Organizational change is an area of research and practical application that has been growing for decades. Building on the organizational theories from people like Henry Mintzberg, Peter Drucker, and Edgar Schein, the area of organizational change has become crowded with theories and gurus from Tom Peters to Michael Hammer. With rapid advancements in technology and a new spirit of innovation sweeping through our organizations, the need for theories and concepts that bring direction and purpose to the peaks and valleys of organizational management is met with the concepts in organizational change. Auburn University's School of Management has developed a new program (Organizational Analysis and Change) to meet these needs and help direct the flow and change of organizations into the next century.
James Champy is a consultant who has been working on management issues relating to reengineering. A primary goal is to prepare organizations and individuals for change, which is not always an easy or clean objective. Champy emphasizes that organizational change is a "journey" that should be viewed as a process rather than looking for the finish line. He states that we must learn to anticipate and prepare for the changes; to respond instead of react. The fundamentals of reegineering are "the recognition that the organization of work need not follow function, but rather should follow processes that cross functional lines," to "design the flow of work from scratch," and "changes in many elements of the organization at once" (p. 10). To help prepare for organizational change, he offers these points to follow:
1. "Major change programs must be top-down and vision-driven, and they require broader participation in the design and implementation phases" (p. 11). The senior management (which includes unit leaders, especially if the change is focused solely in that unit) must have a clear set of goals and results that they agree upon before any positive change can take place. Without those individuals to drive the change process and motivate employees to follow it, major breakdowns will occur. Before anyone will go along with the process, agreement must be reached on "Why must we go through this?", "How much of the business must change?", and "Who will be accountable for the design and for the results?" (p. 12).
2. The scope and the scale of the change process must be enough to reach the desired results. Small incremental improvements and a "wait and see" attitude doom the change process.
3. Realize that everything will change. This emphasizes that all factors and functions are related and a change in one will affect another. An example is "when a business process changes, required skills and jobs change" (p. 13).
4. Emphasize conversation over communication. It is the difference between a two-way and one-way information flow. "You should anticipate two needs that people have during a major change program. The first is the need to believe that the company's management knows what it's doing....The second is the need to understand what the change means to individuals in the organization" (p. 15).
5. Work to dispel fear and cynicism. "The fear comes from the real possibility of job loss of job change....Cynicism can come from distrusting that managers will do what they say and suspecting that their jargon is disguising their real intent" (p. 15). The lack of seen results in past change efforts also contributes. Champy emphasizes that these can be "addressed in the conversations you have with people" (p. 15) and to act authentically on what you say.
6. The change needs to focus on more than improved performance. Improved performance is good, but you should "also be thinking about creating a company that is agile, that can sustain multiple changes, and that is a good place in which to work" (p. 16).
Source: Champy, J.A. (1997). Preparing for organizational change. In The Organization of the Future, eds. Hesselbein, F., Goldsmith, M., & Beckhard, R. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 9-16.
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