A critical approach towards an integrative dynamic framework for understanding and managing organizational culture change
Page 1 PSY704: Organizational Culture Management
Week 5: An Integrative Framework for Understanding
Organizational Culture Change
Learning Objectives:
5.1 Introduction to the dynamics of culture change
Culture change in organizations is often taken for granted as it is neither an easily
comprehensible process nor could it be perceived as a tangible outcome like other qualitative
variables, such as performance, integration or rapport. Therefore, it is important for every
organization to adopt a particular theoretical framework, which would allow the planning and
implementation of a potential culture change, once the necessity for change has been
established. In the reading of Week 2, we referred to the competing values framework (CVF)
as the most representative psychological model of organizational culture in the literature
(Cameron & Quinn, 2006). Indeed, the CVF was chosen because it offers an organizational
culture taxonomy, which is widely used in the literature (Ostroff, et al. 2003). However, the
theory underpinning the CVF suggests that different culture types are associated with
indicators of organizational effectiveness as a function of basic cultural assumptions, values
and structures.
Having presented the model of cultural dynamics in Week 4s reading, we are now enabled
to explore the dynamics associated with cultural change, which involve the gradual integration
of competing values and their corresponding culture types, as depicted in the CVF. The
Understand the dynamics of culture change
Understand the applicability of the competing values framework in the
understanding of culture change
Explore an integrative dynamic framework for organizational culture change
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approach will aim to capitalise on the four processes involved in the cultural dynamics model
of organizational culture, i.e. manifestation, realization, symbolization and interpretation.
5.2 Understanding cultural change using the competing values framework
According to the CVF, trading-off values is an essential mechanism towards the
formation of organizational culture. The way in which the most influential group of individuals
within the organization accepts certain values and rejects others becomes the driving force
towards the formation of the prevailing culture type within the organization. To this end, when a
different trading-off process of values seems more appropriate according to the changing
beliefs of the members of that group, culture change presents itself as an organic necessity.
Stated differently, when the prioritization of values changes, the CVF offers a way to observe
and explore the emergence of a new culture type (please refer to Weeks 2 reading and Figure
2.1 in order to remind yourselves of the CVF).
Therefore, the CVF is used in order to diagnose and initiate culture change. In order to
identify what needs to change within an organization, a specific diagnostic instrument may also
be used. Such an instrument will help reveal aspects of the organizations culture that cannot be
identified or be articulated, otherwise, by the senior members of the management team.
Although there is no consensus in the literature as to what sort of diagnostic instrument may be
most effective, in this regard, the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI), was
repeatedly found to be a valid and reliable tool for diagnosing the necessity of cultural change
(Cameron & Quinn, 1999). For this reason, we adopt the OCAI for the purposes of this reading
in an attempt to explore the dynamics underlying the emergence of a new culture profile within
an organization. The OCAI is a six-step instrument which starts with the diagnosis of the
necessity for change, moves on to the designing of a cultural change strategy and ends-up with
the implementation of cultural change. The OCAI is presented in Figure 5.1. The worksheet for
scoring the OCAI is provided in Figure 5.2.
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Figure 5.1 The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI)
1. Dominant Characteristics Now Preferred
A
The organization is a very personal place. It is like an extended family.
People seem to share a lot of themselves.
B
The organization is a very dynamic entrepreneurial place. People are
willing to stick their necks out and take risks.
C
The organization is very results oriented. A major concern is with
getting the job done. People are very competitive and achievement
oriented.
D
The organization is a very controlled and structured place. Formal
procedures generally govern what people do.
Total
2. Organizational Leadership Now Preferred
A
The leadership in the organization is generally considered to exemplify
mentoring, facilitating, or nurturing.
B
The leadership in the organization is generally considered to exemplify
entrepreneurship, innovating, or risk taking.
C
The leadership in the organization is generally considered to exemplify a
no-nonsense, aggressive, results-oriented focus.
D
The leadership in the organization is generally considered to exemplify
coordinating, organizing, or smooth-running efficiency.
Total
3. Management of Employees Now Preferred
A
The management style in the organization is characterized by teamwork,
consensus, and participation.
