Emerging and High Growth Companies
Genentech
Herb Boyer and Bob Swanson founded Genentech with a unique vision and culture. They created a new industry and a new type of company in the process, one focused on making products to cure disease. “We knew we were the leading company, and the one that was going to create this industry if it was possible. But it was more. Can we create a different kind of company, and at the same time make products to cure disease?”
Herb Boyer said:
“At the very beginning we planned to bring the best characteristics of an academic environment to the Genentech corporate culture. We hired the most competent, enthusiastic people we could find, providing a stimulating, challenging, yet supportive environment, and encouraged publications, peer interaction and open communication. That tradition of looking for the best people, the right people and encouraging their creativity has been what makes Genentech ‘work.’ I take great pride in their dedication and enthusiasm and their significant contributions to science and human health.”
As the company remembered Herb and Bob on its 25th anniversary, the question arose – what has become of the unique culture they created and what should it look like going forward? This question hinged on two concerns: Genentech’s unique culture was at risk; and the culture would need to change in order to achieve the company’s growth objectives.
Employees expressed concerns about the changes they saw, including natural shifts attributed to the company’s growth, the introduction of new leaders with different styles, the hiring of “outsiders,” the attrition and retirement of strong research and founding generation talent and the geographic expansion which made informality and communication more difficult.
However, with Genentech’s strategic goals calling for significant growth and increased clinical trials and product launches, the culture needed to evolve to support more “commercial” and “business-oriented” objectives. Formal systems and processes were necessary for efficiency. Increased emphasis on individual and organizational productivity was needed, and the company needed to attract and retain a growing number of talented employees.
| Services | Organization assessment and development |
| Situation | The project, “Maintaining a Great Culture While we Grow” began as an outgrowth of Genentech’s twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations “Remembering Herb and Bob” and the specific human capital implications of the long-range plan “Vision 2010.” The project began with two goals- To further build upon Genentech’s unique culture so that it continued to attract and retain the best talent- To create a performance culture sufficient to meet Vision 2010 and beyond. |
| Solution | - A clearly articulated/defined set of cultural attributes and target behaviors and outcomes– A cultural metric to track the state of the culture over time- A framework for uniform, consistent and frequent internal and external communication- Alignment of major organizational systems and HR initiatives to support new cultural attributes. |
| Outcome | The project achieved three outcomes:
- Complete articulation of cultural norms and expectations begun in this project - Establishment of an ongoing cultural metric to track the culture - Functional and cross-functional changes in line with cultural ideals. |
Voyant Technologies
Voyant is the global leader in voice conferencing technologies, with over 300,000 conferencing ports deployed around the globe.
| Services | Organization assessment, development and leadership development |
| Situation | After a spinning-off of a major telecommunication company, Voyant wanted to strengthen its innovative and entrepreneurial culture. |
| Solution | InMomentum used its Culture Index and leadership assessments to design cultural and leadership development programs for the company. We initiated a leadership coaching and succession planning program to drive corporate growth and values. We developed culture-building programs aimed at reinforcing key organizational values. We helped implement a planning and operating system based on the Balanced Scorecard. We measured organizational progress through our cultural tracking index. |
| Outcome | The company was able to track its culture over time, ensuring it developed effective leaders and cultural practices across a variety of market conditions. It completed a successful sale to Polycom and now does business as a division of this company. |
