Culture's Dominance: An Argument for Culture Over Business Strategy

This essay delves into the argument that culture is more critical than strategy in determining a company's success. It introduces the concept that culture and strategy are symbiotic, but culture often triumphs. The essay provides eight key reasons supporting this argument, including culture's effectiveness, its ability to improve strategy, its role in spurring counterintuitive strategies, and its unifying effect on organizational goals. It also highlights that people are loyal to culture, not a strategy, and that a strong culture provides a competitive advantage and resilience during times of change. Furthermore, the essay discusses how a brand or corporate strategy requires cultural resonance and concludes that a high-performance culture leads to profits and products, and guides employee performance during times of change. The essay emphasizes that a high growth culture is essential for business success, and that culture is a significant factor in business performance and strategy, and why it often triumphs.

Running head: CULTURE TRIUMPHS OVER STRATEGY 1
Culture Triumphs over Strategy
Name
Institution

CULTURE TRIUMPHS OVER STRATEGY 2
CULTURE TRIUMPHS OVER STRATEGY
Introduction
Peter Drucker, the Business Management guru invented the phrase “Culture eats strategy
for breakfast.” Despite culture being different from strategy, they are symbiotic. There are
instances when culture contributes to strategy and other times it undermines it. In fact, despite
there being several things that organizations can do to enhance growth, culture is the only thing
that directly affects everything else. Culture can be defined as the human performance engine
that determines the success level as well as failure for every organizational strategy, change
transformation, revenue incentive, along with operational performance. Hence, culture is
considered a precursor as well as the topmost contributing factor to all things that necessitate the
efforts of an employee. A strategy is developed at a particular period by applying a defined
process. However, culture develops over time, often through happenstance and not through
design. The essay seeks to elaborate on why culture triumphs strategy. The argumentative essay
will be structured using eight key reasons why culture triumphs strategy. Each of the eight
compelling arguments explains why firm leaders should supplement their strategy with a robust
culture.
Culture triumphs over strategy because it is more effective. Many pieces of research such
as the one conducted by Sorensen (2002) note that culture is more effective compared to
strategy. The research argues that in all organizations, their success or failure can only be
attributed to the company’s corporate culture, making it more efficient and important than
strategy or even leadership. However, this does not mean that an organization’s strategy is not
important. Rather, this is to say that if a particular strategy employed by a firm is to succeed, it

CULTURE TRIUMPHS OVER STRATEGY 3
should be supported by robust cultural attributes. For instance, the effectiveness of culture over
strategy can be observed at Zappos. The company’s strategy is regarded to be the best in terms of
customer service (Porter, 1996). Nonetheless, to attain the strategy, Zappos had to build a culture
of happiness. The culture is dependent on training the staff appropriately, trusting them to
perform their duties well, as well as respecting the decisions made by them.
Besides, culture improves strategy. Most organizations are adopting the lean process of
improving strategies. This can be considered a good thing but without a robust culture to foster
commitment, an organization cannot attain its goals. The relationship between employee and the
organization matter in achieving success. Not only does having a positive culture make work
pleasant but it also enhances employee trust, along with humanizing the experience of all the
staff (Abdulla Abdulhabib & Al-Dhaafri, 2018). Hence, this improves employee engagement.
When the staff’s need for mutual connections, respect, reliance, and care, their trust in the
organization is enhanced. As a result, they become more satisfied with the company, its strategy,
remain committed, and feel the balance of power between them and the firm. Organizational
leaders are the main ingredient in fostering a robust culture which sustains a company’s success
in a complex global environment. As Abdul Raashid, Sambasivan, and Johari (2003) note in
their study, firms that invest significantly on culture have a higher chance of their strategy
succeeding improved performance compared to firms that do not.
Also, culture can spur a counterintuitive business strategy. For an organization to
succeed, employees are supposed to cultivate their “souls” individually at an organizational
level. Unlike strategy, culture is the only element that can produce as well as replicate success. A
healthy culture can spur and continually produce a counterintuitive strategy that replicates a
firm’s success (Carlos Pinho, Paula Rodrigues & Dibb, 2014). This is to mean that a robust

