Denison Organizational Culture Model

The Denison Model is the result of fifteen years of research by Dr.Daniel Denison,formerly of the University of Michigan Business School,and currently Professor of Organizational Development at IMD - International Institute of Management Development in Lausanne,Switzerland,on the link between organizational culture and bottom-line performance measures such as return on investment,sales growth,quality,innovation and employee satisfaction.The model is the basis for two diagnostic surveys,the Organizational Culture Survey and the Leadership Development Survey,developed by Daniel R.Denison and William S.Neale which have been used by over 500 organizations worldwide.

The Denison model measures four critical traits of culture and leadership (mission,adaptability, involvement,and consistency).Each of these traits is further broken down into three indices (for a total of 12).Click on each section of the model to learn more about each trait and index.

Mission - Defining a meaningful long-term direction for the organization
A mission provides purpose and meaning by defining a social role and external goals for the organization.It provides a clear direction and goals that serve to define an appropriate course of action for the organization and its members.A sense of mission allows an organization to shape current behavior by envisioning a desired future state. Being able to internalize and identify with an organization's mission contributes to both short and long-term commitment to the organization. Success is more likely when individuals and organizations are goal directed.
Adaptability - Translating the demands of the business environment into action
Organizations hold a system of norms and beliefs that support the organization's capacity to receive,interpret,and translate signals from its environment into internal behavioral changes that increase its chances for survival,growth and development.
Involvement - Building human capability, ownership and responsibility
Organizational cultures characterized as "highly involved" strongly encourage employee involvement and create a sense of ownership and responsibility. They rely on informal,voluntary and implied control systems,rather than formal,explicit,bureaucratic control systems.Out of this sense of ownership grows a greater commitment to the organization and an increased capacity for autonomy. Receiving input from organization members increases the quality of the decisions and improves their implementation.
Consistency - Defining the values and systems that are the basis of a strong culture
Consistency provides a central source of integration,coordination and control.Consistent organizations develop a mindset and a set of organizational systems that create an internal system of governance based on consensual support.They have highly committed employees,key central values, a distinct method of doing business,a tendency to promote from within,and a clear set of do's and don'ts.
Each of these traits is further broken down into three indices (for a total of 12).

Features & Applications

The Denison Organizational Culture Survey,developed by Daniel Denison and William S.Neale,provides a way to link organizational culture to tangible bottom-line performance measures such as:

  • profitability
  • quality
  • innovation
  • market share
  • sales growth
  • employee satisfaction

Based on over 15 years of research involving over 1,000 organizations,Dr.Daniel Denison has studied the cultures of high and low-performing organizations.He has found that the following four culture traits can have a significant impact on organizational performance:

  • involvement
  • adaptability
  • consistency
  • mission

This survey enables leaders,key stakeholders and employees to understand the impact their culture has on their organization's performance and learn how to redirect their culture to improve organizational effectiveness.
Applications include:

Product Portfolio: Culture Products; Leadership Products

Denison Organizational Culture Survey

The Denison Organizational Culture Survey is a 60-item survey designed to assess an organization's strengths and weaknesses as they apply to organizational performance.The survey,developed by Daniel Denison,PhD.and William S.Neale,serves as a diagnostic tool that has been used by over 1500 organizations globally.Using the Denison Organizational Culture Survey,companies are able to benchmark their organizational culture against a global database and develop an action plan to improve their current practices.

The Denison Organizational Culture Survey has 60 items that measure specific aspects of an organization's culture in each of the four traits and twelve management practices identified in Dr. Denison's research.Individual surveys are collectively tabulated into a graphical profile that compares your organization's culture to that of higher and lower-performing organizations in our normative database.Repeated use of the Denison Organizational Culture Survey provides a measure of the organization's progress toward achieving optimum performance. The survey and the prescriptive suggestions are written in easily understood business terms,making it an easy to use and powerful tool.

