Transforming Corporate Culture at Heinz Australia - Case Study Example

Name Class Unit Transforming corporate culture at Heinz Australia 1. Draw on the elements of cultural web to discuss how the culture at Heinz Australia has changed and is continuing to evolve under Widdows’ leadership. Culture web consists of six elements which together constitutes paradigm (Barker & Robyn, 2004). The analysis of the elements helps in getting the bigger picture of the organisation culture. The elements of cultural web are stories, rituals, symbols, organisation structure, control systems and power structures. Using the cultural web at Heinz, it is possible to analyse how it has changed under Widdows’ leadership. Prior to Widdows joining Heinz, the reputation of the company was worse than it is. The stories which people said of the organisation were on bad reputation it had gained. The company was utilising a lot of revenue to replace departing staff. The organisation changed its story and has now a reputation of a great place to work under Widdows leadership. Widdows is now talked about as a hero who brought change. Rituals and routines changed under Widdows leadership. The employees used to working for long hours but the present routine introduced flexible working week. Widdows worked in changing the organisation structure. The organisation became less hierarchical with the staff reduction and eliminating of complexity in the structure. The staffs were reduced by 25% and there was a restructuring of the board. The control system which was previously punitive was changed and the employees are freer and rewarded for their efforts. For Widdows to change the organisation culture, he had to re-mould the values, beliefs and the work behaviours of the employees. This is a process that involved a lot of work (Graetz, Rimmer, Smith & Lawrence, 2010). 2. Based on your cultural web audit, identify the key forces against change As Widdows carried out change at Heinz, there are several forces against change. The organisation had a complex structure which had led to confusion and conflict. It was not possible to identify the functional roles and responsibilities. The first force against change was the concern over personal loss (Harvey, 2010). The staff reduction was the first strategy was to be carried out within two months. The initiative meant that the staffs were to be reduced by 25% and the board restructured. This meant that it was a personal loss for the staffs that were to lose employment. The staffs were bound to resist any move that would deny them the benefits they enjoyed at the company. Uncertainty is another force against change that was experienced at Heinz (Spector, 2011). Being new to the organisation, the staff could not be sure whether his move would be of benefit to the organisation. There was also lack of trust. To win trust among the employee was a task needed before embarking on the change. For the employees, they were not sure that Widdows’ initiative would solve the problems they had in the company. The company had been less supportive to the employees and some of them were in despair. There was little communication between staff and employees. For the employees to adapt to the new management style there was bound to be some resistance for the change as explained (Graetz, Rimmer, Smith & Lawrence, 2010). 3. What appears to be the key strength of the new culture? The new culture at Heinz is supportive to the employees and has a simple organisational structure. Previously, the organisation culture that was there was negative and inward focused. The culture was based on punishment and was not rewarding. The new culture is rewarding in a bid to raise the employees’ morale. There are a lot of initiatives which are directed at the employees’ health, well being and work life balance. The culture is thus centred in ensuring that the employees and management are satisfied in the organisation. All this have been achieved through working towards making Heinz a great place to work. Having a simple organisation structure enables the employees to easily interact with the management and give their ideas (Barker & Robyn, 2004). The roles and responsibilities are also well defined under the new culture. The organisation culture thus leads to reduced confusion. Being a supportive culture, there is mutual trust and respect which has developed based on the organisation mantra (Graetz, Rimmer, Smith & Lawrence, 2010). 4. What aspects of the organisation needs to be monitored to ensure that the organisation does not slide back into the old way of thinking and doing things The new cultural mindset and mantra have to be maintained so that the organisation does not slide back to the old ways of thinking. The organisation has to make sure that the potent driving forces remains as the cultural mindset and the mantra. The employees have to be committed in making the organisation a “great place to work”. The mantra has been able to be the main driving force for the organisation success. The company have to continuously communicate their values and making the workforce engaged and committed. By reinforcing this mindset, it is hard for the old culture to return. The mantra has been the main working theme where Widdows and senior management engage staff to promote it. The employees are respected by the senior management and the same is expected of them. The organisation, thus must have willingness to listen to the employees’ ideas and support them (Murthy, 2007). The mantra has helped the employees to view the organisation in a different perspective which must be maintained and continuously monitored. This means that the employees have the confidence to give their inputs and beliefs in success (Graetz, Rimmer, Smith & Lawrence, 2010). Continuous improvement for the environment in Sun Microsystems 1. Principles of best practice at Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems Have demonstrated several principals of best practice in their operations with an aim to reduce carbon emission and improve productivity. The principles of the best practice were carried out using a change plan which was composed of several parts. For the best practices to work, they had to be aligned with the organisation goals. The first step involved dumping PCs in favour of the thin clients. This meant that the organisation was to use computers that access data stored from a main remote server. The step was aimed at reducing power consumption. The second principle involved forming staff workgroups. The main aim of the staff workgroup was to improve eco-responsibility. By carrying out small improvements such as sharing printers and reducing electivity wastage, the groups were expected to improve responsibility. The next step was redesigning the floor space. The new arrangement was bound to encourage the staff to work at home and also help in space economy. The organisation introduced video conferencing to reduce the travel by air and driving. The last step was based on power saving. This involved raising data rooms operating temperatures by 3 to 5 degrees (Graetz, Rimmer, Smith & Lawrence, 2010). 2. What gains should Sun Microsystems expect from these changes? By carrying out the changes, it is evident that the gains were significant. The power consumption reduced by a large margin. The PCs used to consume more than 100 Watts of power could now be substituted with clients which have low power consumption of 4 Watts. The organisation can thus expect to save a lot of revenue from reduced power bills. After redesigning the working space, the organisation was able to benefit from an increase in the staff desk ratio from 1 to 1.3. This means that the employees have better working spaces and hence increase in comfort. The working conditions are also more flexible as they can work at home. This means that Sun Microsystems employees are able to improve their performance due to better working conditions (Partridge, 2007). The company initiative has already led to reduction of carbon footprint. The company was able to meet their 2002 target in 2012. Power saving carried out at the data centres have been able to reduce the carbon footprint by 6% in some operations. By gaining these results on environmental compliance through reduction of carbon footprint, the company has a good reputation. The good reputation will continue attracting new clients. Consumers are more likely to be attracted to companies that are environmental friendly (Graetz, Rimmer, Smith & Lawrence, 2010). 3. Can this example be copied by another organisation? The example by Sun Microsystems is a case that can be copied by any other organisation in the same line of business. Most of the principles used to attain a reduction in carbon footprint and improve productivity are easy to implement. For another organisation to copy the example, they need to have required technology and engage in continuous improvement. This requires an organisation with a flexible organisation structure and where work teams are empowered. Though some of the practices adopted by the organisation may take time to copy such as redesigning workspace, they are easy to understand. If an organisation has aligned its goals as Sun Micro systems, adoption of the example can help a lot. The example can fail to work only if the organisation copying it lacks the appropriate technology, have rigid work structure and are in a different line of business (Graetz, Rimmer, Smith & Lawrence, 2010). References Barker, C & Robyn, C 2004, The power of culture: driving today's organisation. Sydney: McGraw-Hill. Graetz, F., Rimmer, M., Smith, A. & Lawrence, A 2010, Managing Organisational Change, 3rd Australasian edition, Milton, Qld, John Wiley & Sons. Harvey, T 2010, Resistance to change: A guide to harnessing its positive power, Lanham, MD: Roman & Littlefield. Murthy, C. S. V 2007, Change management, Mumbai, Himalaya Pub, House Pvt. Partridge, L 2007, Managing change, Amsterdam, Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann. Spector, B 2011, Implementing organizational change: Theory into practice, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Read More