Organizational culture: the key to your success In a global economy full of demanding consumers and citizens, only the fittest organizations will flourish. How is your organization doing? As competition increases, requirements are high for quality and productivity. Citizens expect excellent service from authorities, employees want development and a good work climate, and shareholders demand results and a positive return on investment. Organizations must adapt to these complex, dynamic expectations. High-performing organizations often have an organi- zational culture that fits in with their market. Research shows that culture has a powerful effect on the perfor- mance and long-term effectiveness of organizations. The impact on individuals (employee morale, commitment, productivity, physical health, and emotional well-being) is also well documented. Organizational culture consists of the values people share, their collective assumptions, and their behavior. It's the way "things are around here." It determines what must be done and what is not allowed. It's the reigning definition of success and failure within a group. It decides who is "in" and who is "out." Culture determines behavior and thus performance. The good news is that culture can be assessed and changed with a step-by-step manageable method. That's not as time consuming and expensive as you might think. The Organizational Culture Assessment Instru- ment is just as timely, easy to use, low priced, and man- ageable as you would like it to be! Moreover, it has been proven valid and delivers the quality you need. The advantages of assessing and changing organizational culture by using the OCAI will easily satisfy your require- ments because culture makes the difference. It deter- mines performance, quality, absenteeism, employee reten- tion, and customer satisfaction. Utilize the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument culture. Developed by professors Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron, OCAI is a validated instrument, based on the Competing Values Framework, and used by over 10.000 companies worldwide. The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) takes about 17 minutes to measure the current as well as the preferred culture. It is a fully automated online tool that is free for individual participants. You can try it on your next break! OCAI Online is available to managers, consultants, change agents, HR people, and business students to manage organizational culture change. All employees can easily complete the assessment. Why use the OCAI for diagnosing culture in organizations and teams? It gives a validated and quantified image of overall culture as a starting point for change. It's timely and focused: It measures six key aspects that make a difference for success. and both assess- ment and change strategy can be done quickly. It's involving, as it is easy to include all personnel and gives an idea of employee satisfaction, based on dis- crepancies between current and preferred culture. It's manageable with a step-by-step method for change that involves as many employees as you want, while no outside experts are needed. It supplies a clear vision on the preferred culture that can be adapted into a road map for change that will mobilize your organization to sustainable change. The OCAI is practical and focused, timely, manageable, quantitative, involving, and valid! Start managing your organizational culture right now and prepare for the future. Theory and research behind a practical tool The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) is based on the Competing Values Framework and uses four culture types: Clan Culture. Adhocracy The Competing Values Framework From a list of 39 indicators of effectiveness for organi- zations, two important dimensions were discovered by statistical analysis. Thus, four quadrants developed, corre- sponding with the four organizational cultures that differ strongly on these two dimensions: Internal focus and integration VS external focus and differentiation Stability and control VS flexibility and discretion To the left in the graph, the organization is internally focused ("what is important for us, and how do we want it to work"), and to the right the organization is externally focused ("what is important for the outside world, the clients, and the market"). At the top of the graph, the organization wants flexibil- ity and discretion, while at the bottom the organization values the opposite: stability and control. Internal focus and integration Flexibility and freedom to act Clan 50 20 Hierarchy 10 Adhocracy Marktet Stability and control External focus and differentiation 2. The Adhocracy culture A dynamic, entrepreneurial, and creative place to work Leader Type: innovator, entrepreneur, visionary Value Drivers: innovative outputs, transformation, agility Theory for Effectiveness: innovation, vision, and new resources are effective Quality Strategies: surprise and delight, creating new standards, anticipating needs, continuous improvement, finding creative solutions 3. The Market culture A results-oriented organization whose major concern is getting the job done Leader Type: hard driver, competitor, producer Value Drivers: market share, goal achievement, profitability