Chapter 5 Organizational Development and Change

Chapter Overview
The organizational development (OD) tradition is a practitioner-driven intervention-
oriented approach to efecting organizational change via individual change, with view
to increasing efectiveness. It is implemented within a problem-solving model, places
a heav accent on surve-based problem diagnosis and subordinates people to a
vision o! the !uture. "ommitment-based strategies o! efecting change assume that
the impetus !or change must come !rom the bottom up, whilst compliance-based
strategies involve the creation o! behavioural imperatives !or change.
#arious $emploee involvement% strategies are reviewed, but there is little evidence
!or their efectiveness either as a means o! securing commitment or enhanced
per!ormance, or as a means o! leverage !or change. "ulture is assumed to be the
primar vehicle !or change within the OD tradition, although the relationship between
culture and the change process is ill understood. &inall, the assumptions
underpinning team development, and its implementation, are criticall e'amined.
The organizational culture literature itsel! is !raught with epistemological debate.
(ractitioners are interested in management b measurement and manipulation o!
culture. Theoreticians o! culture, however, aim to understand the depth and
comple'it o! culture. )nresolved issues remain regarding how to de*ne culture, the
diference between culture and climate, measurement+levels o! analsis, and the
relationship between organizational culture and per!ormance.
Interest in corporate identit is relativel recent, and is mainl driven b mar,eting
and strategic management considerations. -ore pschological approaches to the
analsis o! corporate identit include an interest in how corporate identit is re.ected
in the identit and sel!-esteem o! emploees, and the implications o! this !or
managing organizational change.
The classic OD approach to organizations and organizational change has been
somewhat $side trac,ed% toda in !avour o! $,nowledge management%, where
,nowledge and its creation is seen as critical to organizational sustainabilit and
competitive advantage in toda%s constantl changing global econom. /nowledge
management raises issues about the potentiall highl comple' relationship between
structure, technolog and people. The dangers o! a too tightl coupled understanding
o! the relationship between organizational structure and technolog are highlighted.
Chapter Thought Bytes and Examples
Diagnostic organizational methods
Questionnaires and other instruments (for example, The Managerial Grid)
Data is canned, anonymous, economical and readily analysed, but not itself conducive to creating the
kind of personal involvement and discussion necessary to changing hearts and minds.
Interviews
This involves the skilled and impartial elicitation of opinion and sentiment on a wide range of subjects,
including personal concerns that are rarely aired. However, they are time-consuming and labour-intensive
to analyse.
Sensing
This involves unstructured group interviews designed to explore group issues, concerns, needs and
resource requirements. Sampling members from diferent parts of an organization afords the OD
researchers a feel for the whole. Alternatively, it can be used to identify problems and concerns
pertaining to one particular subsection. Sensing generates rich data and people come away feeling that
they have been listened to. However, people will not disclose their real concerns if there is no trust.
Polling
A group is polled by questionnaire, or a structured round robin exercise, on issues or agendas otherwise
unspoken (for example, interpersonal confict, the future of the group and its place in the organization).
Full and balanced involvement of all members is essential to ensure ownership of the results. It is
important that the results are followed-up rather than left open and unaddressed.
Collages
Individuals or groups prepare collages on a theme (for example, my feelings about the team or the
organization). If a single collage is produced by a group it can elicit deep but burning issues for
discussion. Fun, but at frst might not be taken seriously.
Drawings
One or more members of a group make a drawing about an aspect of the organization or organizational
life. Common themes are identifed, discussed and posted on fip-charts. Can unearth issues otherwise
buried alive (p.157) for example, interpersonal confict, inappropriate competition. Must be framed by
clear objectives.
Physical representation of organizations
Group members sculpt themselves physically according to some issue of worry to them (for example,
cliques, inappropriate infuence, competition). Can yield dramatic results, creating strong motivation for
improvement but must be sensitively managed.
Diversity management do not confate national boundaries with cultural
boundaries
National boundaries are often inappropriately used as surrogate defnitions of culture. However, the
nominal and impoverished use of culture in this sense stems from a lack of a theoretical framework for
investigating culture at a broader level. It is common to use Hofstedes (1980) work to describe cultural
variation based on national diferences. He identifed (based on data from over 116,000 employees of
IBM across 40 countries) four cultural dimensions: power distance (the degree to which members accept
an unequal distribution of power); avoidance of uncertainty (the degree to which members are able to
cope with ambiguous or anxiety-provoking situations); individualismcollectivism (an emphasis on
striving and initiative versus belonging and following) and masculinityfemininity (the relative extent to
which members value traits conventionally associated with masculinity and femininity). Some multi-
national corporations like IBM have responded to the diversity issue by seeking to create a homogenous
and unifying culture transcending national boundaries. Other organizations allow cultural diferences to
fourish, seeking only to exert fnancial regulation and control.
