It is a generally accepted principle that in today’s business environment, organizational culture is regarded as the real competitive advantage that enables businesses to remain unique. It is that one aspect of the organization that is so difficult to imitate. Organizations can imitate strategy, structures, technologies even skills – however it so difficult to imitate the values, beliefs, principles and behaviours that define how an organization conducts its business, treats its employees, serves its customers and interacts with its various stakeholders. According to Ginni Rometty (President and CEO of IBM), “culture is your company’s number one asset.” She argues that organizational culture directly impacts on business performance. Organizational culture therefore represents a key leverage in organizational success. It is this realization that debates amongst Management experts have emerged about who should consciously mould the organizational culture – whose role is it? Is organizational culture something that can be conceived and consciously created or it is merely an outcome of the collective interactions of people within an organization?

Many companies in the developed world have placed organizational culture at the centre of their strategies in order to remain unique and competitive. Most leading innovative companies of the 21^st century like Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, Samsung as well as leading financial institutions have placed organizational culture at the centre of their competitiveness. Initially the role of culture management has restedprimarily with the Head of Human Resourcesmainly in a “culture watchdog” sense. Other companies have even appointed “Chief Culture Officers” depending with the culture dynamics in their organization. However progressively there has been a marked shift as the Chief Executive Officer is now expected to play a pivotal, proactive and more defining role in organizational culture issues. Some Management experts have even said that culture is as important as business strategy thereby making a case for elevating organizational culture to the Chief Executive Officer level. The relationship between business strategy and organizational culture is symbiotic – the success of one depends on the other. As the owner of business strategy, the Chief Executive Officer is now also expected to be the owner of organizational culture – which determines success in strategy implementation.

As a strategist, the Chief Executive Officer crafts, owns and drives implementation of the business strategy. In order for this strategy implementation to be successful it should be supported by the appropriate organization culture. In crafting strategy, the Chief Executive Officer and his/her team should consciously identify the implementation framework which includes the right culture. Having the resources, infrastructure, skills or systems only without the supporting values, beliefs, principles and behaviours will not result in successful implementation. The Chief Executive Officer should be an embodiment of the culture that the organization is seeking to promote. People follow their leaders such that if the Chief Executive Officer achieves clarity on the desired culture and he/she believes and acts in such a manner, then those attributes will cascade to the rest of the organization to achieve alignment to strategy and the overall mission of the business.

The Chief Executive Officer is the most visible leader in the organization and possesses the greatest influence in making a difference.If the Chief Executive Officer is not actively participating in influencing organizational culture to align it to strategic imperatives, an undesirable culture will emerge. Just as business strategy is a “living organism” that is ever changing and adapting to various circumstances, so is culture as it survives and thrives on constant change. It is the role of the Chief Executive Officer to ensure this dynamism between strategy and culture is managed to ensure organizational effectiveness.

In many of our organizations in Zimbabwe, Chief Executive Officers have been operating at stratospheric levels where it is difficult to establish a real connection with the men and women in the organization. Chief Executive Officers are mostly “removed” from the foot soldiers who live and breathethe company’s culture thus it becomes difficult for the Chief Executive Officer to directly influence organizational culture in a meaningful way – bridging that gap is very key for the Chief Executive Officer to achieve strategy-culture alignment.In as much as delegation is a key characteristic of effective leaders, when it comes to organizational culture this rule must be applied reservedly. If the Chief Executive Officer delegates too much he/she will lose the golden opportunity to become a role model and an energizer for the culture they want to create in the organization.

Organizational culture will always be there, either created consciously or otherwise. You can either let culture happen or you can influence how it happens. It is the role of the CEO to influence it and align it to the organizational imperatives. When the CEO creates the right organizational culture and becomes the embodiment of such a culture, the organization harnesses the power of emotional connection as business and work become an emotional experience rather than just an obligation – resulting in employee self-motivation. This ultimately drives productivity and organizational success. The Chief Executive Officer should set the culture tone, not just by words but by their actions as well, knowing very well that consistency is the only currency that matters!

Emmanuel Jinda is the Managing Consultant of PROSERVE Consulting Group, a leading supplier of Professional Human Resources and Management services locally, regionally and internationally. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.tel: 263 773004143 or 263 4 772778 or visit our website at www.proservehr.com