Cultural transformation within an international group

The new President of the French subsidiary of this international group faced two major challenges as part of the roll-out of the Group's new strategic plan. These were to launch and market a new range of products, and to develop employee commitment, particularly in order to support this operation in a context where the climate had been assessed, during the annual climate survey, as extremely degraded. To meet these challenges, the Chairman decided to roll out a culture change project throughout the company. In particular, this involved developing the leadership skills of directors and managers, as well as improving the working climate among employees. This feedback highlights the central role played by values in an organization's culture, and presents an approach for helping them evolve while achieving the objectives defined by management. The approach presented here is that of Richard Barrett, one of the most widely recognized and practiced internationally.