Organizational Culture and Change: What Impact will the United States Marine Corps’ Culture have on the Implementation of the Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal?

Abstract

In its over two hundred year existence, the U.S. Marine Corps has undergone many serious changes such as the admission of women and Blanks into its ranks. The most current change is open acceptance of lesbians, gays and bisexuals (LGB) as U.S. Marines and is referred to as the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT). This article examines the way in which a large organization, such as the U.S. Marine Corps, implements an enormous change and the role that organization culture plays in the success or failure of the implementation. Cameron and Quinn's Competing Values framework is used to explain the theory behind implementing this major change and how this moment in the Marine Corps’ process can afford researcher great insight into the power and influence of organization culture