Can the culture of a company be dictated by top level management?

Caty,
My answer is no. Culture is something we create together. We as a top management team can articulate a desired culture. We can ensure the "systems" and reinforcements are in place and be stewards of the culture, but culture can't be dictated.
I think one of the reasons we have so much "tension" in our work environments today is because although we talk about "engagement" most of our systems are designed around compliance.
Most organizations have at least two cultures- the one they "talk" about and the one that really exists. Guess which one makes the bigger impression on your stakeholders...?
Culture eats strategy everytime.
As a professional change agent I am always amused when a client wants me to conduct a management retreat and "change" their culture.
Culture is about norms, values, and beliefs- it "lives" at the visceral level. We usually try to "fix" it at the intellectual level which usually fails.
I talk to organizations every day who are perplexed that systems like Black Belt, Six Sigma, etc didn't "fix" their culture. Culture is about relationships and people- not systems.

I have to respectfully disagree with Mark.

In a similar way that customer satisfaction and investor confidence can both be assessed and improved by prudent leadership, company culture can also be driven by engaged leaders.

If a leader wants to drive customer satisfaction, the first figure out what the customer needs and wants and they go about making sure they deliver it. The same is true for investors. However, this is rarely the case when addressing employees. Employees are usually on the wrong side of the balance sheet.

Illustrating the point, changes in senior management often (if not usually) have major impacts on company culture. The symptoms of this culture change include changes in productivity, efficiency, customer satisfaction and employee engagement among others. All of these are related to company culture. The “XYZ-Company way” is set by senior management and is disseminated through the ranks one way or another.

In fact, I’d even go further to say that culture can not and will not change without the direct and sustained engagement of senior management.

Top management cannot dictate a positive corporate culture, but they sure can undermine it!

I agree with Mark. Top management through communications, practices, and behaviors must take the lead for organizational culture change. Sending a consistent message of the common values that form the basis of the new culture is absolutely essential.
In organizations where top leaders “dictate” the culture change, the change normally is on the surface only. Underneath, the organization still operates in the “before change” mode. As soon as top management looks away, the organization reverts quickly back to the “old ways”.
Organizational culture is organic; it is created over time and is influenced by the people, practices, beliefs and values. The easy part of cultural change is determining what it is the organization needs. The difficulty comes when making that change.
Many organization leaders do not understand this basis tenet.

No, top level management CANNOT dictate a company culture. You cannot dictate a behavioral goal and succeed.
To instill a corporate culture, top level management must lead by example, and inspire the company to follow. This does not mean that the culture and its goals cannot be enumerated in documents and disseminated to all employees.
To nurture a mentoring environment, for example top level management should visibly engage in mentoring those below them. And then the next level those below them, and so on.
Remember that you lead people and manage things, and you cannot push a rope uphill.

Hi everyone!

I really enjoyed the discussion on this thread! Today I asked a similar Q&A on Focus regarding whether or not a CEO shapes the quality of his organization's customer service. Would love any input if you have it!

http://www.focus.com/questions/customer-service/quality-organizations-custome...

Thanks,
Caty

John,
I don't disagree with you- in part. Changing culture without the support of senior management is difficult if not impossible and I believe as you do that senior level management play an integral role.
I think there is a difference between role modeling, creating systems and infrastructure and "dictating".
Dictating rarely if ever works on a sustained basis. Engagement of all parties including senior management in my mind represents a polarity from "engaging" employees at any level.
Creating alignment and congruency on the other hand are critical to sustained culture change- one represents a commitment model, the other compliance.
Short term blips occur by force, but like occupying powers learn "taking" territory is easy, holding it isn't...
Define your culture by all means- "dictate" it your peril....

Most of the Corporate America companies I worked out; culture came from the top down. You either became a part of it; or left.

I know of a lot of companies today that are that way in a variety of industries.

Yes and no. Companies have consisted of top level/ top-down management for centuries and have succeeded. Companies have been run with single-loop learning and often this type of management is necessary. Certain organizations require a more hierarchical type of management to run smoothly. Nonetheless, change is inevitable and in a fickle economy with daily technological advances I think it’s time to reconsider old methods of management. I don’t believe a company’s culture is dictated more so than influenced by top level management. I agree with Mark in the sense that culture is something created by all members of an organization. Culture comes from the values, goals and mission as well as from all of those who make up that organization. However, the top level management set the stage for that culture. They make the rules, set the standards, and most of all, are (or should be) the role models for all employees. New employees and especially those who are seen at the “bottom of the totem pole” need someone to look up to. If a company’s upper management is rigid and use a top down method of management, then the culture will follow as such. If a company’s values are less focused on the financials and more focused on the customer and internal perspectives, then the upper management as well as the rest of the organization should create that type of culture. Therefore, a company’s culture is highly influenced by upper management as well as the company’s values.

In my experience a culture should be agreed on by everyone in the business, a collaboration to agree the mission, the values and underpinning behaviours. If this is dictated then it often only has impact while people are foucsisng on it, as soon as leaders turn away the old behaviours return.

