure it every month!.
Reputation and Culture
• Reputation and Culture are close in a service organisation, particularly identity (who we think we are) and culture (how we do things around here).
• So is it possible to link the ideas together more formally?
Identity Dimensions
3210-1-2
1.5
1.0
.5
0.0
-.5
-1.0
-1.5
Enterprise
CompetenceChic
Ruthlessness
Agreeableness
Machismo
Informality
The Culture Issue
NETWORKED COMMUNAL
FRAGMENTED MERCENARY LO
HIGH
LO HIGH
SOLIDARITY
SO
CIA
BIL
ITY
Source: The Character of a Corporation, Rob Coffee and Gareth Jones, Harper Collins,1998
NETWORKED CULTURES
Managers know each other well
A friendly, supportive environment
No real shared sense of what the organisation is about, but perhaps there is no need for this anyway
Open plan, open door, meetings before meetings culture, work time used to socialise, personal differences down-played, alumni associations
MERCENARY CULTURES
Results orientation
Achievement is celebrated
No socialising during working hours
Communication is direct and functional
People work long hours and identify with winning, beating the competition, exceeding last years’ targets
Employees come and go. There are no ceremonies to celebrate long service awards, but there’s no need either.
FRAGMENTED CULTURES
Employees are not interdependent, they do not need to be
Office doors are closed
Offices are often empty, but are well equiped
Talk is limited to brief exchanges, documents go unread
A focus on achieving professional excellence, human relationships are not seen as relevant to this goal
Individualism and personal freedom are valued. Personal lives remain undisclosed
COMMUNAL CULTURES
A strong sense of corporate identity, the walls are adorned by the company mission and vision statement
Working space is shared, social and eating areas overlap with work areas
People live at work, social relationships are extensions of work ones
Employees are fiercely loyal, even after they leave
Examples include voluntary organisations and religious groups
Identity Dimensions
3210-1-2
1.5
1.0
.5
0.0
-.5
-1.0
-1.5
Enterprise
CompetenceChic
Ruthlessness
Agreeableness
Machismo
Informality
NETWORKED
MERCENARY
FRAGMENTED
COMMUNAL
The Personality of Your Organisation
Just What is different about an organisation
typified by Agreeableness?
AGREEABLENESS
Reassuring
Concerned Honest
Sincere
Socially Responsible
TrustworthyStraightforward
Open
Pleasant
Cheerful
Empathy IntegrityWarmth
Agreeable
Supportive
Copyright 2001
The Personality of Your Organisation
Competence
COMPETENCE
Technocracy
Corporate
Technical
Leading
Achievement Oriented
Ambitious
Hardworking
Secure
Reliable
Conscientiousness Drive
Copyright 2001
The Personality of Your Organisation
Enterprise
Adventure
ENTERPRISE
Modernity Boldness
Imaginative
Up to Date
Exciting
Extrovert
Daring
Cool
Trendy
Young
Innovative Copyright 2001
The Personality of Your Organisation
Chic
Prestige
CHIC
Snobby
Elitist
Refined
Exclusive
Prestigious
Elegant
Stylish
Charming
SnobberyElegance
Copyright 2001
The Personality of Your Organisation
Ruthlessness
RUTHLESSNESS
Dominance
Authoritarian
Inward Looking
Selfish
Aggressive
Arrogant
Egotism
Controlling
Copyright 2001
The Personality of Your Organisation
Machismo
MACHISMO
Rugged
Tough
Masculine
Copyright 2001
The Personality of Your Organisation
Informality
INFORMALITY
Easy going
Simple
Casual
Copyright 2001
Summary
• Different aspects of corporate personality imply differences in culture, internal design recruitment policy, training, communication, marketing and HR policies, and corporate strategy.
