Insight in cultural change during organizational transformation: a case study

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this case study is to gain insight into how a cultural change process develops as a result of organizational transformation.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study employs an ethnographic and longitudinal research design. The transformation period of the organization is described by means of desk research and interviews with the management. Simultaneously, the cultural change process is described following four organizational mindset analyses.

Findings

This paper supports the theoretical assumption that culture changes as a reaction to transformation. However, in this case study, culture is also proven to be proactive, in that it emerged a year before the actual transformation was carried out. It is believed that the announcement of the new transformation caused a shift in the organizational mindset, enabling its members to deal with a situation of high uncertainty and stress. Whether the cultural change process in reaction to the transformation will evolve into a new sustainable cultural equilibrium could not yet be determined.

Originality/value

This study has contributed to comprehending the relationship between transformation and the process of cultural change. Cultural change is not solely a reaction to transformation. It can also be proactive in that it emerges before the transformation is carried out. That makes cultural change both proactive and reactive in relation to transformation, an insight that, as such, has not yet been discussed in the cultural theory.

Citation

Smit, W. (2021), "Insight in cultural change during organizational transformation: a case study", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 34 No. 5, pp. 1047-1062. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-08-2020-0255