CULTURE TRIUMPHS OVER STRATEGY 4
culture can find another strategy in case the one available fails, it pulls teams together, replicates
talents that have fallen, keeps the sales targets, and enhances a healthy mindset.
Nonetheless, culture unifies organizational goals. A flexible, unified, and a strong culture
approaches strategy implementation and impacts positively the implementation by aligning
goals. When a company’s culture functions such that it aims at achieving productivity along with
accomplishing a company’s primary mission, the goals become aligned (Chatman, Caldwell,
O'Reilly & Doerr, 2014). As a result, a domino effect that makes sure that all groups and
individuals work towards the attainment of a common objective. Hence, at the most basic level,
culture can align strategy implementation. Once the alignment takes place, a firm is then able to
operate globally.
In addition, culture triumphs strategy because people are loyal to culture, not a strategy.
Culture reflects the way an organization is run. Culture refers to beliefs, habits, traditions,
routines and unwritten rules which are posted on the walls and rooted in the minds of people
executing tasks together (Groysberg, Lee, Price & Cheng, 2018). Persons are loyal to the culture,
not the strategy and for a change to be successful in any company, the firm should pay close
attention to the organizational structure.
A culture unlike strategy results in competitive differentiation. Due to high competition
in the business world, many organizations have differentiated their products based on price or by
offering better services and products. However, this has no assisted most companies to stay
competitive in the market. This is because there is unfair competition in the market and
companies are replicating other company’s products which turn out better than the original
products or idea. Among the things that cannot be replicated is an organizations culture. Many
thriving companies such as online shoe retailer and Coca-Cola have used their corporate culture

CULTURE TRIUMPHS OVER STRATEGY 5
as their competitive advantage. A strong culture may assist an organization to differentiate its
brand, retain loyal consumers’, attract, and develop strong relationships with their consumers’
partners, and vendors (McGee, Dowling & Megginson, 1995). Social platforms have companies
very visible and a company’s brand currently includes all touch points such as how the
employees are treated. It is therefore important to create a great culture which of the best way to
building a brand. Therefore, building a cohesive and strong organizational culture builds a
reliable and reputable brand as compared to coming up with many strategies.
Culture provides resilience. Many organizations undergo radical changes that may affect
the smooth running of the organization. Some of the challenges may be lead to employees laid
off. This may result in depression, divorce, and anxiety on the employees. However, non-strategy
can assist employees to overcome such challenges (Poister, 2010). However, developing a
culture of resilience at a workplace may assist employees’ undergoing such problems. An
organization with a resilience culture may provide social support and guidance during difficult
times by providing a nurturing environment. Employees who have developed a culture of
resilience can control stress effectively. A company should not only dwell on implementing
strategies when calamities befall them (Wiener, 1988). Therefore an organization to be
successful, it should implement strategies alongside resilient ownership cultures that may assist
them to encounter uncertainty and turbulent.
When an organization’s culture collides with a brand strategy culture triumphs. Every
business or company has a corporate strategy and it is an essential tool for a business. However,
a company’s strategy only is not enough is the company is only read to embrace change and alter
behaviors to align with the consumer’s needs (Melnyk, Bititci, Platts, Tobias & Andersen, 2014).
For example, Stalwarts Company recently encountered a fallout of the culture-strategy collusion.

