| | Despite a lacklustre
global economy,
companies are increasing
their spending on change
programmes. An Economist
Intelligence Unit
survey, Managing change
successfully
(March-April 2008),
sponsored by Celerant
Consulting, found that
business leaders are
responding to the
economic slowdown by
launching more change
programmes and spending
more money on them.
Although change
programmes in the last
year have had cost
reduction as their
primary goal, the survey
found that, over the
next year, the goal will
be organisational
flexibility for
operational efficiency –
57% of companies
surveyed put this at the
top of their agenda.
| |
|
| |
In spite of this
enthusiasm for change,
few companies are
consistently successful
at it. Although change
management, as a
business discipline, has
been around since the
1940s, most companies
still struggle to put
theory into practice. Of
the 607 senior
executives polled for
this survey, 58% say
that, over the past five
years, half or fewer of
their change initiatives
have been successful.
The US fares a lot worse
with 75% of respondents
stating that half or
fewer of their change
initiatives have been
successful.
The element of change
management that
companies have the most
difficulty with is
"winning hearts and
minds" (51%). This was | |
|
| | followed, in second
place, by "lack of
management buy-in"
(31%).
"The tricky element
in change management is
always people," says
Robin Bew, editorial
director at the
Economist Intelligence
Unit. "Too often,
managers think if they
get the process and the
technology right, the
people will follow. Our
survey shows that this
is rarely the case.
Successful agents of
change are those who
understand the art of
persuasion."
When change
management initiatives
fail, companies blame
"lack of clearly defined
or achievable
milestones" (24%). Next
on the blame-list is
"lack of commitment by
senior management" and | |
|
| | "poor communication"
(both with 19%). In
other words, the
ingredients that are
required to convince
people of the case for
change.
Other key findings of
the report include:
● Successful
change management
requires a charismatic
leader, not a
box-ticker. The best
leaders of change are
not ones who dictate
their plans, but those
who: bring vision;
inspire people with a
sense of urgency; and
then help them to bring
their own creativity to
the project.
● Culture may seem
a smaller challenge in
its own right, but it
complicates many of the
others. Our survey | |
|
| | panel ranked cultural
issues a distant fifth
in terms of difficulties
in implementing change
successfully. However,
interviews with experts
indicate that cultural
matters can
significantly complicate
the bigger challenges,
such as winning people
over.
● Money is rarely
the reason for
successful or failed
change initiatives. On
average, companies spend
just 0.1% of annual
revenues on change
programmes and only 8%
consider a lack of
funding an important
reason for their failure
in the last year.
| |
|
Previous Page 