Transcript 'Flying by the seat of our pants': organisational change

Management, Teamwork and
Change
Dr David Bamford
Manchester Business School
Key questions and focus…


What direct impact does a difficult or
stressful context have on the nature and
quality of management and teamwork?
What is the wider learning and practical
implications from your experience?
1. The Literature!
Management Theories
 Classical
 Human Relations
 Contingency Theory
Management Theories
Organisational Change
 Planned approach
 Emergent approach
 Various Holistic Models
Key organisational
change theories
Corporate Culture
 patterns, personalities & stories
Acknowledgement of
culture as a factor
Role of strategy with change
 link personnel & business strategy
 use of change as a strategy
 organisation cultures adapt to external environment
Role of the manager
 influence upon change?
Management strategies
use change
Managers control, define
and implement change
A Conceptual Model of the Literature
1.
2.
Key
Management
Theories
5.
Managers
control, define
& implement
change
Key
organisational
change theories
Organisational
Change
Acknowledgement
of culture as
a factor
3.
Management
strategies
use change
4.
(Bamford & Forrester, 2003)
2. Research within the
private sector

Background

Employ 21k people in 41 countries

Turnover approximately £2B

Manufacturing Sector researched= 1.6k people, £116M
turnover

Objectives: they wanted an appreciation of how change
was carried out…
Findings…(1)
INITIATIVES
Yr1
Yr2
Yr3
Continuous
Improvement
Health & Safety
Actioned Ideas
Mean Success
Progress
through Quality
Good
Manufacturing
Practice
Quality Systems
Table 1 – Company Initiative Timeframes
Yr4
Yr5
Yr6
Ongoing
Findings…(2)
Initiative
Continuous
Improvement
Health &Safety
Actioned Ideas
Mean Success
Planned or
emergent?
Emergent
Planned /
Emergent
Planned /
Emergent
Progress through
Quality
Emergent
Good
Manufacturing
Practice
Quality Systems
(ISO 9000, Clean
Room Codes of
Practice)
Employee training
Emergent
Emergent
Emergent
Table 2 – Emergent or planned?
Background
Pharmaceutical customer influence forced
company to develop a programme
Following some near-fatalities at production
sites B.o.D implemented H&S training
Came after CI and the H&S initiatives as a
simple way of measuring improvement
initiatives
Response to falling share price. The
initiative focused on cost benefits and
operational effectiveness
Pharmaceutical customer influence forced
formal training to take place
Customer influence forced the
implementation (would not be able to supply
if no ISO certificate or full compliance to C/R
Codes of Practice )
Any specific training was usually in direct
response to some ‘failing’ within the
organisation
Findings…(3)
Internal influences
Operational management
Other senior management
Internal legislation (ISO)
Management structure
Prevailing culture
History
New employees
Table 3 - Internal influences
Initial influence
+ve: followed company
line
+ve: follow the company
line
+ve: created a control
mechanism
+ve: existing frustrations
promoted change
Eventual influence
+ve/-ve: seen to adopt
their own strategies
+ve/-ve: seen to adopt
their own strategies
+ve/-ve: largely ignored
-ve: frustrations at the
‘status-quo’ did not allow
time for consolidation of
initiatives
+ve: existing frustrations -ve: frustrations at the
promoted change
‘status-quo’ did not allow
time for consolidation of
initiatives
+ve: building on what
-ve: history of failed
already achieved
initiatives created failure
+ve: catalysts for
+ve/-ve: once
change
incorporated into
company develop own
agenda
Findings…(4)
Outside influences
Economic (raw material,
component price, etc)
External legislation (ISO)
Popular literature
Change consultants
Social setting
Shareholders
Customers (existing)
Customers (potential)
Initial influence
+ve: forced
improvements
+ve: acted as an
improvement catalyst
+ve: enabled up to date
thinking
+ve: change catalyst
Negligible
-ve: cash constraints
+ve: forced to keep up
to date
+ve: forced to keep up
to date, to look good
Table 4 - Outside influences
Eventual influence
-ve: company sold
Negligible: once set-up
has no discernible effect
Negligible: change tended
to be driven by the market
-ve: caused resentment
Negligible
-ve: forced business sale
+ve: tangible
improvements made
+ve: tangible
improvements made and
plans set for future
Findings…(5)
Positive perspectives
PtQ is a new approach
PtQ should be part of the normal job
PtQ will assure the survival of the
company
PtQ concepts and techniques are now
fully integrated.
PtQ is primarily focused on quality and
efficiency
Change initiatives stress the need for
involvement and empowerment
New rules apply now: challenge the
status quo, open and nonconfrontational dialogue, clear
communication, employees not afraid of
senior managers
Instances of co-operation: increased
teamwork and ownership of problems,
senior managers more open to criticism,
better awareness of customers’ needs
Negative perspectives
PtQ is just another fad
PtQ projects are extra to everything else
PtQ will not make any difference in the
long run
PtQ methods are largely ignored
PtQ is all about increasing the number
of products going out the door every
week
Change programmes create a ‘vital few
from the trivial many’
The old rules still apply: don’t rattle any
cages, don’t rock the boat, freedom of
speech we have not.
Instances of defensiveness: extreme
uncertainty due to lack of orders and
falling business, managers overworked
by too many different projects at once,
resentment against the cost of external
consultants.
Table 5 - Summary of varying perspectives
Analysis(1)
Influences
Potential
change
screened /
filtered
Customers
What is the nature &
quality of personal
insight & reflective
practice of
middle/senior
management?
What significance and
implications do these
have when handled
well?
Potential
customers
- from
visits/audits
Suggested
change
screened /
filtered
Middle
Management
Filter
Senior
Management
Filter
Middle
Management
Senior
Management
Implementation
instructed
Change
begins
Time
Suppliers
- suggestions
made
Personal
contacts
- within other
industries
Own knowledge
-college courses
-university courses
-professional
journals
-ambition
-knowledge from
previous jobs
Department
members
-personal insights
Previous change
programmes
‘Middle-out’ change
Middle
Management
Change
Implemented
Repeats
Analysis(2)
Why is the change
literature mostly
ignored?
What is the potential for
the quality of the
management and
teamwork if it were paid
greater attention?
What are good sources
of change literature?
External Influences
•economic
•legislation
•popular literature
•change consultants
•social setting
•shareholders
•customers
(existing & potential)
Change
literature
mostly
ignored
Internal Influences
•Financial reporting
•operational mgt
•other senior mgt
•internal legislation
•mgt structure
•prevailing culture
•history of organisation
•new employees
See
fig 1.0
1
2
THE ORGANISATION
Change
Programme
A
initial influence
+ve
Change
Programme
B
initial influence
+ve
Change
Programme
C
initial influence
+ve
Change
Programme
D
3
initial influence
+ve
4
Fails to
complete
objectives
Achieves
objectives
5
Change projects pass into organisation history
6
Emergent influences & aspects of change (EIAC) Model
Some conclusions from the
research…

