BP is a multinational energy business that has 92,000 employees and operates in

100 countries. When a new chief executive was recruited internally at BP, he
promised to improve the companies disappointing performance by quickly
changing its culture to become more innovative and more responsive to its
customers. How easy do you think it is for a new chief executive to change the
culture of an organisation quickly?

PLAN

INTRO:

Culture def. The beliefs and behaviours that determine how

a company's employees and management interact and handle
outside business transactions. It depends on the state of the company. Eg, Dave
Lewis: Tesco was in Turmoil- he went in and cut jobs and made significant
changes but Tesco are still under scrutiny for decisions. Depends on the type of
leadership. Definition of leadership: the action of leading a group of people or an
organization, or the ability to do this. Different types of leadership such as
Authoritarian, Paternalistic, Democratic and Laissez-faire. This depends as
different leaders have different ways of doing things, some are ruthless and do
whatever it takes to get it right and others take a more parental role and focus
on the wellbeing of the employees. Leadership style determines how easy it
would be for a new chief executive to change the culture of an organisation
quickly.

Point 1:

IT would be a lot easier for an authoritarian leader to change the

culture of an organisation quickly due to their ruthlessness. They work hard to be
successful and they do not give up when times are tough. People respect them
and they get things done.
Example of an authoritarian leader who changed the culture of a business- Bill
Gates. Bill Gates was able to successfully move Microsoft in the direction he saw
the industry going. When Windows 8 came out, there was uproar and
controversy because of its layout. This could have possible been a huge disaster
for Bill Gates, however, he combated this problem by introducing the new
software that is available now. He fixed the problem and customers were
satisfied. His authoritarian leadership styles/practices saved him a lot of money.

Point 2: Also examples of people who have taken their leadership roles too far
which has caused them to fail and this is an example of how it is not as easy for
some people to change the culture of an organisation quickly. Example: Steve
Ballmer- CEO Microsoft: Culture is another big problem at the company. Stack
ranking (whereby the top performers get bonuses and the bottom lose their jobs)
reduces cooperation and incentives to work with other top performers (because
that talent might beat you to the top of the rankings) and promotes conservative
decision-making to avoid falling to the bottom. Coupled with a big-company
mentality that seeks to protect monopoly positions at the expense of taking
sizeable risks to create something new, Ballmer oversaw a classic anti-innovation
culture.
Even though Microsoft continues to make billions of dollars, that does not mean
the CEO is doing an excellent job. Just like big banks make money when interest
rates are near zero, so do big companies when they have near-monopoly
positions in key markets. But those positions existed before Ballmer started and,
in fact, were even more robust under Bill Gates.

Point 3:

Some leaders have taken on a more parental/democratic approach to

leadership and because of this they have been successful as their employees
have a higher motivation which leads to higher productivity. Example: Mark
Zuckerburg (CEO Facebook) Zuckerberg speaks openly about his conversations
with Steve Jobs where he sought answers on how to build an effective team and
how to keep an organization focused. Like many great leaders, Zuckerberg has
never underestimated the importance of continued growth. Tim Bajarin,
President of Creative Strategies, Inc., said the number one thing weve learned
from Zuckerberg is to take the vision you have, put all your energy into it, and
get a lot of smart people around you to execute on it.
This is evident in showing that by working alongside your employees and
treating them as equal you can be just as successful. This is an example of a
parental leadership style which could also prove to be easy if someone who took
this approach were to change the culture of an organisation quickly.

Point 4: There is leaders that have taken leadership a step too far and it has
become more about them than their company. An example of this is Ron Johnson.
His goal was to adopt the principles of Apple stores sleek, hip layouts, deep
brand connection to customers and higher prices to what was a mid-tier,
relatively unexciting department store chain whose products were hardly
differentiated. He did not prove to very successful within the business JC
Penney. He barely tried to connect with rank-and-file employees, who found his
regular video broadcasts more self-promotional than motivational. It is clear that
he does not have the necessary leadership qualities required for running a
business. This is a perfect example of a leader who will not find it as easy to
change the culture of a business quickly.

Conclusion:

Depends on the style of leadership and the attitude of the leader.

Different leaders have different strategies and that will determine how easy it
will be. It is these factors that have to be taken into consideration when
answering whether it would be easy for a new chief executive to change the
culture of a business quickly.