“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” That quote is often attributed to the legendary management guru Peter Drucker. Whatever its provenance, it has a ring of truth.

Corporate culture, which encompasses the mission, values, beliefs, norms and behaviours that guide companies’ decisions and defines their personality, is the foundation on which their fortunes are built or lost. No matter how impressive their strategy may be, if the people executing it are operating in a culture of complacency, recklessness, dishonesty, deception and secrecy, the strategy will fail.