flowchart LR U[Unfreeze<br/>melt the status quo] --> C[Change<br/>move to a new state] C --> R[Refreeze<br/>solidify the new state] style U fill:#FFEBEE,stroke:#C62828 style C fill:#FFF8E1,stroke:#F9A825 style R fill:#E8F5E9,stroke:#2E7D32
58 Organisational Culture and Change
59 Part A — Organisational Culture
59.1 Meaning
Organisational culture is the system of shared meaning, values and beliefs held by members of an organisation that distinguishes one organisation from another (robbins2022?; schein2017?). Edgar Schein’s classic definition: organisational culture is “the pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration”.
In short — “the way we do things around here”.
59.2 Schein’s Three Levels of Culture
Edgar Schein (1985) identified three levels at which culture is observed:
TipSchein’s Three Levels of Culture
| Level | Visibility | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Artefacts | Visible | Office layout, dress, language, rituals, stories |
| Espoused values | Stated | Mission, vision, principles |
| Basic underlying assumptions | Invisible, taken for granted | Deeply held beliefs about human nature, time, relationships |
59.3 Characteristics of Organisational Culture
Robbins identifies seven primary characteristics that, taken together, capture an organisation’s culture (robbins2022?):
TipSeven Characteristics of Organisational Culture
| Characteristic | Working content |
|---|---|
| Innovation and risk-taking | Encouragement of innovation |
| Attention to detail | Precision and analysis |
| Outcome orientation | Focus on results |
| People orientation | Effects on people |
| Team orientation | Around teams, not individuals |
| Aggressiveness | Competitiveness |
| Stability | Maintaining the status quo |
59.4 Types of Organisational Culture
TipCommon Typologies of Culture
| Typology | Categories |
|---|---|
| Handy (1976) | Power, Role, Task, Person culture |
| Cameron-Quinn Competing Values Framework | Clan, Adhocracy, Market, Hierarchy |
| Deal-Kennedy | Tough-guy macho, Work-hard / play-hard, Bet-your-company, Process |
| Hofstede (national-culture dimensions) | Power distance, Individualism-collectivism, Masculinity-femininity, Uncertainty avoidance, Long-term orientation, Indulgence-restraint |
59.5 Hofstede’s National-Culture Dimensions
Geert Hofstede’s IBM study (1980, revised) compared cultures across countries on six dimensions (hofstede1980?):
TipHofstede’s Six National-Culture Dimensions
| Dimension | Range |
|---|---|
| Power distance | Acceptance of unequal power |
| Individualism vs Collectivism | Self-interest vs group interest |
| Masculinity vs Femininity | Achievement vs caring |
| Uncertainty avoidance | Tolerance for ambiguity |
| Long-term vs Short-term orientation | Future-oriented vs tradition-oriented |
| Indulgence vs Restraint | Free gratification vs strict social norms |
India scores high on power distance, moderate on individualism, masculine on the Hofstede masculinity index, low on uncertainty avoidance, and high on long-term orientation.
59.6 Strong vs Weak Culture
TipStrong vs Weak Culture
| Dimension | Strong culture | Weak culture |
|---|---|---|
| Sharing of values | Wide and deep | Narrow and shallow |
| Behaviour consistency | Predictable | Variable |
| Identification with the firm | High | Low |
| Need for formal rules | Low | High |
| Speed of decision | Fast | Slow |
59.7 Functions and Dysfunctions of Culture
TipFunctions and Dysfunctions of Culture
| Functions | Dysfunctions |
|---|---|
| Boundary-defining role | Barrier to change |
| Sense of identity | Barrier to diversity |
| Commitment beyond self-interest | Barrier to mergers and acquisitions |
| Social-system stability | Insularity and groupthink |
| Sense-making and control | Resistance to innovation |
59.8 Creating, Maintaining and Transmitting Culture
Culture is created by the founder’s vision and selection of like-minded staff. It is maintained through selection, top-management actions, and socialisation. It is transmitted through stories, rituals, material symbols and language.
