Building Blocks of Organizational Culture: The Six Components of Corporate Culture (Coleman)

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Building Blocks of Organizational Culture: The Six Components of Corporate Culture (Coleman)

🔥 Culture, unlike its short and easy definition – the way we do things here – isn't as easy a concept to get the hang of. Yet every complex thing relies on a foundation and in case of culture, as observed by John Coleman, it has its foundation in six core components. While Edgard Schein famously demonstrated there are 3 levels of culture, Coleman argues there are 6 components that build organizational culture:

1. VISION: Vision is a compelling image of achievable future. Merely coming up with a shiny statement is not enough to be a great vision. The core of a vision should hold greater purpose beyond money. Thus, a good vision underlies a great purpose which has the ability to capture a dedicated following.
2. VALUES: Values are guiding principles. When practiced properly, they make a vision more achievable than when they aren't. Visions are sometimes written in a more abstract form, which makes it hard for ordinary people to interact with. But values are concrete and therefore every vision should be accompanied by some values that people can nurture everyday.
3. PRACTICES: Visions and values are the codified part of a culture. Practices are genuine behaviors originated from those codes. To build a good culture, practices should always be in line with the stated vision and values. Many companies fall short in this key aspect.
4. PEOPLE: To make the practices happen, we need people inspired to take the vision forward. People are the drivers of a culture, the practitioners of its values. Be it employees, customers, investors, founders or any other stakeholder, people run your business from day to day, and without having or developing them to fit your company's purpose, culture holds nothing other than mere words.
5. NARRATIVE: Every company has a unique history, a story which creates the narrative for it. A narrative can be formal and informal. For example, Coca-Cola has a long tradition to formally celebrate its heritage. For informal narrative, take a look at the sophisticated design of Apple Park which will remind visitors to its founders' early fascination for calligraphy and design.
6. PLACE: Have you ever wondered why so many businesses center around some specific location? The reasons for this can vary, but this reflects that Place has a great input in shaping culture. Place, when broadly defined, can be anything from location, neighborhood to design, architecture and aesthetics. It is the 6th component of culture, for which some businesses started adopting open offices and some are still putting their bet on closed ones. A proper place will help a culture flourish.

Source: Coleman, J. (2013), "Six Components of a Great Corporate Culture", HBR

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		4 Philippe Guenet Coach, United Kingdom
	Leadership? I am a little surprised that LEADERSHIP is missing from this equation. Leadership hold the keys to the dynamics of the work system. They set context from which culture emerges. Their behaviour (not what they say) has a lot of influence and can be the difference between a thriving or a toxic culture. For instance, I am seeing how people are placed under pressure for committing to deliver projects within certain timelines, at the point when the scope cannot be known well. Once they reluctantly do, pressure will ensue to meet this and their bonus or career progression might be at risk. Which in turn descends in the whole project and often results in a death march. This, to me, is the gangrain of large organisations trying to make a play into Digital. Changing the leadership style is fundamental to see and walk a new path. As for the PLACE, I can see how this might have been relevant. But the increase in globalisation and especially distributed teams, which let's face it the current pandemic is going to reinforce, makes this less relevant in a digital / global economy.

		2 Gregory Johnson Coach, United States
	Role of Leaders in Inclusive and Progressive Cultures "Culture" in the organizational context, consist of the shared norms and expectations that govern the way people approach their work and interact with each other. Such norms and expectations shape how organizational members believe they are expected to behave in order to fit in, get things done, and, in many situations of progressive cultures, how individuals grow and how the organization grows with them. Organizational culture is influenced by a variety of factors, indeed leaning strongly on the skills and talents of it's leaders. If persons in various positions of leadership are stuck on the outdated military or traditional hierarchical style of leading, culture is seldom if ever valued as an area of focus as a traditional leader. As such, individuals and the organization as a whole lose. A culture that is "energized" through an open observation and input communications mantra is better positioned to growth internally and externally than the traditional power mantra of top down management. This is respecting the culture and leading accordingly. This is an excellent topic with much more that could be added. Thank you.

		1 Munadil Shafat Student (MBA), Bangladesh
	Leadership in the Context of Culture @Philippe Guenet: thanks for pointing out the role leaders play in setting, shaping and maintaining cultures of organizations. Although leaders can be included in the People component, but I agree they deserve special attention due to their special role in a culture. About Place, I think the new digital norm has changed the whole concept of organizational culture from the bottom up. Recently I also saw several discussions regarding how organizations can retain their culture in this new normal.

		2 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	The Practices are the Culture @Philippe Guenet: I would suggest that the 'vision', 'values' and 'practices' are outcomes of the management/leadership behaviours/style, i.e. the management/leadership culture. This determines to overall organisational culture; particularly, as @Gregory Johnson indicates, the 'practices' aspect. The behaviours of the management cadre, as determined by the most senior manager (e.g., the MD) will determine the norms and expectations that govern the way that they get things done. If this is founded in unrealistic practices of pressurising; based in valuing submission and a vision of conform if you want to work here; then that has determined a bullying, command and control culture for the organisation. What I would like to add to the list is "Policies" and "Procedures". Stemming from Vision and Values, these should be the determinants of Practices, in the sense of systematic, structured organisation and method and the related Behaviours to action them.

		1 Kenyi jimmy Project Manager, Uganda
	Leadership Has to be Added Since people (employees) make the practice happen but are to be inspired to take the vision forward, being a practitioner of the values, I acknowledge the importance of leadership to be added as a maj...

		3 Philippe Guenet Coach, United Kingdom
	The Rest Does not Make Up for Leadership @Maurice Hogarth: Leadership may have a role in setting values and practices, but posters on the wall and op models on paper do very little. Making this alive is a very different matter and this is th...

		2 Rolando Medeiros, Chile
	Role of Leadership and Place in Building and Sustaining a Corporate Culture @Philippe Guenet: I fully agree with the importance of leadership in building a culture fully aligned with its vision and values; more than leadership what is needed is a LEADERSHIP STYLE able of insp...

		2 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	The Importance of Policies and Procedures @Philippe Guenet: I agree with you. In fact, Leadership is what makes the rest. Apart from your implication that policies and procedures somehow inhibit innovation or that they are only of value in a...

		2 Osman Abdel-Rahman CEO, Ghana
	The Six Components of Corporate Culture @Philippe Guenet: Yes, leadership is key in corporate culture. Each of the (other) 6 components revolves around Leadership. In particular, Visioning is the key responsibility of leadership. Values and...

		1 Nestor Jimenez ICT Consultant, Colombia
	Culture Change and Leadership Maybe, the leadership is particularly important when the culture needs to be changed or corrected....