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Many researchers have been investigating the subject of corporate culture, which has become a buzz word of the 1980s. All results have not been in agreement but a variety of changes to accommodate a change in corporate culture have been observed. Usually the change is effected in order to increase company profitability, and the strategy chosen depends on the existing culture, the company's stage of development (growth, mid‐life, maturity) and the kind of change required. American examples are cited.

Calls for culture change often result from a desire to change certain behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to summarise some key findings of a five-year investigation into quicker and more affordable routes to creating high-performance organisations. It suggests a practical and cost-effective way of quickly changing the behaviour of key work-groups independently of corporate culture which integrates working and learning and simultaneously achieves multiple corporate objectives.

A programme of critical success factor, “issue” and other surveys was complemented with a five-year evaluation of more recent case studies to understand early adoptions of performance support and to assess their results and implications. The applications examined were discussed with the relevant technical architect and the results obtained corroborated with commissioner/user performance data and/or documented assessments/reactions.

The use of performance support which can integrate learning and working represents an affordable way of changing the behaviour of particular and front-line work-groups independently of corporate culture. Changing a culture defined in terms of deeply held attitudes, values and beliefs is problematic, but required changes of behaviour can often be quickly accomplished using performance support, which can also address particular problems and deliver benefits for multiple stakeholders.

Culture change is neither necessary nor desirable where there are quicker, practical and affordable ways of altering behaviours while organisational cultures remain unchanged. It might also be problematic in organisations that need to embrace a diversity of cultures and encourage a variety of approaches and behaviours across different functions and business units. One can avoid certain general, expensive, time consuming and disruptive corporate programmes in an area such as culture change and adopt a quick, focused and cost-effective alternative that can quickly deliver multiple benefits for people and organisations.

This paper summarises the main findings of an investigation that has identified deficiencies of contemporary responses to a requirement to change certain behaviours that involve seeking to change a corporate culture and questions their practicality, desirability, time-scale and affordability. It presents and evidence-based alternative approach that is more affordable and can more quickly deliver changes of behaviour required and ensure compliance with relevant laws, regulations, policies and codes.

Exploiting novel measures of climate change exposure and corporate culture generated by a powerful textual analysis of earnings conference calls, this study aims to explore the effect of firm-specific climate change exposure on corporate innovation through the lens of corporate culture.

The authors apply the standard regression analysis as well as a variety of sophisticated techniques, namely, propensity score matching, entropy balancing and an instrumental-variable analysis with multiple alternative instruments.

The authors find that more exposure to climate change risk results in more innovation, as indicated by a significantly stronger culture of innovation. The findings are consistent with the notion that firms more exposed to climate change risk are pressed to be more innovative to adapt to the numerous changes caused by climate change. Finally, the authors also find that the effect of firm-level exposure on innovation is considerably less pronounced during uncertain times.

The authors are among the first studies to take advantage of a novel measure of firm-specific exposure to climate change and investigate how climate change exposure influences an innovative culture. Since climate change is a timely issue, the findings offer important implication to several stakeholders, such as shareholders, executives and investors in general.

Considers corporate culture management as an area where ethical concern and analysis has been weak. Examines justification of corporate culture management as an essential ingredient for corporate success, and finds little evidence to support a consequentialist ethic. Proceeds to identify areas where ethical issues might arise in the process of corporate culture change, particularly the role of change agents, and the ethical outcomes of the “unfreeze‐change‐refreeze” process. Illustrates these by reference to two case studies of corporate culture change programmes. Finally, concludes with reflection on potential ethical frameworks for the interpretation and guidance of corporate culture management initiatives. Makes a case for communitarian ethics, and outlines their implications for culture management.

This article introduces a process that helps companies define and develop their current and future corporate cultures. Working with the top executives within a company, the process enables participants to identify their internal organization’s subcultures as well as the culture of the external business environment. The program identifies the core corporate values that need to be enhanced in order to achieve success in this environment. The program helps participating managers develop action plans to achieve these new corporate values, and company‐wide cultural cement programs are implemented throughout the organization to ensure continued business success.

Calls for culture change often result from a desire to change certain behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to summarise some key findings of a five year investigation into quicker and more affordable routes to creating high-performance organisations. It suggests a practical and cost-effective way of quickly changing the behaviour of key work-groups independently of corporate culture which integrates working and learning and simultaneously achieves multiple corporate objectives.

A programme of critical success factor, “issue” and other surveys was complemented with a five-year evaluation of more recent case studies to understand early adoptions of performance support and to assess their results and implications. The applications examined were discussed with the relevant technical architect and the results obtained corroborated with commissioner/user performance data and/or documented assessments/reactions.

The use of performance support which can integrate learning and working represents an affordable way of changing the behaviour of particular and front-line work-groups independently of corporate culture. Changing a culture defined in terms of deeply held attitudes, values and beliefs is problematic, but required changes of behaviour can often be quickly accomplished using performance support, which can also address particular problems and deliver benefits for multiple stakeholders.

