Changing the organization but maintaining the culture: The centrality of organizational mission to the reform process. An overview of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Environment Agency for England and Wales

Abstract

Abstract The attempt to change an organization often leads to detrimental effects on the motivations of those working within it. This paper suggests that much of the negative effects generated by organizational change are the direct result of the mismatch between institutional form and the cultural groupings within an organization. Using in‐depth interview data from two public sector environmental agencies, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Environment Agency for England and Wales (EA), the argument presented here suggests that the most important element for successful organizational change is the creation, or maintenance, of an organizational mission. Only by examining the reform of an organization both from an institutional and cultural perspective can those charged with reforming or creating an organization hope to achieve successful change. In the absence of an organizational mission the likely outcome will be damage to the motivations of staff. Only by understanding the centrality of subcultural identifications can organizational designers ensure that a new or reformed structure maintains these groupings within an over‐arching organizational culture. The absence of an organizational culture will ensure organizational goals will not be achieved. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.