Purpose: The primary problem addressed in this study is the absence of a culture-oriented and context-sensitive framework for guiding organizational change in Iraq's public sector. Such a framework should draw upon an anthropological understanding of organizational culture to explain and guide the change process from preparation to institutionalization. Accordingly, this study aims to develop and validate a culture-oriented framework for managing organizational change in Iraq's public sector based on Lewin's three-stage change model and interpreted through the lens of organizational anthropology. By integrating theoretical insights with empirical evidence, the framework identifies and prioritizes effective approaches to cultural diagnosis, change intervention, and the institutionalization of organizational transformation within Iraq's institutional and cultural context.



Methodology: This study adopted an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. In the first phase, a systematic literature review and qualitative content analysis of studies on organizational change, organizational culture, and public-sector organizations were conducted to extract the framework components. In the second phase, the proposed framework was evaluated and prioritized through an expert questionnaire administered to managers and specialists from the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The Best–Worst Method (BWM) was employed to prioritize the proposed change management approaches.



Findings: The findings indicate that, during the unfreezing stage, developing psychological and cultural readiness, enhancing cultural awareness, and identifying sources of cultural resistance are the most critical prerequisites for successful change. During the change stage, learning-oriented, leadership-oriented, and participatory interventions emerged as the most influential approaches. In the refreezing stage, sustained leadership commitment, institutionalizing cultural values through formal systems, and aligning human resource management practices with the new cultural values were identified as the key determinants of long-term change sustainability. Furthermore, the validation results confirmed that the proposed framework demonstrates strong contextual relevance to Iraq's institutional and cultural environment, conceptual comprehensiveness, practical applicability, and policy value.



Conclusion: By reinterpreting organizational change through the perspective of organizational anthropology, this study demonstrates that organizational culture is not a peripheral variable but the primary context through which change is initiated, accepted, and sustained in public organizations. The proposed framework therefore provides both a theoretical foundation and a practical guide for designing and implementing change policies in the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs as well as other public-sector organizations in transitional societies.

Purpose: The primary problem addressed in this study is the absence of a culture-oriented and context-sensitive framework for guiding organizational change in Iraq's public sector. Such a framework should draw upon an anthropological understanding of organizational culture to explain and guide the change process from preparation to institutionalization. Accordingly, this study aims to develop and validate a culture-oriented framework for managing organizational change in Iraq's public sector based on Lewin's three-stage change model and interpreted through the lens of organizational anthropology. By integrating theoretical insights with empirical evidence, the framework identifies and prioritizes effective approaches to cultural diagnosis, change intervention, and the institutionalization of organizational transformation within Iraq's institutional and cultural context.



Methodology: This study adopted an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. In the first phase, a systematic literature review and qualitative content analysis of studies on organizational change, organizational culture, and public-sector organizations were conducted to extract the framework components. In the second phase, the proposed framework was evaluated and prioritized through an expert questionnaire administered to managers and specialists from the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The Best–Worst Method (BWM) was employed to prioritize the proposed change management approaches.



Findings: The findings indicate that, during the unfreezing stage, developing psychological and cultural readiness, enhancing cultural awareness, and identifying sources of cultural resistance are the most critical prerequisites for successful change. During the change stage, learning-oriented, leadership-oriented, and participatory interventions emerged as the most influential approaches. In the refreezing stage, sustained leadership commitment, institutionalizing cultural values through formal systems, and aligning human resource management practices with the new cultural values were identified as the key determinants of long-term change sustainability. Furthermore, the validation results confirmed that the proposed framework demonstrates strong contextual relevance to Iraq's institutional and cultural environment, conceptual comprehensiveness, practical applicability, and policy value.



Conclusion: By reinterpreting organizational change through the perspective of organizational anthropology, this study demonstrates that organizational culture is not a peripheral variable but the primary context through which change is initiated, accepted, and sustained in public organizations. The proposed framework therefore provides both a theoretical foundation and a practical guide for designing and implementing change policies in the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs as well as other public-sector organizations in transitional societies.