Culture Change within Organizations

Culture Change within Organizations

Walker and Soule (2017) compare culture to the wind, something that cannot be seen but can effect visible changes. Changes within an organization can come from either the leadership or the employees. The top-down mandate is a culture change in the form of directives from the administration to the employees through the hierarchal system. The employees drive a movement- minded mandate. Walker and Soule (2017) claim that top-down mandate does not bring actual culture change. Authority can give a leader the power to demand compliance, but they cannot command trust, loyalty, commitment, or innovation.

The case study outlined in the article gives a perfect example of the effectiveness of the movement-minded mandate (Walker & Soule, 2017). G.V Prasad wanted to change Dr. Reddy’s culture from procedurally burdened culture to a patient-centered, flexible, and innovative culture. The first step was finding out what every employee needed. The information gathered from the workers was used to coin a general yet effective slogan that became the guide in the restructuring of the organization’s image, processes, and approach. By opting to impact change from the employees rather than forming a policy, Prasad began a movement-minded mandate the employees could relate to and support.

Leaders are more than capable of implementing change within their organization. However, Prasad’s case shows that it is more effective to begin the change from the bottom rather than from the top. Employees can relate and feel ownership of changes and cultural practices that involve them. The four steps covered in the article generate changes from the employees’ perspective, then include them in the implementation of the new cultures.

References

Walker, B., & Soule, S. A. (2017). Changing company culture requires a movement, not a mandate. Harvard Business Review, 2-6.