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| The Client Perspective |
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Denison Best Practices Forum 2006 How important is organizational culture? How can organizational culture and leadership be leveraged to build success? What strategies, tactics and tools have leaders and managers used with success to tap the power of organizational culture?
These are among the common types of questions asked by current and prospective clients of Denison Consulting. Answers to such questions, knowledge-based insights about the power of organizational culture, and real-world examples of best practices are shared among our clients and consultants at an annual platform sponsored by Denison Consulting. Each year at the Denison Consulting Best Practices Forum, our clients come together to highlight their experiences in diagnosing, managing and improving organizational culture and as a result, their bottom-line performance.
For in-depth information about the 2006 Best Practices Forum, and summaries of some of the key presentations at the event, check out the following:
- Path to Excellence: Navigating Successfully to Enhance Our Leadership Development
Scott Klenk, Vice President of Human Resources and Steve Russell, Director Corporate Academy; Capital District Physicians Health Plan
- Domino’s Pizza and Culture Change
Dave Brandon, CEO; Domino’s Pizza
- Coaching for Change
Dr. Jean Hauser, Executive Suite Coaching
- You Can’t NOT Have a Culture: The JetBlue Airways Story
Mike Barger, Vice President, Chief Learning Officer; JetBlue Airways
- Energy Within, Energy to Win;
Kari Lawry, Pulte Homes
- Creating an Integrated High-Performance Culture, The Sequel
Ann Johnston, Executive Vice President; Reynolds America, Inc.
- A Conversation About Leadership & Building High-Performance
Cindy Stewart, President and CEO, Family Health Council; David Kirchoff, VP Procurement Packaging, Diageo
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Denison Client MVP Collaborative Increases Revenue and Expands Expertise MVP Collaborative, Inc, a strategic communications company has been using the Denison Organizational Culture Survey to maintain and monitor its unique culture since 1996.
Roger Gullickson, MVP’s president and chief executive officer noted in a recent press release, “ This was a milestone year for MVP Collaborative. The combination of our unique culture and talented employee mix helped produce successful branded campaigns that translated our clients' objectives into brand-building results. This momentum is continuing as we head into 2007, as we further challenge ourselves to push the envelope with innovative campaigns.”
William S. Neale, co-founder of Denison Consulting, serves on the Board of Directors for MVP Collaborative.
Read the Press Release online about MVP Collaborative's successful year. |
| Do you have a story you'd like to share? We may be able to feature it in an upcoming Denison Newsletter. Contact Christine Knapp for details. |
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| Denison Consulting Network |
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Network Member Shares Best Practice on Inc.com It's no secret that our consultants are one of our most valuable assets. Recently, Chris Musselwhite, CEO and founder of Discovery Learning, Inc. based in Greensboro, North Carolina, was published in Inc.com. In the article, Musselwhite examines how leaders can build an organizational culture that corresponds to the performance they want. Read his article, “ Building a High Performance Culture”, online at Inc.com. |
Chris Musselwhite |
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| If you’ve recently been published, we may be able to feature it in an upcoming Denison Newsletter. Contact Christine Knapp for details. |
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| Research & Publications |
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Exciting Research Continues We continue to conduct quality research, and currently we have two new manuscripts under review for publication:
- One is a continued validation of our organizational culture model; demonstrating that the data we collect corresponds well with the theory on which it is based.
- The second further demonstrates the link between organizational culture and bottom-line performance through showing that
organizational culture has a substantial relationship with customer satisfaction for two different companies in different industries.
We will share both of these manuscripts more broadly once they’re through the review process. We are also excited to be presenting some of our leadership research at the 2007 SIOP conference in New York City. This research investigates whether age impacts self and colleague perceptions of leadership ability and is part of a symposium entitled “Leadership, Trust, Retention: Generational Differences in North America and Europe.” Hope to see you there!
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A Look Forward: Research in 2007 We are finishing an update of our normative organizational culture database. Our normative database now includes 888 organizations. With this update, we are also creating several industry composite profiles. Soon, we will be able to provide the profiles of certain major industries (e.g., manufacturing and government).
We are also conducting an investigation of the role that industry volatility plays in the culture-to-performance relationship, and hope to have that paper submitted for publication very soon.
An investigation of the link between organizational culture and innovation/new product development is also underway and we look forward to sharing more of this research with you.
Additionally, we are conducting a longitudinal investigation of the relationship between the variability of culture perceptions and performance outcomes.
Finally, we are researching the link between action-planning and organizational change, and are preparing to use this research to develop a new action-planning tool that organizations can use to help with their change efforts.
