Restorying a Culture of Ethical and Spiritual Values: A Role for Leader Storytelling

In this paper, we outline some of the connections between the literatures of organizational storytelling, spirituality in the workplace, organizational culture, and authentic leadership. We suggest that leader storytelling that integrates a moral and spiritual component can transform an organizational culture so members of the organization begin to feel connected to a larger community and a higher purpose. We specifically discuss how leader role modeling in authentic storytelling is essential in developing an ethically and spiritually based organizational culture. However, we also acknowledge a potential dark side to leader storytelling. Implications for authentic storytelling research and practice are discussed. An early draft of this paper was presented at the 2004 Academy of Management Conference in New Orleans. Cathy Driscoll received her Ph.D. in organizational behavior and marketing from Queen's University in 1994. Currently, she is an associate professor in the Department of Management in the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary's University. Prior to coming to SMU, she worked as a project manager and policy advisor with the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy in Ottawa. She has published articles in The Journal of Business Ethics and Business and Society. Margaret McKee is in her fourth year of doctoral studies at the Sobey School of Business. She was recently awarded a two year Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to conduct her dissertation research. She has taught a variety of management and communications courses at Mount Saint Vincent, Sobey School of Business, and Dalhousie University. Her research interests are leadership and values based organizational cultures.     

Linking organizational culture, structure, strategy, and organizational effectiveness: Mediating role of knowledge management

Practices of knowledge management are context-specific and they can influence organizational effectiveness. This study examines the possible mediating role of knowledge management in the relationship between organizational culture, structure, strategy, and organizational effectiveness. A survey was conducted of 301 organizations. The results suggest that knowledge management fully mediates the impact of organizational culture on organizational effectiveness, and partially mediates the impact of organizational structure and strategy on organizational effectiveness. The findings carry theoretical implications for knowledge management literature as they extend the scope of research on knowledge management from examining a set of independent management practices to examining a system-wide mechanism that connects internal resources and competitive advantage.     

Worried about strategy implementation? Don’t overlook marketing's role

Many executives and scholars have argued that effective strategy implementation is at least as important as—if not more important than—developing a brilliant strategy. While there are several extant viewpoints regarding what is required for successful strategy implementation, perhaps the most influential perspective is that business success requires a fit between strategy and organizational architecture. Organizational architecture subsumes structural variables and capabilities. For the past 10 years, we have studied the performance implications of matching marketing's organizational architecture to four generic business strategies: Prospectors, Analyzers, Low-Cost Defenders, and Differentiated Defenders. Through six empirical studies we have identified best practice matches between these strategy types and: (1) marketing organization culture, (2) marketing strategy, (3) market strategy formation process, (4) market-focused strategic organizational behaviors, (5) marketing organization structure, and (6) marketing control systems. In this article, we bring together findings from each of these studies to provide a comprehensive overview of those marketing actions and policies that are associated with superior firm performance.     

Estimating the impact of Denison's (1996), “What is the difference between organizational culture and organizational climate? A native's point of view on a decade of paradigm wars”

Denison [Denison, D.R. (1996), What is the difference between organizational culture and organizational climate? A native's point of view on a decade of paradigm wars, The Academy of Management Review, 21 (3), 619-654] offers a paradigm to comprehend the difference between studying organizational culture and organizational climate from a methodological perspective. The present study uses a Scopus analysis to understand the contributions of Denison's work in contemporary research of organization studies, and to recognize benefits of his discussion on organizational culture and organizational climate. The Scopus analysis shows that Denison's article is seminal across academic disciplines from its appearance.     

What leaders need to know about organizational culture

A major factor in the success of an organization is its culture. Organizational culture can significantly influence the performance and effectiveness of a company; the morale and productivity of its employees; and its ability to attract, motivate, and retain talented people. Unfortunately, many leaders are either unaware of the significant impact culture can have, are aware but overwhelmed by the extensive and sometimes conflicting information available on culture, or are not well informed about how to build and sustain cultures effectively. This article integrates the most consistent findings that leaders need to know about culture and what they can do to build strong, successful cultures that bring out the best in people. Developing organizational culture requires far more than talk about culture and emphasis on its importance. In order to achieve the best results, culture development requires leaders who see it as one of their key tasks and who understand the importance of aligning organization strategies and decision making with cultural ideals.     

History matters: The role of history in corporate brand strategy

This article explores how an organization can use its history to define and deliver its corporate brand strategy. We specifically look at Adidas, which, having rejected its history at one stage, rediscovered and used the philosophy and ideas of its founder to provide direction for the future, legitimate strategic choices, and enrich the corporate brand. Through analysis of material evidence and interviews with senior and long-serving employees, we conceptualize the way Adidas developed a systematic approach to the use of history in its corporate brand strategy by creating the means to uncover, remember, curate, and then embed it. Combining the lessons of the Adidas case with evidence from other cases in which history was used to refocus and revitalize corporate brands, we deliver key recommendations for managers.     

