CUEGIS: Innovation and culture affects decision-making:

APPLE
Apple culture is unique with the elements of accountability, secrecy, and innovation and embraces
the paradox of “command and control”.

The high amount of power imbalance exists in the organization which affects in open communication
and decision-making authority

Apple organisational culture when Steve Jobs was in charge can be classified as a power culture.
Accordingly, Steve Jobs had concentrated most of the decision-making powers at his hands,
constantly challenging subordinates for better performance, and criticising employees blatantly and
undiplomatically if their performances did not meet his expectations

has a range of disadvantages such as under-utilisation of employee creativeness and initiatives, high
level of risk associated with decisions taken, and decisions of a leader not facing criticisms in lower
management ranks. 

AMAZON
Constant reinvention and optimization of organizational culture.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos “emphasizes the importance of constantly assessing and
adjusting Amazon’s culture so it never loses the agility, nimbleness, and hunger for
experimentation”.

Accordingly, Bezos constantly opposes “one-size-fits-all” culture of decision making. Moreover,

Bezos uses “two pizza rule” for meetings, where the numbers of participants in a meeting are limited
to a group that can be all fed with two pizzas. 

speed decision-making and create accountability

LEGO
At the time, Lego responded to these challenges by going on an innovation binge. While LEGO had
always looked for new products, the company overextended itself by tripling its product offering.
During this period, Lego’s design process was managed by a team of ~600 developers.

Developers would come up with new products, and management would make launch decisions
based on which products seemed most promising. Management was very focused on turning Lego
around by pushing developers to generate ideas as quickly as possible.

One detrimental result of this over-innovation was the numerous Lego elements it produced. At the
verge of bankruptcy, in 2003, the company’s innovation binge had produced a library of ~14,000
elements. This irritated all stakeholders in the supply chain, drove up costs at Lego, and the company
was burning cash.

Designers would present ideas in picture form to the children groups, ask questions, and observe the
children’s reactions. Through an iterative process with children’s groups, Lego was able to shift the
design decision-making process from its developers and management to the consumer.
The first ninja themed playset that came out of this process was a massive hit. Second, Knudstorp
had developers reduce the number of elements in the Lego portfolio by half, deciding that minor
variations across similar pieces added little value to the consumer experience.

This open innovation experiment helped Lego realize the value of collaborating with its user
community. Over the next decade, Lego would continue to open the design process to the wisdom
of the consumer. Some standout initiatives include “Lego Ideas” and “Lego Ambassadors”. Lego
Ideas is a website that allows users to submit ideas for Lego products to be turned into potential sets
available commercially, with the original designer receiving 1% of the royalties 

Today, LEGO runs an online community called “LEGO Ideas,” the successor to LEGO Cuusoo, a
platform on which users submit ideas for new products, on which other users vote. This
crowdsourcing and contest platform was LEGO’s answer to the “deep knowledge and specialization
issue,” ensuring that products suggested by a dedicated set of users would still have mass appeal 

Purpose Driven: Experience the pride, commitment and shared sense of responsibility to deliver our
mission

Systematic Creativity: Combine your experience and imagination to find the best solutions – now
and in the future

Clutch Power: Feel part of a family and collaborate across the global LEGO community

Action Ability: Be accountable, deliver what you promise and unlock your talent in the best interest
of the company