B The management style in the organization is characterized by individual
risk-taking, innovation, freedom, and uniqueness.
Page 4 PSY704: Organizational Culture Management
C
The management style in the organization is characterized by hard-
driving competitiveness, high demands, and achievement.
D
The management style in the organization is characterized by security of
employment, conformity, predictability, and stability in relationships.
Total
4. Organization Glue Now Preferred
A
The glue that holds the organization together is loyalty and mutual trust.
Commitment to this organization runs high.
B
The glue that holds the organization together is commitment to
innovation and development. There is an emphasis on being on the
cutting edge.
C
The glue that holds the organization together is the emphasis on
achievement and goal accomplishment. Aggressiveness and winning
are common themes.
D
The glue that holds the organization together is formal rules and
policies. Maintaining a smooth-running organization is important.
Total
5. Strategic Emphases Now Preferred
A
The organization emphasizes human development. High trust,
openness, and participation persist.
B
The organization emphasizes acquiring new resources and creating new
challenges. Trying new things and prospecting for opportunities are
valued.
Page 5 PSY704: Organizational Culture Management
C
The organization emphasizes competitive actions and achievement.
Hitting stretch targets and winning in the marketplace are dominant.
D
The organization emphasizes permanence and stability. Efficiency,
control and smooth operations are important.
Total
6. Criteria of Success Now Preferred
A
The organization defines success on the basis of the development of
human resources, teamwork, employee commitment, and concern for
people.
B
The organization defines success on the basis of having the most
unique or newest products. It is a product leader and innovator.
C
The organization defines success on the basis of winning in the
marketplace and outpacing the competition. Competitive market
leadership is key.
D
The organization defines success on the basis of efficiency.
Dependable delivery, smooth scheduling and low-cost production are
critical.
Total
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Figure 5.2 A Worksheet for Scoring the OCAI
NOW Scores
1A 1B
2A 2B
3A 3B
4A 4B
5A 5B
6A 6B
Sum (total of A responses) Sum (total of B responses)
Average (sum divided by 6) Average (sum divided by 6)
1C 1D
2C 2D
3C 3D
4C 4D
5C 5D
6C 6D
Sum (total of C responses) Sum (total of D responses)
Average (sum divided by 6) Average (sum divided by 6)
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PREFERRED Scores
1A 1B
2A 2B
3A 3B
4A 4B
5A 5B
6A 6B
Sum (total of A responses) Sum (total of B responses)
Average (sum divided by 6) Average (sum divided by 6)
1C 1D
2C 2D
3C 3D
4C 4D
5C 5D
6C 6D
Sum (total of C responses) Sum (total of D responses)
Average (sum divided by 6) Average (sum divided by 6)
In order to understand the dynamic aspects of culture change, an integrative framework
involving the combination of the cultural dynamics model (Hatch & Schultz, 2002) and the
competing values framework (Cameron & Quinn, 2006) will be explored. The exploration
involves the following three stages:
(i) Diagnosing the necessity for culture change;
(ii) Employing the CVF in order to understand the preferred culture profile for the
future; and
(iii) Exploring an integrative dynamic framework in cultural change
These stages and their combined operation are described in the next section.
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5.3 Culture change using an integrative dynamic framework
(i) Diagnosing the necessity for cultural change
?he first stage of culture change involves the identification of a set of individuals within
the organization who have experience, not only on a particular division but also on the overall
operation of the organization. These individuals will form the change team and they must
generate a consensual view of the current and preferred organizational culture in terms of
certain representative characteristics associated with the values of the organization, a purpose-
specific perspective about organizational leadership, the management strategy of employees,
the principles that hold the organization together (organizational glue), strategic emphases
and criteria of success.
The interesting part of this stage is the encouragement of experienced employees to
participate in the decision-making process of the organization and the effort made in order to
discuss controversial topics and aim to reach a consensus on those. For example, aspects
associated with management strategies and behaviours, the growth trajectory, rituals and
symbols, etc. (Denison & Spreitzer, 1991). This process is expected to enable the participants
to identify potential problems with the existing culture, such as the lack of consistency with
technological innovation, ongoing societal values, ethical dilemmas; the lack of clarity on the
growth or expansion strategy, etc. The identification of those problems will essentially form
the basis for establishing the necessity of change.
