Royal Mail: Problems of changing culture

A nice update on trade union opposition to privatisation at Royal Mail. Especially useful for bullet point 5 (problems of changing organisational culture).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/may/22/roayl-mail-workers-ballot-privatisation

The Save Our Royal Mail campaign, supported by the trade union, suggests that the trade union is "in a different place" to senior management on how the organisation needs to respond to the changed competitive environment it is faced with.

http://www.cwu.org/save-our-royal-mail.html

As you know the current leadership, including MD Moya Greene, are very keen on the privatisation of the business.

Bankers - BBC2 Wed 15 May 9pm

Worth catching this programme on BBC2. Tells the story of two recent multi-billion pound trading disasters. Suggests that the culture of the banks won't change easily.

Essay: Ways of changing culture

The essay which you will do in class on Wednesday or Friday this week is this

"Changing the leaders at the top of the organisation is the most effective way of changing organisational culture". With reference to the item above (on Barclays) and your own research to what extent do you agree with this statement?

The companies you will use in your essay are Barclays Bank, Royal Mail and British Airways

Barclays

Antony Jenkins to staff: adopt new values or leave Barclays (Telegraph article)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9808042/Antony-Jenkins-to-staff-adopt-new-values-or-leave-Barclays.html

Can Antony Jenkins get rid of Bob Diamond's legacy at Barclays?(Independent article)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/can-antony-jenkins-get-rid-of-bob-diamonds-legacy-at-barclays-8456614.html


Royal Mail

(Moya Greene interview on culture change)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuC-G_cyu6E

Moya Greene's internal communications approach

http://www.myroyalmail.com/blogs

British Airways

Colin Marshall obituary

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lord-marshall-executive-who-turned-british-airways-from-a-sleeping-giant-into-a-world-leader-7920614.html

Apple's culture

Excellent documentary on Steve Jobs

 

 

http://touch.dailymotion.com/video/xn3fbz_steve-jobs-billion-dollar-hippy-2011-bbc_lifestyle

Google culture: impact on strategy & performance

Thanks to Time2Resources for this

In April 2011 Google co-founder Larry Page also became their CEO. He believes that employees should take risks in order to innovate and that world changing ideas can attract the most intelligent people.  Many of the company’s best researchers have remained at the business because of Page’s approach to new product development.

Under Page’s leadership, Google has dramatically increased spending on R&D from $3.76bn in 2010 to $6.79bn in 2012.  The share price rose by 12% in 2012 and investors are optimistic regarding new product developments such as a self-driving car and Google Glass, a visual computer that is worn over the eyes. The business has already diversified into Internet video (YouTube) and smart devices (Motorola and Nexus).

Page believes that ‘My job as a leader is to make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, and that they feel they're having a meaningful impact and are contributing to the good of society. As a world, we're doing a better job of that. My goal is for Google to lead, not follow that’.  Many analysts suggest that Page’s leadership sets the tone for the whole of Google’s innovative culture.

Daily Mail article on Google glasses

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2295004/Google-Glass-Googles-sinister-glasses-turn-world-search-giants-spies.html

Link to great documentary on RBS  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st40Gps08KI

Use this film to build up a "wow paragraph" on how the culture at RBS affected that company's strategies and how those strategies affected the bank's performance

Kraft and Cadbury: cultural differences

The hostile takeover of Cadbury by Kraft in 2010 and its immediate aftermath is another case where companies who have grown by integration have some cultural differences to resolve, certainly in the early days of integration. The issues here are less of national characteristics producing cultural clashes than the very different historical backgrounds/ways of working of the two companies. The articles below give you some infomration you could work into a wow paragraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7873510/Kraft-cuts-majority-of-Cadbury-HQs-senior-staff.html

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/71a34530-2019-11e0-a6fb-00144feab49a.html#axzz2NPwuswZM