A Typical Case



Culture Profile of a Manufacturing Company in Decline

This is the organizational culture profile of a hundred-year-old manufacturing company,which was the first in the industry.Facing competition,the price of their products is going down.This company has been in decline in the past five years. Last year was the first time in 20 years that it failed to meet targets and all the senior management didn't get their bonus.The scores are normed,which means that the data from the surveys are compared with the responses that have been reported for the over 700 organizations in the norm database. For example,receiving a 82nd percentile score for "core values" means that 82 percent of organizations scored lower than this organization on this index.The survey results reveals a few critical questions: all the indices under "Adaptability" are fairly low,esp.for "creating change" and "organizational learning"; the indices under "Mission" are quite low, with the only exception of "goals & objectives"; "Involvement" is low, with only "team orientation" relatively high;the only strength lies in "Consistency", esp.in "core values".
After looking at the results,the senior management team fell into log silence. When the consultant asked them,"What does this say about your company? "After some time, one of them answered,"We are a team all right, but we are going down together". Their core values used to make the company very successful in the past,but it may not be suitable for the company's future.The leadership team soon related the results to their present situation:they are highly focused on the operations, while neglected the long-term strategy; they are building a lot of teams,yet the team approach does not have an impact on the way work is actually performed.

Denison Leadership Development Survey

The Denison Leadership Development Survey, developed by Daniel Denison,PhD.and William S.Neale,is a diagnostic tool that provides leaders and managers with feedback on a set of twelve leadership skills and practices that can impact bottom-line organizational performance.This 360-degree instrument is the result of over 20 years of research by Dr. Daniel Denison that examines the relationship between leadership,organizational culture and organizational effectiveness.

The 96 items in the Denison Leadership Development Survey measure specific aspects of an individual manager's leadership skills and practices,and benchmarks them to other leaders.The survey also compares an individual manager's self-perception with that of his/her co-workers using confidential 360-degree feedback. Surveys are collectively tabulated into the individual's data file,and results are graphically presented in a Summary Report.The survey, Summary Report and Action Planning Guide are written in easily understood business terms, making the Denison Leadership Development Survey a powerful tool for leadership development.

A Typical Case



This is the profile of a typical effective leader.He is recently hired as president of a major retail company.He is known for his ability to increase sales,quality and profits.Look at the ratings of self (left) and all other raters combined (right) on each index,what can you tell about this leader? Do the bullet points below confirm some of your observation?

Denison Leadership Development Survey: For Individual Contributors

The Denison Leadership Development Survey: For Individual Contributors was developed in response to client requests for a 360-degree assessment tool that could be applied to non-supervisory employees.A slightly shorter version of the Denison Leadership Development Survey,this tool is highly useful for professional and leadership development.

Like the Denison Leadership Development Survey, the Denison Leadership Development Survey: For Individual Contributors is based on the Denison Model.The survey is a 60-item instrument designed to give a simple,yet comprehensive analysis of the skills of individual contributors in an organization by evaluating the underlying leadership traits and work practices that influence organizational performance.



Denison Organizational Culture Survey: Change Monitor

The Denison Organizational Culture Survey: Change Monitor is an instrument that is utilized in conjunction with the Denison Organizational Culture Survey.Implemented after the debriefing of the Organizational Culture Survey results,the Culture Change Monitor allows the organization to select two indices that will be worked upon in the short-term.The Change Monitor then monitors the organization's progress at 100-day intervals using a second shorter survey of 10 questions to measure the change in the two selected indices since the initial debriefing.This promotes accountability and ensures that the organization follows through with its action plans. It also helps the organization test the effectiveness of its change initiative.


Denison Leadership Development Survey: Change Monitor

The Denison Leadership Development Survey: Change Monitor is an instrument that is utilized in conjunction with the Denison Leadership Development Survey. Implemented approximately 100 days after the participants review their Leadership Development Survey results,the Leadership Change Monitor enables leaders to monitor their progress in two selected indices (16 items).This monitoring holds leaders accountable for change and ensures that the individuals follow through with their action plans. The Leadership Change Monitor is also available for use with the Denison Leadership Development Survey: For Individual Contributors.


Denison Team 360

Because most project teams operate in complex situations – multiple sponsors, R&D and engineering functions, marketing channels, customer inputs and business unit plans – Dan Denison,PhD.and William S. Neale have created a tool that helps teams get an accurate picture of how they are performing from various perspectives.The Denison Team 360 applies the principals of the Denison Model and the idea of 360-degree feedback to cross-functional project teams, task forces,and product development teams.
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MGP Leadership 360 Survey

MGP Leadership 360 Survey Introduction

MGP leadership 360 survey provides an opportunity for the assessee to obtain feedback from colleagues, boss, direct reports on his or her leadership competency and style as well as others' perception of his or her strength and development needs on major competency dimensions. Also, it helps define the gap between the assessee's competency profile and the requirement of his/her current or future position, so the person can bridge the gap through follow up coaching and development plans.





Sample graph of comparison of self-evaluation
and combined other rater groups


Detailed scores of assessee's
strength and challenges



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