Case study: How the Highberg Culture Scan supported a government organization in successfully merging three distinct cultures
In the Netherlands, several government security organizations share the same mission but serve different target groups. This overlap often causes confusion among the organizations' audiences. To address this, a decision was made to merge three organizations—each with distinct cultures, sizes, and ministerial oversight—into one integrated entity. This merger presented unique challenges. A large, bureaucratic organization with subcultures and high employee turnover had to integrate with smaller organizations that prioritized autonomy and maintained a flat structure. The absence of a shared culture posed a significant risk to effective collaboration. How do you create a unified organizational culture that harnesses the strengths of all three entities? Highberg was brought in to tackle this challenge by mapping the cultural landscape with the Culture Scan and guiding the subsequent culture change.
