Why I Advocate a Living Corporate Culture
Manfred Vollmer spent over a decade immersed in the distinctive corporate culture of one of the world’s most innovative retail brands. That experience profoundly affected his approach to business and still influences how he does things today. In today’s blog, Manfred shares some of the lessons he learned, and why he is a passionate advocate of a living corporate culture.
A Living Corporate Culture – Staying True to Your Values and Practises
Experts today have little doubt that there’s a strong relationship between corporate culture and corporate performance. Corporate culture can be the cause of survival or failure of an organization. It is the collection of all values, habits, norms, beliefs, and meanings that make a company distinct from others. Most progressive organizations are driven by elements such as: emphasis on the future, creation of value, permitting mistakes, personal responsibility, empowering people, innovation and change.
Corporate culture affects how people and groups of an enterprise interact with each other and with all stakeholders. Oh, one more aspect: Corporate culture is shaped by national culture. The question is if an ideal corporate culture can be built for you, or are we a representation of the corporate culture? Maybe you’ll figure it out when you come to the end of this blog.
When I started my career with IKEA I really didn’t think much about Corporate Culture and how it contributes to the success of an organization. I only thought that it was a pretty cool and growing company, a bit weird though, in fact their tagline at that time was “Ils sont fous ces Suédois” / “They are crazy those Swedes”.
A Corporate Culture Based on Shared Values
IKEA’s culture and values are grounded in the simple upbringing, beliefs and entrepreneurial attitude of the founder Ingvar Kamprad. Simplicity, discipline, humbleness, respect for the individual, assuming responsibility, taking initiative and the determination not to give up (to name a few) were immediately appealing to me, having been raised in a European post-war environment marked by a similar approach to business.
And, how about creativity and doing it in a different way, asking Why? Why not? or Can I do it another way? Ingvar’s business strategy developed mainly from creative responses to challenges, turning problems into solutions in a pragmatic manner.
Did you know that he invented many concepts fifty to sixty years ago and that they’ve become industry standards of today? His focus on low prices and keeping costs down was a key element of his business, e.g. buying and ordering large quantities of raw products for his furniture and supplying them to his manufacturers introduced the concept of vertical integration. Many of Ingvar’s new ways of dealing with sourcing, logistics and retailing are today models in business such as: knock-down furniture shipped in flat packages, involving customers in the value adding process by handling transportation and assembly, turning shopping into a family event with open store concept, children area and a restaurant.
IKEA’s culture has certainly evolved over the years, still true to its origin though, and proven to be viable in an international context. Its values are the most important factors behind the company’s achievements.
I had the privilege of working more than ten years in this inspiring cultural environment and it provided me with a foundation for my entrepreneurial mind-set. So, landing my first real job with IKEA was in retrospective, like hitting the cultural jackpot.
One very important fact not to forget: Humour is an essential part of most cultures. No matter how difficult and trying things may become for an entrepreneur, one must remember to laugh and don’t take yourself too serious!
By Manfred Vollmer
Headmaster of Fun & Fruition
Terrific post. The key to culture isn’t about having ping pong tables in the staff room or flex time or all the other gimmicks that might not necessarily create high performance in your business.
At Naked Underwear we’ve documented our culture as of today. There are only 8 of us, so we are still small but we are trying to create a performance culture. You can view it here. https://docs.google.com/a/thenakedshop.com/document/d/1I3C4iNIYWdDgOA_OXWp4DWjVl9L905jjwS7o7mGXPSo/edit#heading=h.wvoj0xfhvuhu I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments.
Do you have any suggestions for reading or advice on how to systematically create habits and norms. We reinforce by acknowledging the desired behaviours and actions of our staff individually and publically at staff meetings, but would love to hear about what others have done.
Thank you for your comments, Alex. We at institute B have developed a course for entrepreneurs to ‘Create a Culture of Audacious Results’. We believe that consistent, audacious results are founded in positive relationships and personal responsibility. Generosity is one of the key elements. A generous corporate culture pays back in equity value. A generous culture is not expensive, e.g. treating employees well, giving autonomy, responsibility, delegation and empowerment are zero cost items. A generous corporation is in it for their community of employees, suppliers, customers and environment.
I suggest to read “The Generous Leader”, an entrepreneurial handbook by Darrell Kopke. Check https://instituteb.com/entrepreneurial-handbook/ . Thanks. Manfred