Between cultures: values, training and identity in a manufacturing firm

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critically scrutinize the use of training interventions as a means of implementing corporate culture change and to assess the implications of such programs for employee identity.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses empirical materials, observations and reflections from a two‐year ethnographic study in a manufacturing firm to discuss the organization's “core values” with specific attention directed to a particular organizational event – the running of a training program designed to educate the firms employees in the company's newly designed culture.

Findings

The contested interaction between formally articulated corporate culture and the workplace experience of the employees is shown to demonstrate how cultural change programs can work to suppress employee's dissent and dialogue whilst being articulated in a language of inclusiveness and involvement.

Practical implications

The paper provides a review of the complex and paradoxical implications of cultural change programs that would be of use to managers, management consultants and human resource development professionals involved in implementing cultural change.

Originality/value

The paper examines organizational culture through detailed ethnographic study with a particular focus on the problematics of how training is used as a technology for cultural change.

Citation

Scheeres, H. and Rhodes, C. (2006), "Between cultures: values, training and identity in a manufacturing firm", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 223-236. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534810610648924