Why Change Programs Don 't Produce Change

Why Change Programs Don’t Produce Change

Revitalization does not come from the top. It starts at an organization’s periphery, led by unit managers creating ad hoc arrangements to solve concrete problems

Faced with changing markets and higher competition, more and more firms are struggling to reestablish their dominance, keep market share, and in some cases, ensure their survival. Many have come to understand that the key to competitive success is to transform the way they function. They are reducing reliance on managerial authority, formal rules and procedures, and narrow divisions of work. In effect, companies are moving from the hierarchical and bureaucratic model of organization that has defined corporations since World War II to what can be called the task-driven organization where what has to be done governs who works with whom and who leads. But while senior managers understand the necessity of change to cope with new competitive realities, they often misunderstand what it takes to bring it about.

According to Beer and Eisenstat (1990), an approach to change based on task alignment, which starts at the periphery and moves decidedly toward the executive board, is the most effective way to achieve long-lasting organizational change. It is not that change can never be originated at the top, but it is not the common thing and too risky as a strategy by default.

What usually happens when a certain change program does not provide the expected results is that another program is to be implemented. However, this only tends to exaggerate the problem. All these ongoing change programs end up undermining the credibility of the change effort. Those programs that are not specifically tailored to the problems or issues they are addressed ...

... middle of paper ...

...ne before, it is likely to fail because people will not be enough committed to the changes going on.

6. Monitor and adjust strategies in response to problems in the revitalization process. Every firm has to know how to continually monitor its behavior, in order to be able to learn how to learn.

Overall, this six-step process allows obtaining renewal without imposing it. When the employees see that the new approach is more effective, they don’t oppose resistance to the ongoing changes. A virtuous circle effect also happens, since those problems solved by the improved coordination help to reinforce team behavior and produce a desire to learn new skills.

The only way to develop the kind of leaders a changing organization needs is to make leadership a critical criterion for promotion, and then manage people’s careers to develop it. {Last paragraph for the conclusions}