Predicting behaviour a misleading enterprise?
Myers (1993) argues that predicting behaviour is almost impossible because it is infuenced by so many
individual, situational and chance factors. However, if we look at average behaviour over a long period of
time then the infuence of attitudes is more apparent. For instance, knowing someones attitude towards
an organization poorly predicts whether he or she will stay behind to fnish an assignment, because
many other things also infuence this such as family circumstances, mood, feeling and so on. However,
organizational attitude does predict quite well the total quantity of extra-mile behaviours demonstrated
by someone over time. The infuence of attitude on behaviour is thus not something that is evident in any
one isolated act.
Conditions that improve the predictive accuracy of attitudes are described below.
General versus specifc attitudes
Azjen has found that the correspondence between attitudes and actions is high in studies where
measured attitude is directly relevant to the situation. To change organizational behaviour through
persuasion, we should therefore seek to alter attitudes towards specifc organizational or job factors and
practices .
Attitude Potency
When people operate by habit, there is little or no refection engaged. Attitudes are likely to be brought
especially to mind in non-familiar situations. Evidence shows that attitudes guide behaviour if they come
to mind. Self-conscious people who are highly self-aware are usually well in tune with their own
attitudes. High self-consciousness is associated with consistency of words and actions.
Central route strategies to changing attitudes
An efective communicator cares not only about the content of the message, but also about how their
audience is likely to react to it. The following strategies can be used:
1. Know the audience, identify and address the issues of concern to them. Get into the mind of the
audience and keep them on their toes.
2. Make people feel responsible for evaluating the message and allow them to draw their own
conclusions from the facts presented.
3. Participative vs confrontational style: a participative style that involves people is more likely to elicit
ownership of the issue(s) at stake than a dogmatic and argumentative style, presenting only one side
of the story.
0. Repeating the message with examples and case -studies.
Level of organizational impact evaluation
It is common within the OD evaluation literature to apply the Kirkpatrick (1959) hierarchy of impacts:
initial reactions, attitude/perceptual changes, behavioural changes, and organizational changes.
Initial reactions
Many OD intervention evaluation studies begin and also end with testimonial types of assessment, from
participants.
Attitudinal/perceptual changes
Most published studies measure attitude/perceptual change (for example, team cohesiveness, leadership
styles, organizational climate, job satisfaction). The use of questionnaires constructed specifcally for the
purpose of each particular evaluation is common, thus undermining meaningful cross-study comparison.
Studies also rarely provide details of scale reliability and validity, even for established measures.
Behavioural changes
Some studies document changes in behaviour (for example, turnover, absenteeism). Reliability and
validity statistics are rarely provided, making it difcult to judge the stability of fndings at this level of
analysis.
Organizational changes
Studies rarely examine the impact of OD intervention on organizational efectiveness.
Chapter Case Studies
Case Study 5.1: British Airways Unveils New Identity
The stor o! 1ritish 2irwas is described as one o! the most widel used inspirational
accounts o! changing culture (3rugulis 4 5il,inson, 6776). 1ritish 2irwas brought
together thousands o! people in the shape o! a globe to create a compelling image
!or one o! its television commercials, and more recentl imposed a giant model o!
"oncorde on Times 89uare. 2ccording to 12, the compan%s new identit was $based
on what is believed to be the largest consumer research e'ercise in the histor o! the
travel industr%. It was introduced through $what is believed to be the world%s largest
satellite corporate television broadcast% using :; satellites, transmitting pictures !rom
almost 6< diferent places to :6= locations in =; countries across *ve continents.
2ccording to ">O 1ob 2ling, $8ome people abroad saw the airline as staid,
conservative and a little cold% ? characteristics used to describe 1ritain as a whole.
$5e need a corporate identit that will enable us to become not @ust a )/ carrier but
a global airline that is based in 1ritain,% said 2ling. $The identit we unveiled is that
o! a global, caring compan, more modern, more open, more cosmopolitan, but proud
to be based in 1ritain.% Aowever, it is now well ,nown that the whole enterprise was a
big .op (3rugulis 4 5il,inson, 6776).
Case Study 5.2: Traditional Top Down Organizational Change via Culture Change using the
UnfreezingRefreezing Model
>ngineering culture change is becoming an increasingl popular (and lucrative) role
!or occupational and organizational pschologists. 5hilst mriad obstacles to change
e'ist in a tpical organization, man writers have attempted to provide the
practitioner+manager with advice on how to achieve a success!ul change in a
compan%s culture. 2ll o! these assume a perspective on culture as a measurable and
manageable aspect o! an organization
The culture change literature also assumes a direct lin, between culture and
per!ormance, which is as et merel a hpothesis rather than an established !act.
