Is there a relationship between organisational culture and the implementation and leadership of change?

Higgs, M. and Rowland, D. (2008) Is there a relationship between organisational culture and the implementation and leadership of change? (University of Southampton Discussion Paper Series: Management, M-08-09) Southampton, UK. University of Southampton

Abstract

It is widely asserted that a high proportion of change initiatives fail (e.g. Kotter, 1996; Author/s to be provided, 2000). Furthermore the success of initiatives involving cultural change is significantly lower (Smith, 2003). However, there is some debate around whether or not change can only be effected if organisational culture is also changed or that, for change to be successful it has to be positioned within the dominant organisational culture paradigm (e.g. Trompenaars & Wooliams, 2004).

In a study by Author/s to be provided (2003) it was suggested that approaches to change based on an understanding of complexity, rather than an assumption of linearity, were more likely to be successful. Furthermore they identified the significance of leader behaviours in impacting on change success. In particular they indicated that leader-centric behaviours (Shaping) were negatively related to success. Behaviours focusing on creating a change framework and building capability (Framing) were positively related to success. In discussing these findings they indicated a need for further research to explore their results in differing organisational contexts. They also identified a need to explore the impact of differing organisational cultures on the findings. These two needs for research are the focus of this paper.

The study reported involved collecting stories from change leaders in nine organisations. Whilst the Author/s to be provided (2003) framework was used to explore change approaches and leader behaviours, the construct of culture was operationalised using the Goffee and Jones (1998) model. The findings presented offer some support for the proposition that there is a relationship between culture, change approach, leadership behaviours and change success. However, the sample size does provide a limitation of the research and further exploration in future research is called for.

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Contributors

Author: M. Higgs

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