Once the new values and behaviours and implemented then top management has a key role to play by exhibiting the behaviours. Then they must enable a culture where every staff member manages themselves and their colleagues against the values and behaviours.

At this stage if top management do different than they are telling others to do the whole effort will quickly crumble and cause conflict & negative feelings in the business.

Jim, you said it best.

Corporate Culture is not created by Top Management, but it's highly molded and affected by them. In some organizations, Top Management establish rigorous controls to assure that the "way of doing things" are maintained. In others, it has evolved over a period of time and become engrained in each of its members, or in others where there are two cultures: The one that Top Management "Think" it exists because they are surrounded by "yes" people, and the real culture that flows beneath Top Management's feet. Just by simply asking employees what is the corporate culture will tell you in which category they fit in; if you get an uniform response, then they really have one culture and embrace it, if they point to the policy manual, then they have a formal and rigid culture, and if they answer: Do you want to know the official version? then you know that there are at least two cultures.
Cheers
Carlos

In my hometown of Bozeman, MT we have two hardware stores that have both been in business for over 100 years. Sitting Bull was attaching wagon trains when they started in business. How do you create a culture that lasts 100 years?

I think the answer is in the difference between the definitions of culture and philosophy. I think upper management has a vision for the direction and policies of the company but it's the pride in ownership of each persons individual job that creates a culture of satisfaction both from the customer and the employee.

When you think about a business being around 100 years, that's 9 wars, a depression, several recessions, the invention of the automobile, telephone, flight, radio, and electricity. Thousands of employees, hundreds of managers, a handful of owners, yet they still open the doors each day.

Culture is only possible when everyone has a common goal of excellence in what each does.

Culture in an organization can certainly be impacted by Top management. In a small organization ownership definitely can determine what the culture is especially when the owner is hands on into everything,when you start moving up the ladder in size this dynamic changes. Each department may have its own culture that may differ in some ways from the overall culture of the company. People determine culture not an edict by the top. That being said if top management instills fear,or a highly competitive "stab them in the back" mentality that certainly changes the course of this conversation.

Interesting, I just wrote a post focusing on culture http://j.mp/dEJ8wr and how to impact it. To answer your question, NO, top level mgmt. cannot DICTATE culture. Culture is the embedded rituals and language that is a daily part of your organizations' activities - formal and informal. To impact culture, management can define the Values that are important to an organization and lay out the roadmap of how they should be incorporated into daily activity. Management can also set how these Values and their impact will be measured.

The definition I have used for corporate culture is: "The standard of values and beliefs in the workplace. A level of satisfaction established by both management and workers." It goes beyond the pretty posters and documented words that describe the "values" of an organization. It is how those posted values are lived out day-to-day.
A follower will follow a leader whose behavior demonstrates the gut-level values of that follower. When there is commonality, you have a corporate culture. If there is a disconnect, the leader will soon find him/herself just out for a walk.
Leaders set the table.
Followers decide whether or not they will dine there.

I think that most of the people here are MISSING THE POINT of the question. I wonder if there's a bit of bitterness and resentment towards top-level management.

If you are in a top-level management position and think that you can't dictate culture, your organization is in trouble. It's as if you're admitting that you can't make decision for the direction you want the company to go in. Top-level management has ALL the power in DICTATING company culture. In fact, it's one of their KEY RESPONSIBILITIES as top-level management.

Now, top management CANNOT alone CARRY OUT the IMPLEMENTATION of company culture. They can ensure that company policies and decisions are consistent with the ideals they wish for the organization. They can ensure that they hire the best, most effective managers who are both converted to the ideals of company culture top management wants to implement; and that those great managers are trained to be able to take the idea of culture and break it down into actual steps to be taken in each individual department. That's the KEY RESPONSIBILITY of MANAGERS: To take the IDEALS and DIRECTION from top management, and create a PLAN of ACTION that can be put into effect on the ground floor at the company.

As a member of top level management, I could never, give up that responsibility and just let whatever is happening on the ground floor dictate the culture of the company. Doing so fuels the sense of disconnect from the frontline people in the organization and top management. Of course, the ground floor employees are going to think that management doesn't know them and what's going on. They're not involved.

Top management should always SET THE EXPECTATION, PAINT the PICTURE. Then work with managers to ensure that a PLAN of ACTION that is CONSISTANT with the PICTURE is put into place. Then continually monitor that MANAGEMENT decisions are made that support the CULTURE PICTURE they want to develop and continually work with managers and interact with the frontline employees to PROVE that they also are trying to LIVE THE CULTURE THEY WANT for the company.

I do not think that top level management can "dictate" a corporate culture. However, they can institute principals of operation. This is what my company did in the 1st quarter of this year. All of us went through training to understand why this initiative was being undertaken and how we are central to it's success. I think if a business wishes to create a culture they should provide training to ensure employee "buy in."

