Prepared by:
Susan Cain, Ed.D.
The Corporate Learning
Institute is a certified
Denison Consulting
Partner
Let CLI Help Build Your Organization into a
Performance Champion using the Denison
Culture Survey

About CLI
 Two doctoral level partners, company
founded in 1983.
 Work with top-tier to small
organizations.
 Proven track record-Pfeiffer partner
company, certified in a variety of
assessment tools.

Denison Culture Survey History
The Denison Culture Survey is a critical tool developed to help you
look at gaps in your organization’s performance by assessing the
shared assumptions and beliefs of your employees, stakeholders and
others.
Based on over 25 years of research linking organizational culture
and leadership to performance measures such as
 Return on Equity (ROE)
 Customer satisfaction
 Sales growth
 employee satisfaction
 innovation
 quality and other performance measures

What is Culture?
• Deeply held beliefs and assumptions
• How people in our organization think
and act, every day
• …“The way things are done around
here.”

Adaptability
Pattern..Trends..Market
Translating the
demands of the
business environment
into action
“Are we listening
to the marketplace?”
Mission
Direction..Purpose..Blueprint
Defining a meaningful
long-term direction
for the Company
“Do we know where
we are going?”
Involvement
Commitment ... Ownership …
Responsibility
Building human capability,
ownership, and responsibility
“Are our people aligned
and engaged?“
Consistency
Systems… Structures…
Processes
Defining the values
and systems that are the
basis of a strong culture
“Does our system
create leverage?”
What the Denison Culture Survey Measures:

Flexible and Stable
 Flexible
Adaptability + Involvement
A flexible organization has the
capability to change in response to
the environment
 Stable
Mission + Consistency
A stable orientation contributes to an
organization’s capability to remain
focused and predictable over time

External Focus and Internal Focus
 External Focus:
Adaptability + Mission
The organization’s focus is
on adapting and changing in
response to the external
environment
 Internal Focus:
Involvement + Consistency
The organization’s focus is
on the dynamics of the
internal integration of
systems, structures, and
processes

Culture Links to Performance
Innovation &
Customer
Satisfaction
Stable
Performance
Over Time
Profitability
ROI, ROE
Operating Performance
Quality
Employee Satisfaction
Growth

Impact on Performance
Return-on-Assets 4.5%
Sales Growth .1%
Market-to-Book Ratio 3.5
Return-on-Assets 6.3%
Sales Growth 15.1%
Market-to-Book Ratio 4.4
If we compare the 102 firms in the top and bottom 25% based on their overall
average of the 12 indexes, companies with higher culture scores have greater
profitability, sales growth, and market value than those with lower culture scores.
Top 25%Bottom 25%

The CLI Suggested Roadmap for Success
Needs Analysis Creation of
Project Plan
Creation of Test
Survey
Review of
Demographic File &
IT Requirements
Communication Plan
Launch of Live
Survey
Monitor Survey
Process
Reporting of
Results
Analyze Results,
Debrief & Action
Plan
Post Action
Review
Evaluate Progress
Or retake Denison

CLI is a Denison Partner
 Let us help you develop the best
approach for your company to assess
your culture, manage needed changes
and reassess your gains!
 Susan Cain, Ed.D.
scain@corplearning.com (630) 347-6333