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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Leadership and organisational culture

Marlow Pharma plans to move from a hierarchical, risk-averse approach to rapid product innovation. A consultant maps the current culture using the cultural web and finds that promotions are given to staff who follow procedures exactly, and that failed projects lead to public blame. What does this analysis most directly imply for the change plan?

The change plan must alter the reinforcing elements, such as promotion criteria, blame practices and controls, together with the new strategy. These elements sustain the old risk-averse paradigm, so leaving them in place would undermine the move to innovation, whatever the mission statement says.

  1. ACulture will change automatically once the new strategy is announced in a mission statement
  2. BRewards, symbols and control systems that reinforce the old paradigm must be changed alongside the strategy, or they will undermine itCorrect
  3. COnly the paradigm needs to be addressed, as the other web elements will then adjust by themselves
  4. DThe existing culture should be left unchanged because culture cannot be influenced by management

Explanation

The web shows that reward, control and story elements sustain the existing paradigm. Promotion for compliance and blame for failure discourage risk-taking, so they conflict with an innovation strategy. Changing these elements is needed alongside the strategy. Announcing a statement alone, or ignoring the reinforcing elements, would leave the old behaviour in place.

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