Abstract
Purpose: This ethnographic study sought to discover explicit and implicit effects of institutional culture and "academic family" dynamics upon organizational changes implemented by newly appointed academic leaders at four private, nonprofit Christian higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United States. The analysis informed the creation of a model of how institutional culture and academic family influence the development, implementation, and impacts of change. Methodology: A qualitative research design involved interviews with 326 people at four Christian HEIs. Unrestricted access enabled ethnographic data collection through a semi-structured interview instrument, observation, and reflexive hypothesis testing. Findings: Some organizational changes reinforce existing cultural norms and values; others can alter culture. Identifying a specific taxonomy for change strategies enabled development of a model to depict the interaction between institutional culture, change initiatives, and the impact on the academic family. Culture and change interact through: the intent behind a change initiative and associated implementation strategies; cultural influences mediating implementation; cultural moderating impacts on outcomes; and collateral effects of change on organizational culture and the academic family. Research identified four stages of academic family adaptation to change: denial, resistance, discovery, and commitment. Conclusions: Tacit elements of culture are important factors mediating change implementation. The degree of consistency between institutional culture and a change initiative mediated its impact. Changes reflecting dominant cultural values were more readily embraced; academic subcultures with divergent values were slower to adopt change. Tacit cultural elements may influence change, whether explicitly considered in developing change initiatives or not. Planned change may reinforce or alter elements of institutional culture. Recommendations: Longitudinal studies may affirm utility of the model as a tool to guide leaders' efforts to plan and implement change. Additional research may examine: how the power of cultural knowledge in Christian HEIs may shape leadership behavior; reconciliation of Christian ideology/norms in the internalization of change; strategies for considering explicit and tacit cultural dimensions in change implementation; empirical studies of common themes relating to change in the academic family; and comparative studies of cultural differences and influence of subcultural groups across institutions.