What is it about?
In December 1999, the UK Civil Service Management Board in Whitehall agreed upon a reform program focusing on six themes, all connected with improved managerial processes internal to the civil service and intended to complement the more externally oriented Modernising Government agenda set out in a white paper earlier that year. The purpose was to achieve major changes in the way in which the civil service was run – “step change” rather than continuous improvement. In May 2002, the Cabinet Office commissioned a research project to provide an evaluation of the Civil Service Reform program through four case studies. This chapter draws upon the findings of that study to discuss the extent to which cultural differences affected the outcomes of this ambitious reform program. In addition, it draws upon a set of interviews in 2005 which updated the findings of the research. The chapter suggests that four very different types of culture had important impacts on the way in which the case study organizations went about the process of addressing the Cabinet Office reform program, namely national cultures which differed greatly between the case studies, although they were all UK-based organizations; organizational cultures which differed greatly within each of the case study organizations; occupational cultures which crossed the four case studies, but usually with significant differences in each context; and sectoral cultures which in several cases provided particular barriers to change.
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Why is it important?
The chapter shows how four different dimensions of culture - national, organisational, occupational and sectoral - were interwoven in the change programs of four cases of Civl Service Reform and explores the extent to which their progress on the reform agenda was affected by their particular cultural mix. It suggests that some “cultural stances” within these overall cultures were more difficult to change than others, so that reforms had to be re-activated on several occasions and through a variety of mechanisms. Finally, the chapter illustrates how, in the case study organizations which were most successful, a deliberate strategy was adopted by top management of highlighting the clashing internal cultures, in order to challenge the traditional positions of internal and external stakeholders, in spite of the risks involved.
Perspectives
It seems clear that the long-standing rhetoric of ‘‘revolution’’ and ‘‘step change’’ is misplaced, at least in the UK public sector. ‘‘Evolution’’ and ‘‘continuous improvement’’ are much more appropriate terms to represent the reality of the changes which are undoubtedly occurring. Change generally appears to work best by the dissemination of good practice from ‘‘islands of innovation’’ within the civil service itself. This is not to disparage what has been achieved or to suggest that the public sector should lower its sights in terms of what it wishes eventually to achieve. However, it is important that the civil service should pay attention to the evidence provided by its own ‘‘best practice’’. The civil service knowledge base has few examples of meteoric changes. By constantly reiterating that only such changes are acceptable, the tangible and important achievements which are evident in many parts of the civil service tend to be undervalued at best and, at worst, dismissed as inadequate. Meteoric change in the UK civil service may be possible – even desirable – but experience suggests that it is rare and the insistence on it is likely to be counterproductive.
Professor Tony Bovaird
University of Birmingham
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Chapter 13 Triggering Change through Culture Clash: The UK Civil Service Reform Program, 1999–2005, January 2007, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1016/s0732-1317(07)16013-9.
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