The problem arising in the process of joining together two disparate companies, UWEAR and PALEDENIM, represents an issue of culture. The employees of each of the companies having different patterns of behavior based on particular corporate philosophies may express resistance towards the change of corporate code. Such a reaction demonstrates the fact of people’s cultural determination, which is rooted deeper in their consciousness than the reason. As Alvesson and Sveningsson argue, “a general question is whether people can control organizational culture or whether organizational culture is controlling people” (2008, p. 133). Thus, the corporate code appears to be more than just a formal model of behavior.
In this situation, a change management model based on voluntary actions of the companies’ members rather then the enforcing strategy could be appropriate, such as John Kotter’s model. Including eight steps, it allows gradual change implicitly driven by “change agents” rather than explicitly forced by the management team. The very first step of the program implies creating a “big opportunity,” which is a common goal, inspiring all the employees for a constructive action and adopting the necessity of the change (Kotter, 2008). The desicive character of such a “big opportunity,” as Kotter states, is of utmost importance.
Further on, the methods of implementation of the change are based on ”reason and emotion, not the only reason” (Dimitrova, 2019, p. 301). All these characteristics made this model appropriate for the case where the reason for the resistance to the change is rooted in employees’ specific cultural patterns.
Thus, Kotter’s seems to be the right approach in case of merger of UWEAR and PALLADIUM and may be proposed as a useful tool for the improvement of the ongoing process of change. Moreover, the involvement of the inspired volunteers for the introduction of the changes can have an emotional effect and serve as a means of creating an atmosphere of unity and cohesion within the collective.
References
Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2008). Changing organizational culture: Cultural change work in progress. Routledge.
Dimitrova, Y. (2019). Corporate culture change management. Economic Alternatives, 2, 296-312.
Kotter, J. P. (2014). Accelerate: Building strategic agility for a faster-moving world. Harvard Business Review Press.