Corporate Culture and its Nexus to Quality

7th Annual SoCal Quality Conference“Building and Sustaining Quality Cultures”

Ronald J. Sasiela, PresidentSasiela & Associates, LLC

www.seafoodconsultancy.com

November 8th, 2014

Copyright © 2014 Sasiela & Associates, LLC

Discussion outline• What is “Corporate Culture”?

• Can CC be measured?

• Attendee mini survey

• An in-depth review of an actual CC survey

• A look at Asiana’s July 6th San Francisco plane crash – case study– News coverage– Malcolm Gladwell’s crystal ball?– Nexus to CC

• A close-to-home case study

Attendee Mini CC Survey

1. How well do YOU know YOUR company’s core values?

2. “This call is being recorded for quality proposes.”

3. “We only use the highest quality ingredients.”

4. How does YOUR company relate to Jobs?

5. Speed of decision making at YOUR company.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=CbQRP85LzRUa1M&tbnid=j-H7Mm6egAubRM:&ved=0CAgQjRwwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdianhasan.wordpress.com%2Fpage%2F37%2F&ei=dJw_UpflCtSo4AOXtID4Dg&psig=AFQjCNGQaT0HvkLlt6qgCcr5QeHvqxyyZw&ust=1379986932219030

Definition

Web definition.1

Organizational culture is an idea in the field of Organizational studies and management which describes the psychology, attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values (personal and cultural values) of an organization. ...•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_culture

Definition cont.Investopedia definition.2The beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company's employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions. Often, corporate culture is implied, not expressly defined, and develops organically over time from the cumulative traits of the people the company hires. A company's culture will be reflected in its dress code, business hours, office setup, employee benefits, turnover, hiring decisions, treatment of clients, client satisfaction and every other aspect of operations.

Definition cont.

Ron’s definition.3

How we do things around here.

Definition cont.

Ernest Hemingway definition.4

“Don’t bother with churches, government buildings or city squares, if you want to know about a culture, spend a night in its bars.”

9-29-14

A Plethora of CC Press References

• General Motors recall – 28 million+, NYT 4/12/2014 “G. M. Documents Reveal Years of Talks on Defect”

• WSJ, 4/4/2014 Editorial – “The Culture of General Motors”…CEO Mary Berra testified…Members of Congress seized the opportunity to attack the “culture” of GM.

A Plethora of CC Press References

• WSJ, 4/16/2014 “Making Sure the Boss Is the Right Fit…A poor cultural fit is the primary reason top managers fail…”

• LA Times, Lawyer files lawsuit against Asiana Airlines for crash in San Francisco stating that it was the cockpit culture that contributed to the incident.

• BuzzFeed – Journalist fired for plagiarism

Can Corporate Culture be Measured?

?

A Post GraduateTerm Paper

• As required for course EMSE 274, Spring 2004, at The George Washington University

• Professor Francesco Calabrese, Department of Engineering Management

• Surveyor – Ronald J. Sasiela as a GWU alumni auditor

Survey Design• Respondents were assured complete

confidentiality and anonymity.• Dr. Calabrese’s suggestion was intended to

enhance the survey’s privacy and its validity. • Respondents were additionally requested to

indicate if they were “new” (<1 year) or “off site” employees.

• The survey was tested on two volunteers, for their completion time, and suggestions, which were incorporated into the final email distribution. . .

Survey Design• The draft survey was first reviewed by the

company president who asked that it also be first circulated to his other five reports for comments before being broadcast. Those concerns were also incorporated in the survey.

• Initially a total of 64 surveys were emailed. • Responses to the surveyor could be via email,

interoffice mail, or not replied at all – confidentially being always assured.

Survey Design• 33 Total Questions about the company

# 1 – 21 ask about Corporate Culture

# 22 – 33 ask about Knowledge Management

• Completion Time ~25 minutes

• Response scale was Zero to Ten, proportionally marked based on the supplied anchored extremes.

Sample Questions

• Good ideas are ignored, ridiculed, smothered by bureaucracy = 0. If good ideas are taken seriously and people are willing to test ideas out on others assign a 10. (CC)

• What is the primary emphasis at this company, on individuals or teams? Score a 0 for individual emphasis and a 10 for team emphasis. (KM)

Survey Results

• Reply Percentages:– Total responses = 43/~90 = 48%

– “New” employees = 1/43 = 2.3%

– Off-site employees = 1/43 = 2.3%

• Now – how to display the results?

Average Score vs. Survey Question Number

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

12

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

1516

171819

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

3233

Corporate Culture Survey

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.01

23

4

5

6

7

8

910

111213

14

15

16

17

18

19

2021

Knowledge Management Survey

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.022

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

Percent Extreme Responses

0

13

25

38

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

Extreme Survey Scores vs. Question No.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

0 + 1 score 9 + 10 score

Question's Standard Deviation

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

What was the correlation between the similar questions 11 and 33?

Correlation of reponse

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43Respondant

Sc

ore

11

33

correlation

Some Conclusions• The two-topic survey enjoyed a high 48%

return rate (Hawthorne effect?)• The relative low average scores indicate there

is ample room for management intervention• There were several survey questions that

produced very strong responses.• There was a high correlation both in single

response std. deviation and in an inserted repeatability question (#s11 and 33.)

• Possible errors were introduced by untraceable survey duplication.

CustomerCustomerProcess/Process/ActivitiesActivities

StrategyStrategy

CultureCulture

Understanding Alignment of Purpose

PerpetualCustomer Value

Vertical Integration

(How Well We Do It)

Horizontal Integration

(What We Do)

Creating the Learning Enterprise

July 6, 2013Asiana Flt 254 Plane Crash; 3 Dead, 187 injured

Interviewed by CCN after the Asiana Plane Crash by CCN. WHY?

GLADWELLCopyright 2008

Chapter SevenThe Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes

Language as a Part of Culture

• Position

demonstration

Language as a Part of Culture

• In America: How are you?

Language as a Part of Culture

• In Spanish: Como esta usted? or Como estas usted?

Language as a Part of Culture

• In Korean:

• Six levels of formality– Most formal– Next most formal– 3rd most formal– 4th most formal– 5th most formal– 6th most formal

• “Mitigated speech”

A NYC COOP – A Case Study

Undergoing Public Hall Renovation

• Communicates by placing ballots by doors are not received in up to 43% of residents

• Many residents do NOT live there, travel,..

• Email is not used to communicate

• “No one wants to receive email notices because of secrecy concerns” -- yet supply banking info for rent payment!

• A mini-survey proves otherwise

Takeaways• Better understanding of what Corporate

Culture is

• Can it be measured? Yes, but be careful.

• Can it be changed? Yes, but slowly.

• Become a student of CC!

Thank you for your attention

Questions & Answers?