Christian de lichtenberg

ITIL and culture – exemplified by IS, Maersk Oil

Christian G. de Lichtenberg & Sune D. Müller, October 2015

Christian G. de Lichtenberg & Sune D. Müller | October 201533

Maersk Oil at a glance

Brazil

Denmark

Qatar

UK

USA

Norway

Algeria

Kazakhstan

Angola

Kurdistan

Greenland

Abu-Dhabi

OPERATED PRODUCTION

550,000boepd

OPERATED FIELDS

26

MAERSK OIL GROSS ACREAGE

54,000km2

WORKFORCEIN 12 COUNTRIES

4,500employees

HEADQUARTEREDIN COPENHAGEN

WHOLLY-OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF APMM

LICENCES

350150 operated

EORExploration Appraisal Development Primary production Mature field Abandonment

The value chain

Business Development


Safety momentSetting the scene for culture

• Is any safety drill planned for today?

• If the fire alarm go off it’s then for real?

• And would you know what to do?

• And do you know where the moister point is?


Introduction

• Colin Rudd:

The main causes of Failure:

• Little focus on people issues

• Poor culture, a lack of knowledge and information sharing and poor collaboration”

Understand ‘where are we now?’

A statement example of why culture is relevant to discuss


Case study: Information Solution (IS) in Maersk Oil

• IS Strategy v3 reinforces the journey for IS becoming moreeffective and recognised as a vital partner for the business

• Previous research has shown that:

• Processes and roles of ITIL can help the implementing organization become more effective and customer-oriented

• ITIL implementation is challenging because of incongruence between ITIL and the organizational culture

• We try to understand:

• How can ITIL support IS in achieving the strategic goal of being more effective and customer-oriented?

• What cultural challenges arise when implementing ITIL, and how can the challenges be mitigated?

Cause for wonder


ISassessment

ITILanalyse

Identifying the challenges of the cultural gapsupports initiation of relevant mitigation action

enabling you to harvest value from strategic initiatives

As-i

s c

ulture

To-b

e c

ultu

re

Dominant characteristic

Criteria of success

Organisational glue

Strategic emphasis

Management of employees

Service Strategy

Service Design

Service Transition

Service Operation

Continually Service Improvement

Methodology Case study

Organisational culture is “a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be

taught to new members as the correct way you perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems”

Edgar H. Schein

Organisational leadership


Method – driven by a simple processO

UTP

UT

MA

IN

AC

TIV

ITIES

PU

RP

OS

E

Outline the organisational culture for each question and for IS a total

Understand the underlying culture for ITIL and each of the phases

FIND OUT WHAT CULTURE

ITIL DEPICTSASSESS THE CULTURE OF IS

COMPARE AND ANALYSE THE TWO CULTURE PROFILES

Understand what are the key pain point of use ITIL framework in IS

• Analyse each of the five ITIL books using the OCTAT text analysis tool

• Create a culture profile for each ITIL phase using the Competitive Values Framework graphs

• Send out questionnaire to all IS employees in Copenhagen

• Create a culture profile for each question and IS as a whole using the Competitive Values Framework graphs

• Analyse the profiles for ITIL and IS and highlight for incongruence, strength, effectiveness, etc.

• Analyse what are the differences between the profiles and challenges in unite the cultures

An individual culture profile for each ITIL phase

A culture profile for ITIL in total

Sheet with answer values

A culture profile for each question

A culture profile for IS in total

An understanding of the underlying culture of ITIL

An outline of the IS organisational culture

A list of main challenges and mitigation proposals

“By observing the areas of greatest discrepancy between the preferred future culture and the current culture on the profiles, a road map for change can be determined” - Cameron & Quinn 2006


Methodology Tools

IS assessment ITIL analysis

Questionnaire based on OCAI (Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument)

Web service based on OCTAT (Organizational Culture Text Analysis Tool)

Competing Values Framework

Culture profiles


Theory Analysis Outcome

Content



Content Theory


Competitive Value Framework

Dimension and Organisational culture types

Theory


The Competing Values Framework

The Clan Culture

A very friendly place to work where people share a lot of themselves. It is like an extended family. The leaders, or head of the organization, are considered to be mentors and, maybe even, parent figures. The organization is held together by loyalty or tradition. Commitment is high. The organization emphasizes the long-term benefit of human resource development and attaches great importance to cohesion and morale. Success is defined in terms of sensitivity to customers and concern for people. The organization places a premium on teamwork, participation, and consensus.

