This presentation gives an approach towards the implementation of an innovation culture at general mills canada as presented in the ivey publishing case W14003 (A)

1. Ivey | Publishing W14003 -
General Mills Canada:
Building a culture of innovation
IOT5034 - Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Felix Zappe
Katrina Scicluna
Jean Karl Micallef-Grimaud

2. Agenda
1. Summary of the Case Study
2. Analysis - Current Culture
3. Formation - Ideal Innovative Culture
4. Implementation - Steps to an Innovative Culture
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3. Describing the status quo
General Mills, Inc. is the parent company of General Mills Canada.
Against the backdrop of a global recession, fierce competition and complex customer dynamics, General
Mill Canada won the coveted Eagle Award for obtaining outstanding results, four times in a row.
Company culture is conservative and risk-averse with a collegial atmosphere.
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Summary of the Case Study

4. Change ahead
In this organisational culture, failure is not an option. Any risk would be borne personally and their own
careers would be at stake. Corporate promotions depend on 3-4 years of consistent results.
Changes that focused on ‘passion and ideas’ would not be well received by the organisation. If
expectation are to change, there would be significant amounts of confusion in the organisation.
Changing the company takes time and has to be done very deliberately. Current employees in the
company might already be innovators.
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Summary of the Case Study

5. Currently dominated by a process culture
A process culture can be seen in General Mills Canada based on the Deal and Kennedy model.
• Feedback is slow and risks are low
• No single action shows an immediate impact
• Results will be shown in years
• Employees find it difficult to measure what they
Source: Deal & Kennedy, 1988
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Analysis
do so they focus instead on how they do things

6. Schein-Model underlines the current process culture
Artefacts
• Very process driven
• Risk aversion
• Mainly data analysis parts
Norms and Values
• Ideas have to be proven before they are put to action
• Failure is not an option
• Nobody tries to stand out and make a safe as possible job
Basic Underlying Assumptions
•“Everyone owned everything and nobody owned anything”
• Innovations are “ideas that work”
Source: Schein & Schein, 2016
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Analysis

7. Adhocracy for an action biased innovation culture
Overcoming “Paralysis through analysis” by creating a bias for action through “adhocracy”: creating ad-
hoc project teams aka task forces, designed for relentless experimentation under the principle: “Ready,
fire, aim.”
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Source: Peters & Watermann, 2007
Rules for taskforces:
• Small teams
• Proportionate seniority
• Limited lifespan
• Voluntary membership
• Quick results
• No fixed staff
• Informal documentation
• Informal chartering
Formation

8. Fostering individual change ...
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Source: Keller & Price, 2011
Implementation

9. … by a comprehensive change in leadership
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Source: Maher, 2014
Implementation

10. Thank you for your attention!
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11. Sources
Schein, E. H. AND Schein, P. - Organizational Culture and Leadership
Schein, E. and Schein, P. (2016). Organizational culture and leadership. 5th ed. USA: John Wiley and sons.
Deal, T. E. AND Kennedy, A. A. - Corporate Cultures: Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life
Deal, T. E. and Kennedy, A. A. (1988). Corporate Cultures: Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life. Paperback.UK: Penguin Books Ltd.
Peters, T. AND Waterman Jr, R. H. - In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best- Run Companies
Peters, T. and Waterman Jr, R. H. (2007). In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies. Paperback.UK: Profile Books(GB)
Keller, S. AND Price, C. - Beyond Performance: How Great Organizations Build Ultimate Competitive Advantage
Keller, S. and Price, C. (2011). Beyond Performance: How Great Organizations Build Ultimate Competitive Advantage. Paperback.UK: USA: John
Wiley and sons.
Maher, L. 2014. Building a culture for innovation: a leadership challenge. World hospitals and health services: the official journal of the
International Hospital Federation, 50 (1), pp. 4-6.
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12. What should David Homer and Brad Taylor do to make
innovation part of General Mills Canada’s culture?
• Understanding different innovation challenges they might want to foster within the organisation
• Identify innovation champions
• Redefine metrics and incentives
• Investing in idea generation tools
• Create a safe-failure culture to encourage employees’ potential
• Create a strategy for the organisation’s resistance to change
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Backup