The Cultural Ecology of the Corporation: Explaining Diversity in Work Group Responses to Organizational Transformation

Abstract

The concepts of human and cultural ecology are extended to explain divergent work group responses to a transformational change program in a Fortune 100 manufacturing corporation. The internal environment of the corporation, specifically the product development process (PDP), is conceptualized as an ecological system containing a diverse population of distinctive work group subcultures. Different ecological zones within the PDP harbor populations that may be distinguished on the basis of work niche and effective environment (including relationships with other work groups and the availability of computing resources). Although work groups in different ecological zones are found to be virtually identical with respect to demographic characteristics, they displayed highly divergent responses to the transformation initiative (a change program aimed at the commonization of tools and methods involved in the PDP). Differences in work group responses to change are explained as a logical outgrowth of complex interactions among communities of work groups and their environments.