The Influence of Organizational Subcultures on Leaders’ Perceptions of Planned Organizational Change at a Community College

Abstract

Organizational theorists have argued that managing change without addressing organizational culture will likely fail; a strong organizational culture is often regarded as a cohesive force. However, a feature of all mature organizations is the presence of subcultures (Schein, 2010), which can be destructive in organizations where there is a lack of congruence between these subcultures and the wider organizational culture. This case study research explored the influence of organizational subcultures on leaders’ perceptions of planned organizational change in a community college located in the Southwestern United States. Utilizing Schein’s (2010) three generic subcultures (operating, engineering, and executive), the study explored (a) whether or not variations in leadership perceptions of the influence of organizational culture on organizational change resulted in different experiences and responses, and (b) the implications for the management of change.