In addition to the above, the same group of individuals need to consider the preferred
culture for the future. They must consider aspects associated with the future vision of the
organization in terms of success prospects, current trends in the sector, productivity, growth
and performance, areas of underdevelopment, customers expectations, competitors strategies,
the future prospect as an influential player in the industry, etc. The comparison between the
current culture and the preferred culture profiles will provide the information needed in
order to diagnose the necessity, or lack thereof, for change.
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(ii) Employing the CVF in order to understand the preferred culture profile for the future
Having established the necessity for change, the group of people, who get together in order
to discuss organizational culture change (change team), is ready to understand what potential
changes will and will not mean for the organization. In order to explore this aspect, we employ
the CVF, as portrayed in Figure 2.1 (Weeks 2 reading). We reproduce it here for convenience
(Figure 5.3).
Flexibility and Discretion
Internal External
Focus and Focus and
Integration Differentiation
Stability and Control
Figure 5.3 Cameron & Quinns Psychological Model of Organizational Culture
(The Competing Values Framework (CVF))
(Reproduced by Cameron & Quinn, 2011)
Clan culture
(collaborate)
Market culture
(compete)
Hierarchy
culture (control)
Adhocracy culture (create)
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Firstly, the change team must utilise the OCAI in order to derive average scores for each of
the six major topics covered in the instrument (refer to Figures 5.1 and 5.2). Subsequently,
those scores will be used in order to plot the current and preferred culture profiles
schematically using the CVF (refer to Figure 5.3). Once the graph is completed, the team must
compare the two profiles and decide which type of culture (out of the four available) must be
emphasized or de-emphasized. In other words, the comparison would start revealing the details
of the organizational necessity to change based on the identification of new cultural directions.
In this respect, the team must attempt to understand those details and aim to agree upon what it
means, and what it does not mean, placing additional emphasis or reducing existing emphasis
on a particular type of culture.
It should be obvious by now that this stage of culture change silently involves the (implicit)
comparison of the trading-off processes between values associated with the existing culture
and values associated with the preferred culture for the near future. Aspects to consider include
specific attributes of each type of culture; the set of symbols or values that, although they
belong to a different than the preferred type of culture, are still important for the organization
and must somehow be preserved; the set of assumptions, values, artifacts and symbols
characterising the new culture profile, etc. Nonetheless, the implied trading-off process will
initiate a debate among the members of the change team in order to reach a consensus on the
key factors which would define the change of the organizational culture. The aim is to create a
broad consensual vision about what the preferred culture and its representative attributes will
be.
Furthermore, the trading-off process and the resulting debate are expected to help the
change team identify certain core characteristics of the organization, which are associated with
its history and uniqueness, and aim to preserve those. It is important to note that, although such
characteristics may be falling within a less-emphasised quadrant of the CVF (refer to Figure
5.3), they must still be preserved as indicative of the organizations corporate character.
However, the characteristics of the preferred culture for the future must not be simply
identified and be recognised through lists and change strategies. They must also be
communicated to the employees of the organization using a familiar means of communication.
One powerful means of communication, which is often used in cultural change is story telling.
The change team must identify two or three incidents or events that illustrate the key
characteristics they want to permeate the future organizational culture and aim to communicate
those using eloquent stories. To achieve this, the change team will aim to hear all different
Page 11 PSY704: Organizational Culture Management
stories associated with the core characteristics of the new culture in order to decide which ones
actually articulate and convey the preferred attitudes and values of the new culture.
Subsequently, the team must reflect upon and derive lessons from those stories, which could,
in turn, be presented as moral messages to the employees of the organization.
(iii) Exploring an integrative dynamic framework in culture change
So far, we employed the CVF, which allowed us to identify the details of the preferred
culture for the future and, perhaps, the more effective way in which the new elements of
culture may be communicated to the employees of the organization. However, we are yet to
identify an action plan and an implementation plan of cultural change. In order to do this, we
return to the cultural dynamics model, presented in Week 4s reading (Figure 4.1). The
approach we are going to follow is to attempt to integrate the scores derived from the OCAI
with the CVF outcomes provided by the previous stage and the mechanics of culture re-
emergence offered by the cultural dynamics model. We call this approach an integrative
dynamic framework.
