The impact of institutional culture on change initiatives in an electric utility company in Africa

Purpose - Organisational culture is increasingly being recognised as a critical determinant of the success or failure of organisational change efforts. A power utility company in Africa was undergoing planned change driven by its ambitious vision of becoming one of the top five performing utilities in the world. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the organisation’s culture was impacting on the change initiatives of one of the organisation’s operating units. The study also sought to investigate the robustness of the change model employed to inform the change process. Design/methodology/approach - The study employed qualitative research methods for data collection, sampling and analysis. Ten semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with managers, supervisory and non-supervisory staff in the operating unit. Data analysis was by means of thematic analysis. Findings - Organisational culture was found to be impacting the operating unit’s change efforts. According to the participants, cultural analysis to determine organisational readiness for change was not adequately undertaken. The cultural factors of, among others, communication, feedback, involvement, and consultations negatively impacted the change efforts. The participants’ perceptions were that leadership failed to connect employees to the vision. Originality/value - The paper provides insight into the importance of leadership’s understanding and consideration of organisational culture in change initiatives. Cultural analyses before embarking on change assists leaders in identifying and then strengthening or changing cultural tenets implicated by the change initiatives.