Organizational culture perceptions and change frequency: the moderating effect of members' hierarchical level in the organization

Abstract

PurposeDespite considerable conceptual interest in the relationship between organizational culture and various types of organizational change, empirical evidence regarding this relationship at different levels and types of change is surprisingly absent. This study examines whether organizational culture perceptions differ in frequently versus infrequently changing organizations, and whether this relationship is moderated by members' hierarchical level in the organization (i.e. staff, manager, executive).Design/methodology/approachStudy includes culture survey data for 904 staff, managers and executives from one frequently changing and two infrequently changing organizations in the education sector.FindingsResults show multiple non-monotonic organization-by-organizational level interaction effects on cultural style scores. In the frequently changing organization, executives report lower constructive cultural style scores and higher defensive cultural style scores than do managers and staff. In the infrequently changing organizations, executives, managers and staff report similar constructive and defensive style scores.Practical implicationsIn frequently changing organizations, leaders are more likely to be discontent with the status quo and continuously encourage change efforts, while lower level members' have considerable experience with change and are empowered to continuously create change. The result is systematic differences in culture perceptions across levels, but also an agile organization capable of pursuing opportunities to improve organizational performance.Originality/valueThe authors’ findings show that systematic differences in perceptions of cultural styles across organizational levels relate to organizational change frequency. This contrasts with existing literature emphasizing the importance of culture perceptions being pervasive throughout the organization.