Many general corporate culture change programmes, HR policies and associated training may be unnecessary and counter-productive if the aim is to quickly change specific behaviours in particular areas. They might also be problematic in organisations that need to embrace a diversity of cultures and encourage a variety of approaches and behaviours across different functions and business units. Performance support which integrates learning and working can be a cost-effective way of changing behaviour, ensuring compliance, enabling people to innovate and remain current and competitive, and delivering multiple objectives without requiring a change of culture or structure.

Summarises the main findings of an investigation that has identified deficiencies of contemporary responses to a requirement to change certain behaviours that involve seeking to change a corporate culture and questions their practicality, desirability, time-scale and affordability. It presents an evidence-based alternative approach that is more affordable and can more quickly deliver changes of behaviour required and ensure compliance with relevant laws, regulations, policies and codes.

The paper describes the symbolic representation of corporate culture within the context of a Hong Kong Chinese company in the broader context of strategic responses to the international intersection of organisation and management systems. This symbolic representation incorporates and indexes aspects of a Western culturally constituted world that is largely alien to one important stakeholder group, namely, the Chinese organisation membership. Such a disjuncture engenders an inhibition to an effective reading of the corporate culture message, so weakening the effect of the intended change. The paper discusses three interlocking themes. First, the issue of the emulation of the corporate culture notion, as conceived and formulated in the USA, in other cultural settings. Second, a consideration of a multi‐stakeholder perspective on corporate culture, in which it is considered as a strategic move with respect to externalities rather than the internal system. Third, the intersection of management systems which results in mutual inter‐penetrations, thus engendering responses of appropriation, adaptation and hybridity rather than merely imposition or assimilation. The author feels such interactive aspects of international business and the associated responses are in need of greater attention.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach for implementing business excellence (BE) based on prevailing corporate culture and to propose relevant gates to monitor the corporate culture in the way to excellence.

This research demonstrates a culture-based perspective of implementing BE. After an exhaustive review of literature, the relation between BE and corporate culture was clarified and a methodology was developed, which describes how BE projects can be performed successfully in the context of an existing culture instead of adapting the culture.

The outcome of this research is the main concept for culture-based implementation of BE. Furthermore, five culture gates were designed to control the effect of BE measures on the corporate culture in long period of time. The findings indicate how BE can be implemented without considerable efforts to change the culture.

The findings of this study are relevant to all different sized organizations in different sectors and industries for achieving outstanding results and maintain this capability permanently in the organization.

This paper presents a unique approach for implementing BE in the light of prevailing corporate culture; such an approach has not been addressed in previous publications.

This ethnographic revisit of a general hospital aims to critically explore and describe the mechanisms of corporate culture change and how institutional excellence is facilitated and constrained by everyday management practices between 1996/1997 and 2014/2015.

A five-month field study of day-to-day life in the hospital's nursing division was conducted by means of an ethnographic revisit, using participant-observation, semi-structured interviews, free conversations and documentary material.

Using labour process analysis with ethnographic data from a general hospital, the corporate culture is represented as faceted, complex and sophisticated, lending little support to the managerial claims that if corporate objectives are realised, they are achieved through some combination of shared values, beliefs and managerial practices. The findings tend to support the critical view in labour process writing that modern managerial initiatives lead to tightened corporate control, advanced employee subjection and extensive effort intensification. The findings demonstrate the way in which the nursing employees enthusiastically embrace many aspects of the managerial message and yet, at the same time, still remain suspicious and distance themselves from it through misbehaviour and adaptation, and, in some cases, use the rhetoric against management for their own ends.

What are the implications for clinical and managerial practitioners? The recommendations are to (1) develop managerial practitioners who are capable of managing change combined with the professional autonomy of clinical practitioners, (2) take care to practise what you preach in clinical and managerial reality, as commitment, consent, compliance and difference of opinion are signs of a healthy corporate culture and (3) consider the implications between social structures and human actions with different work behaviours on different levels involved.

This ethnographic revisit considers data from a labour process analysis of corporate culture change in a general hospital and revisits the ways in which contradictory expectations and pressures are experienced by nursing employees and management practitioners spread 17 years apart.

This paper seeks to consider the interaction between corporate brands and organisational cultures within less successful UK financial services organisations to provide guidance about better managing corporate brands.

A total of 41 in‐depth interviews were conducted within less successful UK financial services organisations from a grounded theory standpoint.

Given the link between culture and employee behaviour and the criticality of employee behaviour in services brands, organisational culture was perceived by managers and staff as being key to brand success. However, amongst the corporate brands studied, the cultures were not brand‐supportive and a misalignment was noted between culture and brand. The study found that the organisational cultures were confusing and inconsistent, were undergoing a process of change, were focused on quantitative performance targets, were averse to innovation and in one case were unnecessarily “tough”.

The results highlight the need for managers to be attentive to the consistency and congruence between values in the organisational culture and corporate brand, to ensure that cultural change is managed appropriately, to adopt a holistic approach to brand management and to empower employees. A model is posited of the cultural pitfalls to avoid when managing corporate brands.

The value of the paper is that it can help financial services brands achieve their potential by allowing them to manage the interaction between culture and brand so as to optimise brand performance by avoiding the pitfalls encountered within less successful brands.