Showing papers on "Culture change published in 1994"

In Search of Management: Culture, Chaos and Control in Managerial Work

Abstract: This book aims to cover the sorts of issues that managers constantly face: competencies; empowerment; chaos; culture change; survival; and competition. How do they understand these terms and apply them in their everyday lives? Tony Watson looks at the nature of managerial skill and organizational effectiveness, asking managers what it is they think they do, what power do they really have, how they manage under increasing pressure and whether they feel in control. By searching for a definition of management from managers themselves, Tony Watson draws a picture of the way managers shape their own lives and identities at the same time as shaping the organization's work activities. This book should be of interest to all those studying management, particularly MBA and other post-experience qualifications, as well as the general manager. The author has also published "Sociology, Work and Industry" (Routledge 1987), "Management, Organization and Employment Strategy" (Routledge, 1986), "Sociology, Work and Industry" (Routledge, 1980), and "The Personnel Managers" (Routledge, 1977).

Culture, Theory, and Narrative: The Intersection of Meanings in Practice

Abstract: Professional social work can be substantially enriched by incorporating constructivist appreciations and perspectives into its theory and practice. To do so may require a shift in our understanding of the nature of reality and our stance toward what is "true." There are many ways to construe and construct a world of meaning, and we will benefit as practitioners if we come to understand more clearly how people and cultures create a world of meaning and what implications such meanings have for how we approach our work. Until now, much of the thinking and work of constructivist practitioners has failed to do two things: (1) establish a link between individual constructions and the larger environment of social institutions and culture and (2) examine how any theory of practice is also a symbolic construction or "story." This article offers some preliminary thoughts on the intersection of culture, theory, and individual narratives. Culture and Meaning Bruner (1990), in his usual astute and direct way, draws our attention to two characteristics of the human condition that we sometimes forget. First, human beings can only build themselves into the world by creating meaning, by fashioning out of symbols a sense of what the world is all about. Unlike other species, we cannot rely on biology for instruction. Biology does constrain, but it does not shape who we think we are, what we think we are doing, and where we think we are going. Without some plausible and poignant interpretive devices and images we are lost, swarmed by a rush of stimuli on our nervous systems. Second, we get the raw material for our meanings, however provisional, from culture. Culture is nothing if it is not a system where meaning is given to action by "situating its underlying intentional states in [this] interpretive system" (Bruner, 1990, p. 24). Culture insinuates its patterns on us, and they fecome embedded deeply within us. Culture is the means by which we receive, organize, rationalize, and understand our particular experiences in the world. Central elements of this cultural patterning are story and narrative. That is, we find or impart meaning largely through telling stories and weaving narratives, the plots often laid out by culture. But individuals do not simply and passively receive meaning. There is always, as Rosaldo (1989) noted, an interplay between structure (culture) and agency (selfhood). We may, as individuals and families, alter the plots of story lines and the motives of actors to suit ourselves and to more comfortably situate us in our own world. Much of what culture tells us, the learning of it, occurs early: "Once learned these behavior patterns, these habitual responses, these ways of interacting gradually sink below the surface of the mind and, like the admiral of a submerged submarine fleet, control from the depths" (Hall, 1981, p. 42). Thus, we frequently mistake what is in fact cultural for something innate and immutable. We only come to realize our mistake when we become immersed in another culture or when someone or some event calls our meaning into question. Egregious errors of interpretation of what others' behavior means are, according to Hall, attributable to this "hidden" aspect of culture. To transcend it, we must know that it is there, and then we must summon up the meanings and patterns that make it up. Without that exercise we are doomed to misinterpret the lifeworld of people of cultures or subcultures that differ from our own (Hall, 1981). Another lesson learned from those who have come to understand other systems of meaning besides their own: No culture has a monopoly on truth. Truth may be an irrelevant standard by which to judge a culture or microculture such as a group, family, or gang (Rosaldo, 1989). Truth by one culture's standards is fantasy or folly by another's. Even the truths of a particular culture change and shift with the passage of time, the intermingling with other peoples, and the dynamism of the human-made and natural worlds. …

