THE IMPACT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE: A STUDY OF SELECTED STRATEGIC CHANGE INITIATIVES IN THE CANADIAN FORCES APRJ 699 Applied Project Written by Ross W. Ermel Prepared for: Dr. Lindsay Redpath – Applied Project Coordinator Dr. Mark Julien – Applied Project Supervisor Submitted on 9 December 2010 Word Count: 16,299 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... 4 1 - INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 6 2 - RESEARCH PURPOSE AND QUESTIONS .................................................... 8 Project Purpose ................................................................................................. 8 Research Questions .......................................................................................... 9 3 - RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................................................................... 9 Sources ............................................................................................................. 9 Methodology .................................................................................................... 10 Expected Outcomes ........................................................................................ 10 4 - LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 11 Organizational Culture ..................................................................................... 11 Typology of Organizational Culture ................................................................. 12 Typology and Implementation Success of Strategic Change .......................... 14 Assessing Organizational and Initiative Effectiveness ..................................... 15 5 - CF INTEGRATION AND UNIFICATION UNDER MINISTER HELLYER ....... 17 Strategic Context and Personal Influences ..................................................... 17 Hellyer’s Blueprint for Strategic Change .......................................................... 18 Assessment of Organizational Typology ......................................................... 19 Typology of Hellyer’s Change Initiative ........................................................... 23 Effectiveness of Integration and Unification under Hellyer .............................. 25 Barriers to Change .......................................................................................... 29 Cultural & Initiative Effectiveness Approaches Through the Lens of Daft’s (2007) Contingency Effectiveness Approaches: Convergence or a Gulf? ....... 31 6 - CF TRANSFORMATION IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM .................................. 32 Strategic Context: Enter Hillier ........................................................................ 32 Hillier’s Blueprint for Strategic Change ............................................................ 33 Assessment of Organizational Typology ......................................................... 34 Typology of Hillier’s Change Initiative .............................................................. 38 Effectiveness of Hillier’s CF Transformation .................................................... 41 Barriers to Change .......................................................................................... 45 Cultural & Initiative Effectiveness Approaches Through the Lens of Daft’s (2007) Contingency Effectiveness Approaches: Convergence or a Gulf? ....... 46 7 - STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS: RECONCILING ORGANIZATION CULTURE AND CHANGE .................................................................................. 47 Applied Project – APRJ 699 2 Ross W. Ermel Purpose ........................................................................................................... 47 Recommendations .......................................................................................... 47 8 - CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 49 9 - REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 51 Applied Project – APRJ 699 3 Ross W. Ermel ABSTRACT Employing the collective case study methodology, the intent of this applied project was to determine the role that organizational culture had in the planning, implementation and outcomes of the integration and unification of the Canadian military in the 1960s led by Minister Hellyer and CF Transformation led by General Hillier from 2005 until 2008. Additionally it was examined whether either or both change initiatives were indeed transformational in nature. The culmination of this research effort was to propose a set of strategic recommendations that, as a result of synthesis and generalization, could be used to inform any such future transformation activities both in the Canadian Forces as well as in any large and complex organization. To accomplish this, each change initiative was briefly described in terms of its strategic content and overall intent. This was followed by an analysis of organizational culture in order to categorize the cultural typology of the CF at the initiation portion of both change initiatives. Flowing from this analysis, an assessment was undertaken in order to determine if each change initiative was transformational or incremental in order to later judge its effectiveness. Subsequently, each initiative was examined to determine whether strategic barriers to change adversely impacted achievement of vision. It was further instructive to compare the way in which the CF judged organizational effectiveness during both change initiatives as well as to examine the underlying criteria of effectiveness and therefore success intended by the applicable initiative. This coupled with the cultural typology enabled a nuanced comprehension how the effectiveness measures extolled by each change initiative related to organizational culture. In terms of findings, this project determined that both organizational change initiatives were transformational in scope and were significantly influenced by organizational cultural elements which challenged the ability of both change initiative leaders to achieve their envisioned end states. Hellyer, a political leader, had a superficial understanding of CF organizational cultural elements. This failing coupled with the fact that he did not seek to understand how the service sub-cultures would react to the elements of his change initiative resulted in the majority of his vision being seen as a threat vice opportunity. Hillier on the other hand was a member of the profession of arms and had a deep appreciation of CF organizational culture. Despite this, his quest for rapidity of implementation was achieved through marginalization of the three services during the Transformation development process. Just as Hellyer experienced, Hillier’s CF Transformation fell partially victim to opposition from the services, all of which came to view later Transformation components as threats to their status quo power positions. A large and complex organization, the CF is not unlike numerous other entities in both the public and private sector. All such organizations, whether Applied Project – APRJ 699 4 Ross W. Ermel public or private, contain elements of culture which influence organizational effectiveness and efficiency. This study extends this argument by demonstrating that such a conclusion is also equally germane to strategic change initiatives that touch on the cultural elements of the subject organization. With this understanding in mind, it can be concluded that it is critical for leaders of strategic change initiatives to recognize that organizational culture has the potential to either limit or enhance the achievement of such change initiatives depending how it is addressed. Applied Project – APRJ 699 5 Ross W. Ermel 1 - INTRODUCTION The Canadian Forces (CF) is the military component of the federal Department of National Defence which is responsible for providing defence services to the Government of Canada. Specifically the mission of the CF is to protect Canada, defend North America in conjunction with the US and contribute to international peace and security (www.forces.gc.ca). To the layman, the Canadian military profession may appear a large body of personnel doing similar things. It would be overly simplistic however, to suggest that the CF is a homogenous organization. Western militaries typically consist of environmental components that function on land, in the air and at sea. These components are typically called Armies, Air Forces and Navies. Each of these environmental components has particular and unique histories, traditions, values, beliefs and behaviours. Simply put, each exudes distinct organizational cultures. This is consistent with many large organizations whose culture is often heterogonous. The way in which an environmental component was developed and the environment in which it is employed greatly impacts how its culture is development, maintained and interpreted. It would be logical to assume then that the traditions of a Navy, for example, are somewhat distinct from those of an Army. As such, certain aspects of these environmental component cultures have developed varying degrees of mutual inclusivity and exclusivity. As subordinate components of a larger whole, these component cultures can be termed subcultures (Daft, 2007) based on the fact that these components developed distinctly