CULTURE TRIUMPHS OVER STRATEGY 6
Other companies that have suffered the strategy-culture collision are Sony and Kodak. Both
Sony and Kodak made statements about where they need to go but the two companies did not
incorporate their corporate culture anywhere. This explains how companies that failed to align
their corporate cultures with their organizational culture have suffered immersive loss. Amazon
is one of the companies that aligned its brand strategy and organizational culture with customer
satisfaction, delivery, and scale. This has enabled it to maintain its position in the competitive
market even in changing economic conditions (Mankins & Steele, 2005). Therefore, a brand or
corporate strategy requires cultural resonance. If the cultural resonance is not embraced, the
grand is likely to fail. For a brand to live long, there should be a culture that thrives on meeting
the consumers’ needs at every stage while retaining core values.
Conclusion
A high-performance culture results in profits and products as analyzed in the articles
discussed above. Business strategies change frequently. Most organization implement new
strategies which are updated during the year. For an organization to keep with the trend of the
shifting markets, they should implement strategies that empower consumers. On the contrary, a
growth culture puts a leader on the same truck with the staff, actions, and strategy. Culture
guides employees’ performance during times of change. In cases where staffs and culture are not
aligned, staffs defer to culture. Culture is one of the biggest factors in business performance and
strategy. Culture can hinder or promote strategy and an organization’s performance. Therefore, a
company cannot achieve its goals if it has not attained a high growth culture. With a low
performance, the company’s employee productivity, business strategies, and operational
initiatives will remain low allowing the competitor to outperform the company. It is not easy for

CULTURE TRIUMPHS OVER STRATEGY 7
any organization to attain a high-performance culture that is why those who manage to active e
outperform those who are unable to reach that level. This is why culture triumphs strategy.
References
Abdul Rashid, Z., Sambasivan, M., & Johari, J. (2003). The influence of corporate culture and
organisational commitment on performance. Journal of Management Development,
22(8), 708-728. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710310487873
Abdulla Abdulhabib, A., & Al-Dhaafri, H. (2018). The Impact of Information Technology
Management, Training and Strategy Management on Organizational Performance of
Sharjah Police. International Business Research, 11(12), 1.
https://doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v11n12p1
Carlos Pinho, J., Paula Rodrigues, A., & Dibb, S. (2014). The role of corporate culture, market
orientation and organisational commitment in organisational performance. Journal Of
Management Development, 33(4), 374-398. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmd-03-2013-0036
Chatman, J., Caldwell, D., O'Reilly, C., & Doerr, B. (2014). Parsing organizational culture: How
the norm for adaptability influences the relationship between culture consensus and
financial performance in high-technology firms. Journal Of Organizational
Behavior, 35(6), 785-808. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1928
Groysberg, B., Lee, J., Price, J., & Cheng, J. (2018). The leader’s guide to corporate culture.
Harvard Business Review, 96(1), 44-52. Retrieved from:
https://hbr.org/product/theleaders-guide-to-corporate-culture/R1801B-PDF-ENG.

CULTURE TRIUMPHS OVER STRATEGY 8
Mankins, M. C., & Steele, R. (2005). Turning great strategy into great performance. Harvard
Business Review, 83(7/8), 64-72. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2005/07/turning-
greatstrategy-into-great-performance
McGee, J. E., Dowling, M. J., & Megginson, W. L. (1995). Cooperative strategy and new
venture performance: The role of business strategy and management experience.
Strategic Management Journal, 16(7), 565-580. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250160706
Melnyk, S., Bititci, U., Platts, K., Tobias, J., & Andersen, B. (2014). Is performance
measurement and management fit for the future?. Management Accounting
Research, 25(2), 173-186. https://doi:org/10.1016/j.mar.2013.07.007
Poister, T. H. (2010). The future of strategic planning in the public sector: Linking strategic
management and performance. Public Administration Review, 70, s246-s254.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02284.x
Porter, M. E., (1996). What is strategy?. Harvard Business Review, 75(1), 61-78. Retrieved from:
https://hbr.org/1996/11/what-is-strategy.
Sørensen, J. B. (2002). The strength of corporate culture and the reliability of firm performance.
Administrative science quarterly, 47(1), 70-91. https://doi.org/10.2307/3094891
Wiener, Y. (1988). Forms of value systems: Focus on organizational effectiveness and cultural
change and maintenance. Academy of Management Review, 13(4), 534-545.
https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1988.4307410