Revised chapter 10 (5) cultural change in organisations

Chapter 10Cultural change in organisations... Success of an organisation has to do with• External factors – Responding to rapid technological change, changes in industries and markets,

Chapter 10

Cultural change in

organisations

Success of an organisation has to do with

• External factors

– Responding to rapid technological change, changes in industries and markets, new deregulation policies,

increased competition, the ongoing development of the global economy

• Internal factors

– Maintaining both continuity and change, retaining the cultural foundation on which the company rests while changing its strategies and practices in response to the environment

The process of change

Two differing concepts of change, shift versus

transformation

•In ‘doing’ cultures people and groups are mostly defined in terms of what they do, what they achieve

– organisational change seen more in linear fashion,

putting the past state of affairs behind and pushing on with the new

• In ‘being’ cultures people and groups are defined more in terms of affiliation, relationships with others

– the past state of affairs gradually transforms to become

a new state of affairs

Aculture which has developed along with the organisation

will be difficult to change

•If the external factors have a strong influence on the

organisational culture:

– unlikely to change unless the external environment changes

in line with desired changes

•If organisational culture depends on internal factors:

– culture can be directed and changed

• Focus on the leader as instigator of changes, OR

• Focus more on how to initiate change at the three levels of corporate culture

‘Weak’ cultures versus ‘Strong’ cultures

Is cultural change easier to implement in an

organisation with a ‘weak’ culture rather than a ‘strong’ culture?

– The organisation with a weak culture:

• may eventually crash since it is poorly coordinated, lacks direction and consistency

– The organisation with a strong culture:

• may be throttled by rigid norms and behaviour and the resulting lack of innovation.