The association between subcultures and resistance to change – in a Swedish hospital clinic

Abstract

Summary: Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to explore the different subcultures and the employees’ preparedness for change at an orthopaedic clinic in a university hospital in Sweden. The idea was to describe how different working groups might react to the change, in order to discover the possible impact of the model prior to implementation. This approach was based on the fact that costly implementation processes have had disappointing results and limited impacts on some organisations. Design: Surveys were sent out to 179 nurses and physicians. The survey included the two instruments Organisational Values Questionnaire (OVQ) and Resistance to Change Scale (RTC). Findings: The results suggest a dominance of a human relations culture i.e. flexibility, cohesion and trust, in the orthopaedic clinic. These characteristics seemed to decrease resistance to change. Opposite to this, planning, routines and goal setting appeared to increase change-resistant behaviour. Practical implications: By predicting potential obstacles in a certain context prior to a change process, resources can be used in a more optimal way. An instrument that pinpoints the culture of a particular healthcare setting may be a useful tool in order to anticipate the possible outcome of change. Originality/value: The rational goal/internal processes dimension exerted a stronger association with resistance to change than in earlier studies. Deeply rooted standards and routinised care models, governed by work schedules, could be an obstacle to introducing a care model based on the individual needs of the patient. There was, however, a surprisingly low resistance to change. The results are contrary to the accepted understanding of public organisations known to be slow to change. Keywords: Change, Organisational culture, Healthcare, Working groups, Person-centred care, Sweden. Paper type: Research paper