Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-p566r Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T14:30:20.628Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

HR strategy during culture change: Building change agency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2015

Llandis Barratt-Pugh
Affiliation:
Centre for Innovative Practice, School of Business, Faculty of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia
Susanne Bahn*
Affiliation:
Centre for Innovative Practice, School of Business, Faculty of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia Tap Into Safety Pty Ltd
*
Corresponding author: suebahn@tapintosafety.com.au

Abstract

This paper explores the role played by a Human Resources (HR) department orchestrating culture change during the merger of two large State departments with dissimilar cultures. A 2-year case study determined what HR strategies were having the greatest impact on embedding new organisational values to produce a more flexible culture and how these practices could be accelerated. This paper indicates how a more strategic approach by HR departments can support and develop relational managing capability that accelerates cultures change towards a more flexible work environment.

This paper describes the context of the change process, the relevant literature, and outlines the research process. The findings from the phases of the data collection are summarised revealing the traumatic perceptions of the change process, but also the instrumental actions of some managers, working creatively with their teams to tackle new tasks and projects. The evidence suggests that these informal practices of task allocation were at the core of change agency in this case study and put the new flexible organisational values into action. The findings illustrate how the organisation moves from valuing managers for their technical competence to valuing managers for their relational competence.

The paper then discusses what strategic HR actions were accelerating this process and illuminates the critical role of building managers as change agents. The paper concludes by confirming the need for a strategic approach by HR during organisational change. Building manager capability and supporting informal change agency practices is presented as a core focus for HR during such organisational cultural change programmes.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amiot, C., Terry, D. J., Jimmieson, N. L., & Callan, V. J. (2006). A longitudinal investigation of coping processes during a merger: Implications for job satisfaction and organizational identification. Journal of Management, 32(4), 552574.Google Scholar
Andrews, J., Cameron, H., & Harris, M. (2008). All change? Managers’ experience of organizational change in theory and practice. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 21(2), 300314.Google Scholar
Argyris, C. (1994). Knowledge for action. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Becher, B., & Gerhart, B. (1996). The impact of HRM on organisational performance. Academy of Management Journal, 39(4), 779801.Google Scholar
Beer, M. (1998). Organisaional behavior and development. USA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Beer, M. (2009). High commitment, high performance. California: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Beer, M., Eisenstatt, A., & Spector, B. (1993). Why change programmes don’t produce change. In C. Mabey & W. B. Mayon White (Eds.), Managing change (2nd ed., pp. 158). Buckingham: Open University.Google Scholar
Berman, P., & McLaughlin, M. W. (1975). A model of educational change. Santa Barbara, CA: The Rand Corporation.Google Scholar
Billett, S., & Cooper, M. (1997). Returns to enterprises from investment in VET. Adelaide: NCVER/ANTA.Google Scholar
Branson, C. M. (2008). Achieving organisational change through values alignment. Journal of Educational Administration, 46(3), 376395.Google Scholar
Burke, W. W., & Litwin, G. H. (1922). A causal model of organizational performance and change. Journal of management, 18(3), 523545.Google Scholar
Caldwell, R. (2003). Models of change agency: A fourfold classification. British Journal of Management, 14(2), 131142.Google Scholar
Cartwright, S. (2006). The human side of mergers and acquisitions. Australia and New Zealand Academy of Management conference, Yeppoon Qld, December 6–10.Google Scholar
Cobb, A. T., Wooten, K. C., & Folger, R. (1995). Justice in the making: Toward understanding the theory and practice of justice in organizational change and development. Research in Organizational Change and Development, 8, 243295.Google Scholar
Dent, E., & Goldberg, S. (1999). Challenging ‘resistance to change’. Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, 35(1), 2541.Google Scholar
Dess, G. G., & Robinson, R. B. (1984). Measuring organisational performance in the absence of objective measures. Strategic Management Journal, 5, 265273.Google Scholar
Doyle, M., Claydon, T., & Buchanen, D. (2000). Mixed results, lousy process: The management experience of organizational change. British Journal of Management, 11, special issue S59S80.Google Scholar
Du Gay, P. (1996). Making up managers. In S. Clegg, & G. Palmer, The politics of management knowledge (pp. 19–27). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Dunphy, D. C., & Stace, D. A. (1988). Transformational and coerce strategies for planned organisational change: Beyond the OD model. Organization Studies, 9(3), 317334.Google Scholar
