The impact of culture and climate on change: Distinguishing between culture and climate to change the organization
| Published date | 01 January 2007 |
| Date | 01 January 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390780000952 |
| Pages | 20-23 |
| Author | Eli Sopow |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
20 Volume 6 Issue 2 January/February 2007
HE FAILURE OF MANY corporate change
processes can often be linked to a
misunderstanding of the very distinct yet
interrelated roles of culture and climate within
the organization. Here’s an example.
A few years ago, a number of small financial
institutions in Canada decided they would try and pool
their resources and create a much larger national bank.
The idea, which made great business sense and seemed
very well planned, soon failed. There were all manner
of technical reasons given for the failure, but a major
reason was a clash of culture and climate.
The long-standing culture of the individual financial
institutions was deeply rooted in local community
control with each customer being an official voting
shareholder with plenty of say in how the institution
supported such things as community projects. What I
found as a consultant to the senior transition team was
that many customers and even some managers saw the
idea of a giant national bank being created from this
grass-roots organizational structure, as anathema to
everything they believed in. Changing the climate of
how everyday business was conducted was one thing –
changing the culture was something quite different for
those who had both a financial and personal
relationship with their local institution.
Culture versus climate
An organization’s culture is its deeply rooted traditions,
values, beliefs and sense-of-self. An organization’s
climate, on the other hand, is the “here and now.” It
includes rules and regulations, communication models,
employee incentives and other key factors that speak to
both the emotional and knowledge needs of employees.
In my experience and research, I’ve found that up to
80 percent of organizational climate is influenced by
deeply embedded organizational culture. Within
organizational culture is embedded a number of
historical and developmental factors.
Historical factors include long-established notions of
trust, rituals and often leadership and management
models. Developmental factors include experiences and
lessons learned over many years that often get
translated into standard operating procedures, plus
rules, regulations and responses based on past crises
and conflicts. Most corporate structures and
management systems today are based on an
organization’s historical and developmental factors – its
culture – that in turn create the day-to-day climate.
For example, a financial institution has a culture of
trust and most likely an organizational structure that’s
more traditional and conservative in design than, by
comparison, a technology company where history,
lessons learned and leadership styles are quite different.
Positive versus negative culture
A common characteristic of humans is that we like to
The impact of
culture and
climate on
change
Distinguishing between culture and
climate to change the organization
Change initiatives that fail have often ignored the subtle
yet vital difference between organizational culture and
organizational climate. Here, Eli Sopow distinguishes
between the two and reflects on the impact of each on
change programs.The key, he says, is to change the day-
to-day practices that contribute to the overall climate,
while holding onto the positive elements of the culture
that make employees feel secure.
by Eli Sopow, Royal Canadian Mounted Police T
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