Emotion management and transforming organizational culture: a case study of change and innovation in a multi-campus Canadian college
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2010
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Abstract
This research is a descriptive exploratory ethnographic study of emotion management as it played out in the Kotter (1996b) model of organizational culture change employed at a multi-campus Canadian college. The research focused on three analytic foci. First, the study chronicled the Kotter culture change process as it was implemented at the college. Second, the research examined this change process in relation with Lopez's (2006) continuum of organizational support for emotion management. Third, this study explored subjective experiences of emotion management of members the Change Leadership Team. The author was employed at this college and served as a member on this team throughout the duration of the change process. Data were collected through participant experience ( combining participant observation and informal conversations amongst the author and colleagues at the college), in-depth, semistructured interviews with key informant participants and a review of institutional documents related to the change process. The need for organizational culture change was precipitated at this college by a history of intense intra-organizational distrust, depleted financial reserves and low morale throughout the college. The Kotter model of organizational culture change was implemented but only four of Kotter' s eight steps were achieved by the time this process stopped. Failure to complete all eight steps was correlated with contradictory expectations amongst college leadership regarding the roles of college administration and the Change Leadership Team, insufficient organizational support for the process, a preexisting organizational culture characterized by intense distrust, unrealistic expectations of the change process, subjective perceptions amongst members of the Change Leadership Team and insufficient organizational support for emotion management. Observing the implementation of this change model through the analytic lens of emotion management has shown a strong interplay between emotion, emotion management, the need for organizational culture change and the Kotter model of change as it was implemented in one multi-campus Canadian college. These findings may have significant impact for future use of the Kotter change process in the business sector, the educational sector, and other sectors.
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Bibliography: p. 227-247
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Citation
Yyelland, B. (2010). Emotion management and transforming organizational culture: a case study of change and innovation in a multi-campus Canadian college (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/3634