Attempts by researchers to quantify organizational culture and culture chan
ge have been severely hindered by a lack of-theoretical models to aid empir
ical investigation. This paper has two aims. First, a socio-cognitive model
of organizational culture is discussed which defines 'culture' as the prod
uct of a dynamic and collective process of 'sense-making' undertaken by mem
bers of a group or organization. Second, an empirical case study is present
ed which uses attributional analysis to quantify the beliefs held by key st
akeholder groups involved in a culture change programme within a multi-nati
onal manufacturing organization. A total of 1230 attributional statements w
ere coded using a modified version of the Leeds Attributional Coding System
(LACS), which included four main dimensions: stable-unstable, global-speci
fic, internal-external, controllable-uncontrollable Results indicated consi
derable inter-group differences between managers, trainers and trainees in
their cognitive maps as sense-making heuristics of this planned change proc
ess. The implications of this model and the usefulness of attributional ana
lysis as a method for evaluating dynamic aspects of organizational culture
and culture change are discussed.