The role of organisational culture in organisational change towards sustainability: evidence from the garment manufacturing industry

Abstract

This paper explores the competing role of organisational culture in organisational change towards sustainability. Drawing on the competing values framework, data was collected by interviewing senior executives and sustainability managers of a leading multinational garment manufacturing organisation based in Sri Lanka. The study finds that organisational culture tends to play a proactive role by going beyond the compliances and regulatory requirements in organisational change towards sustainability. Four competing cultural values appear to shape their corporate sustainability approach, namely (i) people-oriented changes (e.g. empowerment, training, development, team orientation, leadership), (ii) growth-oriented changes (e.g. sustainability innovations, continuous improvements, community engagement), (iii) productivity- and efficiency-oriented changes (e.g. use of professional recommendations, open communication), and (iv) stability- and control-oriented changes (e.g. sustainability budgeting, investment appraisal, life-cycle assessment). The case organisation is more likely to be driven by an integrated approach of the four competing cultural values rather than by one dominant approach. The study contributes to the organisational culture and sustainability literature by highlighting the importance of aligning competing cultural values as a means of addressing sustainability challenges, in the much-debated garment manufacturing industry in the South Asian context. Finally, a framework for sustainability organisational culture is proposed.