by Rich Kando, Sean Dowd, Robert Coffey, and Clark Perry
Left to right: Rich Kando, Sean Dowd, Robert Coffey, and Clark Perry (photos courtesy of AlixPartners)
I. Introduction
The Department of Justice and most global regulators encourage companies to invest in developing a “culture of compliance,” but should that be a CEO’s sole or primary focus when developing a company culture? It is a given for company CEOs—the ultimate culture carriers for their businesses—that employees should follow the law and act ethically. But businesses are about so much more than compliance. As a CEO, the culture you want to drive or maintain is likely one that inspires creative thinking or test-and-learn innovation to keep competitors on their toes, while also encouraging calculated risk-taking within certain limits and acting ethically.
The process to embed a desirable culture is the same regardless of the specific cultural focus. We believe achieving a strong culture is dependent on aligning the business model, operating model, organizational structure, and people strategy to the overall business strategy.