How an effective project culture can help to achieve business success: establishing a project culture in Kimberly‐Clark Europe

Organisations use project management to bring key people together to achieve specific goals. Yet many struggle to achieve this effectively because the culture does not support the disciplines involved. Offers some insights into the strategy used to deliver a new steps and gates product development process at Kimberly‐Clark in Europe – and to achieve a change in culture to support it. This initiative, stimulated by poor business results, sought to model good project practice throughout. In so doing, it motivated project members to act as effective change agents when the time came to roll the process out. The project was highly successful – it remains a powerful tool and has helped the business become more successful. Key points for change projects emerge as the importance of getting the politics right; gaining commitment from team members; and ensuring that new processes fit organisational practice and culture.