This case describes organizational changes over twenty years in the municipality of Hillton (not its real name). As a community of 70,000 residents, Hillton’s rule of employment was that employees should learn the job skills, maintain a reasonably good work record, and wait their turn for promotion. The organization’s culture could be described as one of entitlement and comfort. The community grew rapidly as an outer suburb of a large Midwest metropolitan area, so there were few cost or employment controls and senior people came mainly from outside departments (e.g. road building). But as the city expanded and more professionals moved into the area, increased pressure was placed on “soft” services and customer service. In the mid-1990s, a new mayor and city council was elected. Over the next two years, the city manager and several senior managers were replaced with qualified candidates from large municipal corporations elsewhere. The new executives, known as the “professionals,” dramatically changed municipal practices and values (e.g. customer service, performance-based employment). They experienced resistance from workers in outside departments, who no longer had co-workers in senior positions.

What Actually Happened: This case is adapted from actual events in a suburban municipality along the west coast of North America. The community has continued to grow (after the temporary slow down) and has developed a very professional approach to municipality management. It has become a center for trade and home to a large upwardlymobile population with diverse cultural backgrounds. Although some degree of entitlement value still exists among employees, it is mostly overshadowed by the need for good customer service.

Note: Since writing this case, other municipal leaders have commented to the author about similar experiences, either about the dichotomy between inside and outside workers or about the entitlement culture that they faced when joining the organization. In other words, the inside-outside conflict as well as the customer-focused culture issue are not unique to Hillton.

1. Contrast Hillton’s earlier corporate culture with the emerging set of cultural values.

2. Considering the difficulty in changing organizational culture, why does Hillton’s management seem to be reasonably successful at this transformation?

3. Identify two other strategies that the city might consider to entrench the new set of corporate values.