Firstly, a strategic action plan must be devised to guide actions and behaviours associated
with cultural change. The action plan must involve the following three questions:
1. What should we do more of?
2. What should we start?
3. What should we stop?
The idea of those questions is to guide the decisions which must be taken in order to identify
the particular details associated with the actions to be taken. For this reason, in order to
delineate the details of the new culture profile, it is important to be able to recognise what
should be started, what should be stopped or what should be continued in terms of policies,
strategies or decision-making procedures. For example, the new cultural profile might require
new ethical policies to be introduced; wasteful, redundant, non-value-adding or attention-
deflecting activities to be terminated; certain new symbols, metaphors and rituals to be
introduced in order to represent the new culture; new processes or systems to be redesigned;
new means of communicating effectively the new cultural values to be devised; etc.
?he three questions must be carefully considered in the context of the OCAIs six
themes, as specified in Figure 5.1 above, i.e. the dominant characteristics of the new culture,
the organizational leadership, the management strategies of the employees, the organizational
Page 12 PSY704: Organizational Culture Management
glue, the strategic emphases and the criteria of success. These six themes must guide the
answers to the three questions stated above. Furthermore, the answers to the questions must be
sought for all four types of culture specified in the CVF, i.e. the clan culture, the adhocracy
culture, the hierarchy culture and the market culture.
However, it is by no means easy to ensure the validity and applicability of the final
action plan. The following aspects were proposed by Cameron & Quinn (2006) and they are
considered to be meaningful ways in terms of deriving actionable points associated with
cultural change:
(a) Identification of small wins. It is important to find something easy to change, change it and
celebrate it with all the employees of the organization. This will inspire a spirit of trust and
help cultivate belief in the new culture type.
(b) Generate social support. Making the effort to listen to the views of those who will be
affected by the upcoming change is critical. It is meaningful to allow them space and time
to have their voice heard, feel understood and valued by the people who will be leading the
cultural change within the organization.
(c) Design follow-up and accountability. An action plan without specific time frames for the
different stages of cultural change might cause anxiety and insecurity. Therefore, it is
important to develop mechanisms for ensuring that all individuals involved in cultural
change will follow through on commitments and assignments within specific time frames,
so that change actually occurs timely.
(d) Provide information. In the absence of information, people involved with the process of
cultural change might make up their own. Therefore, it is important to aim to provide
information on a regular basis.
(e) Devise measures. The different stages of cultural change must be accompanied by certain
measures/indicators based on a specified set of criteria and specific data analysis methods.
For this reason, any data analysis must be associated with a clearly-defined data collecting
mechanism, so that people have access to the primary data associated with change.
(f) Create readiness. As discussed previously, change will most certainly be accompanied by
a degree of resistance at least in the beginning. For this reason, it is important that all
individuals of the organization are aware of the possible advantages of the future cultural
profile, potential disadvantages of the current culture, the identified gaps between current
performance and potential future performance without the change, availability of resources
Page 13 PSY704: Organizational Culture Management
for implementing change and the upcoming rewards mechanism associated with the
achievement of specific cultural change milestones.
(g) Explanations. Providing explanations to the people involved with cultural change or those
who will be directly affected by it is necessary in order to alleviate stress and reduce
resistance. Sometimes, senior managers believe it is not necessary to provide a lot of
explanations as a means of circumventing possible anxiety associated with upcoming
changes. However, research in communication indicates that this is not the right strategy
because lack of explanation actually reinforces resistance to change (Chan & Lin, 2007).
(h) Celebrate the past. The transition from the existing culture to the future culture might
invite certain questions about what went wrong that instigated the change. Therefore, it is
necessary to communicate the positive aspects of the previous culture, whose impact could
be reinforced with the introduction of the new culture. Similarly, it would be meaningful to
criticise the negative aspects of the current culture, whose impact could be reduced with the
introduction of the new culture. By linking the past, present and future in terms of the
prospect of cultural development to enable better and more effective organizational
performance is expected to help people who may be sceptical with cultural change.
