Arden Outdoor Learning (AOL) is a private business that provides residential outdoor education courses for schools. AOL was founded by Nia, who believes that “safety, trust and learning from mistakes” are the values that make AOL different from larger competitors. Staff share accommodation during courses, eat meals with students and end each day with a short reflection meeting. New instructors learn the company’s stories, including how Nia once cancelled a profitable course because weather conditions were unsafe.

AOL has grown quickly from 18 to 95 employees. To win contracts with national school groups, AOL must now show consistent procedures, written risk assessments and evidence of instructor performance. The operations director wants to introduce stricter reporting systems and performance targets. Some long-serving instructors argue that AOL’s strong culture already protects safety and customer service. Newer employees say that informal expectations are unclear and depend too much on “what Nia would do”.

RiverWear Ltd manufactures outdoor clothing. Its founder promoted an informal culture based on sustainability, employee trust and pride in product quality. As RiverWear grew, employees in different factories began to behave inconsistently. Some managers focused mainly on output targets, while others allowed employees to stop production if they found wasteful or unethical practices.

The new chief people officer introduced a programme to strengthen RiverWear’s organizational culture. It included values-based recruitment, induction sessions on sustainability, recognition awards for reducing waste and senior managers spending one day each month on the factory floor. The finance director is concerned about the cost of the programme and argues that culture is difficult to measure.

HelioHome, a manufacturer of smart heating systems, has recently moved from selling standard products to designing customized energy-saving systems for large property developers. Until now, HelioHome has had a role culture. Engineers, sales staff and production employees work in separate departments, follow detailed job descriptions and need approval from senior managers before making changes.

Several developers have complained that HelioHome is slow to respond when building designs change. The new chief executive officer, Ravi, wants to create cross-functional project teams for each major customer. Each team would include engineers, sales staff, production planners and after-sales service employees. Ravi believes this would move HelioHome towards a task culture, where authority comes from expertise and teams solve customer problems quickly. Some middle managers oppose the proposal because they fear losing control over their departments and budgets.

Solace Clinics, a chain of private physiotherapy clinics, has acquired MotionLab, a small digital health business that develops exercise apps for patients. Solace Clinics has a formal culture: clinical standards, written procedures and senior approval are expected before any change to patient treatment. MotionLab has an informal culture: app developers work in flexible teams, test new features quickly and communicate through online chat rather than meetings.

Since the acquisition, cultural clashes have appeared. Solace clinicians complain that MotionLab’s developers “experiment too much” with patient data and do not understand medical risk. MotionLab employees complain that Solace’s approval process delays software updates and reduces creativity. Two key developers have left, and a planned app for post-surgery patients is three months behind schedule. The board wants one shared culture across the enlarged business but is unsure how quickly this should be introduced.

AsterCare is a private healthcare business operating diagnostic clinics in three cities. For many years it had a role culture: employees followed detailed job descriptions, clinical procedures and approval systems. This reduced mistakes and helped AsterCare meet strict healthcare regulations.

A new competitor has entered the market offering faster digital appointments and same-day results. AsterCare’s marketing director wants to replace the existing role culture with a task culture by creating cross-functional teams of doctors, software specialists and customer service employees. The operations director argues that healthcare requires clear rules and accountability.

Refill Roots (RR)

Read the resources and answer the questions that follow.

Resource 1 — Background of the social enterprise

Refill Roots (RR) is a social enterprise founded by Imani Cole in 2021. RR sells low-cost refillable soap, shampoo and cleaning products through small kiosks in low-income urban areas. Its social objectives are to reduce plastic waste and make basic hygiene products more affordable. RR reinvests 70% of its annual surplus into installing water-refill stations near schools.

RR’s culture is strongly influenced by Imani’s founding story. Employees begin each week with a short “impact circle” in which they share customer stories and ideas for reducing waste. Recruitment focuses on environmental values and community service. Employees describe RR’s culture as “trusting, informal and mission-first”. However, RR has grown from 18 to 96 employees in two years and now operates in four cities.

A national supermarket chain has offered RR shelf space in 60 stores. This could increase sales and public awareness, but RR would need more formal quality-control procedures, packaging standards and regional managers. Some long-serving employees fear RR will become “just another consumer goods brand”.

Resource 2 – Table 1: Selected indicators before and after RR’s recent growth, including employee retention, average decision time, product-return rate and percentage of employees who strongly agree that RR’s values guide daily decisions.