60 Part B — Organisational Change
60.1 Meaning
Organisational change is the process of altering the structure, technology, people or processes of an organisation to achieve desired outcomes (robbins2022?). The world’s only constant in business is change.
60.2 Forces of Change
TipForces Driving Organisational Change
| Family | Forces |
|---|---|
| External | Technology, competition, regulation, economic shifts, social trends, globalisation, customer expectations |
| Internal | Strategy revision, workforce changes, employee attitudes, leadership change |
60.3 Lewin’s Three-Step Change Model
Kurt Lewin’s classic 1947 model is the foundation of change management (lewin1947?):
Lewin’s force-field analysis identifies driving forces pushing for change and restraining forces opposing it; change happens when driving forces dominate, or restraining forces are weakened.
60.4 Kotter’s Eight-Step Change Model
John Kotter (1996) elaborated Lewin’s framework into eight steps:
TipKotter’s Eight-Step Change Model
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Establish a sense of urgency |
| 2 | Form a powerful guiding coalition |
| 3 | Create a vision for change |
| 4 | Communicate the vision |
| 5 | Empower employees to act on the vision |
| 6 | Generate short-term wins |
| 7 | Consolidate gains and produce more change |
| 8 | Anchor new approaches in the culture |
60.5 Other Change Frameworks
TipOther Change-Management Models
| Model | Working content |
|---|---|
| ADKAR (Prosci) | Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement |
| McKinsey 7S | Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared values, Style, Staff, Skills — alignment of seven elements |
| Burke-Litwin Causal Model | 12 organisational variables; transformational vs transactional change |
| Action Research | Diagnose → Plan → Act → Evaluate |
| Bridges’ Transition Model | Endings → Neutral zone → New beginnings (psychological transition) |
60.6 Resistance to Change
TipSources of Resistance and Mitigations
| Source | Resistance | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | Habit, fear of unknown, economic loss, ego | Education, communication, participation |
| Organisational | Structural inertia, group inertia, threat to expertise / power | Coalition building, negotiation, top-management support |
Coch and French (1948) showed that participation in the change process reduces resistance — a finding replicated many times since.
60.7 Organisation Development (OD)
Organisation Development is a planned, organisation-wide effort, managed from the top, to increase organisational effectiveness and health through interventions in the organisation’s processes, using behavioural-science knowledge (frenchbell2016?). Common OD interventions:
TipOD Interventions
| Intervention | Working content |
|---|---|
| Sensitivity training (T-groups) | Self-awareness through unstructured group experience |
| Survey feedback | Survey diagnosis followed by feedback meetings |
| Process consultation | Consultant helps client perceive and act on process issues |
| Team building | Improve team trust and effectiveness |
| Inter-group development | Resolve inter-group conflict |
| Appreciative inquiry | Build on what works rather than fix what doesn’t |
60.8 Exam-Pattern MCQs
NoteEight-question set
Q1. Match each Schein level of culture with its content:
| Level | Content | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (i) | Artefacts | (a) | Mission and vision statements |
| (ii) | Espoused values | (b) | Office layout, dress, language |
| (iii) | Basic underlying assumptions | (c) | Deeply held beliefs about human nature |
A. (i)-(b), (ii)-(a), (iii)-(c) B. (i)-(a), (ii)-(b), (iii)-(c) C. (i)-(c), (ii)-(a), (iii)-(b) D. (i)-(c), (ii)-(b), (iii)-(a)
Answer: A.
Q2. Which of the following is not one of Hofstede’s six national-culture dimensions?
A. Power distance B. Individualism vs Collectivism C. Religiosity D. Long-term vs Short-term orientation
Answer: C. The six are power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, indulgence.
