Culture change

About: Culture change is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1531 publications have been published within this topic receiving 41922 citations. The topic is also known as: cultural change & culture changes.

Engaged Institutions, Responsiveness, and Town-Gown Relationships: Why Deep Culture Change Must Emphasize the Gathering of Community Feedback

Abstract: INTRODUCTION In a recent article within this journal that discussed campus planning issues over the last 100 years, Crawford (2014) asserted that colleges and universities are important resources that lend themselves quite readily to advancing sustainable communities. While Crawford's focus was centered largely on how the physical assets of higher education institutions can and should be shared with their host communities, it must be emphasized that colleges and universities make critical contributions within the human capital dimension as well. Another relatively recent article published in this journal by Shugart (2013) discussed higher education's need for deep culture change in the face of demands to "do more with less." Tracing the lineage of the conceptual models (monastic, polytechnic, post-war industrial, retail) and related business practices that have shaped colleges and universities over time, Shugart invited leaders to participate in "courageous conversations" about the frameworks that can be used to guide higher education's future. With the "disruptive innovation" work of Christensen et al. (2011) as a backdrop, Shugart (2013) warned that higher education will either change itself internally to meet contemporary demands or else those alterations will be driven by external forces. The present article strikes somewhat of an amalgamated pose in this discourse about the future of higher education. On the one hand, it does seem to be the case that academia will either choose its own destiny or have its destiny chosen for it by others. However, on the other hand it can be argued that certain external forces can and should play a co-creative role in determining the collective fates of colleges and universities. Ground zero for this sort of dialogic process is thought to be the interaction of campus and community members, as often as not described in terms of town-gown relationships. Regrettably, when the town-gown relationship is not a primary focus of senior campus administrators and municipal leaders, all too often a steep price is paid when complicated issues arise. Sungu-Eryilmaz (2009, p. 6) wrote: The competing interests of the university, the neighborhood, and the city have three implications. First, even in the era of the engaged university, land use and development processes at the campus edge will repeatedly put town-gown relations to the test. Second, nearly all real estate activities of universities and colleges are multifaceted and have multiple stakeholders, including residents, businesses, and local governments. Third, land uses at the campus edge have become a crucial element in both the physical and socioeconomic character of cities and neighborhoods. The assertion that higher education leaders should engage their host communities before major problems arise has been made pointedly (Weill 2009) and repeatedly over many decades, as is discussed next. What is different now, however, is the availability of technology that can provide standardized and longitudinal documentation of the quality of town-gown relationships, which in turn can drive more effective and evidence-based campus planning activities. CAMPUS ENGAGEMENT WITH THE COMMUNITY A number of prominent organizations dedicated to the advancement of higher education have encouraged colleges and universities to invest in the development of viable campus-community relationships. This includes, but is not limited to, the call for more "engaged institutions" by the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities, the classification for community engagement by the Carnegie Foundation, the focus on "regional stewardship" offered by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and the conceptualization of "anchor institutions" in communities as promoted by the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities. Because of its centrality to many of the other efforts noted above, the Kellogg Commission's work warrants a bit more attention here. …

Strategic Leadership and Change Management Practices at Chase Bank Kenya Limited

Abstract: Organizations have increasingly ventured in complex business environments with the objective of growth, increasing profitability and ensuring that customer satisfaction and loyalty is attained. This study aims at establishing strategic leadership and change management practices at Chase Bank Kenya limited and the challenges faced in regards to the same. The study was carried out through a case study focusing on Chase Bank Kenya Limited and the strategic leadership being practiced and the change management process that was undertaken at the organization in enabling it achieve its goals and objectives while managing the risks and challenges involved. Primary data was collected from the respondents through an interview guide and key informant interviews. A total of 5 interview guides were administered in the process. Secondary data was obtained from existing records such as annual reports, records, print media, academic works audited accounts and journals. The data collected was analyzed using content analysis in order to meet the study objectives. The results from the study findings revealed that strategic leadership at Chase bank Kenya limited was viewed as the visionary leadership that guided the organization, with strategies being formulated by strategists in the bank that ensured need based solutions were reached and thus resulting to competitive advantage over other firms. The respondents cited that the forces of change in the organization were both external and internal. The external forces of change identified were changes in technology, changing demands of consumers, changes in regulatory policies, political forces, economic forces, social cultural forces and competition from other banks. Internal forces of change identified were changes in employee demands, changes in work schedule, growth and expansion, new innovation and restructure changes. Activities that were rolled out as change program were strategy formulation, strategy implementation, strategy evaluation, culture change, staff retraining, review of the organizational structure, review of policy and law, realignment of functions, documentation of procedures/ processes, awareness, coaching, training and role plays. It was established that the challenges faced while leading the activities in the change management program include politics within the organization, resistance to change, difference in ways of perceiving opinions, inadequate funds, staff resignation, poor management and rapidly changing environment with competing initiatives and projects. Strategies adopted for minimizing resistance to change were classified under people-centered and task-centered recommendations. This study recommends that strategic leadership must make change a continuous process and should be well communicated and known by the entire organization. This study offered insights into strategic leadership as key to driving change management offer lessons to professional and practitioners of strategic leadership. The research findings addressed the questions under investigation and the objectives of the study. The implication of the study was to establish the importance of strategic leadership in driving change and the results are going to add value to theory, help academia and practitioners to understand, apply and replicate the findings.

Equality and diversity in the health service: An evidence-led culture change

Abstract: Nine years after the first human rights legislation came into effect, many public sector organizations struggle to demonstrate meaningful and sustainable outcomes for protected groups The workforce stubbornly fails to reflect the diversity of the communities it serves Equality stakeholders report that services ignore the specific needs of their section of the communities, resulting in poor outcomes To redress this, National Health Service (NHS) North West developed an evidence-based strategy, supported by the introduction of tools and best practice methods It applied cultural change management, defined the leadership competencies required, and introduced a consistent and objective framework for measuring outcomes across a range of 13 key areas Three years into the strategy, outcomes include the national adoption of a leadership competency framework and outcome-based performance measurement tool, as well as demonstrable improvements in the cultural competencies of NHS bodies in the region Within 18 months, the number of primary care trusts able to evidence tangible “achieving” outcomes affecting at least three equality target groups has doubled

5S—A Tool for Culture Change in Shipyards

Abstract: 5S is a successful education/change management program that has been used in many industries to institute a culture of orderliness in the workplace. 5S programs are common in the automotive, aerospace and many other industries. The U.S. shipbuilding and repair industry has recently embraced 5S objectives despite the fact that shipyards view their operations as unique from other industries. A possible reason for this decision is the culture change leverage that a 5S program can provide. The elements of 5S that make it a powerful change program that is effective in a wide variety of industries are: simplicity of concept, commonsense approach, creation of a common purpose, employee driven changes, principle-based ideas, focused events, a structure for sustaining and structured continuous improvement. The author provides examples of specific 5S applications in ship repair as well as a discussion of the elements that make 5S an effective culture change tool.