STRONG CULTURE vs.
WEAK CULTURE
TRONG CULTURE
The strenght of a
company’s institutional
culture ultimately
determine its success.
• Strategically, changing an institution’s culture takes
a determined and effective leader who unselfishly
puts the organization first before self. A strong
culture in one which is deeply embedded in the ways
a business or organization does things.
• With a strong culture, employees and management
understand what is required of them and they will try
to act in accordance with the core values.
• A company with a strong culture provides
clear expectations for employees about their
jobs, behavior, and dress.
• There should also be a clear cut chain of
command. this type of atmosphere foster a sense
of wellbeing in employees and helps them to
works towards the greater good of the company.
The only danger of a strong institutional culture
is a concept called “GROUP THINK”
• This is a term coined by Irving Janis that occurs
because a group thinks so similarly that they lose
the ability to become innovative and make poor
decisions. In a strong culture, the istitution’s core
values are both intensely held and widely shared.
• A key benefit of a strong culture is that there as
less need for detailed policies and procedures
because the “way things are done around here” is
well understood and accepted. There aremany
great example of institution with a strong cultures.
• Indeed, institutions built on a clearly defined set
of core values, consistently applied, use their
strong culture as a source of competitive
advantage.
• A strong institutional culturesworks like strong social glue,
which bonds members of an organization together through
shared goals. This builds loyalty and commitment among
the group and makes them less likely to leave their tight-
knit organization.
• Although organizations with strong cultures experience
fewer turnovers, it doesn’t mean that a strong culture is
better than a weak culture in every instance. A strong
culture is difficult to change in an organization and can
stifle innovation because members of the organization are
used to doing their jobs exactly the same way.
• A strong culture exists when employess respond to
stimulus because of their alignment to organizational
values. Strong cultures help firms operate like well-oiled
machines cruising along with outstanding execution.
Minor tweaking of existing procedures enhances
performance.
• In thriving, profitable companies, employees
embody the values, visions and strategic priorities
of their company.
WEAK
CULTURE
A weak institutional culture is
one in which employees are
not clear with what their
goals are. A weak culture is
evident when most
employees have varied
opinions about the
organization’s mission and
values.
• The company is disorganized and this requires
extra efforts and time to attain maximal unity of
purpose. Employees waste time spinning their
wheels, because of the inability to focus on what’s
important.
• Weak institutional culture allows for an increase in
turnover of employees because of a lack of
corporate cohesiveness and mission. This spirals
into low employee morale, and employee
disengagement.
• A key consequence of weak culture is that there is
a greater need for procedures, policies, and
bureaucracy in order to get things done in the
desired way, within the turn, can add
substantially to organizational
• Weak culture can be advantageous for organization
that benefit, from independent thought and
innovation by their members. In an unstable
environment, organizations with weak cultures often
function better than organizations with strong
cultures, because they are much more adaptable to
change.
• In order for an institution to succeed, the
culture of that institution must fit the
environment in which it operates.
• Research indicates that the strongest cultures
embrace the importance of Kaizen or continous
improvement. Kaizen cultures require both
conscious and subconscious thinking about
improvements from everyone.
• Conversely, a weak culture exist when there is little
alignment with organizational values and control
must be exercised through extensive policies,
procedures and bureaucracy.
• Signs of a weak culture include lack of trust; focus on
problems, staff losing confidence in their leaders and
systems, and people spending more time focusing on
problems rather than opportunities.
