Fish can't see water: how national culture can make or break your corporate strategy

Introduction : What is "culture"? ; The water that we couldn't see when analyzing culture ; The long-term view: corporate lifecycles and corporate culture ; Interruptions of the lifecycle: when the crisis hits ; "Global" companies

Part I. Developing the Cultural Dynamic Model® : Corporate culture, strategy and business results : What is corporate culture? ; Corporate culture and strategy: the Cultural Dynamic Model® ; The water people don't see: the national influences ; The three levels of culture ; The time lag of culture and cultural agility as a competitive advantage

The Lewis model: setting the scene : Linear-active cultures ; Multi-active cultures ; Reactive cultures ; Getting things done

Nation-state traits and how they affect corporate cultures in seven countries : The United States ; Sweden ; France ; Japan ; Italy ; Germany ; Great Britain

The Cultural Dynamic Model® and the Austin Motors case : The static Cultural Dynamic Model® : bringing it all together ; Work practices ; Decoding observed behaviours and vision statements ; Mission and vision statements ; Identifying the values, assumptions and beliefs underpinning the "cultural universe" ; A cultural dynamic and the full Cultural Dynamic Model® ; Case study: Austin Motors

Part II. Cases: the lifecycle of a company from innovation to consolidation : The embryonic period : Values embedded during the early years: Apple, Microsoft and Dell ; Traits that enable success over the business cycle ; Case study: Nokia ; Case study: KONE: agility and humility ; Case study: Walmart: an American business tackling foreign markets

The growth period : The product line expansion stage ; The scale and efficiency phase; Case study: Sony versus Samsung Electronics

The maturity period : The consolidation phase ; Case study: Toyota ; Case study: FLSmidth ; Case study: P&G ; Key lessons from the eight cases

Part III. The model in action (lessons for boards, managers and investors) : Whither the west : Golden rules for dealing with reactive cultures ; Golden rules for dealing with multi-active cultures

The crisis : Strategy v. competition: being "outplayed" ; Problems in execution ; Disruption ; Success: the success crisis ; Time: if you don't move forwards you move backwards ; Change of leadership ; Navigating a transformation point ; Differing cultural performances in times of crisis

Enhancing corporate performance in a multicultural world : Seeing the water that surrounds you ; Two recommendations to investors ; Two recommendations to boards ; Four recommendations to management ; Implications for countries.