Question

Using the concepts in Chapter 12 of textbook: Crafting and Executing Strategy The Quest for Competitive Advantage 21e by Thompson/Peteraf/Gamble/Strickland, describe the corporate culture within one organization that you know well. What effects do the nature and condition of your organizational culture have on your organization's strategy? What would you like to see happen that would improve its contribution to the organization's competitive advantage, and what mechanisms or measures would you recommend to your organization's leadership for promoting such changes?

Answer 1

The organization that is referred here is my previous employer. The organization is a multinational publishing company headquartered in Amsterdam. The company has a culture of learning. The learning culture plays a critical role in the performance of the individual and collectively as a team. The organization publishes journals and books for the community to benefit the researchers, scholars, authors, professionals, etc. The culture of learning helps the employees and the management to develop their skills and knowledge to move to the next level of expertise. This culture of learning has a direct impact on the organizational strategy to learn and do the tasks and roles which would result in high motivation as the individuals’ skills are also honed.

The organization has the traditional method of publishing which takes about 28 days to publish an article. On the other hand, the competitors are able to publish in about 12 days. The company found it difficult to innovate new ways. Though there was a culture of learning, I would like to see that the company also focuses on the culture of innovation. After many work around, the company was able to publish the final citation of the article online that would be included in the journal with the journal and issue number within 8 days of a manuscript being accepted for publishing. Thus, innovative solutions would improve the performance of the organization from the traditional ways to a more strategic ways to gain the competitive advantage.

The measures that I would recommend the organization’s leadership to promote such innovative culture in the organization are:

- Rewards and recognition awards for being innovative

- Training and development such as job rotation to make the employees be innovative in their roles to achieve the objectives smartly.