The saying attributed to management guru Dr. Peter Drucker, “Culture eats strategy for lunch,” has proven true over and over again. We’ve seen culture rock the foundations of some of the most well-respected companies:
When Daimler was found to have engaged in rampant bribery around the world, investigators learned that the company had a corporate culture that not only tolerated but encouraged bribery. “Cash desks,” foreign bank accounts of shell companies, and other techniques were used to pay hundreds of bribes totaling tens of millions of dollars to officials in no less than 22 countries across a 10-year period, with the scheme reportedly involving high-level executives.