These assumptions need to be ta,en into consideration when reviewing $recipes% !or
culture change. "ummings and Ause (:BCB), !or e'ample, suggest implementation
and care!ul management o! the !ollowing stagesD
Clear strategic vision: Aave a clear view o! the direction and purpose o!
the proposed change. O!ten, this will be
embodied in the organization%s mission
statement. This should be a clear and precise
statement o! operationalizable and achievable
goals.
Management commitmentD Top management must be committed to change
and must be seen to be committed. Onl top
management have the power to ma,e changes
in the values and deeper structures o! the
organization.
Symbolic leadershipD 8enior managers must behave in was that are
consistent with the new culture, !or e'ample,
management by walking about, and so on.
Supporting organizational changes: "hanges to organizational structure,
reporting procedures, management stles,
organizational processes, etc, are li,el to be
re9uired.
Changing organizational membership:1ringing in new organizational members
who subscribe to the re9uired new
organizational values and practices is li,el to
consolidate and $!reeze% the change. >'isting
organizational members, it should be mentioned,
can be encouraged to bu into the change
through consultation, training and development,
ensuring visible senior management
commitment, and so on.
Organizations are becoming increasingl concerned with their efectiveness within
the mar,etplace. The reasons !or this derive largel !rom the advent o! widescale use
o! in!ormation technolog (IT), and the increase in service orientation !or man
industries. 2s a result, companies have begun toD
outsource non-core and peripheral activitiesE
shed laers o! middle management as the strive to be more competitiveE
become increasingl concerned with production+pro*ts than with their stafE
!re9uentl restructure and downsizeE
become involved in ac9uisitions o! competitors and in amicable mergers.
8uch wide-ranging changes have enormous potential implications !or the wor,!orce
and !or the managerial staf responsible !or them. 2s such measures have grown in
popularit, so interest has increased in their in.uence on the $so!t% aspects o!
organizational li!e, such as wor,er attitudes and organizational $culture%. "ulture, in
this conte't, has been described asD
(a) a pattern o! basic assumptions, (b) invented, discovered or developed b a given
group, (c) as it learns to cope with its problems o! e'ternal adaptation and internal
integration, (d) that has wor,ed well enough to be considered valid and, there!ore (e) is
to be taught to new members as the (!) correct wa to perceive, thin, and !eel in
relation to those problems.(8chein, :BB7)
The relationship between such a construct and the hard e'ternal realit o! continuous
organizational change is embodied in the stud and implementation o! OD, de*ned
asD
2 sstematic efort appling behavioural science ,nowledge to the planned creation
and rein!orcement o! organizational strategies, structures and processes !or improving
an organization%s efectiveness. (Ause and "ummings, :BC<)
OD has become a vital component in the management o! change !or man
organizations, and has resulted in the increased emploment o! e'ternal (and,
increasingl, internal) $change agents%, responsible !or planning, implementing and
evaluating organizational changes.
The !ollowing model is an example o! how man cultural change programmes are
pursued using a variet o! methods. The model assumes thatD
the change agent has zero ,nowledge o! the compan prior to commencement o!
the pro@ectE
the cultural change to be efected is compan-wideE
the change agent has been re9uested to assist in efecting the change b senior
managementE
the budget !or the programme is large and the timescale rela'edE
replacing managerial staf is outside the remit o! the change agent.
"learl, these assumptions ma, in some cases, not be accurate !or all change
management pro@ects.
The basic model is as !ollowsD
Dialogue with management
Cultural audit
Inception Report and Action Plan
Management Training
Unfreeze the organiation
Commence the change
Reinforce the change and
refreeze the organiation
!"aluation
Cloe down
The portion o! the above model which directl addresses the process o! culture
change is based on Fewin%s (:B<:) $un!reezing?change?re!reezing% model o! change,
the detail o! which !orms part o! the !ollowing discussion. >ach o! the above stages
contains a variet o! substages, some o! which are efected directl b the change
agent and others o! which are achieved through the training and empowering o!
management to communicate the prescribed changes to the organization. >ach o!
the above stages will be discussed in detail below, including, where appropriate,
consideration o! particular issues which must be attended to at each stage.
Stage 1: Dialogue with senior management/decision-makers
This stage o! the process is primaril concerned with establishing a !unctional
relationship with the management staf proposing the cultural change programme.
Ideall, this should include the !ollowingD
>stablishing a contractual agreement (legal and pschological) that management
must ta,e ownership o! the change process, and that an input b the change
agent will be purel in !acilitating and in!orming that process.
>stablishing single points o! contact within the Auman Gesources department, an
other departments o! relevance and within senior management !or the reporting o!
progress and re9uesting o! in!ormation.
