78 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL ± VOL 8 NO 2 T here now exist a number of theories exploring various aspects of the organisational culture phenomenon. Of particular interest to academics and practitioners has been the study of how organisational culture is created, transformed and sustained. However, these studies have tended to focus on the consequences of organisational culture change and have frequently concentrated on its success or failure (see for example Ouchi and Price, 1978; Wilkins, 1984; Vaill, 1984; Stevenson and Gumpert, 1985; Denison, 1990; Gordon and DiTomaso, 1992). Those at the receiving end of the consequences of such attempts are the employees. The impact of change on this group remains an under- researched area of academic enquiry. Indeed, it is arguable that the underpinning assump- tion for many of the approaches to culture change recommended is that employees are willing agents who are powerless and will respond positively to management initiatives. This orthodoxy is not surprising given that much of the literature on culture change is prescriptive and largely managerial in orientation (for example, Peters and Waterman, 1982; Deal and Kennedy, 1982s). This article aims to document and analyse the responses of employees whose organisations have embarked on cultural change strategies. We do not claim any major theoretical advancements; rather, we attempt to increase academic and practitioner understanding of an area that has been relatively neglected, des- pite the burgeoning of research interest in organisational culture over the last 20 years. We ®nd that the responses of organisational members to change efforts can be categorised into a matrix, with the de®ning in¯uences being subcultural strength on one hand and willingness to change on the other. Contrary to existing theories of the labour process, which tend to amplify the divide between shop¯oor workers and their managers, the study views sub- cultural strength as characteristic of individual business units (including managers), with certain aspects of culture shared across hierarchical levels, although it is also recognised that certain subcultural differences re¯ect hierarchical positions and other individual af®liations. We begin with a brief review of recent contributions to the literature on organisational culture change, providing an overview of current academic opinion relating to the management of organisational culture. The literature on cultural strength is also examined, culminating in a discussion of subcultures and subcultural strength. This is followed by a presentation of the research design and methodology. We go on to present and analyse the evidence generated from the study of culture change in two retail organisations, leading to the development of a number of conclusions and implications. LITERATURE REVIEW The literature on managing organisational culture has evolved in multiple traditions. First, there are those who question the assumption that organisational culture can be managed, essentially raising doubts as to the success of any attempt to control culture which is said to be embedded in the very essence of human cognition (Krefting and Frost, 1985; Gagliardi, Employee responses to culture change efforts Lloyd C. Harris and Emmanuel Ogbonna, Cardiff Business School