The Unintended Consequences of Culture Interventions: A Study of Unexpected Outcomes

Abstract

The topic of managing culture has been central to organizational culture research for the last two decades. Although critical theorists argue that culture management efforts are prone to unintended consequences, few empirical studies have explicitly explored this issue. The study reported in this article is designed to redress this imbalance in the literature through focusing on the exploration and description of the unintended consequences of culture management interventions. The aims of the study are to locate and describe how management actions during culture change initiatives result in unintended consequences and then subsequently to explore and describe these effects. The article begins with an overview of contemporary research into the nature of culture, the rationale, approaches and perspectives on culture management as well as research into unintended consequences. After a discussion of the research design and methods employed, the results of the study are presented. These findings review and elucidate eight forms of management action during culture change programmes that resulted in unintended consequences, which had serious consequences for the organizations concerned. The article concludes with the discussion of implications and conclusions for theorists and practitioners.

Monitoring Educational Organizations' Culture of Sustainable Consumption: Initiating and Evaluating Cultural Change in Schools and Universities

“…Furthermore, closer attention needs to be drawn to the evaluation and monitoring of unintended effects of cultural change interventions (Harris et al, 2002). In order to better account for impacts and effects triggered by intervention measures in complex and dynamic conditions-as opposed to predetermined performance or goal attainment measures-synergistic approaches and an integration of multiple methods are needed (Weitzman et al, 2009).…”

“…Although an elusive number of definitions and theoretical approaches exist, culture in an organizational context can be said to be commonly understood and described as "a pervasive, eclectic, layered and socially constructed phenomenon, which is generated through values, beliefs and assumptions but expressed through artifacts, structures and behaviors" (Harris et al, 2002). This study adopts an analytical framework that conceptualizes different levels, themes and domains of cultural transmission relating to the domain of consumption and consequently affecting consumer learning.…”

Managerial Mindsets Toward Corporate Social Responsibility: The Case of Auto Industry in Iran

“…Also, one focus group was conducted per case organization. Given the high degree of functional hierarchy in Iranian organizations, and consistent with the system-level perspective of CSR, interview data were collected from various functional hierarchies of policy and decision makers in each case (see Waldman et al 1998;Harris and Ogbonna 2002).…”

Organizational Resistance and Receptivity

“…Similarly, Dent and Goldberg (2000) noted that other potential causes that lead to resistance include fear of change, fear of unpleasantness, lack of trust, uncertainty, poor training, surprise, and personality conflicts. Further, Harris and Ogbonna (2002) listed a number of other different resistance factors common to members of organization. These include organizational culture and subcultures, persuasion and coercion mechanisms, an individual's position and role in the organization, commitment to organization, history of change initiatives, and the roles of change agents.…”