Underlying logic that steers change programmes
identified - highly reactive

Operational managers fully aware of issues surrounding
change and believed ‘official’ communication ignores
the complex reality

Organisational change was mainly emergent

Link between change programmes & ‘improvement’ is
contingent - certain groups have a vested interest
2. Some results from
research within the NHS

Background

NHS the 2nd largest organisation in the world!

Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) now disbanded – most of the lab
network transferred to the newly created Health Protection Agency (HPA).
Various other functions to be transferred from other organisation

Change initiated by Chief Medical Officer for England's strategy for
combating infectious diseases (‘Getting ahead of the curve’, 2002)

Analysis of the process of change

Evaluate the validity of existing change management models
Findings…(1)




Failure to make key appointments sooner was identified as a
significant problem by the majority
Only one quarter felt they had any real involvement in shaping
the way the changes were taken forward
Half commented on poor project management (e.g. Coram &
Burnes (2001) - the remoteness of change leaders in many
public sector change programmes, can present problems)
Half thought the short time scale had an adverse impact on
the process of change
Findings…(2)

The majority felt well informed about the proposed
changes



But only a third felt well informed about the reasons for change
Half thought the change process was well managed
The formal process of consultation with Trades Unions
was acknowledged, but appeared to have negligible
impact at local level
Comparison of Lewin’s Organisational Change Model to the changes involved in
establishing the HPA and transferring PHLS laboratories to the NHS
Table 1
LEWIN’S CHANGE
MODEL:
(Planned Change)
CHANGE EVENTS establishing the HPA and transferring PHLS
laboratories to the NHS:
UNFREEZING:
 Dismantle the PHLS
 Disestablishing the NRPB and MRA
 Remove some Health Protection activities from parts of
the NHS
 Remove some aspects of chemical hazard response from
a number of University Departments
MOVEMENT:
 Transfer some PHLS Laboratories to the NHS
 Transfer the remainder of the PHLS to the HPA
 Transfer all the assets of the NRPB and MRA to the HPA
 Transfer staff and some assets from parts of the NHS and
some Universities to the HPA
 All movements to be completed by set date
REFREEZING:
 Combine all the functions transferred to the HPA, into a
coherent single organisation delivering high quality health
protection services
 Integrate the PHLS Laboratories transferring to the NHS
into the local NHS, Pathology Service
Evaluation of the approach to Change taken in creating the HPA and
transferring PHLS Laboratories to the NHS using Hayes Model
Table 2
HAYES MODEL:
1. Level of Urgency
OBSERVATIONS:
The response to terrorist threats imposes an urgent need for
change
2. Clarity of End State
The creation of the HPA and transfer of laboratories to the
NHS is clear.
3. Level of Resistance
This will be discussed in more detail later, but the evidence
suggests that whilst there was adverse press coverage
about some aspects of the changes, there is primarily broad
support or a neutral response to the changes
4. Change Managers have all
the information they need
This is difficult to assess from the evidence.
5. Level of Trust in
Change Managers
The evidence suggests that the change managers were not
well known
6.Plan can be
Implemented by
Change Managers
without Commitment
from Others
The establishment of the HPA and transfer of laboratories
could be achieved without widespread commitment.
However the medium term project of organisational
development within the HPA will require widespread
commitment.
Some conclusions from the
research…
1. The reasons for the change, together with a vision for the
future need to be clearly stated and effectively communicated
2. Through effective and positive leadership, the organisation
needs to become committed to the change process and
develop a culture, supportive of change
3. The organisational change process needs to be well managed
in a way that is:


sensitive to the impact of organisational change on the whole
organisation and individuals within it
appropriate to the contingent environmental conditions at the time
Key Issues from these cases?


What implications can be drawn from
these?
What ways are there of enhancing
management practice and team
working?
Key Issues…(1)
1. Reliance on ‘successful’ models…
2. Outcomes tend to take precedence over
process…
3. Perceived gap between talk and action…
4. Positive value of change is never questioned in
any of the cases
5. An emphasis on quantifiable results/outcomes for
senior management…
Key Issues…(2)
6. History of past change makes long-standing
members very sceptical of new efforts to
implement significant change programmes
7. Mechanisms used to institutionalise changes fall
victim to same organisational deficiencies they
are trying to remedy
8. The important of culture and subculture