He wanted a relatively quick method for doing that. So he developed CVAT, an acronym for Culture and Value Analysis Tool. CVAT profiles an organization's culture by ranking its institutional values and those of its employees. The resulting data can be analyzed in various ways, a task made easier by software that Nelson co-developed with computer programmer Mauro Loureiro. Seeing how these clusters relate to each other can uncover the causes of conflicts.
Few businesses can survive such a rift.
Two well-known casualties in recent times are Eastern Airlines and International Harvester. Less obvious, however, is the danger of consensus. Conformity discourages creativity and leads to stagnation, Nelson stresses. Thus a balance must be struck between unity and diversity. Usually the content, or nature, of an organization's culture is what makes or breaks performance.