The Hierarchy Culture

A very formalized and structured place to work. Procedures govern what people do. The leaders pride themselves on being good coordinators and organizers, who are efficiency minded. Maintaining a smooth-running organization is most critical. Formal rules and policies hold the organization together. The long-term concern is on stability and performance with efficient, smooth operations. Success is defined in terms of dependable delivery, smooth scheduling, and low cost. The management of employees is concerned with secure employment and predictability.

The Market Culture

A results-oriented organization. The major concern is getting the job done. People are competitive and goal oriented. The leaders are hard drivers, producers, and competitors. They are tough and demanding. The glue that holds the organization together is an emphasis on winning. Reputation and success are common concerns. The long-term focus is on competitive actions and achievement of measurable goals and targets. Success is defined in terms of market share and penetration. Competitive pricing and market leadership are important. The organizational style is hard-driving competitiveness.

The Adhocracy Culture

A dynamic, entrepreneurial, and creative place to work. People stick their necks out and take risks. The leaders are considered to be innovators and risk takers. The glue that holds the organization together is commitment to experimentation and innovation. The emphasis is on being on the leading edge. The organization’s long-term emphasis is on growth and acquiring new resources. Success means gaining unique and new products or services. Being a product or service leader is important. The organization encourages individual initiative and freedom.

The Four Culture Archetypes

Theory


Competitive Value Framework culture profile

Dominant Characteristic

Clan 45

Adhocracy 35

Market 10

Hierarchy 10

Example profile Example data

Theory


Consequences of Organizational Incongruence

Consequences

Creates discomfort in the organization, leading members to complain about ambiguity, lack of integration, and absence of fit

Leads to differences in perspectives, goals, and strategies

Leads to hypocrisy when observed organizational behaviors are incompatible with what is perceived to be the espoused values. Hypocrisy is often one of the major symptoms that incongruence exists in a culture

Stimulates an awareness of a need for change. Increased motivation for change in the culture may be a desirable result

Incongruent cultures are more typical of lower performing organizations than congruent cultures

Sap the energy and the focus of organizational members

Temporary incongruence may be functional in that it highlights aspects of the organization that are uncomfortable, or it can uncover previously unacknowledged aspects of the culture that are dysfunctional

Theory



Content Analysis


Culture profiles of ITIL v3 books

• Congruent

• Strong

• Effective

Analysis

CVF profiles based on the OCTAT analyse of the five ITIL v3 books


Culture assessment of IS

Dominant

characteristic

Organisational

leadership

Management

of employees

Organisational

glue

Strategic

emphasis

Criteria of

success

IS

total/average

Clan 20 21 28 33 23 23 25

Adhocracy 16 17 18 17 21 15 17

Market 38 32 29 24 20 22 27

Hierarchy 25 30 25 26 35 40 31

Areas of interest

One profile for each area

Analysis

OCAI result of the IS assessment


OCAI culture profiles of IS

16

38

26

20

0

10

20

30

40

50

Flexibility &discretion

Adhocracy

External focus

Market

Stability &control

Hierarchy

Internal focus

Clan

1. Dominant Characteristics

17

3231

21

0

10

20

30

40

50


Adhocracy

External focus

Market

Stability &control

Hierarchy

Internal focus

Clan

2. Organizational Leadership

18

2925

28

0

10

20

30

40

50


Adhocracy

External focus

Market

Stability &control

Hierarchy

Internal focus

Clan

3. Management of Employees

19

21

37

23

0

10

20

30

40

50


Adhocracy

External focus

Market

Stability &control

Hierarchy

Internal focus

Clan

5. Strategic Emphases

17

2427

33

0

10

20

30

40

50


Adhocracy

External focus

Market

Stability &control

Hierarchy

Internal focus

Clan

4. Organization Glue

15

22

40

23

0

10

20

30

40

50


Adhocracy

External focus

Market

Stability &control

Hierarchy

Internal focus

Clan

6. Criteria of Success

Analysis

CVF profiles based on the IS assessment


Incongruence comparing ITIL and IS

Analysis

“Organizational success depends on the extent to which your organization’s culture matches the demands of the competitive environment.”