>stablishing the nature and perceptions o! the problem through as,ing 9uestionsD
5hat do the perceive as the problem(s)H
5hat do the e'pect to gain !rom cultural changeH
5hat measures+steps have alread been ta,en to improve the situationH
5here is the compan nowH
5here should the compan beH
5hat do the e'pect !rom the change agentH
5hat alternative solutions to the problem have been discussed+re@ectedH
(rovision o! basic compan in!ormation re9uired !or the subse9uent cultural audit.
2greement o! in!ormation to be gathered through the cultural audit, and
agreement that the process o! data collection will be promoted b management
whenever possible.
Identi*cation o! an speci*c problems which ma present themselves during the
cultural audit+an later stage o! the pro@ect.
It should be noted that, throughout the pro@ect, dialogue with management should be
continuous, through appointed contacts within the organization, to ensure that the
pro@ect remains !ocused and that additional in!ormation can be transmitted !rom
change agent to management and vice versa as easil as possible.
Stage 2: Cultural audit
2ssuming the !ull agreement and support o! senior management, a cultural audit is
conducted, which should attempt to access and analse the !ollowing data sourcesD
8taf attitudes and perceptions o! the e'isting culture (via 9uestionnaires and
structured interviews). 2nonmit o! respondents should be guaranteed to
!acilitate candid responses. Dimensions o! interest ma be selected depending on
initial discussions with management, but should includeD pschological climateE
level o! teamwor,+con.ictE supervision+managementE role+goal ambiguit+claritE
in!ormation .owE nature+depth o! support, and so on. These data should provide a
means o! bpassing $managerial rhetoric% li,el to have been obtained during
8tage :, in order to tap into the $true% culture o! the organization.
8taf views on how things should+could be changed (via 9uestionnaires and
structured interviews). This will promote a sense o! $involvement% !or staf at an
earl stage in the change process.
"ompan in!ormation, includingD
*nancial dataE
e'ternal mar,et situationE
human resources data, !or e'ample, per!ormance appraisals,
absenteeism+turnover *gures, and so onE
compan proceduresE
other !actors identi*ed in initial dialogue with management as being
$problematic%
Organizational structure, includingD
$tpe% o! management structureE
communication processes+linesE
position o! compan within overall corporate structure.
It should be noted that prior to this stage, management ma be re9uired to provide
some introductor in!ormation to staf in order to !acilitate the data collection
process. 5ithout this, activities o! the change agent ma be treated with suspicion
and ma result in obstruction o! the audit, or in biased (and there!ore useless) sel!-
report responses to 9uestionnaires+interviews, i! staf are suspicious+nervous about
the anonmit o! responses. This ma be especiall evident in an e'isting culture
based on $!ear% and on directive, authoritarian management.
Stage 3: Inception report
On the basis o! analsis+interpretation o! data !rom 8tage 6 and o! discussions
conducted in 8tage :, an inception report should be produced and discussed with
management, to ensure that details and !ocus are accurate and appropriate. The
report shouldD
identi! the principle characteristics o! the compan (as detailed above)E
identi! the ma@or driving !orces and restraining !orces prevalent in the compan
()mstat, :BCC)E
identi! an practical resistance to changeE
identi! the principle afective components o! the wor,!orce, that is, attitudes,
belie!s, and so on.
Stage 4: Action plan
On the basis o! the inception report and on the initial discussions with management,
an action plan is developed in order to crstallize the proposed cultural change in
terms o! goals and ob@ectives. 8hould the $*t% between management%s identi*ed
problems, aims and ob@ectives and the results !rom the inception report be poor, it
ma be necessar to suggest alternative solutions to those proposed b
management, and point out results !rom the cultural audit o! which management
were unaware. &or e'ample, 8nder (:BCC), in an e'ample !rom a cultural change
which too, place in Foc,heed during the earl :BC7s, points out that technical
barriers were presenting the most signi*cant barriers to per!ormance within a
particular !actor, and that reduction o! these barriers was li,el to be !ar more
important to increasing production than the prevailing culture o! the organization.
)ltimatel, the change agent and management must agree on de*nition o! the
problem and on the ob@ectives !or cultural change. This agreement should ta,e the
!ollowing !ormD
recommendations to management on the basis o! agreed in!ormation obtained
during stages :-;E
actions !or ,e staf members ? unanimous support is crucial here.
>mphasis is on the role o! management in achieving cultural change ? management
must ta,e ownership.
Stage 5: Management training
2ssuming that support !or the action plan has been secured, a series o! brie*ng
sessions+seminars+training sessions are conducted with ,e management staf, that
is, those people who are crucial to the success!ul adoption and acceptance o! the
proposed changes. These training sessions tpicall compriseD
e'planation o! process o! cultural change (as illustrated in the .ow chart above)E
emphasis on the importance o! empath, communication and participation with
wor,ersE
e'planation o! ,e aspects o! process !or management, includingD
clear articulation o! desired visions and associated practicesE
translation o! vision into memorable realit, !or e'ample, $attac, the problem,
not the person$ (8nder, :BCC)E
endorsement o! top management and $modelling% b management, resulting
in, !or e'ample, $vicarious learning% (1andura, :B=B) through meeting wor,ers,
$spreading the word%, and so onE
1uilding a new team, i! necessar, to rein!orce the new values+approachE
engaging in smbolic acts, !or e'ample, team+compan presentations,
changing uni!orms to smbolize team spirit, and so onE
e'planation o! proposed goals and aims to be achieved through change and how
these will impact on the organization and, ultimatel, on organizational
per!ormance, that is, translation o! a $so!t% process into $hard% *nancial resultsE
training management in $trans!ormational% leadership s,ills, and in the
understanding o! group processes and group dnamics.
Stage 6: Unfreeze the organization
1 8tage =, this process, as envisaged b Fewin (:B<:), should be well underwa.
-anagement, with the assistance o! the change agent, now ta,e responsibilit !or the
!ollowing, in order to prepare the organization !or changeD
application o! the principles learned during 8tage < in order to ma,e the
organization aware o! the need !or changeE
ensuring that a climate o! openness is developed between management and staf,
regarding aims and conse9uences o! proposed changes, bD
presenting the change programme to wor,ers (and ensuring that this is
pitched correctl)E
adopting an open door policE
increasing the visibilit o! management in the wor,placeE
encouraging participation o! wor,ers through seminars, wor,shops, and so onE
NoteD !acilitating an atmosphere o! openness ma be diIcult to achieve,
especiall i! the previous climate has been one o! distance and con.ict between
management and staf.
highlighting threats to the organization i! change does not ta,e place, while
encouraging wor,ers to believe that change is possible and desirable (8chein,
:BCJ)E
ensuring a climate o! participation is developed b involving staf, especiall
in.uential supervisor staf, and so on, b involving them earl in the change
processE
(romoting worker ownership o! the change b encouraging participation (to allow
internalization b wor,ers o! new values).
Stage 7: Commence the change
-anagement, with the assistance o! the change agent, will tpicall begin the
change process, bD
communicating aimsD
e'plaining goals and ob@ectives to the wor,!orceE
retaining openness and willingness !or discussionE
building e'pectations !or successE
utilizing methods such asD
presentations+seminarsE
wor,shops !or team and s,ill buildingE
training+retraining programmes, !ollowing @ob analsis, especiall i! the change
involves technical considerationsE
continuous modelling o! the change b senior+middle management .
Stage 8: Reinforce the change and refreeze the organization
In order to efect a transition o! values, norms and wor,ing practices, management is
e'pected toD
sstematicall reward adoption o! new wor,ing practicesE
sstematicall punish adherence to old directions (while retaining use!ul aspects o!
the old sstem)E
promote adoption o! re9uired behaviours throughD
incentive programmes (remuneration)E
staf presentations concerning progress and !eedbac, with the change
programmeE
provision o! personal counselling to wor,ers who re9uire itE
implement new rituals and arte!acts, !or e'ample, new uni!orms, and so on.
Stage 9: Evaluation
The initial post-change evaluation is usuall conducted b the change agent, in
consultation with management. The evaluation sets initial agreed aims and
ob@ectives against the current, post-change situation, and tpicall comprises criteria
such asD
behaviours (observational+absenteeism or turnover *gures)E
per!ormance ratings (peer+supervisor)E
*nancial+production (turnover+pro*t+production+sales+mar,et share)E
wor,er attitudes and satis!action.
Gesults !rom this evaluation should be presented to management, summarizingD
areas where change has been success!ulE
recommendations !or areas !or improvement and suggestions as to how
improvements could be achieved using in-house resourcesE
unsuccess!ul elements o! the programme compared against original ob@ectivesE
areas re9uiring monitoringE
suggested rolling evaluation programme.
Stage 10: Close down
2t this *nal stage, the change agent should e'plain the !ollowing to managementD
"ultural change is an ongoing process which is evaluated and monitored on a
continuous basis. Kot underta,ing this ma result in a slow slide bac, into the $old
methods%.
This involvesD
presentations to staf on !eedbac, and progress, both with change and with
mar,et successE
provision o! personal counsellingE
climate o! openness and trustE
$management b ob@ectives% and $management b wal,ing about%, i! possible.
The above model describes a staged process !or efecting a cultural change within an
occupational setting. "learl, diferent industries will re9uire emphasis to be placed
on diferent aspects o! the culture, which would need to be built in to the programme.
It is also clear that in the case o! man organizations, internal politics ma present
the greatest barrier to cultural change ? the above model assumes that agendas o!
management and staf are stated openl, and that subversive or sabotaging
behaviours are minimized. In practice, such !actors ma re9uire drastic measures
such as replacement o! staf or disciplinar procedures. Aowever, through preparing
ade9uatel !or cultural change, entering into a continuous dialogue with
management, ensuring management support !or proposals and ob@ectives and b
providing the necessar human resources support during the change process, a
change agent can prove a valuable !acilitator to the organizational development o!
companies re9uiring signi*cant cultural, and other, change.
Case Study 5.3: Culture Change at Chrysler
(Source: ANSOM, February 1994 David A. Zatz)
-an companies have turned themselves around, converting imminent ban,ruptc
into prosperit. 8ome did it through *nancial gimmic,r, but the ones who have
become stars did it b changing their own culture.
&ew remember that companies li,e 1ritish 2irwas or #olvo once had a poor
reputation. That%s a credit to their drastic changes in customer (and emploee)
satis!action, 9ualit, and pro*ts.
The underling causes o! man companies% problems are not in the structure, ">O, or
stafE the are in the social structure and culture. 1ecause people wor,ing in diferent
cultures act and per!orm diferentl, changing the culture can allow everone to
per!orm more efectivel and constructivel. This applies to colleges and schools as
much as it applies to businesses.
In the earl :BB7s, "hrsler had terrible customer service and press relations, with a
histor o! innovation but a present o! outdated products. Its mar,et share was !alling,
and its *'ed costs and losses were high. 1ob Futz, the president, wanted "hrsler to
become the technolog and 9ualit leader in cars and truc,s ? a clear, globall
applicable vision. 2 program o! cultural change, "ustomer One, was built around it.
The results were impressiveD overhead was cut b L0.6 billion in under !our ears, the
stoc, price has 9uadrupled, and the compan reversed its slide into ban,ruptc and
became pro*table. 2 completel new and competitive line o! cars or truc,s has
appeared each ear since. Kew engines produce more !uel econom and power as
new cars provide more com!ort, per!ormance, and space, and the dependence on a
!ormer partner (-itsubishi) is being phased out. The did this with the same people,
but wor,ing in diferent was.
Training, visions, and culture
"ustomer One is designed !or Mdramaticall NchangingO the business culture.M The
multi-million dollar efort is, according to training director Thomas -arinelli, Ma
complete cultural change in the wa our dealers do business....P5hatever ou do, do
it with the customer in mind *rst, and the ancillar bene*ts will !ollow.%M
Involvement of people
In !our ears, 0=77 ideas have been solicited !rom suppliersE =7 percent were used,
saving over L6;< million. "ustomers were also called in during $virtuall ever stage%
o! the development o! new models, to provide suggestions (rather than @ust ratings o!
what the li,ed). One designer was sent to photograph the interiors o! about 677
pic,ups, to see where cups, maps, and so on were being stored, so the could tailor
the interior o! the new truc,s to the needs o! the drivers. "hrsler has also been
listening to customers who write to the companE the designers even respond to
some letters b phone.
Gather than have a small number o! people control new products, Qeep+Truc, product
manager Qef Trimmer said planners are $spea,ing out !or customer wants and needs
in the initial stages ... and wor,ing along with each o! the various !unctional groups ...
The role becomes more advisor.% >verone who will be involved participates to
$harness the best ideas and creativit%.
>ven the assembl line wor,ers are includedE with the new Gam truc,s, the were
wor,ing with engineers si' months be!ore production started. -echanics are
consulted earl, to help prepare the cars and truc,s !or real-li!e maintenance.
(roduct teams !ollow vehicles through their development to identi! sstems and
process issues. $Toda, we !eel we have a lot more !acts, and more o! a groundswell
o! in!ormation that comes !rom groups o! people who ,now e'actl what we%re tring
to do,% reported Gobert Qohnson o! Dodge Truc,s.
Agreeing on objectives
One change that helps to ,eep pro@ects pure is setting down ob@ectives clearl, at the
beginning. "ore ob@ectives are agreed on at the beginning b all partiesE because
$>verbod agrees up !ront and we stic, to the plan% (1ernard Gobertson, Qeep+Truc,
team), there are no last-minute changes in !ocus, which can result in e'pensive
disasters (such as the "orvair, #ega, and &iero). 1ecause everone is involved in
setting goals, the ta,e responsibilit !or living up to them.
Learning
"hanges in the wa cars were made began with help !rom Aonda, which developed a
success!ul line-up in 67 ears, generall using its own technolog. &ourteen oung
engineers were told to learn how Aonda designed carsE 1ob Futz and engineering
chie! &rancois "astaing then reorganized their departments into Aonda-stle teams.
