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Candidate No: Pol- 1319
Mairead Whiting
Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge
Supervisor: Dr Tim Coupe
Police Organisational Cultures and Inter-force Collaboration
Submitted in part fulfillment of the requirements for the Masters Degree in Applied
Criminology and Police Management
Year: 2014
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Abstract
Both public and private management literature stress the importance of
organisational culture in the successful implementation of change and particularly
any merger or acquisition. The purpose of this study is to develop a greater
understanding of cultural characteristics across both merged and unmerged policing
units.
The perceptions held by three hundred and seventeen police officers and staff, in
three UK policing entities, (one unmerged, two merged), about their current and
preferred organisational cultures are explored. The findings indicate that the current
cultures are perceived to have a controlling and competing bias with an external
focus. The current profiles resembled those of the retail or services industries and
are misaligned with previous research into public administration organisations. In
addition, the findings imply that there is a lack of a dominant culture across all the
three entities, which may be indicative of organisations that are struggling to
manage competing demands.
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Acknowledgements
I wish to acknowledge the assistance provided by the Police Organisations within
the study, particularly the senior police leaders who supported it and those who took
the time to complete the surveys and attend the workshops. I would also like to
acknowledge the help provided by Richard Mawson and Garry Elliott who supported
my research. I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr Robert Quinn for his
permission to use the OCAI.
In addition, my heartfelt thanks go to my thesis supervisor, Dr Tim Coupe, for his
guiding hand, never ending encouragement and many insightful contributions.
I would like to include my thanks to my parents, for their unwavering support.
My greatest thanks goes to my husband Paul and children Mark and Ciara who
could not have been more supportive and who, in many ways, made this study
possible.
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Table of Contents
ABSTRACT ...........................................................................................................................................................II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................. IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................................... V
TABLES AND FIGURES ................................................................................................................................... XI
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1
RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY .......................................................................................................................................... 4
RESEARCH AIMS AND QUESTIONS ................................................................................................................................ 4
PART 1 – ORGANISATIONAL CULTURAL ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................. 5
Primary Research Questions ................................................................................................................................... 5 PART 2 – ASSESSMENT OF BARRIERS TO COLLABORATION .................................................................................... 6 Primary Research Questions ................................................................................................................................... 6 GUIDE TO CHAPTERS ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................... 8 DEFINITION OF CULTURE ............................................................................................................................................ 11 COLLABORATIVE CHANGE AND CULTURE ................................................................................................................ 16
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REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................. 143
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Tables and Figures
TABLES TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF POPULATION AND RESPONDENTS (PART 1) ........................................................................................... 38 TABLE 2: SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP ATTENDEES (PART 2) ........................................................................................................... 40 TABLE 3: GENDER AGAINST TOTAL AND RESPONDENTS POPULATION ......................................................................................... 61 TABLE 4: SPLIT FOR RANK / GRADE THE RESPONDING GROUP ....................................................................................................... 62 TABLE 5: DISCREPANCY ANALYSIS: ENTITIES B, C AND D .............................................................................................................. 87 TABLE 6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BI-‐VARIATE BETWEEN CURRENT MEAN CULTURE SCORES AND PREFERRED MEAN CULTURE SCORES, USING RHO CORRELATION COEFFICIENTS ................................................................................................................. 91 TABLE 7: AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT ................................................................................................................................................. 94 TABLE 8: CULTURE CONTENT DIMENSIONS FOR COMBINED POLICING ENTITIES BY TYPE ................................................... 101 TABLE 9: CULTURE CONTENT DIMENSIONS FOR UK POLICING FORCE B BY TYPE.................................................................. 102 TABLE 10: CULTURE CONTENT DIMENSIONS FOR UK DUAL FORCE PARTNERSHIP C BY CULTURE TYPE .......................... 103 TABLE 11: CULTURE CONTENT DIMENSIONS FOR REGIONAL ENTITY D BY CULTURE TYPE ................................................. 104 TABLE 12: ANALYSIS OF RESPONSES TO THE CULTURAL MECHANISMS QUESTIONNAIRE ...................................................... 113 FIGURES FIGURE 1: THE MCKINSEY 7S FRAMEWORK ..................................................................................................................................... 12 FIGURE 2: CORE DIMENSIONS OF THE COMPETING VALUES FRAMEWORK .................................................................................. 24
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FIGURE 22: CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURAL TYPES ................................................................................................................... 110
Chapter One: Introduction
encouraging forces to work together and embrace new technology, we can continue
to improve policing and increase efficiency in years to come” (Rt Hon Damian
Green MP, Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims, 2014).
Like many reforms, these changes do not necessarily follow the step by step
approach outlined in a rational choice model, (Tversky & Kahneman, 1986), but
often are more chaotic in their implementation and are driven, at least in some
cases, by political expediency (Newburn & Sparks, 2004a: 12). As Fyfe explains
normalizing the chaos requires planning “analysing the literature about reform
programmes across frontline organisations (Behn, 1995; Nap, 2012; Van der Torre,
2011), three common factors emerge which are critical to success; firstly that the
basic working conditions are in order, secondly that the bosses must provide
credible support and thirdly that the ‘big picture must be clear.’ (Fyfe et al, 2012,
P.178). These factors can be difficult to maintain in a changing landscape, even
more so when trying to merge units across separate organisations or entities. As
employees resist the changes and management tries to impose their values and
practices, “The strongest and most engrained elements of each culture fight to
survive. A fragmented culture can emerge that is not aligned with the strategy of
both organizations”, (Fyfe et al, 2012, P.178).
Relatively little attention has been given to the cultural conditions that are necessary
for successful policing reform. In an environment of reducing budgets, care is
needed to build a foundation for sustainable change or there is a risk that the
delivery of quality frontline services will be effected, (Fyfe et al, 2012).
Rationale for the Study
This research project will seek to explore the current and preferred cultural profiles
of three distinct policing entities in order to understand the enabling and hindering
cultural factors to effective change, including police collaborations. It will also seek
to investigate which cultural mechanisms could be helpful in implementing high
performing operational models.
Research Aims and Questions
This study examined the perceptions held by three hundred and seventeen police
officers and staff, in three separate UK policing entities, (one unmerged, two
merged), about their current and preferred organisational cultures. The study also
What are the areas of greatest discrepancy between the current and the preferred
cultures for each policing entity?
How similar (or congruent) are the component parts (cultural content dimensions) of
the current and preferred cultural profiles to each other and what does that reveal
about their performance? (Cameron & Quinn, 2011)
How do the merged vs. the non-merged cultures differ?
Part 2 – Assessment of Barriers to Collaboration
Primary Research Questions
How confident are two of the forces in the study about further collaboration as a
change management strategy?
How confident are two of the forces in the study about how further collaborative
initiatives will be managed and implemented?
Guide to Chapters
Chapter One: Consists of an overview of why a greater understanding of cultural
factors is important to the police service including a summary of the objectives,
rational and research questions for this study.
Chapter Two: Consists of a literature review of existing research relating to the
study.
Chapter Three: Addresses the research methodology including the methods used
and why there were chosen, the procedures employed, the survey sample
selection, the research instruments and ethical considerations as well as the
limitations of the research.
Chapters Four and Five: Presents the research findings with the possible
implications followed by the conclusions and potential impact on future policy.
