The reciprocal influence of organizational culture and training and development programs: Building the case for a culture analysis within program planning

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that training designers can, and should, account for organizational culture during training needs assessments. Design/methodology/approach: Utilizing the approach and arguments in Giddens' structuration theory, the paper conceptually applies these tenets to training and development programs within organizations. Findings: Within a typical analysis-design-develop-implement-evaluate (ADDIE) training model, relationships between organizational culture and each step of the training are conceptually available. Organizational culture shapes, influences, and redefines training programs which, in turn, shape, influence, and redefine organizational culture. Including a culture analysis within program planning will ultimately alleviate many of the problems that may arise during the implementation of a training and development program because of cultural resistance and/or clash of values between culture and training. Research limitations/implications: The argument provides an initial step for training designers and HRD professionals to begin researching the practicality and usefulness of including an organizational culture analysis within training programs. Future research regarding this relationship should consider using structuration theory as a tool for understanding the context, process, and breadth of reciprocity and influence between agents and the structures with which they interact. Practical implications: The concepts discussed in the paper may very well provide insight into why some training and development programs either prosper or do not succeed. Originality/value: The paper discusses a topic that has yet to be fully realized. Although organizational culture, as a phenomenon, has been widely researched, it has yet to reach its full potential in the human resource development and training and development literature and practice.