Company culture is more important than strategy: Qliktech CEO Lars Björk

The culture is more important than the strategy, said Radnor business analytics company QlikTech CEO Lars Björk. His comments came earlier this month to roughly 120 senior business leaders and nonprofit directors at the Greater Philadelphia Senior Executive Group’s (GPSEG) Fall Regional Business Outlook event in Gladwyne.

Björk emphasized the importance of QlikTech’s consensus-driven management style in its recent success.

Motivating employees, he said, is among his most important tasks as CEO. Björk, who became the second native Swede to operate a publicly traded U.S. company when he launched QlikTech in the Nasdaq in 2010, said strives to make each employee feel like he or she can shape the direction of the company. That means that workers should feel empowered to put forth an idea — and know about the viability of the company.

And the best ideas – not necessarily the ones suggested by the most senior members of the team – are the ones that get implemented, Björk said at the event from GSPEG, the networking group that boasts more than 1,400 members aimed executives like Björk.

The goal is to put employees in a position to succeed and feel like they can grow along with the company. With happy, motivated employees and satisfied customers, Björk believes success as measured by financial metrics is more likely.

Among the faster growing software companies in business intelligence, QlikTech has more than 1,500 employees worldwide and has achieved 300 percent growth since Björk took over as CEO in 2007.  The company’s signature QlikView Business Discovery software platform and Qlik Customer Success Framework provide the people, technology and services to help organizations progressively optimize how they use data as a strategic resource.

Its products help a range of customers – QlikTech has roughly 30,000 customers in over 100 countries – sort through the data they already have and make better business decisions with it.