Four supply chain management systems: From supply chain strategies to human resource management

This article develops a conceptual model that supports and aligns supply chain strategies with organizational culture and leadership styles. We examine various supply chain theories and organizational behavior concepts to develop an integrated supply chain: the human factor model. Based on the underlying dimensions of environmental uncertainty and product complexity, we propose a 2x2 typology to identify four different supply chain systems that can be used by organization leaders to identify suitable supply chain strategies and compatible people management practices. We provide a useful and practical framework to analyze the alignment between the external environment and the internal organization of a supply chain system.     

The application of leader character to building cultures of equity,diversity, and inclusion

Many organizations in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors have begun to take action to address the systemic racism entrenched in their processes, systems, and structures. This has included commitments to elevate initiatives for equity, diversity, and inclusion. Data indicate that such good-faith efforts are often not as successful as leaders and organizations had envisioned. Our assertion is that if we really want to address systemic racism in organizations, we must first attend to the people who work there. This is because their individual and collective character, revealed through behavior, drives and determines organizational processes, systems, structures, and culture. The purpose of this article is to connect character to the creation and sustainment of organizational cultures of equity, diversity, and inclusion with a specific focus on anti-Black racism. Character is not a subjective, amorphous entity but manifests as a set of observable behaviors. We explain that character equips people with consciousness and the conduct to embrace and cultivate equity, diversity, and inclusion in their organizations and in their lives. We provide concrete examples of the dimensions of character in action using brief illustrations.     

Organizational Factors Encouraging Ethical Decision Making: An Exploration into the Case of an Exemplar

What factors in the organizational culture of an ethically exemplary corporation are responsible for encouraging ethical decision making? This question was analyzed through an exploratory case study of a top pharmaceutical company that is a global leader in ethics. The participating organization is renowned in public opinion polls of ethics, credibility, and trust. This research explored organizational culture, communication in issues management and public relations, management theory, and deontological or utilitarian moral philosophy as factors that might encourage ethical analysis. Our understanding of organiza tional ethics is enhanced by elucidating factors the case revealed as encouraging ethical analysisan organizational culture that emphasizes the importance of ethics, Theory Y management, a symmetrical worldview valuing innovation and dialogue, a counseling role for issues management or public relations in the dominant coalition, rewarding ethical behavior, ethical analysis using moral philosophy, consistency between individual values and organizational philosophy, and ethics training. These factors, and perhaps others as yet unidentified, worked together to create an environment that encouraged ethical decision making at the exemplar organization.     

Creating disciples: The transformation of employees into trainers

Business realities demand that organizations place a strategic emphasis on developing knowledge workers and becoming a learning organization. Numerous programs of organizational change and renewal must also be undertaken to keep firms competitive. This requires ongoing training for all employees to succeed in today's global marketplace. While external consultants and professional staff are often called upon to provide this training, many organizations are turning to their own employees as an effective, lower cost alternative. There are several benefits to using this strategy, but significant support must be provided to realize these benefits. Herein, we describe a systematic process to turn novice employee trainers into a powerful force for organizational change. By transforming employees into disciples, organizations can give training the impact it needs.     

A story to sell: The influence of storytelling on consumers' purchasing behavior

Storytelling can arouse consumers' emotions and affect purchasing behavior through desires and attitudes. While the marketing literature discusses storytelling, there is a lack of consensus because of the diverse conceptual and operational definitions used. To untangle the complexities and consolidate the fragmented knowledge about storytelling in marketing, this research examines how the marketing literature has addressed the influence of storytelling on consumers' purchasing behavior. The findings aid in understanding how the topic has been discussed from a marketing perspective in consumer behavior studies. Through a systematic literature review using a bibliometric analysis, we demonstrate that the marketing literature features four strands about the uses of storytelling to influence consumers' purchasing behavior. First, storytelling stimulates the consumer's identification with the brand. Second, storytelling allows consumers to experience emotional value. Third, storytelling supports engagement behaviors. Finally, storytelling has a downside in that it also propagates harmful speech. This study concludes with a roadmap for future research about how storytelling impacts consumers' purchasing behavior.     

Building organizational integrity

Ethical lapses by employees can put organizations at substantial risk. Although improved compliance procedures can help limit this risk, successful efforts must extend beyond compliance to build a culture of organizational integrity. Recent changes in regulatory requirements and more stringent sentencing guidelines demand an integrated approach to ethical awareness, one that encompasses the four organizational practices of controls, clearly defined principles and purpose, core values, and culture. Inevitably, the most difficult of these is building a culture of high ethical standards that are reflected in day-to-day practice. To overcome the barriers to building organizational integrity, leaders must question key organizational practices while constructing a culture based on ethical behaviors.     

