The Denison Newsletter - Winter 2003/2004
Winter 2003/2004
Dear Colleague:
Welcome
to the latest edition of The Denison Newsletter. As always, we
welcome your comments and questions, requests for additional information, and
story ideas. Please Contact Us Online
- Editor
Case study: Pulte Homes
Staff update: Denison team grows
Product
profile: Denison Change Monitor
Product profile: Denison Leadership Development Survey for Individual Contributors
Case
study:
Since its launch more than 50 years ago, Pulte – a
Fortune 500 company -- has built more than 330,000 homes. In the year 2000, the
company began using Denison Consulting tools and services, as part of an effort
to enhance the company’s performance in customer satisfaction and overall
business outcomes.
Denison tool used to
create cultural profiles
Initially, the Denison Organizational Culture Survey
(DOCS) was implemented with all employees in the 41 markets Pulte serves. The
Pulte team -- which pays strong attention to its customer satisfaction metrics
– compared the cultures of markets with high scores in this internal
performance measure vs. those with low scores.
Composite DOCS profiles were created for the highest- and
lowest-scoring groups. On all 12 cultural traits measured by the DOCS tool,
there was an average difference of 24 percentage points, based on the group vs.
group comparison. Particularly large gaps between the groups were found in
areas that – intuitively -- would seem to have a big impact on customer
satisfaction: creating change, customer focus and organizational learning.
‘Best practices’ are identified and shared
Following a review of the DOCS results, Pulte took
action to enhance customer satisfaction organization-wide. Focus groups were
held with employees who had participated in the poll. A key question asked in markets
that earned top scores was this: “How did you get so good, even though you
operate under the same resource and market constraints as every other market?”
Responses from such discussions were used to spread “best practices” from the
top-performing units to those that needed improvement.
Leadership change boosts
unit’s performance
After the preliminary round of reviewing and applying
cultural survey results, the Pulte team sought to collect and analyze data on
the current and future leaders of the organization. The Denison Leadership
Development Survey (DLDS) was deployed. Individual leadership skills and their
impact on specific markets were reviewed. In addition, opportunities for
individual improvement were identified.
One market area was significantly under-performing its peers, and a leadership change was implemented. A new leader – who had earned a very high score on the Denison Leadership Development Survey – was placed in the top management role in the struggling unit. Within 18 months, the new leader achieved a dramatic turnaround in the unit’s performance. This positive change was reflected in significantly improved DOCS scores, and much-better financial performance. In addition, the leader of this market had such an impact on his employees, they placed a full-page advertisement in the local paper thanking him for the work he had done with their unit.
Fast Facts on Pulte
Client: Pulte
Homes
Profile: A
Fortune 500 company that has built more than 330,000 homes.
Needs:
Enhance customer satisfaction and leadership in all major markets.
Timeframe:
Project launched in 2000 and is ongoing.
Tools Used:
Denison Organizational Culture Survey; Denison Leadership Development Survey.
Bottom-line results: Customer satisfaction improvements gained via sharing
of best practices. Key, under-performing unit achieved major turnaround in 18
months.
Pulte Cultural Profiles for Lowest and Highest
Scoring Customer Satisfaction Markets (Year 2000)
Click on the picture to enlarge
Organizational Culture Assessment Before and After Leadership Change
in Under-performing Market Unit
Click on the picture to enlarge
Staff
update:
The
professional team at Denison Consulting continues to grow. Here’s a look at
five recent appointments:
Bryan Adkins has been named senior consultant.
Prior to this appointment, Adkins served as regional vice president of
consulting for Right Management Consultants. He works with clients at the
organizational, team and executive levels to support targeted cultural change
efforts; provides executive coaching; and facilitates the development and
execution of strategic objectives. Adkins holds a doctorate in Human Resource
Development from George Washington University, and a master’s degree in
business from Penn State University.
Anne Ballow,
named as key account manager, coordinates the company’s retail clients, and
also serves as the lead technical support manager. Ballow holds a bachelor of
science degree in Microbiology from the University of Michigan, and also is a
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.
Anne Farrand
was appointed to the administrative assistant role at the firm’s Ann Arbor,
Michigan headquarters office. She earned a bachelor of science degree in
interior design from Western Michigan University.
Jay Janovics
has joined Denison Consulting as the organization’s research and development
director. His mission is to expand the practical value of the Denison model,
and generate more knowledge about how organizational culture and leadership
affect bottom-line performance. Janovics holds a bachelor’s degree in
Psychology from Bradley University, and a master’s degree and doctorate from
Central Michigan University in the area of Industrial Psychology.
Ed Sketch has been named senior consultant. He joined Denison Consulting following his retirement from a 31-year career at Ford Motor Company. He served Ford – around the world -- in a wide range of HR positions. In his last positions at the automaker, Sketch served as the Director of Education, Training and Development and Director, Organization Effectiveness. He is focusing on ways to understand the root cause of low scores on cultural dimensions and on ways to raise organization effectiveness through a wide range of intervention strategies. Sketch holds an honors degree in Economics and Economic History from U.K.-based Bristol University, and also has done doctoral-level research in Regional Business History at the University of East Anglia, also in the United Kingdom.
