Corporate
Ecology
was developed by Human Ecology between 2003-4 as a method of analysing
and modelling organisational cultures. The concept came out of
a research project into the conscious and unconscious impact a
leader may have in shaping collective culture. The model allows
us to appreciate the unconscious expectations, standards and concepts
that define and determine the behaviours of the group. Once this
‘invisible cultural umbrella’ has been 'made visible', the obstacles
to change can be overcome.
The
Corporate Ecology model looks at seven dimensions of
organisational culture:
•
Self promotion/market focus
From
these seven dimensions, the model generates sixty four different
‘codes’ of organisational culture. A reading of the culture’s
dominant ‘code’ out of sixty four is then taken using our online
software system Construct.
The
model can be applied to large organisational units or small; thus
the variegation in culture across an organisation can be assessed.
Cultural diversity and uniformity can thus be analysed.
The
Corporate Ecology model also classifies ideal ‘cultures’
for different functional units within the organisation. For example,
the ‘ideal’ culture in the Executive board would be expected to
be different than that of the Finance department or Research and
Development. How closely a functional unit’s actual culture compares
to the ideal culture can be assessed.
The
Corporate Ecology model uses the same conceptual language
as the Arena and the Personal Ecology Profile ,
so that that the tools can reinforce each other. In this way the
impact of personalities and team roles can be linked up with organisational
culture.
Features
of Corporate Ecology:
•
Gives an organisation a unified
coded language to understand culture
•
Can
support differentiation in culture of functional units of organisation
(e.g. Executive board, sales, R&D, HR etc….)
•
Classifies
‘ideal cultures’ for different functional units
•
Supported by a web-based software
system, the Construct, to analyse actual culture. The Construct
generates a model of the current culture in the group through
a process of psychological mapping, delivered by the web-based
platform.
