Managing Meaning for Strategic Change: The Role of Perception and Meaning Congruence

Abstract

This paper is a qualitative study of the cultural and strategic changes being made by a mid-sized hospital in the southwestern United States. The purpose of the paper is twofold. First, the paper examines the methods used by strategic managers in this hospital to manage meaning and create congruent interpretations of culture and strategy throughout the organization. This paper takes a social construction, interpretive position that culture and strategy are created through human interaction and involve shared meaning systems and interpretive schemes that individuals use to interpret and make sense of their world. Second, the study examines the effectiveness of the methods used by hospital management by examining perceptual similarities and differences among top leadership and other organizational members. This paper takes the position that perceptual and meaning congruence are necessary for the successful implementation of strategy that is given in a top-down fashion.

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