Critically evaluate the view that Changing Organisational Culture is Essay

Critically evaluate the view that Changing Organisational Culture is difficult if not impossible and requires a different approach to other types of change initiatives - Essay Example In-depth study of culture change in the corporate and organisational literature reveals it to be centered on human relations management for higher productivity. Edgar Schein (1985) believes that culture is seen as a "hot topic" within the corporate world because it is perceived that organisations can be more effective if they develop the right type of culture. Some may believe that it is possible to change dysfunctional cultures to those that are better adapted to their environments. However, according to Schein, culture is hard to define and even harder to measure, harder still to determine the effects on the corporate world. Organisational cultural change is difficult because it is difficult to assess or measure culture. Schein (1985) three level model appears to provide a meaningful option that is useful for assessing organisational culture. In the model, artifacts are placed at the highest level of the structure. The next level represents values which reflect goals and ideals of the organisation; they are the why behind what people within the organisation do. Finally, at the lowest level of Scheins model we find assumptions. The innermost core of culture, assumptions represent rarely spoken, latent, core beliefs and are therefore the most difficult to assess. It is possible for the three levels of culture to be incongruent. For instance, a company may have an open door policy (artifact) and express a value that everyones opinion is appreciated and sought, but below the surface is the knowledge that the boss is really the only one with whom to share the important information (assumption). Leaders of organisations and the consultants who work with them have learned a lot about behaviour change which is seen at the most superficial level of artifacts but not much about how to create organisational belief and value change. Behaviour change