Dailycsr.com – 29 March 2019 – The Corporate Responsibility as well as Branding’s Head at MilliporeSigma, Jeffrey Whitford wrote:
“I spend a lot of my time thinking about corporate culture. Since we grew the life science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in 2015, through the acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich, we’ve been navigating that interesting space of culture creation. You’ve got the established culture of the acquiring company and then you’ve got the established culture of the acquiree. How are those two things supposed to automatically mesh or even mesh after several years?”
According to Whitford, corporate responsibility work bases on culture which sets the tone as well as the frame of the CR within an organisation. Furthermore, it also outlines the expectations related to CR’s role, whether it is a “risk management strategy or an entrepreneurial strategy” taking CR to a “new place”. However, only right culture can ensure that it will work out at the end.
While, Whitford said:
“I think culture is created in many ways. It’s the actions that people take, it’s the messages that are put out and it’s the stands that are taken”.
Referring to a personal experience, Whitfield stated that underneath the art of mastering branding lies “an incredibly strong culture”, at times maybe termed as “a cult”, which compels “people to engage at a level that to some is crazy”. Looking at his experience from a business perspective, Whitfield mused that “creating, maintaining and growing culture is one of the hardest things” to do in an organisation. At MilliporeSigma, employees are provided with an environment which helps them to “get the most out of their employment experience”.
Illustrating further, Whitford added:
“One area that my team focuses on is the intersection of our communities and our experience with science. We’re trying to create a culture of volunteerism, of sparking curiosity in young students to help them realize that—regardless of their gender, age, race or orientation—they can be a problem solver like our employees”.
However, consistency needs to be emphasised here, as Whitford thinks that it is “not an easy process” and one can get carried away to “become a flavor of the month” and eventually melt with time without creating any “credibility for the future”. Therefore, being consistent is “a pertinent lesson that even when you know, you can somehow lose sight of”.
References:
3blmedia.com
“I spend a lot of my time thinking about corporate culture. Since we grew the life science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in 2015, through the acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich, we’ve been navigating that interesting space of culture creation. You’ve got the established culture of the acquiring company and then you’ve got the established culture of the acquiree. How are those two things supposed to automatically mesh or even mesh after several years?”
According to Whitford, corporate responsibility work bases on culture which sets the tone as well as the frame of the CR within an organisation. Furthermore, it also outlines the expectations related to CR’s role, whether it is a “risk management strategy or an entrepreneurial strategy” taking CR to a “new place”. However, only right culture can ensure that it will work out at the end.
While, Whitford said:
“I think culture is created in many ways. It’s the actions that people take, it’s the messages that are put out and it’s the stands that are taken”.
Referring to a personal experience, Whitfield stated that underneath the art of mastering branding lies “an incredibly strong culture”, at times maybe termed as “a cult”, which compels “people to engage at a level that to some is crazy”. Looking at his experience from a business perspective, Whitfield mused that “creating, maintaining and growing culture is one of the hardest things” to do in an organisation. At MilliporeSigma, employees are provided with an environment which helps them to “get the most out of their employment experience”.
Illustrating further, Whitford added:
“One area that my team focuses on is the intersection of our communities and our experience with science. We’re trying to create a culture of volunteerism, of sparking curiosity in young students to help them realize that—regardless of their gender, age, race or orientation—they can be a problem solver like our employees”.
However, consistency needs to be emphasised here, as Whitford thinks that it is “not an easy process” and one can get carried away to “become a flavor of the month” and eventually melt with time without creating any “credibility for the future”. Therefore, being consistent is “a pertinent lesson that even when you know, you can somehow lose sight of”.
References:
3blmedia.com