Organizational Culture has Positive Impact on Company Performance: Coogan & Partners; New Study from Coogan & Partners and ACNielsen Identifies Winning Management Styles in the Marketplace

Business Wire, March 27, 2006

OSSINING, New York -- Companies who out-perform the norm in their category have specific cultural differences from their underperforming peers, according to Coogan & Partners' 2005 Senior Marketing Landscape Survey. The survey, which was fielded by Coogan & Partners and ACNielsen in November 2005, was designed to provide a perspective on how the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry approaches marketing from an organization standpoint, and determine the impact of company culture on organizational performance.

The study, which polled 32 major consumer goods and services companies representing a wide range of categories and products, found there were distinct differences between companies based on their engagement in 14 distinct corporate culture traits, including practices around employee satisfaction, retention and recognition.

In aggregate, the out-performing companies exceeded category growth revenue by 6.2%, while the under-performing companies trailed their parent categories by -7.0%. Company size, spending and staffing levels were similar between the two groups.

2 Year            2 Year                      Sales
             % Dollar Growth  % Category Growth   Difference    ($MM)
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Out-perform        6.3%               .1%            6.2%       2,690
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Under-perform     -7.8%              -.8%           -7.0%       2,534
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: ACNielsen Food/Drug/Mass excluding Wal-Mart data for 52 weeks
ending 8/13/05 vs. 8/16/03; Yahoo! Finance for 3 "non-scanning"
categories.

"With help from ACNielsen, we tested some hypotheses about the impact of organizational culture in marketing departments on company performance," said Ken Coogan, principal, Coogan & Partners. "We divided companies into 'out-perform,' 'perform,' and 'under-perform' groups based on a comparison of company growth to parent category growth, and then looked to see their differences in terms of the organization culture of their marketing groups."

Key traits of out-performing organizations included:

--Higher satisfaction by marketing employees in the areas of rapport with their bosses and recognition at work;

--A focus by companies during recruiting on specific skills related to the position, as well as an interest in bringing in an outside perspective;

--Offering options like job sharing or part time roles as well as a greater variety of retention programs;

--A particular emphasis on teamwork and diversity as factors driving advancement;

--More opportunities for enrichment as professional marketers through training and education both inside and outside their companies.

"Marketers are passionate about the challenges inherent in marketing," said Coogan. "While issues such as compensation are important to marketers, they have a higher need to learn and grow. Employers need to identify opportunities for these individuals and provide them with the growth they seek, to keep them engaged for the long term."

So what's a company to do? Celebrate success and focus on accomplishments, according to Coogan. Stay focused on managing your talent pool as closely as you manage your brands. The dimension 'Rewards based on merit vs. politics' was listed as the single most important issue that drove a company's success, as well as the biggest opportunity gap. Out-performing companies were significantly more likely to be giving employees positive feedback regularly.

Perhaps most surprising, the out-performing companies were less likely to have MBA degrees and (not coincidentally) were less likely to have been recruited from graduate school. In addition, under-performing companies were more likely to "fast track" and offer stock options to marketing employees than their out-performing counterparts.

"Companies need to address perceptions of subjectivity by making the criteria and process for determining promotions and brand assignments as transparent as possible," said Coogan. "This opportunity gap is one that can be addressed quickly by implementing standards and policies around giving feedback and opportunities, as well as enforcing them consistently."

About Coogan & Partners

Coogan & Partners is a research and marketing consulting firm serving major consumer goods and services companies.

About ACNielsen

ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world's leading marketing information provider. Offering services in more than 100 countries, the unit provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behavior. Clients rely on ACNielsen's market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns.