3 lessons for successful transformational change

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that defining how a change is to be planned and implemented is as important for its success as defining what the change is expected to achieve.

Design/methodology/approach

All information is drawn from the questions asked and the challenges raised by the senior managers responsible for the transformation of their organisation. For this reason, their names and the name of their organisation have been withheld and the description of what the organisation does contains insufficient information to enable it to be easily identified.

Findings

Lack of central support for the change activities had led to duplication of effort, implementing the change via a “silo” based mentality has led to a lack of cooperation across business units, poor recognition of the time and effort needed to implement change has led to competition between change activities and business as usual activities.

Research limitations/implications

The information contained in this paper is from the perspective of an executive coach not working full time in the organisation, so who may be unaware of other initiatives in the organisation that may have contributed to the change effort.

Practical implications

The conclusions drawn from this case study can be applied to any type of organisational change, in any industry and any size of organisation.

Originality/value

The practical activities and lessons learned shared in this paper are based on author's experiences with an ongoing transformational change initiative.

Citation

Franklin, M. (2014), "3 lessons for successful transformational change", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 46 No. 7, pp. 364-370. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-04-2014-0027