Success in today’s knowledge-based economy can be more effective when executives can manifest themselves as change agents who reshape, and in some cases, manipulate corporate culture to better apply knowledge and create competitive advantage. Building on the three aspects of corporate culture (collaboration, trust and learning), companies can attempt to continuously innovate and create new and valuable services or products through applying new ideas and knowledge. This article is also set in place to inspire consultants to create effective cultural changes in order to meet and exceed the challenges of not only today but also what we see as an onset of new advances in the future.
The practices mentioned in this article can represent a complete answer to need for cultural changes in today’s global market environment. The next sections particularly present a set of actions that can be taken by executives to build an effective corporate culture within corporations.
Building a True Collaboration Culture
To build a collaboration culture, executives and change practitioners need to improve the degree to which employees actively support and provide significant contributions to each other in their work. In doing this, they can develop a collaborative work climate in which:
- Employees are satisfied by the degree of collaboration between departments
- Employees are supportive.
- Employees are helpful.
- There is a willingness to accept responsibility for failure.
Creating a No-Fail Trust Culture
To create a trust culture, executives and change practitioners need to maintain the volume of reciprocal faith in terms of behaviors and intentions. In doing this, they can build an atmosphere of trust and openness in which:
- Employees are generally trustworthy.
- Employees have reciprocal faith in other members’ intentions and behaviors.
- Employees have reciprocal faith in others’ ability.
- Employees have reciprocal faith in others’ behaviors to work toward organizational goals.
- Employees have reciprocal faith in others’ decision towards organizational interests than individual interests.
- Employees have relationships based on reciprocal faith.
Cultivating a Successful Learning Culture
To foster a learning culture, executives and change practitioners need to enhance the extent to which learning is motivated within the workplace. In doing this, they can contribute to the development of a learning workplace in which:
- Various formal training programs are provided to improve the performance of duties.
- Opportunities are provided for informal individual development other than formal training such as work assignments and job rotation.
- There is an encouragement to attend external seminars, symposia, etc.
- Various social mechanisms such as clubs and community gatherings are provided.
- Employees are satisfied by the contents of job training or self-development programs.
In Conclusion
I present executives and change practitioners with a new idea in that when cultural change becomes increasingly valuable, they can manifest themselves as change agents who implement effective changes in corporate culture. This article also suggests that corporate culture constitutes the foundation of a supportive workplace to improve knowledge management performance. Standing on the shoulders of scholars before us, I indicate that corporate culture is a major internal resource for knowledge management success. Without a grasp on these two tenets executives are bound to fail.
Written by Mostafa Sayyadi, an opinion columnist for the CEOWORLD magazine.
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