‘It Was The Night Of The Long Knives’

Abstract

This article explores through ethnography how public servant identities are affected by organizational change. Using an organizational becoming perspective, it studies the introduction of Lean in a recently merged public logistics department. Lean divides the department into two groups and conflict arises. Later, another institutional change is introduced. Here, the employee attitudes towards Lean change, now unifying rather than dividing the department. Rather than a professional-managerial split, the article concludes that the interplay between public sector change and employee identity is shaped by the apprehension of uncertainty and related group conflicts.

Key words:

• Employee conflicts
• identity
• Lean Production
• organizational becoming
• organizational change

Notes

This is a pseudonym. Because of a confidentiality agreement the identity of the organization cannot be revealed here.

During the study, the media wrote extensively about this specific welfare sector and the organization had much public and political attention. Unfortunately, more details cannot be given here without compromising promises of anonymity.

Ironically, this feeling of exclusion to some degree was self-imposed as they originally had chosen not to engage in the Lean project.

In the end, the top management's attempt at restructuring failed and they had to abandon their plans of disbanding the department. With the employees' fierce resistance, the top management could not find the necessary legitimacy and was forced to postpone the decision and rethink its solution to the problems posed in the review.