Context

In an environment of global uncertainty and a rapidly changing technology landscape, SAP identified the need for a fundamental shift in employee mindset. The goal was to inspire its teams to approach business and customer engagement from a fresh, innovative perspective, moving beyond established processes to create new value.

Implementation

To catalyze this change, SAP implemented "The Management Shift" (TMS) approach with its sales teams in India and Japan. The leadership team introduced the TMS framework to help employees recognize and elevate their collective thinking. By using the language of TMS, leaders prompted the teams to assess their own thought processes. The teams realized they were operating at a "Level 3" mindset—characterized by order and process—and needed to consciously move to "Level 4," which emphasizes purpose, trust, and creativity.

Outcome

A leader involved in the project noted, "Just by introducing this, they started changing the narrative and the way they were thinking and operating as a team." This new framework provided a clear sense of direction and purpose, empowering the teams to break away from their comfort zone of rigid, process-driven behavior.

The results were transformative. SAP achieved a significant breakthrough in innovation, customer engagement, and relationship-building. This was quantified by an impressive 87% improvement in the company's Business Health and Culture Index. This success story underscores the power of applying targeted cultural intelligence frameworks; the methodologies provided by the Culture Intelligence Institute were instrumental in helping SAP unlock its teams' potential and achieve a new level of performance.