Managing Shifts in Organizational Culture

Managing Shifts in Organizational Culture

Change Management and Organizational Culture

Organizational cultures are neither uniform nor static. They evolve over time, and so it seems reasonable to posit that all cultural systems will exhibit continuous, incremental changes punctuated on occasion by more episodic, radical change (Watzlawick et al., 1974; Weick and Quinn, 1999). Mergers and acquisitions represent sudden and major change and generate a great deal of uncertainty (Davy et al., 1988). How change occurs within organizations will be influenced by the fact that cultures are underpinned by deep assumptions that are patterned and shared (Schein, 1992). Sathe and Davidson (2000) suggest that evidence clearly supports the fact that culture change consists of changing people’s minds as well as their behaviour. The manner in which the culture change for each individual is evoked also has a significant impact on the result and the consequences for each individual. A parallel one-sentence definition of culture (Burke, 1994) emphasizes the meaning of events that are occurring in the workplace, and how these events influence how competitive threats are assessed or new ways of doing things are introduced. Hatch’s (2000) model of organizational culture change emphasizes the roles of both leaders and followers in creating and changing organizational culture. In this respect, and as Michela and Burke (2000) emphasize, to change culture, one must first understand it. Arriving at a decision about the right amount of pressure to be applied to achieve a change in culture is a balancing act described by Amabile (1998). On the one hand, some amount of time pressure and possibly competition appears to befacilitative; on the other, too much pressure appears to lead to unimaginative solutions. An organization’s core values and strategic objectives will impact on individuals’ perceptions of their environment (Michela, Lukaszwski and Allegrante, 1995).

The role of the leader in adapting culture was discussed by Ott (1989), who suggested that this may be done through a number of processes including staff selection, socialization, removal of deviating members, cultural communication mechanisms and role modelling of appropriate behaviours. Gregory (1983) and Meyer (1982) supported this view and suggested that when the external environment is subject to frequent change, a strongly homogeneous culture may make it difficult for the organization to adapt and therefore strategies such as those suggested by Ott are appropriate. Another important issue associated with cultural differences in mergers is the high rate of executive turnover following mergers (Krug and Hegarty, 1997). Weber (1996) thinks that a top executive’s role as the main source of information is conferred by their significant role in shaping and transmitting culture. Cultural differences, particularly at the top management level, are most likely to influence how the change is managed and the merging organizations’ ability to realise a successful merger. Goffee and Jones (2001) suggest that cultural change may often occur as subtle shifts within, rather than between, elements that characterise a particular culture. Martin (1992, 2002) advocates a three-perspective view of organizational culture (integrated, differentiated and fragmented), suggesting that all three views might exist in an organization at the same time. This is particularly true when the change management strategy involves approaching change in each segment of the organization differently leading to the proposition: Different change management strategies will affect individual’s perceptions about changes in organizational culture during a merger.

By Marie H. Kavanagh and Neal M. Ashkanasy:  The Impact of Leadership and Change Management Strategy on Organizational Culture and Individual Acceptance of Change during a Merger