Subcultural tensions in managing organisational culture: a study of an English Premier League football organisation

• Author: Emmanuel Ogbonna,Lloyd C. Harris
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12059
• Date: 01 April 2015
• Published date: 01 April 2015

Subcultural tensions in managing organisational

culture: a study of an English Premier League

football organisation

Emmanuel Ogbonna, Cardiff University Business School

Lloyd C. Harris, Warwick Business School

Human Resource Management Journal, Vol 25, no 2, 2015, pages 217–232

In this article, we explore subcultural interaction in the context of attempts by executives to control

culture in the unusual organisational setting of football. We present evidence of five tension points in

subcultural relations (togetherness or isolation, internal labour market, multiple identification and

allegiances, individual and organisational requirements, and competition and cooperation). We examine

how these tensions were induced and or exacerbated by the culture management efforts, as well as the

ways in which the dynamics of change impacted on the objectives of executives. The article concludes

with a discussion of the implications of the findings for theory and practice.

Contact: Dr Emmanuel Ogbonna, Department of Management, Employment and Organization,

Cardiff University Business School, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK. Email: Ogbonna@

cardiff.ac.uk

Keywords: managing organisational culture; organisational subculture; culture control; cultural

change; subcultural tensions

INTRODUCTION

It is remarkable that despite the extensive and long-standing criticisms of the idea that

organisational culture is susceptible to conscious management manipulation (see Krefting

and Frost, 1985; Legge, 1994), the issue of planned culture change (‘culture control’) has

continued to drive the popularity of the culture construct. Indeed, it appears that the recent

celebration of the demise of what has been referred to as ‘corporate culturism’ by some scholars

(e.g. Fleming, 2013) is somewhat premature given the evidence that indicates that planned

culture change remains one of the most important initiatives in which executives engage (see

Bremer, 2012; Hill, 2013). A further indication of the perceived relevance and continuing

popularity of culture and culture control can be seen in the number of high-profile

organisations such as the National Health Service (see Employee Outlook, 2013) and General

Motors (see Krisher, 2012), which have recently identified ‘inappropriate culture’ as the source

of their problems. In this regard, while external evaluation of university research strongly

emphasises the importance of ‘impact’, the divergence in what practitioners and academics

consider ‘important’ and ‘valuable’ in this area is interesting.

While there is a notable gap between practice and current theoretical interest, such academic

hubris is partly explained by narrow conceptual foci. For example, most studies of culture

change have either focused on investigations of change initiatives to uncover whether and what

level of change has occurred (see Grugulis et al., 2000; Ogbonna and Wilkinson, 2003) or are

aimed at presenting conceptual critiques of the culture management approach (e.g. Fleming,

2013). Similarly, although culture researchers have long argued that organisations comprise

multiple rather than unitary cultures (see Alvesson, 2002; Meyerson and Martin, 1987), there

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doi: 10.1111/1748-8583.12059

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, VOL 25 NO 2, 2015 217

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Please cite this article in press as: Ogbonna, E. and Harris, L.C. (2015) ‘Subcultural tensions in managing organisational culture: a study of an

English Premier League football organisation’. Human Resource Management Journal 25: 2, 217–232.

remains a shortage of empirical research into inter and intra subcultural interaction

especially in the context of planned cultural change (see also Lok et al., 2005, Morgan and

Ogbonna, 2008).

We contribute to empirical and theoretical knowledge through explicating the tensions that

emerge in culture control practices in an unusual organisational setting, and we elucidate the

implications of these for the management of culture and human resources in other

organisational contexts. Specifically, we examine how inter- and intra-subcultural dynamics are

impacted by the efforts of executives to control organisational culture through planned change.

We explore the tension points that are induced and/or exacerbated by the change efforts, and

we elucidate the power interplays within and between subcultures (especially in relation to the

interactions between individuals and groups perceived to be central to organisational activities

and those that were on the periphery).

We locate our study of subcultural interaction in the context of a football organisation for a

variety of reasons. Firstly, although football clubs are important parts of the social fabric of

many societies, there are surprisingly few studies of management (especially human resource

management) in such contexts. Secondly, football represents a good site for this study in that

the idiosyncratic nature of football business, including entrenchment of values, emotional

attachment and connection, multiplicity of interests, diversity of stakeholders and fluidity of

operations distinguish football clubs from conventional organisations on which much culture

research is based and these pose interesting challenges for cultural analyses. Moreover, as we

shall see later, while there is distinctiveness in elements of these features, there are interesting

parallels between the football context and those of other organisational types. For example,

while football is renowned for promoting specific star employees (players) who are given

enhanced status and preferential contractual terms relative to other employees (see Dobson and

Goddard, 2011; Szymanski, 2010), there is an increasingly popular organisational literature that

explores various ramifications of such differential treatment through, for example, talent

management (see Gelens et al., 2013; Van den Brink et al., 2013). Similarly, the issue of power

relations within and between internal and external groups is well documented in football

including studies of the links between fans and their clubs (see Harris and Ogbonna, 2008) and

research into the relationship between players and the clubs they represent (see Szymanski,

2010). Parallels exist with traditional organisations in studies that investigate the political and

cultural influences inherent in organising and managing individuals and groups in

organisations (e.g. Hallett, 2003; Moldaschl and Fischer, 2004). Our study of the football context

will explore these parallels and provide interesting contrasts that will help in shedding

additional light on these important debates.

CULTURE CHANGE, CONTROL AND SUBCULTURES

Schein (1996) argued that organisational culture is the ‘missing concept’ in management and

organisational analysis. This position can, on first reading, be seen as contradictory in that

culture has been one of the most widely researched concepts in contemporary organisational

theory and practice. However, Schein’s contention is best understood as testament to the

ubiquity and opacity of culture; for the more we seem to learn about culture, the more we

uncover hidden dimensions that speak to our incomplete knowledge (see Ogbonna and

Wilkinson, 2003). Although there remains significant confusion surrounding various aspects of

organisational culture, it is not the aim of this review to explore these issues. Instead, the aim

is to highlight the value and perspicacity of the subcultural approach in understanding the

dynamics of planned organisational culture change. To this end, the definition of culture in this

Subcultural tensions in managing organisational culture

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© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.