Dvir, T., Kass, N., & Shamir, B. (2004). The emotional bond: Vision and organizational commitment among high-tech employees. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 17(2), 126143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dyer, L., & Reeves, T. (1995). Human resource strategies and firm performance. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 6(3), 656670.Google Scholar
Emery, F., Trist, E., & Murray, H. (1997). The social engagement of social science. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Ford, J. D., Ford, L. W., & D’Amelio, A. (2008). Resistance to change: The rest of the story. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 362377.Google Scholar
Gee, J. P., Hull, G., & Lankshear, C. (1996). The new work order: Behind the language of new capitalism. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Giddens, A. (1984). The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. Google Scholar
Gioia, D. A., Thomas, J. B., Clark, S. M., & Chittipeddi, K. (1994). Symbolism and strategic change in academia: The dynamics of sensemaking and influence. Organization Science, 5(3), 363383.Google Scholar
Huselid, M. A., Jackson, S. E., & Schuler, R. S. (1997). Technical and strategic HRM as determinates of firm performance. Academy of Management Journal, 40(1), 171188.Google Scholar
Johnson, M. W., Parasuraman, A., Futrell, C. M., & Black, W. C. (1990). A longitudinal assessment of the impact of selected organizational influences on salespeople’s organisational commitment during early employment. Journal of Marketing Research, 27(3), 333344.Google Scholar
Kane, B., & Hermans, A. (1996). Strategic HRM and strategic management: Should the fit be tighter, 10th Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management Conference proceedings, Diversity and change proceedings, ANZAM, Wollongong, NSW.Google Scholar
Klein, D. (1976). Some notes on the dynamics of resistance to change: The defender role. In W. G. Bennis, K. D. Benne, R. Chin, & K. E. Corey (Eds.), The planning of change (3rd ed., pp. 117124). New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
Knowles, E.S., & Linn, J. A. (2004). The promise and future of resistance and persuasion. In E. S. Knowles & J. A. Linn (Eds.), Resistance and persuasion (pp. 39). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Kotter, J. P., & Heskett, J. L. (1992). Corporate Culture and Performance. The Free Press: New York, NY.Google Scholar
Legge, K. (1995). Human resource management: Rhetorics and realities. Hampshire: McMillan.Google Scholar
Lepak, D. P., & Snell, S. (1999). The human resource architecture. Academy of Management Journal, 24(1), 3448.Google Scholar
Parish, J. T., Cadwallader, S., & Busch, P. (2008). Want to, need to, ought to: Employee commitment to organizational change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 21(1), 3252.Google Scholar
Payne, J. (2000). Local Perspectives on Globalisation and Learning, UTS- RAVEL conference, Working Knowledge: Productive Learning at Work proceedings, December 10–13, Sydney, NSW.Google Scholar
Pfeffer, J. (1994). Competitive advantage through people: Unleashing the power of the workforce. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Rees, S., & Rodley, G. (Eds.) (1995). The human costs of managerialism: advocating the recovery of humanity. Pluto Press: Australia.Google Scholar
Rogers, E. W., Wright, P. M. (1998). Measuring organisational performance in strategic HRM. Human Resource Management Review, 8(3), 311331.Google Scholar
Sanchez, R. (1996). Dynamics of competence based competition. Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Schein, E. H. (1991). What is culture. In P. Frost, L. F. Moore, M. R. Lewis, C. C. Lundberg, & J. Martin (Ed.), Reframing organisational culture (pp. 243–253). Newbury Park: Sage.Google Scholar
Schein, V. E., & Greisis, L. E. (1989). Power organisation and discourse. London: Addison Wesley.Google Scholar
Sullivan, W. (2002). Aligning individual and organizational to support change. Journal of Change Management, 2(2), 247254.Google Scholar
Thomas, J. B., Clark, S. M., & Gioia, D. A. (1993). Strategic sensemaking and organizational performance: Linkages among scanning, interpretation, actions, and outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 36(2), 239270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomlinson, E. C., Dineen, B. R., & Lewicki, R. J. (2004). The road to reconciliation: Antecedents of victim willingness to reconcile following a broken promise. Journal of Management, 30, 165187.Google Scholar
Townley, B. (1993). Foucault power knowledge and its relevance for human resource management. Academy of Management Review, 18(3), 518545.Google Scholar
Ulrich, D., & Beatty, D. (2001). From partners to players: Extending the HR playing field. Human Resource Management, 40(4), 293307.Google Scholar
Wanda, J., Orlikowski, W. I., & Hofman, J. D. (1997). An improvisational model of change management: The case of groupware technologies, Sloan Management Review.Google Scholar
Whiteley, A. (1995). Managing change: A core values approach. Melbourne: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Williamson, P., & Haspeslagh, P. (2005). Acquisition and Integration. Fontainebleau, France: INSEAD.Google Scholar