Theory for Effectiveness: aggressive competition and cus- tomer focus are effective Quality Strategies: measuring customer preferences, improving productivity, creating external partnerships, enhancing competitiveness, involving customers and suppliers 4. The Hierarchy culture A very formalized and structured place to work, focused on efficiency Leader Type: coordinator, monitor, organizer Value Drivers: efficiency, punctuality, consistency, and uniformity Theory for Effectiveness: control and efficiency with appropriate processes are effective Quality Strategies: error detection, measurement, process control, systematic problem solving, quality tools Complete the assessment and get example cultural profile current (fuchsia) and preferred your culture profile (blue) situation 1. The Clan culture A pleasant place to work, where people have a lot in common Leader Type: facilitator, mentor, team builder Value Drivers: commitment, communication, development Theory for Effectiveness: human development and par- ticipation are effective Quality Strategies: empowerment, team building, employee involvement, Human Resource development, open communication The respondent must divide 100 points over four state- ments that correspond to the four culture types, according to the present organization. In this way, people assess the six key aspects of organizational culture that were found to determine success: Dominant characteristics Organizational leadership Management of employees Organization glue Strategic emphases Criteria of success By answering the questionnaire a second time, now according to the preferred organizational culture, the Utilize your culture change with future profile and the desire for change can be assessed. By averaging all individual OCAI scores, a collective organization profile is calculated. In smaller teams, it's also possible to use all the separate individual profiles and discuss them. Your organizational culture profile shows the following: The current dominant culture Any discrepancy between current and preferred culture The strength of the dominant culture (the number of points awarded) The congruency of the six aspects (Cultural incon- gruence often leads to a desire for change. Because different values and goals can take a lot of time and discussion.) Comparison of the culture profile with the average for the sector or industry group Comparison with average trends; in what phase of development is the organization? Select your product at OCAI online OCAI One Individual completion of the assessment is free of charge. You will get your profile directly in a hyperlink, presented as a graph with a short explanation. OCAI One is a con- venient option to try out this assessment before using it in your team of organization as an OCAI Pro or OCAI Enterprise. Take 17 minutes and try the assessment today! OCAI Pro For teams and organizations: The results of all respon- dents are combined in an extensive report with profiles of the current and preferred culture. You will also get separate scores on the six aspects of culture and tips for achieving the preferred culture. You also receive our two work kits; see below. OCAI Enterprise This product gives you tailor-made options. In addition to the collective profile of OCAI Pro, you can have as many profiles calculated as you want. For example, you can check out the differences between managers and staff or discern profiles for different sections or sites. You also get our two work kits; see below. our two work kits The OCAI is a practical tool to define your starting point and the preferred situation. The assessment will stimulate awareness and launch the change; people will start think- ing and talking about needed changes and how to achieve future goals and enhance performance. Then engage them in a workshop and have everyone contribute to making the best possible action plan for change. Tackle objec- tions. Prevent resistance. Enhance performance with this engaging and involving way to start collective step-by-step change with broad support at all organizational levels. That's why OCAI Online supplies two ready-to-use kits that make outside experts superfluous. The OCAI Prepa- ration Kit will help you prepare, start, and monitor the assessment. The OCAI Work Kit will help you fully use and benefit from the results. It contains a manual, a road map, and a complete PowerPoint presentation for a one- or two-day OCAI workshop. Want to know more? Check out further product details at www.ocai-online.com, read our blog, try the assessment for free, subscribe to our updates, and download our extras. OCAI Online: Assess organizational culture Fully automated, secure, and validated assessment Quick tool with recognizable results Easy online access for as many participants as you want Small investment in time and money with a huge harvest of information Select OCAI Pro or OCAI Enterprise for teams and organizations Clear starting point for change, reengineering, merger, or new strategy, etc. Feasible by the Board, executives, managers, team leaders, consultants, HR directors, and all other employees Benefit from our two ready-to-use work kits for your assessment and culture change No outside consultants necessary: utilize the empow- ering effect on your people!