- Integration.A new culture is formed by merging parts of each of the organiza-
tions. This strategy works best when aspects of each organization’s culture
need to be improved.
While an integration strategy may take a lot of work, it can pay off, as OB in the
Workplaceshows.
Agrium Creates Its Own Culture Through Blending
Can an organization successfully merge many companies together? Calgary-based
Agrium, a fertilizer producer with production plants in Canada, the United States, and
Argentina, grew aggressively during the 1990s through a series of mergers and acqui-
sitions, which included companies such as Western Farm Services and Nu-West
Industries.^44 Agrium grew out of the fertilizer division of Vancouver-based Cominco
(now Teck Cominco), and then absorbed fertilizer divisions and spin-off compa-
nies from the mining and oil-and-gas industries, including Esso, Sherritt, and Unocal.
Since Agrium is the result of multiple mergers of companies, employees created a
rule that if anyone mentions a former employer, he or she must contribute money to
a fund. The fund is used for a “team-building event,” in which employees go out
together for lunch or dinner.
CEO Michael Wilson’s explanation of the company’s approach to merging cul-
tures suggests that Agrium has used an integration strategy. “We take the best of the
mining culture, which is very proactive, decisive, willing to act, willing to take appro-
priate risks... We blend it with the oil-and-gas culture [which is] very thorough in its
analysis, in dotting of the i’s and crossing of the t’s, in making sure everyone’s march-
ing at the same pace.” Wilson adds the culture of Dow Chemicals to the mix, where
he worked for 18 years and learned “how to build collaboration across very strong
business units, how to get results when you don’t have full accountability.”
Agrium has performed well in recent years, and Wilson sees this as a measure of
a successful organizational culture. However, he believes that success is more than just
earnings: “I have a saying, ‘You have to be happy, healthy, and wise,’ in that order.”
Wilson goes on to say, “There’s nothing nicer than when you’re at a convention with
all your competition. And you look over your team, it’s the bottom of the cycle, busi-
ness is tough, and they’re smiling. And you look over to the competition and they’re
all depressed because business is tough. And that’s one measure right there: Is your
team happy?”APPROACHES TO MANAGINGCHANGE
Our discussion of organizational culture as well as the issues that arise when organi-
zations merge leads to a fundamental question for all organizations: How can change
be managed? Below we consider several approaches to managing change: Lewin’s clas-
sic three-step model of the change process, Kotter’s eight-step plan for implementing
change, action research, and appreciative inquiry. We should also note that recent
research emphasizes the need in change processes to manage the “hard stuff” as well as
the “soft,” or people, issues in order to be successful.^45
Who is responsible for managing change in an organization? The answer is change
agents.^46 Change agents can be managers or nonmanagers, employees of the organi-
zation, or outside consultants. This chapter’s CBC Video Case Incidentexamines how a
company introduced and managed change.346 Part 4Sharing the Organizational Vision
change agents People who act as
catalysts and assume the responsibil-
ity for managing change.
OB IN THE WORKPLACE5 How do organizations
manage change?Corporate Cuture Meets
G.A.P. Adventures