Contesting the dominant narrative: expanding the multistory cultural change approach

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to expand the theory on multistory cultural change by showing how a dominant narrative on construction safety dynamically interrelates and is contested on multiple intertextual levels in an organizational field of organizations contributing to the recovery of houses in an earthquake region.

Design/methodology/approach

An ethnoventionist research approach was adopted in which interpretation of data to find narratives and designing interventions went hand-in-hand.

Findings

We found four distinctive composite narratives besides the dominant narrative to which five actors refer in their accounts, thereby contributing to three types of story patterns. These narratives disclose the taken-for-granted ideas and beliefs that characterize the challenge of changing organizational culture. One intervention, which intended multiple stories to touch the surface, was highlighted as a multistory intervention.

Research limitations/implications

Further research could extend the knowledge on other change interventions that contribute to multistory cultural change processes.

Originality/value

Adopting an ethnoventionist approach to provide deep insights on an unfolding cultural change process for both scholars and practitioners.

Citation

van Ooijen, M., Nistelrooij, A.v. and Veenswijk, M. (2020), "Contesting the dominant narrative: expanding the multistory cultural change approach", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 217-228. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-04-2019-0099