Telling a different story: How nonprofit organizations reveal strategic purpose through storytelling

Responding to a call for research into storytelling within the nonprofit context, the paper contributes to an emerging research conversation about communicating organizational strategy through storytelling. The research analyses one hundred stories across 10 leading organizations to identify how they are being deployed and what that tells us about the underpinning strategy. Through bringing story character, classification, and content together for the first time, the paper presents a holistic perspective on the story construct. It identifies that, when viewed as a whole, the stories told by organizations can be a powerful communication tool for reaching external audiences. However, the research also identifies that their ability to convey strategic purpose through storytelling is moderated by storytelling capability. It finds that organizations with stronger storytelling capability use this craft to differentiate themselves more effectively. It concludes with contributing a new conceptual model for understanding organizational storytelling and a roadmap for practitioners to strengthen storytelling capability.     

Managing millennials: Embracing generational differences

The topic of the Millennial Generation in the workplace drives much business conversation, as members of this generation form a growing percentage of the employee base. Both popular media and scholarly literature have painted the population of younger workers in an uncharitable light. The goals of this article are to contextualize the results of a large, empirical study in a more favorable manner and to suggest that embracing generational differences provides an opportunity as well as a challenge. This article examines traits of the different generations, in addition to the relationship between organizational commitment and workplace culture. We present findings that show millennials (also known as Generation Y, or Gen Y) as the only generational group that does not conceptually link organizational commitment with workplace culture. This group also thinks of work differently than members of the other generations, yet these differences can be understood through a managerial lens focusing on qualities such as duty, drive, and reward. We argue that by changing performance evaluation metrics to encompass a greater variety of measures, managers can provide a more detailed picture of the employee's work, and thus impact the worker's sense of duty. Additionally, by providing a more transparent workplace, employers can increase the employee's drive and clearly demonstrate the reward that workers will receive. Finally, changes that help newer employees adjust to the workplace can also allow the organization to operate more efficiently, benefiting employees of all generations.     

Organizational CQ: Cultural intelligence for 21st-century organizations

We live in an age of massive global disruption. Technological advancements threaten century-old business models, globalization is reordering supply chains, and people need to work with colleagues and customers who have vastly different backgrounds. On top of that, we have been in the midst of a global pandemic, and customers, employers, and investors are demanding more than just a Black Lives Matter social media post from organizations that purport to take social justice seriously. Organizations with high cultural intelligence (CQ) are able to navigate this volatility and complexity effectively. Over the last two decades, scholars from across the world have published hundreds of articles on CQ, the capability to relate and work effectively in complex, culturally diverse situations. Most of the work has examined CQ at the individual level. But what about organizations? Can organizations be culturally intelligent? The emerging research on CQ at the organizational level offers leaders and organizations critical insights for navigating today’s diverse, digital world. Organizational CQ is a firm’s capability to function effectively in a complex and unpredictable multicultural world. This article stresses the importance of the culturally intelligent organization and explains how to develop organizational CQ.     

Organizational performance with a broader focus: The case for a stakeholder approach to leadership

In 2019, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and the other 179 CEO members of the Business Roundtable argued that the purpose of a corporation must reflect not only the fiduciary interests of owners but also the varied interests of all stakeholders: employees, customers, partners, and broader society. This idea challenges a decades-old norm of shareholder primacy, so it is reasonable for organizational leaders to wonder whether doing so is truly in their firms’ best interests, and if so, how to implement this approach to leadership. To answer these questions, we draw on over 200 peer-reviewed articles covering leadership research to demonstrate how servant leadership, a stakeholder-focused approach to management, outperforms other leadership approaches across both shareholder and stakeholder criteria. We leverage case studies of organizational leaders from SAS, Zappos, Starbucks, and Jason’s Deli, financially successful organizations that exemplify how managers provide value and sustainability to stakeholders and shareholders through servant leadership. We also include practical steps managers can take to begin putting this form of leadership into practice.     

‘Organizational learning culture’: an ingenious device for promoting firm's innovativeness

The present study focuses on the relationship between organizational learning culture (OLC) and firm's innovativeness. The area of innovation as well as organizational culture is crucial for organizations and for entrepreneurs because both provide the basis for sustainable competitive advantage and improved firm performance. The notion of OLC offers a set of customs and principles that enhances imperativeness of an organization. Information acquisition, information interpretation, and behavioral and cognitive changes (BCC) were used as elements of the organizational learning process. Constructs comprising innovativeness are innovative culture, and technical and administrative innovation (innovations). Data were collected from 50 randomly selected Pakistani organizations. The results show significant and positive relationships among all hypothesized variables except for between BCC and innovations.     

The HR system, organizational culture, and product innovation

This paper outlines the critical role of organizational culture in the link between the HR system and development of new products and services. While it has been generally accepted that an innovation-oriented HR system would lead to higher level of innovation, the literature does not lend full support to this link. This paper is to point out the inadequacy of such simplified view. It is suggested that a developmental culture is the missing link in-between HR system and innovation outcomes. An HR system which emphasizes extensive training, performance-based reward, and team development is necessary to create an organizational culture that is conducive to product innovation. The empirical findings from a survey of 332 firms in Hong Kong confirmed that organizational culture acted as a mediator between a firm's HR system and product innovation.