Images of a culture in transition: Personal constructs of organizational stability and change

An investigation was undertaken in a large government business enterprise in a bid to examine the utility of the repertory grid technique in the investigation of organizational culture and to conduct an ‘audit’ of performance culture. The development of a methodology is described to gauge the rate of up‐take of a new culture—from a public service orientation towards a customer service orientation. Schein's (1990) theoretical framework was adopted in developing a two‐stage approach to the collection of data, which incorporated qualitative (in‐depth interviews), and quantitative (survey) methods. Results indicated that there was progress in the direction of the new culture desired by management. There were three active cultures or groupings, articulated through the language of the participants, which essentially mirrored a culture in transition: those who had adopted the new culture, those who had partially adopted the new culture, and those who had not adopted the new culture. Findings confirmed that there is gain to be made of the Schein paradigm of culture, and that the repertory grid technique is unique in gathering data about the ‘carriers’ of performance culture.