Resource 3 — Social-media statistic

RR has 310 000 followers across social-media platforms. Its most-shared post last year showed a school water-refill station funded from RR’s surplus and received high engagement from customers aged 18–30.

Resource 4 — Quotation from RR’s founder

“We cannot protect our mission by staying small forever. But if our culture becomes only slogans and packaging, we will have failed.”

Resource 5 — Notes from a staff consultation

New employees want clearer procedures and training. Long-serving employees want to keep informal decision-making, direct access to Imani and the weekly impact circles.

SolarSteps (SS)

Read the resources and answer the questions that follow.

Resource 1 — Background of the social enterprise

SolarSteps (SS) is a social enterprise that installs low-cost solar lighting systems in rural communities without reliable electricity. SS also trains unemployed young adults as solar technicians. Its social objectives are to reduce energy poverty and improve employment skills. SS reinvests all surpluses into training scholarships and maintenance visits for low-income households.

SS began with project teams made up of engineers, trainers and local community workers. These teams had authority to solve problems on-site and adapt installations to local conditions. Employees describe SS as having a task culture: expertise and teamwork are more important than job titles.

A government development agency has offered SS a five-year contract to install solar lighting in 400 villages. The contract would significantly increase SS’s social impact, but it requires standardized reporting, written safety procedures, formal budgets and monthly audits. The operations director argues that SS must move towards a role culture to meet these requirements. Several project leaders argue that excessive rules will reduce innovation and community responsiveness.

Resource 2 – Table 1: Selected operational indicators for SS’s project-team approach and a pilot region using more formal procedures, including installation defects, average time to approve local changes, employee satisfaction and audit compliance.

Resource 3 — Social-media statistic

A short video of SS trainees installing lights in a remote health clinic has been viewed 2.8 million times. Donors’ comments frequently mention trust in SS’s “practical, community-led approach”.

Resource 4 — Quotation from a project leader

“Our teams do not reject accountability. We reject rules written by people who have never worked in a village during the rainy season.”

Resource 5 — Extract from the government contract conditions

SS must submit standardized monthly performance reports, maintain written safety records and demonstrate that public funds are used only for approved training and installation costs.

Solara Meals, a large producer of frozen vegetarian food, acquired FreshKart, a fast-growing meal-kit delivery business. Solara Meals has a formal culture with centralized decision-making, detailed procedures and cautious budgeting. FreshKart had an entrepreneurial culture: local teams made rapid decisions, experimented with menus and communicated informally.

Six months after the acquisition, the new chief executive officer must decide how to manage the cultural clash. Option 1 is rapid integration into one Solara Meals culture within three months. Option 2 is to allow FreshKart to keep a separate culture for two years while using mixed project teams to build shared practices gradually.

BridgeMeals (BM)

Read the resources and answer the questions that follow.

Resource 1 — Background of the social enterprise

BridgeMeals (BM) is a social enterprise that cooks and delivers nutritious meals to elderly people living alone. BM also provides paid training for refugees who want to work in catering. Its social objectives are to reduce loneliness, improve nutrition and support refugee employment. BM reinvests 80% of its surplus into subsidized meals.

BM has a warm, informal culture. Delivery drivers and kitchen teams are encouraged to spend time talking to elderly customers. Decisions are usually made through discussion at the end of each shift. Employees value compassion, flexibility and personal relationships.

In 2024, BM merged with RouteRelief (RRf), a smaller social enterprise that specialized in rapid food delivery after floods and fires. RRf had a more disciplined culture, with strict time targets, uniforms, route software and centralized instructions from emergency coordinators. The merged organization has the opportunity to win a city contract to provide both daily elderly-care meals and emergency-response meals. However, cultural clashes have emerged between BM’s relationship-focused employees and RRf’s speed-focused employees.

Resource 2 – Table 1: Selected indicators before and after the merger, including voluntary labour turnover, average delivery-time reliability, customer satisfaction among elderly customers and employee survey agreement with the statement “teams from both original organizations work well together”.

Resource 3 — Social-media statistic

BM’s campaign “No one eats alone” has 420 000 followers and is widely supported by local families. After the merger, several comments praised faster delivery, but others complained that drivers “now seem rushed”.

Resource 4 — Quotation from a former RRf emergency coordinator

“In a flood, five minutes matters. In a loneliness project, five minutes of conversation matters. We need a culture that understands both.”

Resource 5 — Notes from the city contract proposal

The city will award the contract to a provider that can demonstrate reliable delivery, safeguarding of elderly customers, emergency-response capacity and evidence of effective staff integration.