Change and Continuity in the Medical Culture of the Hmong in Kansas City

Abstract: The Hmong in the United States have undergone radical culture change through their recent experiences of the war in Laos, refugee resettlement, and Christian conversion. This article analyzes the influence of these changes on the health ideas and practices of the Hmong in Kansas City, the primary study population. Although shamanism and ancestor worship have been abandoned, attenuated concepts of spirit illness and soul loss exist in health beliefs and patterns of illness, notably fright illness (ceeb). Their eclectic set of ideas and practices is derived from several systems, including Chinese medicine, Protestant Christianity, and biomedicine. To explain the varied health ideas and practices, Last's concept of medical culture is useful because it provides a framework for understanding medical traditions drawn from differing cultural systems. The Hmong have created a unique medical culture through their incorporation of new therapies as well as the use of some traditional methods of healing.

Cultural Alignment in Response to Strategic Organizational Change: New Considerations for a Change Framework

Abstract: Most modern-day managers would quickly agree that the shared values, attitudes, commitments, beliefs, and overall patterns of thinking socially constructed among members of an organization have a tremendous influence on its long-term effectiveness and performance. The impact of an appropriate organizational culture on the well-being of the business organization has been explicitly recognized by many organizational researchers (Dennison, 1984; Camerer and Vespalian, 1988; and Wilkins and Ouchi, 1983). Tunstall (1986) proposes that a company's culture is the amalgam of shared values, behavior patterns, mores, symbols, attitudes, and normative ways of conducting business that, more than its products or services, differentiate it from all other companies. Further, culture may influence what organizational strategies are selected and whether they are successful (Cartwright and Cooper, 1993; Marcoulides and Heck, 1993; Wilkins and Dyer, 1988). Existing cultural orientations may be quite supportive of the mission and success of a firm at a particular point, but not at all appropriate when significant strategic change becomes necessary. This paper addresses the need for cultural evaluation, feedback, and possible change facilitation as needed to successfully align with necessarily imposed strategic change. Culture has traditionally been recognized as a consideration in the strategy implementation process (Bourgeois and Brodwin, 1984; Nutt, 1986; Galbraith and Kazanjian, 1986). Culture is assumed to explain the success of some organizations (Peters and Waterman, 1982), to represent an essential element in effectiveness of organizations if it fits the strategy (Schwartz and Davis, 1981), to act as a determinant of strategy (Ackerman, 1982), or as an influence on the implementation of strategic decisions (Schwartz and Davis, 1981). Such claims contribute to the recognition that culture plays a large role in the overall implementation of strategy. As such, culture must play a critical role when dramatic, significant strategic change is mandated. Figure 1 represents a conceptualization of the relationship between management, culture, and strategy. It is proposed that culture change is an imperative element of management's efforts to: 1) influence the overall orientation and collective workplace themes and attitudes of human resources which, in turn, 2) guide necessary human behaviors, which 3) are part of an implementation effort called for by a particular strategy, which 4) is a response to a significant shift in the demands and restrictions of an ever changing company and strategy. This being the case, organizational culture, as it currently exists, must pose a critical contingency upon both the planning and implementation of future strategies (Schneider and De Meyer, 1991). Mintzberg (1987) convincingly argues that strategy evolves in an incremental fashion, in which case planning and implementation are so interwoven through time that they are virtually inseparable. The argument made here is that cultural aspects of the organization can significantly affect the implementation of strategy and thus must be addressed in the planning of strategy. As part of an evolving process in which feedback and evaluation play a recurring role, the culture of an organization can be better used for competitive advantage by either designing strategy to maximize the current organizational culture, or by gently shaping the culture through intervention when needed strategic change creates a misalignment. As described, this model overlays the entire incremental and iterative process of planning, implementation, and evaluation (Mintzberg, 1987). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Though culture change has been considered broadly as part of an overall implementation effort, little conceptual literature to date has presented an integrative literature review and synthesis of the cultural variables which impact the implementation of sizable strategic change. …

Why your corporate culture change isn't working -- and what to do about it

Abstract: Part 1 Organizational culture and change. Part 2 The methodology of change - fictitious case studies to help you plan. Part 3 Implementing change - 13 more to demonstrate common mistakes. Part 4 Successful culture change.