Cameron & Quinn, 2006



Content Outcome


Findings

1. Clan is what holds IS together

• Use Clan actively to empower and involving employees in defining, creating and filling in the cross-organisational ITIL roles and to transform in from technical specialist to process owners

2. Working in silos based on a top-down hierarchic

• Should be played down and replaced by personal objectives to work cross functional based on shared processes and procedures as a means of measuring organisational success

3. IS has less Market focus compare to ITIL

• Increase customer focus in IS by a closer and more continuous engagement with the business; define a Business Relation Manager (BRM) role and implement a BRM for each business area with responsibility of Service Strategy

4. Management of Employees is divided

• Agree on one path/one culture type to support in all means supported by a common (ITIL) language

Outcome


Conclusion The challenges of cultural incongruence

Outcome

“The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture and that the unique talent of leaders is their ability to work with culture.”

[Schein 1994, p. 14]

• The ITIL implementation in IS should not be a project solely for culture change

• The challenges mentioned are seen as important to deal with in order to ensure successful implementation of ITIL

• The challenge for IS management is to implement the changes so that they become the new way people act and behave

• This requires changes to be implemented in the core of the culture, i.e. changes in the underlying assumptions of the culture


Qualitative interviewsAnalytical context

• Maersk Oil in cultural transition like the rest of the group.

• More commercial.

• Results-oriented.

• Clear strategic positioning.

• Focus on cost structure.

• From a ‘re-active doer’ culture to a more proactive, performance oriented, commercial, and global organization.

Outcome


Qualitative interviewsITIL implementation challenges

• Many cultures within Corporate IS and IS across Maersk Oil.

• Within: ITIL received differently across the four service areas due to different perspectives on the need for documents, policies, and procedures.

• From not sharing objectives to depending on each other.

• Across: Culture clashes in the transition from ‘chiefdoms’ to performance based organization.

• Depending on local resources that corporate does not control.

• IS implementing service management on corporate mandate without selling the ‘vision’.

• IT not a core capability (IT as a commodity).

• No perceived value in cross-BU process integration.

• Incremental vs. radical roll-out (‘cherry picking’ and the big picture).

Outcome


Qualitative interviewsPositive forces

• Fit between Maersk group values and ITIL.

• ITIL as an industry standard. Not built in-house, i.e. no baggage.

• ITIL enables a common language within IS.

• Strategic alignment: ITIL as part of the strategic transformation of the IT business.

• IS strategy inspired by and in accordance with ITIL.

• But need for goal agreement: increased efficiency vs. effectiveness (lower costs vs. better IS-business processes).

• But need for agreement in terms of level of ambition: ‘1st division’ vs. ‘Champions League’.

Outcome


Qualitative interviewsImplementation strategy

• Communicate the vision.

• Transition from Clan to Market through Hierarchy.

• ITIL implementation through means associated with Hierarchy (e.g. structure, control, and governance).

• BUT avoid bureaucracy. Keep performance and market orientation of ITIL.

• Don’t get stuck in Hierarchy. Stay agile.

• Empower individuals despite need for bureaucracy and documentation.

• Focus on ITIL on a principle level as opposed to the ‘nitty gritty’ details.

Outcome


SummaryRecommendations to you!

• Focus on the ‘why’ before ‘what’ and ‘how’.

• Connect to values and strategy execution.

• Consider ‘big bang’ versus salami approach.

• Adapt improvement tactics based on organizational culture and values underlying the model/standard (ITIL) used for process improvement.

• Maersk: Involve and empower employees: set boundaries instead of instructions.

• Embrace business processes as means to institutionalize Market values, e.g. customer and performance orientation, but do so cautiously.

Outcome

Technology

Christian de lichtenberg