8ince then, "hrsler changed its teams b learning !rom its achievements and
mista,es. $5e do a Rwhat went right, what went wrongS analsis at various points,%
said Qames 8orenson o! the Qeep+Truc, Team. $2nd we transmit this in!ormation to the
other plat!orms.% (ilot vehicles in the new Gam program were read :; months ahead
o! time. The number o! improvements made each ear, even to cars about to be
discontinued, has increased dramaticall each ear since "ustomer One started, as
learning has spread.
Emphasis of quality
-ost people li,e building a 9ualit product. It%s natural to want one%s labors to
produce something o! 9ualit and beaut. That might be one reason wh wor,ers
tend to support 9ualit eforts, i! the see them as being sincere.
"hrsler%s steps to improve 9ualit started with calling in customers, suppliers,
mechanics, and assembl line wor,ers earl in the design process. The continue b
surveing all customers and basing dealer incentives on 9ualit and support. The
dealership rating process has been e'amined and improved at various points, to
ma,e sure their customer satis!action inde' is valid and reliable. "omplaints are
!ollowed through, and negative surves are returned to dealers !or resolution
(however, man dealers do not !ollow through on this valuable !eedbac,).
Pitfalls
"ultural change is neither eas nor !oolproo!. It can ta,e time ? at least one ear,
more li,el between three and si' ears ? and it ta,es efort and vigilance. 2 great
deal o! patience and long-term support is needed. "ommunication ma be ,e, as
small successes are used to support larger eforts. 8ometimes, it is necessar to start
changing small parts o! an organization *rst, later e'panding eforts. "hrsler did this
b starting with their engineering teams and moving on to other areas.
The proponents o! change must care!ull model the behavior the want to see in
others. I! the do not send a consistent message and ,eep that message clear and
dominant over time, cultural change ma be seen as @ust another !ad.
&re9uentl, change becomes harder when the organization starts to turn around. 2t
"hrsler, the pace o! change dropped of dramaticall when pro*ts started to appear
regularl. The result is that the corporation is rated about average in dealer
satis!actionE some new models, particularl the Keon, were plagued with minor
problems when the were introducedE and man new customers have become
alienated !rom the compan again. "omplacenc is an ever-present danger when
changes start to ta,e efect.
Appendix 11 Likerts Link-Pin Participation Model
Fi,ert (:B=:) ofered a model o! the efective organization on the basis o! which much
o! what we currentl call OD is !ounded. Fi,ert !ocused in particular on the structure
o! the organization, advocating that the most efective structure is one comprised o!
participative workgroups, each lin,ed to the organization as a whole through
overlapping memberships. 5or,ing !rom a AG perspective, he believed that
supportive wor,groups were a critical source o! need satis!action and as such
provides the source o! all organizational potential and success.
Fi,ert described clusters o! stle characteristics ,nown as $sstems :, 6, ; and 0%
re!erring to $e'ploitative authoritative, benevolent authoritative, participative
consultative and participative group management% sstems respectivel (Fi,ert,
:B=:D BJ?::C). Fi,ert argued that sstem 0, describing participative group
management was the most appropriate inso!ar as it could most efectivel harness
emploee motivation and commitment. The intervention !ormat derived !rom this
conceptualization o! organizations is described below (derived !rom /lein, :BJ=)D
diagnosis b surve o! the dominant schema operating in the organization,
using the $cluster% ideaE
intervention designed to shi!t behaviour towards $sstem 0%E
post-intervention surve so ascertain shi!ts in perceived management
stleE
per!ormance measurement.
The concept o! $participation% is central to the Fi,ert approach to intervention, geared
to involving emploees in decision ma,ing and afording them a sense o!
responsibilit and control without the need to ma,e !undamental changes to the
basic conditions o! wor,. The contemporar popularit o! $9ualit circles% is a case in
point.
The !ashion o! $participation% can also be traced in part bac, to the e'periment
conducted b Fippitt and 5hite (:B;B) on the conse9uences !or morale o! diferent
stles o! leadership. This indicated the superiorit o! the democratic approach. The
discourse o! democrac that swept across post-war 2merica nurtured this *nding,
and an !orm o! authoritarian method met with resentment and opposition. The
problem o! output regulation and control was in part e'acerbated b this cultural
imperative to be democratic, and can be said to have spawned attempts to control
the wor,!orce in more subtle ($manipulative%) supposedl more $humanistic% was.
The assumption thus too, hold that wor, motivation could be increased b changing
the stle o! the manager or leader into one characterized as $democratic%. In
distinguishing between two contrasting sets o! management models (-c3regor,
:B=7), theor ' became e9uated with the principles o! scienti*c management whilst
theor was e9uated with the principles o! AG thin,ing. The distinction became
in!used with value @udgements such that theor became the universall prescribed
$ideal% with theor z being the approach to both avoid and disparage. These
assumptions were upheld irrespective o! the structural conditions o! the organization.