This is a great discussion...and gets to the heart of a big challenge for organizations. I think "dictate" is a bit strong. I do think, however, top management/leadership needs to lay the framework for the culture they aspire to build - based on the company's vision, mission, and shared values. Here's an analogy: They need to plant the seed...and make sure everyone knows what that seed is...but then they need to step back and watch it grow. They need to tend to it, but let the greenhouse of their employment base do most of the work. They might need to step in from time to time and kill the pests or fertilize it, but let the employees do most of the gardening. It then will become a culture planted by a few, but grown by the masses.

The key words in the original question are "can" and "dictate". Reading the question literally, of course they can. The Kochs, for instance, go so far as to 'strongly advise' their employees who to vote for 'in their best interests'. There are specific prohibitions and requirements that any corporation can institute to outline their desired culture.

However, dictation is often the least effective management technique in the toolbox. There are many other more effective techniques to draw from.

A more interesting question replaces 'can' with 'should' and 'dictates' with 'encourages'. I have worked at corporations with amazingly positive corporate cultures, and some with horrible corporate cultures. In both cases, the top leadership was the origination. Should a corporation encourage a specific corporate culture? Depends on the culture.

After over 25 years in working with 'organizational cultures' (nothing was really written about it back then when I started), I say that top level Management cannot really "dictate" the culture(s) of an organization but it will have a profound influence - but them folks at the top may wonder why all theeir time is spent 'putting out fires'... I use the plural because there are many different 'cultures' in an organization - a 'sales and marketing' culture is much different than an 'operations culture' within the same company although the values and beliefs may be common - just displayed differently... (some may say that this is the 'work climate'...

I thought about the title to this topic and the word "dictate" is critical to the question... I agree that top level management has a profound influence through their 'leadership and management' practices as most have stated here and by 'dictating' the top level managers will definately produce / impact some kind of culture if that is their consistent 'method of operating' as a top management group... it just may not be the kind of experiences that they wish in order to gain support to achieve their goals... let's see: 'dictating' may get you a level of performance in order to survive, territorialism, ineffective communication, ineffective competition, silos, role ambiguity, lack of control on the job, loss of 'best performers'... and a lot of energy placed on those things just to survive - but it is a 'culture'...

There is an old O.D. saying: "Organizations work exactly as they are designed to work." (but not necessarily how we expect them to work)

Organizational culture is a very, very dynamic and complex element and not an easy thing to grasp, let alone change - after so many years, I certainly do not have all the answers... and I like it that way... I have enjoyed reading everyone's comments and I thank you for your opinions and insights...

I am a little late discovering this discussion, but I feel it is important enough to weigh in nonetheless.

Can top level management "dictate" (a positive, healthy) culture? As has already been said, of course not, else every company would be an idealistic place to work. Sure enough, though, top level management can dictate unhealthy culture.

Culture is not simply an uncontrollable phenomenon, however, and top level management can indeed lead a cultural revolution, culminating in a change to healthy emotional, mental and physical working conditions.

Human Nature Management specializes in engineering this transformation, and yielding high performance, low maintenance teams. We have discovered through the years that there is one central component to cultural transformation upon which all other initiatives must be built. Put very simply it is this: upper management must act in the same manner in which they preach.

Here is just one example. Upper management says they want a performance team, a group of people performing together cohesively as a single entity. However, every employee initiative is carried out as though employees are just individuals. Raises, bonuses, promotions, disciplinary actions, goal cycles-- all are handled on an individual basis. Clearly, individuals are going to look out first for their own advancement.

Now suppose that procedures change to align with upper management's stated goal-- a cohesive team entity. Bonuses are awarded to the entire team, or to no one. Promotions are awarded with team input. If the team allows bad behavior in any member, disciplinary measures apply to the entire team.

Can you see the difference? The latter team will quickly begin to self-regulate. The team will not tolerate sub-standard performance from individuals. Politicking for personal gain will become less enticing. Truly beginning to work as a team, together, the team will begin to experience two very new things: greatly increased production, and fun. Yes, fun. And if you are honest about it, that is where a positive, healthy culture starts.

Can upper management dictate a healthy culture? NO. Can upper management align decisions to objectives and achieve a healthy culture? ABSOLUTELY.

Together, let's put the fun back into work!
Belldon Colme
belldoncolme@gmail.com

Belldon,
Thanks for a thoughtful comment. I agree culture can't ever just be visceral, it must be thought out and deliberate as well. My point perhaps overstated was that so many times we rely on appealing to the intellect alone in defining or especially our attempts to "change" culture.
Rely exclusively on the visceral or worse yet the emtional is not only ineffective it is irresponsible.
When I see "leaders" using provocative rhetoric to stir up emotions(usually negatively directed at something they disagree with) and preying off emotions it concerns me...
M

If top level management could dictate a desired culture, wouldn't all employers have an effective culture by fiat alone?

I think the operative word is dictate which to me does not mean change, create, influence, or improve.

Since we know that top level managers are not stupid we know that top level management cannot dictate the culture of a company otherwise they would in a heart beat. Why do you ask?