Look for updates on these exciting projects and more in upcoming Denison newsletters.
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| Denison News & Notes |
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The Denison Team Continues to Expand Throughout 2006, Denison experienced significant growth. In an effort to continue serving and supporting our clients with the research and diagnostic surveys known to link an organization's culture to bottom-line performance, we have added the following new team members to our Ann Arbor office:
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Lindsey Kotrba Research Consultant
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Lindsey is involved in Denison’s research efforts through preparing academic and practitioner publications and conducting custom data analyses. Her educational background is in Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychology.
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Felix Paulick Client Manager/ Director of Business Development
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Felix is responsible for Denison’s business development and sales initiatives. As a client manager Felix works with clients to help them derive maximum value from Denison’s culture and leadership products.
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Miriam Meima Client Manager
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Miriam works with clients on Leadership, Team and Organizational Culture projects. Miriam has degrees in Psychology and Business from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and speaks Spanish fluently. Miriam’s background in Organizational Development includes working with consultants on strategic planning for different groups and organizations.
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Ashley Guidroz Research Intern
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Ashley is a Ph.D. candidate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Bowling Green State University, and expects to graduate in May 2007. She also earned a Master’s in I-O at Minnesota State University, Mankato, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and English from Tulane University in New Orleans.
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Anthony Boyce Research Intern
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Anthony is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Michigan State University and expects to graduate in Spring 2007. He has worked with Procter & Gamble and a number of other Fortune 500 companies providing consulting services including organizational culture analysis and reporting, selection testing development, validation and implementation, and web-based training program development.
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| Meet the Full Denison Team |
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Denison Stays Involved in Local Community Denison Consulting is an active and visible participant in local community events in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area.
Denison Consulting was the primary sponsor in 2006 of the Adams Racing Formula Ford 2000 Championship Team, which participated in races throughout North America. Dan Denison, founding partner of Denison Consulting and a veteran racecar driver, raced with the team last year. During 2006, Denison team members hosted a display at a car show and participated in a number of charity, fundraising events.
In July, the company sponsored an exhibit at the Ann Arbor Rolling Sculpture Car Show. The display featured the Adams Racing Formula Ford 2000 Zetec racecar. Clark Cambern, one of two drivers on the Adams Racing Team, was on hand to greet visitors.
In August, Denison Consulting sponsored a foursome that participated in the 10th Annual Big Brothers/Big Sisters Golf Classic, held at the University of Michigan Golf Course. The event is among the major fundraising efforts held each year by the local division of Big Brothers/Big Sisters. This year marked the third consecutive year in which Denison Consulting has fielded a team for the event.
Last fall the Denison Consulting-sponsored volleyball team finished in second place in the Ann Arbor Co-rec "A" Division. This is the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Denison volleyball team has made it to the playoffs and the third time they’ve played in the championship game.
Denison Consulting also has been supporter and regular participant in the Jan Jarvis Memorial Golf Outing, which is held annually in Dearborn, Michigan. Coordinators of the event use funds raised to benefit a select local charity each year. The event is held in honor of Jan Jarvis, a local women who was known for helping those in need. Denison sponsored a two-person team in the 2006 fund-raising event, which took place in September. Proceeds this year went to the Coalition on Temporary Shelter, a Detroit-area agency that assists homeless people.
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| Denison Racing |
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Dan Denison Profiled in Crain’s Detroit Business “ A Need for Speed” was the theme of a two-page feature story in Crain’s Detroit Business by Michelle Krebs. The story profiled Dan Denison -– co-founder of Denison Consulting -- and other Michigan business executives. The article highlights Denison’s experience as a professional consultant and teacher, and as a racecar driver. The Crain’s Detroit Business story appeared July 3, 2006. In the article, Denison shares his insights about the similarities between business and car racing:
“Racing and business competition are about pushing the limits of control. I ask people in leading organizations: How many of your control systems exist to make your organization faster and more responsive? Old-style companies and government agencies think I’m crazy because they think control is achieved by slowing everything.”
The original article featured two full-color photographs – an action shot of Denison in the cockpit of his racecar in a 2006 race in Ohio, and a photo of him (right) with two crew members preparing the vehicle for a future race. Others profiled in the story include a restaurant entrepreneur; an investor-relations executive; and the owner of a car dealership.
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Dan Denison (Don Kurek/Crain's Detroit Business)
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In 2007, Denison Consulting again will proudly sponsor the Adams Racing Formula Ford 2000 Championship Team. Stay tuned... |
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As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions. If you have a
comment or question about this newsletter, or would like to suggest a story for a
future newsletter, please contact Christine Knapp.
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