The Corporate Culture Handbook: How to Plan, Implement, and Measure a successful Culture Change [Paperback]

Gabrielle O'Donovan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2006

This book is aimed at dispelling much of the mystique surrounding corporate culture management in the workplace.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A significant contribution to the portfolio of skills available to HR practitioners in organisations of all sizes. Pleasingly for practitioners, only the first third of O'Donovan's book explores the theory behind culture change. The rest of the book lives up to her sub title 'How to Plan, Implement and Measure a Successful Culture Change Programme'.

The tome is avowedly a handbook, rather than an extensive or elaborate academic analysis. O'Donovan takes us from the drawing board to creating the vision to designing a programme for change, using a stepped series of incisive tasks, chunked down into usable units that could have a significant impact on managing change. For full review read First Train, Vol 2, Issue 1,Feb 2007 -- FT Book Review Vol 2 Issue 1 Feb 2006

Emphasises the importance of building organizational credibility and reputation on a history of ethical conduct. Based on the author's extensive experience. -- Long Range Planning - International Journal of Strategic Planning Vol 39 No 6 Dec 2006

The book provides a useful introduction to the wider writings on the power of culture in organizational change. Early on, O'Donovan maps the big picture; the major challenge facing corporations is keeping the internal environment apace with the external environment to meet market challenges. In addition she notes that many organizations are moving away from piecemeal change programmes which target inert structures alone, such as policies, technology etc. and managing organization-wide programmes which centre on the human landscape. Chapter 11 entitled 'Manage the Human Landscape' provides some interesting insights on how change impacts organisations and more specifically how it is received. She also warns against what she called 'career politicians' may well be drafted in to act as "antibodies and undermine change initiatives". In the end, O'Donovan believes that the bulk of staff will find ways of accepting change if given the right encouragement. In this context, a broad metaphor to understad the change going on within the organization is important. -- The Journal of the Labour Relations Commission, Issue 1, Newsletter No. 7, March 2007

From the Back Cover

"In the top 1% of best business books for 2006" - Business Book Review --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Liffey Pr (June 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904148972
• ISBN-13: 978-1904148975
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,228,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As a culture and change management professional, Gabrielle O'Donovan has worked with major blue-chip companies for many years. She wears multiple hats and is a practitioner, author, keynote speaker and university professor.

Gabrielle developed her initial repertoire of skills by working on a range of major initiatives for Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong during the 1990s. Her recent HSBC culture change programme "Together, We Win!" won numerous awards(including an ASTD Excellence in Practice Award in 2005) and her articles have been published in Corporate Governance International, Banking Today and Best Practices Management. She is Associate Professor at Danube University Austria for their MBA programme and held a similar post at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China, for four years.

Gabrielle is author of 'Solvency II:Stakeholder Communications and Change', (Gower UK,2011)and is the Stakeholder Management and Communications lead for a large SII programme with a top insurance company. She is also author of "The Corporate Culture Handbook" (Liffey Press, 2006), rated in "the top % of best business books for 2006" by Business Book Review, USA.

Gabrielle is a member of numerous professional societies including the Society of Authors, the Institute of Management Consultants, the Strategic Planning Society and Mensa. She is also Associate Editor of the International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management. Gabrielle is a member of the Advisory Board of Emerald ManagementFirst.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars EDITOR - KNOWLEDGE IRELAND, January 3, 2007

By 

Gordon Smith - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Corporate Culture Handbook: How to Plan, Implement, and Measure a successful Culture Change (Paperback)

"It's a truism that we learn more from mistakes than from our successes. It took some pretty spectacular - and high profile - foul-ups to bring the issue of corporate culture to many people's minds. Not surprisingly much of the coverage has looked negatively on those cultures and rightly so, but it's tempting and easy to make the general assumption that the larger the organization, the more likely it is to be up to no good at some level. However, in The Corporate Culture Handbook Gabrielle O'Donovan makes the case for fostering a positive corporate culture. The article published in Knowledge Ireland is an edited extract from her excellent book which looks at the wider issues involved in starting and seeing through a successful culture change programme. The book also includes first-hand experience of a change management programme at HSBC in Hong Kong and is well worth a further read"'- Gordon Smith, Editor of Knowledge Ireland

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Knowledge Ireland - Editorial, July 10, 2007

By 

Gordon Smith - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Corporate Culture Handbook: How to Plan, Implement, and Measure a Successful Culture Change (Paperback)

"It's a truism that we learn more from mistakes than from our successes. It took some pretty spectacular - and high profile - foul-ups to bring the issue of corporate culture to many people's minds. Not surprisingly much of the coverage has looked negatively on those cultures and rightly so, but it's tempting and easy to make the general assumption that the larger the organization, the more likely it is to be up to no good at some level. However, in The Corporate Culture Handbook Gabrielle O'Donovan makes the case for fostering a positive corporate culture. The article published in Knowledge Ireland is an edited extract from her excellent book which looks at the wider issues involved in starting and seeing through a successful culture change programme. The book also includes first-hand experience of a change management programme at HSBC in Hong Kong and is well worth a further read" - Gordon Smith, Editor, Knowledge Ireland (issue 20)