Webster defined Culture as ".the act of developing.

the intellectual and moral faculties," especially by education; "expert care and training"; "enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training"; "the total pattern of human behavior embodied in thought, speech, action and artifacts and dependent upon man's capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations." The intensification of research on organizational effectiveness has led to the formulation of theories about factors within an organization that can make a difference in performance. Organizational culture is one such variable that has received much attention in organizational behavior literature. This attention is mainly because researchers have postulated that cultural factors play a key role in determining levels of organizational outcomes. A common hypothesis about this role suggests that if an organization possesses "strong culture" by exhibiting a well integrated and effective set of specific values, beliefs, and behavior patterns, then it will perform at a higher level of productivity. The development of theory to guide the definition of organizational culture, therefore, is of primary importance to improve organization performance, especially because the variables which comprise culture have been postulated to be under the control of organizational leaders. Organizational culture has been defined as patterns of shared values and beliefs overtime which produce behavioral norms that are adopted in solving problems. Schein (1985) has also noted that culture is a body of solutions to problems which have worked consistently and are therefore taught to new members as a correct way to perceive, think about, and fell in relation to those problems. Infact these shared philosophies, assumptions, values, expectations, attitudes, and norms bind an organization together. Thus the set of integrated concepts becomes the manner of strategies through which an organization achieves its specific goals. It can therefore be postulated that an organization's collective culture influences both the attitudes and subsequent behaviors of its employees, as well as the level of performance the organization achieves. Schein (1990) has noted that culture is thought to permeate the organization on at least three fundamental levels. At the surface, one may observe visible artifacts of the organization, which is, its structure, technology, rules of conduct, dress codes, records, physical layout, stories, and rituals. Beneath this dimension is a second level, organization values, and finally, underlying assumptions about the nature if organization "reality" that are deeper manifestations of values. Of course investigating process of culture at the later level is more difficult, as they can not be directly observed and measured. How to Build the Cultural DNA By Culture building we mean selecting, motivating, rewarding, retaining, and unifying good employees. For too long, our business goals have accentuated hard, quantitative management techniques over supposedly "soft" people skills. Returning to Webster we see that culture derives from "acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational or technical skills." Culture building requires a sharpening of the "soft" people skills and it involves three steps: Instilling commitment Rewarding competence Maintaining consistency

THREE STEPS TO A STRONG, SUCCESSFUL CULTURE Culture Components Action to be taken Commitment Instill commitment to a common philosophy and purpose, recognizing that employee commitment to a Corporate Philosophy must go inside with both individual and collective interests. Competence Develop and reward competence in key areas, keeping in mind that you will foster greater competence by focusing on one or two key skills at a time rather than by addressing a host of skills all at once. Consistency Consistently perpetuate commitment and competence by attracting, developing, and keeping the right people. Assessing an Organization's Culture Assessing an organization's culture is the first step any executive must take before considering if and how a culture needs to be built, adapted, or changed. Any culture grows up over many years of operation, and you must first analyze it at a molecular level before using the culture to achieve an organization's purposes. Eighty to Ninety percent of all executives find themselves inheriting some kind of culture, whether a carefully nurtured one or one that developed almost haphazardly. Regardless, managing cultures in the new age requires extreme care. Because cultures, like the personalities of individuals, take a long time to develop and a long time to change, in most cases one can achieve better results by using an existing culture, good or bad than by destroying an old culture and building a brand new one. Unlike strategies, cultures can not survive dramatic change every time a new CEO takes over. Organizations, especially those with more than a hundred employees, can't adapt quickly. Attempts to force them to do so inevitably cost a lot of money and take a lot of time. However, some executives find themselves in start-up turnaround situations that require building a brand new culture. Effectively assessing and existing culture not only allows executives to put culture to use but also allows them to adapt and modify culture overtime as the environment and organization evolve. Building a Culture of Performance How to match Strategy and Culture Strategy + Culture = Excellence Strategy and Culture each contribute to the success of any organization. In the past, we have seen brilliant strategies bring great business success, and we have seen strong cultures survive great upheavals in the market place. Long term success and perennial corporate excellence require alloys of superior strategies and strong cultures. When executives set about the arduous task of forging an ideal alloy from a brilliant strategy and strong culture, they begin by carefully analyzing two important groups: customers and employees. For strategic thinking aims at getting and keeping customers, culture building attracts, develops, motivates, and unifies the right kind of employees. When the organizations strategy to get in keep customers acquire employees to act and think in unaccustomed ways, employees may respond poorly. On the other hand,

no matter how strongly an organizations culture motivates and develops employees, if customers do not perceive better products and services as a result, the culture has been wasted. The intertwined relationship between customers and employees requires watchful management by well trained executives with new age skills. Like paths of a complicated jigsaw puzzle, each piece of an internally consistent strategy must fit snuggly with each piece of an internally consistent culture. A single mismatched piece can destroy the overall picture. We have a strategy-culture matching grid based on nine different combinations of strategy and culture elements.

The nine combinations are as follows: Customers/Commitment: An organization's collective commitment to common purpose must coincide the organizations way of satisfying customer needs. Competitors/Commitment: Commitment to a common purpose must augment the organizations method for gaining a sustainable advantage over competitors. IBM's employees share a common commitment to superior customer service, the companies primary method of sustaining advantage over competitors. Company/Commitment: Commitment to a common purpose must support the company's attempt to capitalize on its strengths. Customers/Competence: An organization's competence deliver superior performance must satisfy the customer's needs. Competitors/Competence: Competence to deliver superior performance must match the organization's method of gaining a sustainable advantage over competitors. Proctor & gamble has long enjoyed a distinctive competence in product marketing thoroughness. But things have changed of lately, as small and faster moving competitors have taken advantage. Company/Competence: Competence to deliver superior performance must agree with the organizations efforts to capitalize on its strengths. Customers/Consistency: An organization's consistency perpetuating commitment and competence by attracting and keeping the right people must parallel efforts to get and keep customers. Delta Airlines satisfies its customer needs for superior airline service by consistently treating employees the way it would like customer's treated. Competitors/Consistency: Consistency in perpetuating the culture must agree with the organization's methods of gaining advantage over competitors. HP perpetuates its culture by hiring entrepreneurially oriented managers who fit into the company's culture. These same entrepreneurs fuel HP's advantage over competitors by maintaining technological innovation. Company/Consistency: Consistently perpetuating the culture must enhance the organization's efforts to capitalize on its strengths. Evolution in the new age To successfully maintain strong strategy-culture alloy in a changing environment, one must learn to adapt it carefully, applying versatility to anticipate changes, focus to make sure the adaptation takes hold, and patience to let the process run its natural course.

Focus helps you zero in on critical changes, eliminating all unfocussed activities that can distract you from successful adaptation. Patience reminds you to take the time to let versatility and focus do their jobs, to live in the long term. Most of all, it conquers the sort of fear that erodes confidence and guarantees failure and future fear, in a never ending destructive cycle. As we begin to fine tune our strong strategy-culture alloy, evolving it to adapt to a changing environment, we must remember the words of Thomas Watson, junior (former chairman of IBM) "Thomas Watson, senior didn't move in and shake up the organization instead, he set out to buff and polish the people who were already there and to make a success of what he had."