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Keywords
Organizational change, Organizational culture, Management culture
Abstract
Summarizes 59 organisational change efforts that had culture change as an objective. Culture change was a common type of organisational change and usually occurred in combination with other types of change. The success rate for culture change was low. Success was more likely when the sponsors were perceived to be midlevel rather than senior executives. Culture change was most often undertaken because of competition and customer issues. Statistical data were most often cited to describe successful culture change while unsuccessful change efforts were usually described by opinions. Success correlated most highly with the variables that reflected stakeholder management, manageability of the project, project staffing, sponsorship and progress monitoring. Failure correlated most strongly with ineffective leadership and the clash with the existing culture. Success factors and barriers for cultural change resembled the profile for other types of organizational change. Ends with recommendations for managing cultural change.
Introduction
What is an organisation's culture? Most of us have a sense of the term. If you or I were asked to define "organisational culture," we might say something like: "The way we do things around here." "The rites and rituals of our company." "The company's climate." "Our basic values." Schein (1992, p. 12), perhaps the most influential writer about organisational culture, gives us a more precise definition. He sees organisational culture as:
A pattern of basic assumptions about how the group copes with the outside world and about how members should act within the group.
These assumptions define how members should perceive, think and feel about problems.
These assumptions have been invented, discovered or developed by the group out of their experience.
The group sees these assumptions as valid, i.e., they "work."
The group thinks these assumptions are important to teach to new members.
Why is culture important? For the group member, culture is the "social glue that helps hold the organization together by providing appropriate standards for what employees should say and do" (Robbins, 1996, p. 687). As a consequence, culture reduces an employee's uncertainty and anxiety about expected behavior. A company's culture differentiates it from other companies and helps explain why employees are attracted to one employer versus other employers.
From the corporate perspective, culture...