Given the turbulence of competitive conditions, the complexity of large-system change
and individual cognitive limitations, the executive team must develop its ability to adapt
to new conditions and learn from both its success and failures.
Flexibility is key.
This
ability of executive teams to build-in learning and to build-in flexibility into their
management processes is a must for proactively managing re-orientations.
[CR] “Why Change Programs Don’t Produce Change” by Michael Beer,
Russell Eisenstat, and Bert Spector.
More and more companies are struggling to re-establish their dominance, regain
market share, and sometimes ensure survival. The MISTAKE that companies often
make is assuming that change is brought about by altering the formal structure of the
organization through firm-wide programs (training courses, “company culture” programs,
etc).
BUT, exactly the OPPOSITE is true.
The Fallacy of Programmatic Change
Individual behavior is heavily influenced by the organizational roles that people play.
Thus, the most effective way to change behavior is to put people in new
organizational contexts, which impose new roles responsibilities, and relationships
on them, and ultimately “forces” new attitudes and behaviors
3 Cs
:
Coordination, Commitment, Competencies.
If any of these elements are
missing, the change process breaks down.
Coordination
:
teamwork is especially important in order for a company to discover
and act on cost, quality, and product development opportunities.
Commitment
:
is essential for the effort, initiative, and cooperation that coordinated
action demands.
Competencies
:
such as knowledge of the business, analytical and interpersonal
skills are necessary when working with a team.
Six Steps to Effective Change (“Task Alignment”)
Self-reinforcing cycle of
commitment
,
coordination
, and
competence
.
1)
Mobilize commitment to change through joint diagnosis of business problems.
2)
Develop a shared vision of how to organize and manage for competitiveness.
3)
Foster consensus for the new vision, competence to enact it, and cohesion to
move it along.
4)
Spread revitalization to all departments without pushing it from the top.
5)
Institutionalize revitalization through formal policies, systems, and structures.
6)
Monitor and adjust strategies in response to problems in the revitalization
process.
The Role of Top Management
To change an entire corporation, this process must be applied over again in all plants,
branches, departments, and divisions, and is the first responsibilities of senior
management.
The best senior management will do the following:
-
Create a market for change
.
o
Set demanding standards for all operations, and hold managers
accountable to them; this generates pressure for better performance.
-
Use successfully revitalized units as organizational models for the entire
company (and 2 ground rules for identifying such models):
o
Senior managers should make it their responsibility to make resources
available to leading-edge units.