(i) Change the symbols. In the previous reading, we discussed the importance of symbols in
terms of embracing a particular culture. Therefore, it is highly-meaningful to identify new
symbols that will signify the new culture and offer people a means of interpreting values
and artifacts associated with it. This is expected to enable the individuals of the
organization to start building a collective consciousness around the set of values that
characterise a common professional identity.
(j) Focus on processes. Cultural change requires time. For this reason, emphasis must be
given to the different processes involved in cultural change. For example, core business
processes, such as designing, manufacturing, delivering, advertising, etc. must be changed.
Similarly, processes associated with the professional development of employees must also
be emphasized, such as the recruitment process, the appraisal process, the system of
rewarding performance, etc.
The above list is by no means exhaustive. However, it indicates the usefulness of an action
plan in terms of translating the complexity associated with cultural change into a set of
clearly-defined activities.
In the final step of the integrative framework, the actionable points must be
implemented. Therefore, an implementation plan seems necessary. The implementation plan,
Page 14 PSY704: Organizational Culture Management
must be designed around the different aspects of cultural dynamics associated with cultural
change. These are identified below:
(i) The trading-off process of values
The process to determine what cultural change may mean in practice involve emphasizing
and de-emphasising characteristics of certain culture types. In the context of the CVF, this
means moving from one quadrant to the other in Figure 5.3. However, such movements do not
imply complete acceptance of a new culture type or complete abandonment of another culture
type. The cultural dynamics involved in the underlying trading-off process of values may,
indeed, lead to many interactive regressions among the different quadrants, in Figure 5.3, and,
hence, among the different types of culture and the different degrees of flexibility, stability,
differentiation and integration. This indicates that cultural change is a highly-complicated
process in which individuals of the organization try to identify what change actually means in
terms of common values. This, in turn, acts as an influence on the acceptance or rejection
processes of certain values.
Ultimately, a specific culture type, represented by only one specific quadrant, will be
determined designating the prevailing culture type of the organization following change. In
other words, the elements of the new culture type will manifest themselves through the cultural
dynamics interactions, i.e. through the new wave of the processes of manifestation, realization,
symbolization and interpretation.
(ii) The personalization of change
Culture change cannot occur without the personal involvement, commitment and active
support of the individuals of the organization. This is called the personalization process and it
may be achieved in four different ways, as follows:
– Learning: clarifying the principles on which change will be based
– Contributing to the action plan: helping put together change-related actionable points
– Supporting others: helping others understand the possible impact of change
– Monitoring: helping clarify the key criteria of success
In practice, the above ways were proven to be very effective mechanisms for creating
readiness for change. This is simply because such mechanisms are multi-faceted and they
allow individuals to experience change from many different perspectives/roles. For example,
as learners, as contributors, as supporters or as evaluators of change. As a result, the
personalization process enables each employee to identify behaviours and competencies
Page 15 PSY704: Organizational Culture Management
associated with the new culture that require development or improvement; something that, in
turn, is expected to help reduce resistance to cultural change among the individuals of the
organization.
It is important to note that the personalization process, as described above, suggests that a
series of changing concepts and entities will be occurring simultaneously. Therefore, the
personalization process is a very dynamic process, whose ultimate outcome, in terms of each
individuals degree of commitment, resistance, acceptance, involvement, etc., cannot be easily
predicted. Waterman, et al. (1980) recommended the seven S model to help us understand
the dynamic character of the personalization process, as follows:
– Change of structure
– Change of symbols
– Change of systems
– Change of staff
– Change of strategy
– Change of leadership style
– Change of managerial skills
The personalization process requires not only for all seven S, as described above, to be
pursued simultaneously, but also be aligned and be coordinated in order to facilitate change.
The reader must be in a position to observe the consistency of the OCAI with the dynamic
nature of cultural change, by now. Please refer to Figure 5.3. It is easy to check that both of the
processes associated with cultural dynamics, as mentioned above, i.e. the trading-off process
and the personalization process are adequately covered by the six major themes included in the
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