How can culture affect business

Moving from talking to doing is the only way to build momentum. For companies pondering a cultural transformation, the time to start is now—because many companies are already way ahead. Culture is particularly important during times of great change, such as mergers and acquisitions or corporate divestitures, which offer an opportunity for a fresh start on culture. Take the example of HP Inc. The company used the separation as a unique opportunity to reinvent the sales culture and create an environment that supports high-performing sales organizational behaviors for the entire global sales team of more than 6, employees.

It took a systematic approach, using a quantitative tool to assess sales behaviors for all regions and sales roles. Analyzing the complex intersection of sales behaviors, activities performed by salespeople, sales competencies, and compensation has provided insights that create top-performing sales representatives, sales managers, and teams. As another example, following its July spin-off of PayPal, eBay took the opportunity to implement a deliberate approach to redefining and actively managing its culture.

On the first day of the new company, he introduced a refreshed company purpose and five new values that are intended to create a more brand-focused, inventive, and bold work environment. This data is then combined with operational metrics to assess the extent to which compliance with cultural values impacts the business.

This strong effort has enabled eBay to quantify elements of its culture and gain a more accurate understanding of how people both inside and outside the company view it. Although HR has a distinct and proactive role to play in driving cultural change—one that leading HR organizations have already embraced—the challenge of culture should be owned at the highest level: by the leaders who are responsible for business strategy.

Start by identifying the practices that need to change before any cultural transformation can take hold, and then use the new tools available today to measure and manage culture toward alignment with business goals. Cover image by: Lucie Rice. He brings more than 17 years of experience focused on change management, talent management, training, and organizational design. Marc has led the development and implementation of change management and talent management solutions for business leaders across the C-suite.

Marc specializes in serving life sciences clients and has delivered large organizational transformations at many Fortune companies. He enjoys mentoring and developing people and helping clients work more effectively together to achieve breakthroughs. Outside of work, Marc enjoys traveling, going to movies, and trying new restaurants with his wife and two children. He is passionate about saving dogs from animal shelters. He focuses on organization design, talent management, and process improvement in manufacturing companies.

He specializes in leadership and organizational development, as well as talent and HR strategy, in business transformation contexts. Van Durme has more than 20 years of experience as a consultant, project manager, and program developer on human capital projects for multiple European, Japanese, American, and Belgian multinationals; family businesses; and small and mediumsize enterprises.

See something interesting? Simply select text and choose how to share it:. Shape culture has been saved. Shape culture has been removed. An Article Titled Shape culture already exists in Saved items. Social login not available on Microsoft Edge browser at this time. Viewing offline content Limited functionality available. Welcome back. Still not a member? Join My Deloitte. If making an international phone or video conferencing call, be conscious of the time zone differences and make sure to set a reasonable time for all involved parties to interact.

It is important to remember that cultural differences can also affect availability. For instance, just because you schedule a conference call for the middle of the business day does not mean that the time will be favorable for the people you are conducting business with. Many Spanish cultures have longer lunch breaks than Americans are accustomed to, which means there may be a two- to three-hour time period during the day in which the person you would like to meet with is unavailable.

Asking for availability prior to making the call is the best way to avoid any confusion. Once you are able to connect, speak clearly and slowly. Political influences, both past and present, can potentially affect the way a person or company does business. Some cultures have a very strong sense of nationalism and government pride, and therefore, are more comfortable and willing to purchase from companies with some sort of government backing. Conducting business with those of differing cultures can also impact negotiations if there are on-going political disputes between the involved parties' countries of origin.

To avoid conflict, it is best to avoid discussing any political matter that does not directly pertain to the business at hand. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home How does culture affect international business? Ben Davis May 22, How does culture affect international business? What is the effect of culture on business?

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