Organisational culture and strategic leadership for success : a case study

M.Comm.Many aspects of the success, or lack of success, of a business can be accurately measured. Revenues, profit and loss, return on assets, share price, price equity ratios, market share, customer satisfaction and many more aspects can be measured and often managed. Apart from the measurable something else is needed: a successful organisational culture. The culture of an organisation is often easier to experience than to describe. The objectives of this study are find a workable definition for culture, tools to measure the culture of groups and leadership skills needed to manage or change the culture of organisations. Various definitions of organisational culture and culture measuring tools are studied. The most promising definition of culture and measuring tools are put to the test in a case study to forni an opinion of the usefulness of such tools for management. Results of this study indicate that the concept culture, as described in the double s cube model, is a very useful tool for managers. It provides a quick and easy entry point to the culture management of an organization. Firstly, the tools that are available to measure culture provide results that could be used to position a company in the double s cube model. Secondly, the results of the culture measurement could be used to formulate and decide on the best course of action when it is necessary to change culture. Culture management is done by manipulating the sociability and solidarity levels in an organisation and by ensuring positive contribution of these elements to business successes. The clear leadership guidelines to achieve this manipulation could be very useful for managers. By using the concept of culture, managers could establish competitive advantages for their businesses. Culture management could be the secret key to open a situation whereby it is possible to improve business performance and at the same time create an environment where people are happy to achieve these goals