Corporate Culture - Strong and weak cultures - 3.4.2

A strong culture - is one which is deeply embedded into the ways a business or organisation does things. With a strong culture, employees and management understand what is required of them and they will try to act in accordance with the core values.

A weak culture - can arise when the core values are not clearly defined, communicated or widely accepted by those working for the organisation.  It can also occur if there is little alignment between the way things are done and the espoused values. This can lead to inconsistent behaviour of people in the organisation which in turn results in inconsistent customer experiences!

Strong Culture	Weak Culture
Staff respond positively to culture values	Little alignment with culture values
Shared sense of responsibility towards vision, mission and objectives	Employees have to be forced to perform duties
Motivated and loyal workforce	Greater management control and supervision leading to a bureaucracy and strict procedures
Greater efficiency	Treat the organisation as a source of income only
Accept roles and responsibilities willingly	Inconsistent behaviour
Abide by policies	Needs of the business is put before the customer’s needs
“Everyone buys into it”	Communication is weak
Consistent behaviour	Staff turnover is high
Low staff turnover	Mistakes are about blame, not learning
Strong internal communication	Change is seen as a problem
Change is welcomed	Staff doubt the business’s mission and ethos
Mistakes are seen as a learning process
Customer’s needs are at the center of the business

Examples

Strong Culture - Disney
Weak Culture - HMRC