The Power of Corporate Identity

One of your greatest assets is a clear corporate identity.  Nothing improves the quality and speed of your corporate decision making more than explicit knowledge of your strategic organization and managerial DNA.  We will help you identify, understand, design and deploy your corporate identity.

The Concept of Corporate Identity

Corporate Identity is a combination of three critical factors.  First, identity is shaped by the firm’s strategic environment and strategic choices.  Second, identity is crafted by the firm’s organization and cultural conditions. The third dimension includes the company's core values. The various elements of identity are often implicit and subconscious.  It is important on occasion to identify and reflect on the elements of corporate identity and their relevance and value in a changing business environment. In addition, making corporate identity an explicit and tangible factor in decision making can provide great benefit in terms of organizational efficiency, speed, coherence and alignment. We will help you understand your own identity, adapt it as appropriate and make it a living force in the day to day life of your organization.

How Technology Environments Dictate Identity

Different technology environments require dramatically different organizational and management models to maximize performance. For example, short cycle technology environments generally require rapid decision making; variable short-term compensation; high levels of personnel turnover; minimal staff functions; reliance on many empowered general managers; ambiguous job definitions; trust-based, not rule-based teamwork; and a high tolerance for failure. Long cycle technology settings require a very different approach, typically exhibiting very low personnel turnover and long cycle employment with substantial emphasis on employee training and development; primary emphasis on fixed and long-term compensation; rigid rule-based management structures; tightly defined job descriptions; few general managers; information- and analysis-intensive decision making; high levels of review and concurrence; limited empowerment; and a very low tolerance for failure. The management and organizational model and philosophy that you adopt in any business should be connected to the performance requirements of that business. If there is a misalignment between your management and organization identity and the requirements of the business, you have two basic choices. We will help you sort through how your corporate identity fits with the requirements of the businesses you are in, and help you to reshape your portfolio or your management model to improve performance.

How Strategic Position Defines Identity

We have identified ten generic strategic positions, each of which has preferred strategy and management model for optimum performance. We will help you to identify which strategic position you are in, and the future state you may aspire to, and we will help you to define the appropriate strategy and management model for your current or prospective position. The ten strategic positions are:

We will help you understand your strategic position in any business, and optimize your strategy and organization for that position, or build a plan to achieve a new one.

How Globalization Redefines Identity

Every organization retains some of its’ original ethnicity, even as it evolves into a global enterprise. Some of the aspects of ethnicity are obvious such as the national, or even regional origins and other demographic characteristics of the senior leadership team. Other characteristics are more subtle, including management practices and behaviors, assumptions and attitudes, default decision making patterns, resource allocation patterns and preferences, and relationship mechanics and dynamics. We will help you identify where you stand in this spectrum and how you can best manage the migration of these variables to ensure effective global business performance.

Corporate Identity in Strategy, Staffing and Performance Management

Having a clear corporate identity makes recruitment and staffing much more effective. Clear values, priorities and preferences make it much easier to find the right fit with prospective employees, and then help you to attract and retain the right people. Strategic decisions also become much simpler. Businesses that don’t fit with your strategic, organizational and/or cultural realities can be avoided, and those with strong fits can be pursued with great commitment. Specific operating and investment decisions can also be simplified by clear evaluation in light of the corporate identity.

Performance management systems place growing emphasis on the way in which results are achieved. Without a clear identity, it is inappropriate to even attempt to measure an executive’s performance on this dimension. With a clear corporate identity it is possible to specify with some precision the preferred methods for getting things done in the organization.