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

Tarvos Retail has a strong, successful culture built around store-level independence. The board now proposes an online-first strategy requiring central coordination. A consultant notes that the culture is a source of past advantage but may now be a barrier. Which analysis best captures the strategic implication, drawing on Schein's view of culture?

The board should recognise that, in Schein's model, the deepest layer of basic assumptions is invisible and resistant to change. It must therefore address underlying beliefs, not just artefacts or stated values, and plan for resistance, because changing visible features alone will not shift store-level independence.

  1. AArtefacts such as store layouts should be redesigned first, because visible changes alter deeper assumptions quickly
  2. BCulture is only relevant to implementation, so strategy should be chosen without reference to it
  3. CThe shared basic assumptions at the deepest level are hard to see and change, so the board must expect resistance and address underlying beliefs, not only artefacts and stated valuesCorrect
  4. DBecause the culture is strong, the online strategy should be abandoned

Explanation

Schein describes artefacts, espoused values and basic underlying assumptions; the deepest level is taken for granted and resists change. Changing artefacts alone does not shift assumptions. Culture also influences strategy choice and is not just an implementation issue, and a strong culture does not justify abandoning strategy but requires a managed change plan.

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