“IT HAS TO START AT THE TOP”: LEADERSHIP, PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY, AND ADAPTIVE CULTURE CHANGE IN A LARGE INFRASTRUCTURE ORGANISATION
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Abstract
Transforming the culture of large infrastructure organisations is a strategic challenge because effective coordination, safety and performance depend on how people share information, handle disagreement and collaborate across functional boundaries. However, organisations often treat culture change as a planned implementation project. Less is known, though, about how leaders and specialists make culture visible, credible and usable in everyday work. This study examines the experiences of leaders and specialists during a large-scale culture transformation at Isavia, the operator of Keflavík Airport in Iceland. It also explores what this case reveals about leadership, psychological safety, and the limitations of linear change management models. The present study employs an interpretive qualitative single-case design, demonstrating a phenomenological sensitivity to participants' lived experiences. The empirical material consists of nine semi-structured interviews with senior leaders, middle managers, human resources specialists (HR), and project managers, contextualised by Organizational Culture Inventory measurements from 2021, 2023, and 2025. The findings show that senior leaders made the transformation credible by modelling vulnerability, engaging in personal development, and demonstrating cultural ideals through their behaviour. The Organizational Culture Inventory was used not only as a diagnostic tool, but also to provide a shared behavioural language that helped employees discuss defensive patterns without personalising conflict. Psychological safety enables more constructive disagreement, reduces silo thinking and strengthens cross-functional collaboration. The study also identified middle managers as a weak link when top-level commitment was not reflected in everyday routines, expectations and conversations. The study contributes to organisational culture and change management literature by conceptualising large-scale cultural transformation as an adaptive learning process that is supported by cultural measurement, legitimised through visible leadership behaviour and enabled by psychological safety. The case study's practical value lies in demonstrating that organisations should anchor culture transformation in everyday leadership practices, a shared behavioural language and middle management accountability, rather than treating it as a linear change project or an isolated HR initiative. By linking culture transformation to coordination, waste reduction and operational resilience, the case study has relevance for business management and infrastructure studies beyond the specific Icelandic context.
How to Cite
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organisational culture, change management, leadership, psychological safety, Organizational Culture Inventory, silo mentality, infrastructure organisation
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