Idea in Brief

THE PROBLEM Cultural reform has been a favorite go-to to rescue organizations in trouble, whether the culprit is a corrosive bureaucracy, a product-recall crisis, or unethical behavior. But several corporate leaders disagree: In many cases it’s the business itself that needs repair. AN EXAMPLE Ecolab CEO Doug Baker was on a mission to triple revenue, but the expanded bureaucracy necessary to do so was cutting into the company’s customercentric culture. Instead of changing that culture, Baker altered business processes. Pushing decisions down to the front lines engendered trust and responsibility and restored connections to customers. A culture of autonomy was the result. THE RESULTS Culture isn’t something you “fix”—rather, cultural change is what you get after you’ve put new structures or processes in place to tackle tough business challenges.…

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Harvard Business Review Special Issues (Digital) - 1 Issue, Winter 2024

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