Influence Modes, Schema Change, and Organizational Transformation

This article reports research in which an ethnographic approach was employed to study a bank in the northeastern U.S. that underwent organizational change and transformation in response to the demands of a federal regulatory agency. The resesearchers investigated the top management's efforts to alter the firm's existing organizational schemas so as to meet the requirements of a new organizational vision. Data were obtained from field observation over a J0-month period, organization documents, and surveys and interviews. A first-order analysis using informant categories revealed themes relevant to changing organizational schemes. A second-order analysis revealed the influence modes top management used to effect organizational change. The authors conclude that the modes they label “Enforcement” and “Manipulation” unexpectedly proved most successful in bringing about the bank's transformation.