Values and Organizational Change

The role of values in determining how organizations are structured and operated has become an increasingly important area of study. As yet, however, little work has explored the way in which values affect the change process. Drawing on insights from the institutional theory, change, and values literatures, this article presents a set of propositions that explore the change-values relationship. The propositions were examined using real-time data collected over a 12-year period from a set of Canadian amateur sport organizations undergoing pronounced institutional change. It was found that organizations that contained members who held values congruent with the prescribed changes were able to successfully engage in the transition process. Conversely, those organizations with members who opposed the change entered into a period of largely superficial conformity, mainly in response to certain coercive pressures, but ultimately reverted to designs more consistent with the values held within the organization.