Organizational Cultural Perpetuation: A Case Study of an English Premier League Football Club
| Author | Lloyd C. Harris,Emmanuel Ogbonna |
| Date | 01 October 2014 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12037 |
| Published date | 01 October 2014 |
Organizational Cultural Perpetuation:
A Case Study of an English Premier
League Football Club
Emmanuel Ogbonna and Lloyd C. Harris1
Cardiff Business School, Colum Drive, CF10 3EU, and 1Warwick Business School, UK
Corresponding author email: Ogbonna@cardiff.ac.uk
Although the prevalence of studies of cultural change initiatives has encouraged some
researchers to suggest that a greater understanding of the enduring nature of organiza-
tional culture is important, there is a dearth of illustration of this aspect of the cultural
phenomenon in organizations. This paper provides an empirical description of the factors
that are associated with the perpetuation of organizational culture, thereby making it
resistant to forced change. We achieve this by presenting evidence of an attempt by
executives in a top English Premier League football club (organization) to transform the
culture of their organization. We elucidate the espoused rationale for change, the
approach adopted and the outcomes of the change efforts. Thereafter, we highlight
the impact of the strong forces perpetuating the culture of the organization and impeding
the planned actions of managers.
It is arguable that organizational culture has been
one of the dominant constructs in management
and organizational research in the last three
decades. The exponential interest in the concept
is such that many successful academic careers
have been built on contributions addressing
various facets of culture, including notable
landmark papers (see Pettigrew, 1979; Schein,
1996; Smircich, 1983) and critical volumes (see
Alvesson, 2002; Krefting and Frost, 1985; Schein,
1985). Indeed, the appeal of culture is such that
practitioner interest has remained unabated, with
several studies emphasizing executives’ endorse-
ment of the benefits of proactive culture manage-
ment (see Pfister, 2009; Worrall, Parkes and
Cooper, 2004).
However, research contributions have tended
to focus on delineating the levels and approaches
through which culture is studied (see Martin,
2002; Schein, 1985), understanding the impact of
culture on organizational outcomes (see Fey and
Denison, 2003; Kotter and Heskett, 1992) and
theorizing the control and change of culture (see
Alvesson and Sveningsson, 2007; Ogbonna and
Wilkinson, 2003). While such foci on particular
dynamics of culture have contributed to the devel-
opment of organizational culture theory, other
potentially important aspects of culture remain
understudied. For example, despite suggestions
that additional insights into the enduring nature
of organizational culture is necessary (see
Gagliardi, 1986, Schein, 1985), there remains
limited empirical research into the perpetuation of
organizational cultural traits, especially in the
context of management change efforts.
In order to explore more fully the nature and
dynamics of organizational culture, we argue that
a greater understanding of cultural perpetuation
is required. To frame the subsequent discussion,
We are grateful for the assistance provided by Claire
Palmer during the initial phase of data collection. We
would also like to thank the Associate Editor, Professor
Monika Kostera, and the three anonymous reviewers for
their insightful comments which helped to improve this
paper.
bs_bs_banner
British Journal of Management, Vol. 25, 667–686 (2014)
DOI: 10.1111/1467-8551.12037
© 2013 The Author(s)
British Journal of Management © 2013 British Academy of Management. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd,
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA, 02148, USA.
we define culture as the set of values, beliefs,
norms and assumptions that are shared by a
group and that guide their interpretations of and
responses to their environments (see Ravasi and
Schultz, 2006). Cultural perpetuation is defined
here as the continuation of core cultural values,
beliefs, norms and assumptions such that they
become enduring in a way that new generations of
organizational members are conditioned to adopt
them in responding to various organizational
contingencies.1
The aim of this paper is to explore and describe
enduring intra- and extra-organizational cultural
characteristics that impede planned management/
manipulation of culture. To achieve this aim,
empirical data are needed to identify which, if
any, characteristics of organizational culture
are consciously or unintentionally perpetuated.
Moreover, to complement this objective, it is
useful to provide insights that elucidate how such
factors impede attempts to manage or manipulate
existing organizational culture. Our evidence is
derived from the unusual setting of football clubs
(see Guzmán and Morrow, 2007) where there has
been limited research into management and
organizational issues (see Chadwick, 2009), espe-
cially in relation to organizational culture.
Indeed, while football clubs are constituted as UK
limited companies, with the same legal and gov-
ernance frameworks as other UK limited compa-
nies, they operate differently in many respects.
For example, it is notable that the combined
Premier League clubs have not once made a pre-
tax profit since its formation in 1992 (see Hamil
and Walters, 2010). Yet these companies inhabit
an idiosyncratic ‘emotional and social space’
within British society that is characterized by
remarkably strong (if often turbulent) relation-
ships between owners of capital, fans and other
stakeholders (see Guzmán and Morrow, 2007, p.
310; Hughes et al., 2010).
We present an empirical illustration of an
attempt by executives in a top English Premier
League football club to transform the culture of
their organization. First, we briefly outline the
espoused rationale for change, the changes
that were undertaken and the outcomes. Second,
we highlight the ways in which the change
efforts were hampered by strong intra- and extra-
organizational cultural forces perpetuating
values, norms, beliefs and assumptions.
Organizational cultural perpetuation:
a review of the literature
Although Smircich’s (1983) delineation of culture
as a ‘root metaphor’ (as such inseparable from
organization) or as a variable (a property of the
organization) was intended to improve concep-
tual clarity on organizational culture, the number
of competing frameworks offered by scholars
continues to add to the complexity surrounding
the concept and compounds the difficulty in
studying it. For example, while Schein (1985)
argues that culture is manifested at three different
levels (artefacts, values and assumptions), he
views the essence of culture as located at the
deepest levels which he characterizes as basic
underlying assumptions. However, others have
highlighted the difficulties in studying culture at
this level (see Hatch, 2000; Pettigrew, 1990),
leading to the suggestion that culture can be
uncovered at all three levels (e.g. Christensen and
Gordon, 1999; Kilmann, Saxton and Serpa,
1985).
Interestingly, Smircich’s (1983) contribution
may help to resolve the uncertainty over the level
at which culture may be uncovered in that she
notes that the emphasis should move from the
level to the depth of analysis to which cultural
components are subjected. Thus, although all
culture researchers pay attention to the symbolic
aspects of what Schein (1985) refers to as artefacts
or what Pettigrew (1979) more appropriately calls
a ‘family of concepts’ (including language,
symbols, rites, rituals, ceremonies), the difference
is that those that conceptualize culture as a ‘root
metaphor’ go beyond viewing these in superficial
terms to exploring them as ‘generative processes’
that are central to the creation of meaning that
defines organizations (Smircich, 1983, p. 353). We
concur with both Smircich’s (1983) and Schein’s
(1985) approaches in that, although part of our
empirical evidence is derived from symbolic
expressions and employment practices (what
Schein may refer to as artefacts and manifesta-
1While recognizing semantic differences between the
terms ‘perpetuation’, ‘endurance’ and ‘continuation’, in
the current paper cultural perpetuation is the preferred
term used, although cultural endurance and continua-
tion are occasionally used interchangeably.
668 E. Ogbonna and L. C. Harris
© 2013 The Author(s)
British Journal of Management © 2013 British Academy of Management.
To continue reading
Request your trial