For this week ‘s application assignment, I chose an article
from Forbes Magazine online. The
article is entitled “How Do You Change An Organizational Culture?’ The article began by discussing the
complexities of bringing about change in an organization’s culture. The author, Steven Denning tells us “an
organization’s culture comprises an interlocking set of goals, roles,
processes, values, communications practices, attitudes and assumptions.” He asserts that the items above form a
system that is able to block attempts at change. This line of thinking coincides with our reading from this
week on Organizational Culture and Effectiveness. “Highly consistent cultures are often the most resistant to
change and adaptation.” (Denison
& Mishra, 1995, p.215)
Discussing the best ways to implement change, the article stresses the benefits of using leadership and management tools as opposed to intimidation and massive gutting of departments when a new leader arrives. The article went on to illustrate the difficult and arduous task of changing the organizational culture of the World Bank.
The article examined the current and previous six presidents of the World Bank who attempted to bring about change to the cultural status quo within the organization. The World Bank began with the strategically ambiguous mission of “development” and had much oversight but little to no foresight as to how to function and progress as an institution. Within the overviews, it seems that World Bank President from 1968-1981, Robert McNamara was the most effective and dynamic leader and brought about some actual and real change to the organizational culture. McNamara, (former head of Ford Motors and former US Secretary of Defense), began his tenure by figuring out that the various departments in the World Bank were not communicating with each other and went about defining a new strategy for the institution. His clear vision, development, and implementation of a hierarchical bureaucracy shaped the mission and culture of the institution and are still relevant to this day.
After delving into the progress and missteps of the World Bank presidents from McNamara to present, the article offered ideas for the next president to create change in the World Bank culture, including coming with a clear vision for the future of the organization, using leadership storytelling, and finding ways to figure out who the core stakeholders are in order to be as responsive to them as possible.
REFERENCES:
Denning, S. (2011). How do you change an Organizational
Culture? Fortune Magazine, Retrieved
from http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/07/23/how-do-you-change-an-organizational-
culture/
culture/
Denison, D. R., & Mishra, A.K. (1995). Toward a Theory
of Organizational Culture and Effectiveness. Organization Science, 6(2), 204-223
Your write-up brings up the interconnected nature of different dimensions of organizations, which we have been exploring all semester through the lens of the STAR model. You talk about how McNamara defined a new strategy for the World Bank, and seem to hint at how this had an impact in culture. Why do you think organizational strategy can have important implications organizational culture? Can culture, in turn, influence strategy?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about the World Bank and their experience organizational culture. I agree that the best way to implement change is through the leadership. If the top tier has not made it a priority, then it won’t be able to sustain within the organization. I also found it interesting that McNamara used a clear strategy to assist in changing the organizational culture. This made me wonder what specific actions were addressed and/or implemented to target this issue. It sounds as though McNamara has a great plan of “attack”. I think the World Bank will find these efforts well worth it in the end. Thanks for sharing!
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