Q3. Match each typology with its proponent:
| Typology | Proponent | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (i) | Power, Role, Task, Person | (a) | Hofstede |
| (ii) | Clan, Adhocracy, Market, Hierarchy | (b) | Charles Handy |
| (iii) | National-culture dimensions | (c) | Cameron and Quinn |
A. (i)-(b), (ii)-(c), (iii)-(a) B. (i)-(a), (ii)-(b), (iii)-(c) C. (i)-(c), (ii)-(a), (iii)-(b) D. (i)-(c), (ii)-(b), (iii)-(a)
Answer: A.
Q4. Lewin’s three-step change model is:
A. Plan, Do, Act B. Unfreeze, Change, Refreeze C. Diagnose, Implement, Evaluate D. Strategy, Structure, Systems
Answer: B. Lewin (1947): Unfreeze → Change → Refreeze.
Q5. Match each change model with its proponent:
| Model | Proponent | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (i) | Three-step model | (a) | John Kotter |
| (ii) | Eight-step model | (b) | Prosci |
| (iii) | ADKAR | (c) | McKinsey |
| (iv) | 7S framework | (d) | Kurt Lewin |
A. (i)-(d), (ii)-(a), (iii)-(b), (iv)-(c) B. (i)-(a), (ii)-(b), (iii)-(c), (iv)-(d) C. (i)-(c), (ii)-(d), (iii)-(a), (iv)-(b) D. (i)-(b), (ii)-(c), (iii)-(d), (iv)-(a)
Answer: A.
Q6. Action research in change management proceeds in the order:
A. Plan → Diagnose → Act → Evaluate B. Diagnose → Plan → Act → Evaluate C. Act → Plan → Evaluate → Diagnose D. Evaluate → Act → Plan → Diagnose
Answer: B. Diagnose → Plan → Act → Evaluate.
Q7. Arrange Kotter’s first four steps of change in correct order:
- Form a powerful guiding coalition
- Create a vision for change
- Establish a sense of urgency
- Communicate the vision
A. (iii), (i), (ii), (iv) B. (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) C. (iv), (iii), (ii), (i) D. (iii), (iv), (ii), (i)
Answer: A. Urgency → Coalition → Vision → Communicate.
Q8. Match each OD intervention with its content:
| Intervention | Content | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (i) | T-groups | (a) | Improve team trust and effectiveness |
| (ii) | Survey feedback | (b) | Self-awareness through unstructured experience |
| (iii) | Team building | (c) | Survey followed by feedback meetings |
| (iv) | Process consultation | (d) | Consultant helps the client perceive and act on process issues |
A. (i)-(b), (ii)-(c), (iii)-(a), (iv)-(d) B. (i)-(a), (ii)-(b), (iii)-(c), (iv)-(d) C. (i)-(c), (ii)-(d), (iii)-(b), (iv)-(a) D. (i)-(d), (ii)-(a), (iii)-(c), (iv)-(b)
Answer: A.
ImportantQuick recall
- Organisational culture — “the way we do things around here”. Schein definition + three levels: Artefacts → Espoused values → Basic assumptions.
- Robbins’ seven characteristics: innovation, attention, outcome, people, team, aggressiveness, stability.
- Typologies: Handy (Power/Role/Task/Person), Cameron-Quinn (Clan/Adhocracy/Market/Hierarchy), Deal-Kennedy, Hofstede national-culture dimensions.
- Hofstede’s six dimensions: Power distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty avoidance, Long-term orientation, Indulgence.
- Strong culture → consistent behaviour, fast decisions, low formalism.
- Organisational change — driven by external (technology, competition, regulation, etc.) and internal forces.
- Lewin (1947): Unfreeze → Change → Refreeze; force-field analysis.
- Kotter (1996) eight steps: Urgency → Coalition → Vision → Communicate → Empower → Short-term wins → Consolidate → Anchor.
- Other models: ADKAR (Prosci), McKinsey 7S, Burke-Litwin, Action Research, Bridges Transition.
- Resistance sources: individual (habit, fear) and organisational (structural inertia, threat to expertise). Participation reduces resistance (Coch & French 1948).
- OD interventions: T-groups, survey feedback, process consultation, team building, inter-group development, appreciative inquiry.