Page 159 - Grow from Within Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation

146 grow from within

The Shared Values Initiative thrust Hunt into active collab-
oration—and conflict—with many established processes and
power bases. But the initiative ultimately helped Baxter quan-
tifiably enhance customer and employee satisfaction through
three related efforts: respect for employees, responsiveness to
customers, and results for shareholders. Through these broad
initiatives, Hunt developed a heightened appreciation for what
it takes to do new things within an established company. She
began with an extensive training effort, centered on operational
managers rather than on Human Resources. (Indeed, Human
Resources had to follow, changing its performance evaluations
to include accountability for the core values and modifying hir-
ing criteria.)
Importantly, the CEO and his staff were the first to imple-
ment these new procedures. This involvement at the highest
levels both demonstrated how seriously Baxter took these ini-
tiatives and provided critical protection for Hunt. “It’s hard
enough to create something new, but the tougher hurdle is
enabling the new thing to take hold,” Hunt told us. “You have
to have perseverance and protection to get something like this
through.” At the same time, she recognized that doing new
things was her forte and her passion.
After five years building the “respect” element of the strat-
egy—focusing on teamwork and empowerment—Hunt turned
her attention to the “responsiveness” component, which was
focused on the customer. Hunt and her team worked with
Gallup to explore and understand issues such as customer loy-
alty. She delved into customer-focused innovation processes.
It became increasingly clear to her over time that respect,
responsiveness, and results could facilitate a more broadly
innovative culture at Baxter.
Thus, the ground was well prepared when, in 1999, the
new CEO, Harry Kraemer, made discovering meaningful new