The impact of internal restructuring on the organisational culture within a banking institution in South Africa: a middle management perspective

Abstract

Banking institutions constantly face the challenges of having to adapt to the environment in which they operate and to constantly be ahead of their competitors. Restructuring processes have become common responses that organisations implement to survive the challenges in the environment and to remain viable in business. The current study focused on internal restructuring, which involves changes to the structures, strategies and ways of conducting business. The aim of the study is to answer the primary research question: “What is the impact of internal restructuring on organisational culture within a banking institution in South Africa?” The current study adopted a qualitative approach to gain the insight of middle managers within the focal banking institution with regard to previously implemented restructuring processes. The study was conducted in September 2021 at the head office of a selected bank. Through the use of purposive sampling, 12 middle managers from the banking institution were selected to participate in semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed and analysed through coding and content analysis. The key findings of this study indicate that the internal restructuring processes that were implemented were considered ineffective as a result of poor communication, lack of change management processes and lack of involvement of middle managers. A number of negative effects were observed by middle managers, namely, anger, anxiety, burnout, fear, stress, uncertainty and unhappiness. Overall, from a culture perspective, it was found that the implementation of internal restructuring affects elements of organisational culture, such as values, traditions, beliefs, trust, communication, and employee motivation. The results show that lack of communication and transparency processes interfered with team values, trust, interaction between employees and ways of working.