Daniel Denison and Levi Nieminen investigate the link between organizational culture and the implementation of change. In their article, they call for the institutionalization of change. They urge organizations to adopt practices, values and processes that allow for the smooth implementation of change (Denison & Nieminen, 2014). I have worked for an organization that successfully implemented change through reforming its organizational culture. The change involved overhauling the financial accountability system. This organization replaced its old system with one that required all its employees to report all their financial dealings. As part of the implementation of this new system, the organization focused its culture on such values as integrity and financial accountability. As it reformed its culture, this organization successfully convinced its employees to support its initiatives.
The culture in an organization has a significant impact on maintaining and sustaining change. The culture of an organization shapes the perspectives of employees toward a given issue. In turn, these perspectives determine if an organization will achieve success in implementing and sustaining change. For example, when an organization’s culture discourages innovation and openness to new experiences, the employees of the organization may resist change. The organizational culture also influences the internal structure of an organization which shapes how effective an organization will be in the implementation of change (Denison & Nieminen, 2014). For example, firms whose cultures challenge them to set up accountability structures will achieve greater success when they implement changes aimed at combating fraud. Overall, the culture of an organization shapes how the organization responds to change.
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To integrate change into its structure, there are a number of steps that an organization should take. Denison and Nieminen advise that companies should begin with an examination of its habits (Denison & Nieminen, 2014). It should identify the habits that facilitate and hamper the implementation of change. The next step involves building the habits that facilitate change while getting rid of the routines which hamper the implementation of reforms. Denison and Nieminen also recommend that firms should develop a value system that is line with the changes that they wish to implement (Denison & Nieminen, 2014). As they do this, the firms will be creating conditions that allow for the integration of changes into organizational culture.
Reference
Denison, D. & Nieminen, L. (2014).Habits as Change Levers. People & Strategy, 37 (1), 23-27.