Structure and Culture Change In Two Uk Organisations: A Comparison of Assumptions, Approaches and Outcomes

Abstract: Christopher Mabey and Geoff Mallory, who are respectively Head of and Research Fellow at the Open University Business School's Centre for Human Resource and Change Management, focus on attempts to modify behaviour and cultivate new competencies through cultural and structural change. They explore these issues, first, theoretically, by reviewing the growing body of relevant literatures and, second, empirically, by analysing two case organisations – the General Motors-Isuzi joint venture, IBC Vehicles Ltd, and Grampian Health Board – which adopted very different approaches. In both cases, they consider what assumptions underpinned the change processes, what human resource strategies policies were pursued, and what outcomes were apparent.

Quality through equality

Abstract: Prevailing hierarchical attitudes have prevented most British organisations changing to more successful democratically run organisational cultures. Many academics have played a part in this by themselves suppressing the lessons of best democratic practice. The human and economic cost of hierarchical working and teaching/ learning practices makes it morally incumbent on those who work in education to rationally and honestly evaluate evidence and voice the central and urgent need for top managers to take the lead in the culture change process required for high quality educational and industrial performance.

Developing women managers : current issues and good practice

Abstract: Background - Aspects of organizational culture, Changing organizational cultures Initiatives for women - Women's personal development and women-only training, Mentoring and networking for women Initiatives for organizations - Line manager training, Culture change in practice Key issues - Going forward. Appendices - Questionnaire, Further information and contacts.

Conversion or Acculturation? A Study of Culture Change and Its Effect on Evangelism in Mindanao Indigenous Societies

Abstract: Rapid culture change among tribal groups in Mindanao, Philippines, has produced a generation of young people who are eager to seek a new, more prestigious identity. Western missionaries, influenced by their society's obsession with the future and with youth, run counter to tribal worldviews when they consider young people the most effective target for evangelism. Targeting the youth can often prevent a tribal society's most effective communicators from a realistic hearing of the gospel and block a valid people movement. This article describes certain processes and problems of rapid culture change and urges some serious rethinking about strategies for evangelism in this area.

Using empowerment to make quality work in health care.

Abstract: Is TQM dead in health care? If it is alive and well, what role does quality improvement play in managing the changes that come with health care reform? William Byham and Greg Nelson begin this article by presenting results from a recent international study on TQM, outlining factors common to successful and unsuccessful quality initiatives. The key to success? Organizations must improve how people work as much as what they do in their work, and that means empowering people to improve processes. Easier said than done, say Byham and Nelson. Empowerment requires culture change and training. People first need the right environment to work differently, then the skills, knowledge, and techniques to participate in and influence the quality process.

BS7750: Panacea or palliative?

Abstract: In a review of BS7750, this paper highlights some of the inadequacies of environmental management systems standards. In particular it considers the non-existence of basic environmental performance indicators and whether standards like BS7750 can actually deliver sustainability. In considering the preliminary results of the BS7750 pilot programme the paper also points towards some immediate issues which require attention. It is argued that although BS7750 provides a model for better environmental practice, more radical culture change is required to attain sustainability. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society

Dicing with the Common Denominators

Abstract: Examines effects of culture change on careers in information services and libraries. Considers the personality requirements of working in the changing environment of marketing, fund‐raising and resource management. Concludes that libraries and their staff are somewhat different from what might be expected.

Inland Revenue: Managing the Change Challenge

Abstract: The government has challenged public sector organizations to demonstrate that they can provide the best service in terms of cost and quality. The Achieving Management Potential (AMP) programme is an important part of the Inland Revenue′s response to that challenge. In 1991 the IR drew up an action plan highlighting the need for management to develop skills that would enable them to lead the department through the required culture change. Describes the scope of the design and implementation of the programme.