1.5 - About University

3.7RAIR LOGIC: ALIGNING C USTOMERS, STRATEGY,C ULTURE, AND L EADERSHIPInspired by Norman Chorn and Ivan Nurick.Business strategy aligns organizations with their customers and markets; aligning the organizationwith its business strategy starts with leadership. Leadership influences, guides, and fosterspeople’s thinking and behavior, and over time creates the organization’s culture. Needlessto say, to succeed in the long term, an organization’s culture (“how things are done aroundhere”) must be fully aligned with its business strategy. This tool provides a way of checking toensure alignment among your organization’s leadership style, culture, business strategy, andThe elements of strategicalignmentOrganizationCultureCustomerNeedsPeopleBusinessStrategycustomer needs or markets. [☛ 4.5 Culture]For the most part, customers and clients operate fromfour predictable and describable sets of RAIR preferences(Respond, Assure, Innovate, Relate). The table presentedhere outlines these preferences, and recommends theappropriate strategy, organizational culture, and leadershipstyle for each. One or two of these preferences oftendominate customer or client demand within an industryor market, although all four usually exist to varyingdegrees in most business environments. These preferencesprovide a useful way for a leader to focus business strategyon the needs of customers and clients, as well as to align the organization’s culture and leadershipstyle in support of this business strategy.Respond indicates a predominately “thinking” customer or client preference for productsand services; assure a “sensing” preference; innovate an intuitive or “intuiting” preference;and relate a “feeling” preference. These four categories are based upon the Myers-Briggs typeindicator. [☛ 14.7 Personal Preferences]Respond Assure Innovative Relatethinking sensing intuitiung feelingpredominates predominates predominates predominatesCustomer orclient needsAppropriatestrategy➠ customer-leddemand➠ fast turnaround➠ responsiveness➠ on-timeperformance➠ have productsavailable➠ respond promptly tocustomers’ requests➠ get things done fast➠ consistency➠ reliability➠ predictability➠ efficientadministration➠ guarantees➠ dependability➠ develop accurate,decisive, exact, andsystematic approachesto serving customers➠ supplier leadership➠ new ways ofdelivering productsor services➠ leading-edgetechnology➠ creative responses➠ take calculated risks➠ develop innovativeoptions fordelivering productsand service➠ understanding➠ insight➠ consideration➠ empathy➠ acceptance➠ sharing➠ guidance➠ trusting➠ develop methods of:relatingcooperatingchallengingsupporting customersSECTION 3 TOOLS FOR STRATEGIC THINKING 89