Organisational culture and cultural integration

This chapter explores the concept of organisational culture, why it is important, how we can begin to understand its influence, and the role it plays in a major change programme such as a merger, acquisition or alliance. Through a blend of academic theory and practical examples it considers how we can best understand culture. Although OD has traditionally drawn on the behavioural sciences to understand organisational phenomena, it increasingly looks to the new sciences – and this chapter introduces concepts from complexity theory to add a new perspective on traditional unitary approaches to culture change. The chapter also uses case studies from original research conducted by the lead author to illustrate the key learning points and provides an extensive reference list for readers who wish to explore the concept further. Finally, it makes explicit links to the model of New OE that provides the organising framework for the book.