Organisational culture: Variable, elastic and malleable. A study of how variable practices may construct organisational culture in an African setting

ABSTRACT

The paper reports applied research on organisational culture. Data on everyday work experiences, organisational practices and methods of task execution were collected from six case study organisations in Ghana. This research uses in-situ applied methods rather than paper and pencil questionnaires and concludes that some organisations in Ghana have cultures that are best understood as variable – rather than stable, contested or fragmented. The paper argues that variability (inconsistency, changeability) in employee task execution, behaviours, use of organisational structures and procedures (and the regularity with which such variable practices are evident) create organisational cultures that are in essence malleable. This paper therefore advances the concept of ‘organisational culture elasticity or malleability’. The implications for understanding and managing organisational culture in the African context are discussed.