Bain & Company: Performance culture < Capabilities

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A true high-performance organizational culture provides a company with its single greatest source of competitive advantage. The culture inspires people to go the extra mile - to make and execute good decisions even when nobody's looking. But fewer than 10% of companies actually succeed in building a winning culture, and even the ones that do so may find it hard to maintain.

High-performance cultures have two central characteristics:

Each one is unique. Some companies, such as Johnson & Johnson, HSBC or Sony, have a powerful organizational personality - a "soul" - that derives from a deep heritage. Others, such as Southwest Airlines or Google, create their own distinctive environment. This potent combination of values, character, rituals and beliefs creates a deep bond with employees, making their work unusually meaningful and rewarding.
But all foster a similar set of behaviors. However distinctive such corporate "personalities" may be, they all encourage remarkably consistent patterns of behavior. People in these organizations care passionately about winning. They orient themselves outward, focusing on customers and competitors rather than on internal politics. They think like owners and have a bias to action. They build teamwork and are open to change.

Creating and maintaining such a culture is challenging, but it can be done. Leadership is key. Cultural change won't happen unless leaders themselves model the behaviors and values that define the new culture. The most effective leaders also spread the word through constant personal contact and communication, particularly with "linchpin" employees who will buy in to the culture and whose words will carry weight with others. They don't shrink from making the organizational changes necessary to support the new culture - for example, altering incentives, redistributing decision rights or streamlining processes. They rigorously track their progress as the culture evolves to make sure performance stays high.

To find out more about Bain's work in this capability area, please contact the Organization practice.

Building a winning culture

Culture as a competitive advantage

"Performance Culture" the Private Equity way

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		Deal-threatening cultural issues for MobileCo

		Problem: Post merger cultural issues threatened to jeopardize deal

		Approach: Implement workshops and briefing sessions

		Recommendations: Create a new desired culture

		Results: 100s of initiatives ensured the new culture was instilled throughout the organization

			Paul Partner Sydney

"Culture is made, not born."

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