Denison
workshops planned for 2004
Are
you interested in attending a Denison Consulting workshop this year? The
company’s two-day conference – “Linking Organizational Culture to the Bottom
Line: A Workshop for Leveraging Change” – will be presented four times, as shown
below:
• March 23-24, 2004: Berlin,
Germany
• May 25-26, 2004: Ann
Arbor, Michigan
• July 22-23, 2004: Ann
Arbor, Michigan
• October 7-8, 2004: Ann
Arbor, Michigan
Early registration is encouraged, as space is limited. To register -- or seek further information -- Contact Us Online.
Product profile:
A new tool -- now available from Denison Consulting – provides valuable information in support of positive organizational change.The Denison Change Monitor (DCM) is designed to help individuals and organizations track results of improvement actions and goals, the specific plans they adopted following the implementation of Denison culture and leadership surveys.
DCM is a survey process conducted approximately 100
days after an individual or organization has received results from the Denison
Organizational Culture Survey (DOCS) or the Denison Leadership Development
Survey (DLDS). It yields data that reflects progress on areas selected for
improvement.
In some cases, employees
involved in initial diagnostic surveys voice concerns about a perceived lack of
follow-up actions. The Change Monitor provides a systematic approach that
inspires change, while ensuring that leaders are held accountable for taking
action.
In the CM process, organizations or individuals select
two of the 12 Denison indices – specific areas for improvement that would
generate the biggest impact on effectiveness. These items are assessed 100 days
after initial survey feedback has been provided. Through open-ended questions, employees provide their insights
about what’s working and what’s not. A report is generated indicating
percentile changes on the two indices, along with line-item data.
The CM process can be repeated at a series of 100-day intervals to ensure that desired changes are kept in sight.
Click here for an example Change Monitor report.
Product
profile:
The Denison Consulting team has developed another valuable tool for organizational and leadership improvement – the Denison Leadership Development Survey for Individual Contributors. A pilot version of the survey will be launched early this year.
Organizations can apply the new tool to assess the
leadership of targeted employees – specifically leaders, emerging leaders, and
individual contributors who do not currently have others reporting to them.
The Denison Leadership
Development Survey for Individual Contributors was developed in response to client requests for an
assessment tool – based on the Denison model – that could be applied to
non-supervisory employees. A slightly shorter version of the Denison 360
Leadership Development Survey, the new tool will be highly useful for
professional and leadership development.
The Denison Change Monitor, profiled in the preceding story, also can be used in conjunction with the Denison Leadership Development Survey for Individual Contributors.
Click here for an example Denison Leadership Development Survey for Individual Contributors Report.
Denison
Consulting in the spotlight
Coming soon
Denison
Consulting will be represented at the Society for Industrial- Organizational
Psychology (SIOP) 2004 annual conference, which will be held from April 2 to 4
in Chicago. The Denison team has developed a practitioner forum called
“Organizational Culture Surveys: Moving from Diagnosis to Action.” Dan
Denison will moderate a panel discussion, and another member of the
Denison team – Ed Sketch – will be among the discussion participants. Other
panelists in the event will be Scott Nier of the Defense Logistics Agency; John
Greenwade of TI Group Automotive; and David Koller of Maritz, Inc.
Bill Neale,
a founding partner of Denison Consulting, will serve as the keynote speaker at
the kick-off event for “Leadership for the New Bottom-Line,” a five-month
executive education program for senior corporate leaders. Neale will make his
presentation -- called “Leadership Starts at the Top” – on March 25, 2004 at
Michigan State University in East Lansing. The Leadership Capital Group
sponsors the program.
Recent conference
presentations
Dan Denison (a founding partner of Denison Consulting) was the keynote speaker at
the Organization Development Network of Chicago Impact Awards event, which was
held on November 21, 2003 in Chicago.
In
September 2003, Ken Koves and Di Wuthnow of Sprint made a presentation at the
Linkage Leadership Development Conference in San Diego – “Hard Data on Soft
Subjects: What Impact Do Leaders Really Have on Shaping Culture.” They profiled
the use of the Denison Organizational Culture Survey with 2,400 employees
working at 20 Sprint call center sites. Sprint also used the Denison Leadership
Development Survey with leaders and supervisors at the call centers.
Scott Nier of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) recently described his
organization’s use of Denison Consulting tools at a major conference in
Washington, D.C. Nier’s presentation – “Leveraging Corporate Culture to Improve
Bottom-Line Performance” – was featured at a government-sponsored human capital
conference called “Replenishing America’s Federal Sector.”
Publications
Dan Denisonis among three co-authors of a paper that will appear in the next edition of Organizational Dynamics. Also authoring the article – called “Corporate Culture and Organizational Effectiveness: Is Asia Different From the Rest of the World?” -- were Stephanie Haaland, former research director for Denison Consulting, and Paulo Goelzer, president of the IGA Institute. The paper highlights an effort to determine the extent to which organizational cultures vary among different regions and countries. The research involved the application of the Denison Organizational Culture Model, as well as organizational profiles and databases generated through the use of Denison Consulting survey tools.
Click here to read the entire paper.
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