Appendix 12 Formulation and Analysis of Merger with Implications for
Intervention
Introduction to Merger Scenario
2 merger can be de*ned asD The combining o! two or more entities through the direct
ac9uisition b one o! the net assets o! the other, either !riendl or hostile, !or cash or
!or stoc,.% It is o!ten e'pected that the merging o! organizations will result in an
increase in pro*tabilit due to there being an increase in eIcienc and economies o!
scale. Aowever, the realit is o!ten a diferent matter, with mergers resulting in lower
productivit, higher levels o! absenteeism and a higher accident rate. In both the )82
and the )/, between <7 and C7 percent o! organizational mergers are regarded as
unsuccess!ul *nanciall (-ar,s 4 -irvis, 6776). O! all mergers regarded as !ailures,
$emploee problems% are estimated to be responsible !or between a third and a hal!.
The present merger involves a large corporation with two other (smaller) corporations
and can be termed a horizontal merger, as all three corporations operate in the same
mar,et. This merger involves the re-integration o! people, which contrasts with, sa,
the conglomerate merger, which pertains to merger onl at the administrative and
*nancial level between otherwise unrelated *rms. 5ithin a merger between related
*rms, integration is necessar to prevent the duplication o! !unctions and will re9uire
the re-organization o! operations and wor, groups.
The author is assuming that the large corporation is the ac9uiring *rm and the two
smaller corporations the ac9uired, and that the companies will absorb each other
culturall spea,ing. This merger could there!ore be viewed as a traditional
organizational $marriage% in which there will be wide-scale change with the ac9uired
*rms adopting and becoming absorbed into the procedures, practices, philosoph
and culture o! the ac9uiring *rm.
Conceptualization of the merger scenario
-erger can be conceptualized b drawing upon two theories o! identitD social
identit theor (8IT) (Ta@!el, :BJ6) and process identit theor (I(T) (1rea,well, :BC=).
This is onl a partial conceptualization, !ocusing on the people side o! mergers. To
add weight to this !ormulation, notions o! cultural integration will also be drawn upon.
Identit is to do with meaning, the meaning ou give oursel!, and is tied to diferent
aspects o! our e'perience. Organizational identit, is organization speci*c, and can
be de*ned simpl as $an individual%s perceived oneness with the organization.%
(2sh!orth 4 -ael, :BCBD 6;). 8IT proposes that individuals classi! themselves and
others into a variet o! social categories, one o! which is organizational membership.
Identit is divided into personal identit (abilities, interests, pschological traits, and
so on) and social identit (salient group classi*cations). Organizational identit is a
!orm o! social identit (as the organization can be viewed as a social
categor+grouping) in which the distinctiveness o! an organization%s values and
practices (in comparison to other organizations) increases a person%s tendenc to
identi! with their organization. Identi!ing with one%s organization serves to enhance
an individual%s sel!-esteem.
I(T assumes there are a set o! processes that underpin identit, namel, sel!-esteem
(!eeling o! worth and value), sel!-eIcac (perceived abilit), sel!-evaluation (monitors
sel!-esteem and sel!-eIcac), distinctiveness (!rom others) and continuit (across
time). Gelating both 8IT and I(T to the merger scenarioD
2ccording to 8IT, the re-organization o! operations and wor, groups, as a result o!
the merger, could potentiall pose a threat to the emploees% social identit.
There!ore, a merged compan can be understood to impl a new organizational
identity involving, in efect, that emploees are re9uired to abandon their old
social identities and accept a new one. In this instance, wor,ers !rom the
ac9uiring organization (usuall superior in success terms) ma !ear that their
social identit ma be diluted or undermined b the ac9uisition o! companies the
perceive to be in!erior to their own. 5or,ers !rom the ac9uired companies (usuall
wea,er in success terms) ma on the other hand !eel stripped o! their identit,
!eeling e'posed, insecure and unclear o! their location and signi*cance within the
merged organization. I! emploees re@ect the new organizational identit, clinging
on to those identities with which the are most com!ortable and !amiliar, the
merged companies might !ail to integrate.
-ore speci*callD
In accordance with both 8IT and I(T, the merger ma pose a threat to positive
distinctiveness (at the wor, group level and the organizational level). The
ac9uired *rms are more li,el to !ear a loss o! distinctiveness perceiving
(somewhat realisticall) the merger as re9uiring them to be absorbed within the
larger *rm.
2ccording to I(T, continuity (between the past, present and !uture) at the
organizational level o! identit is also under threat. >mploees !rom all three
companies will !eel this threat as the begin to lose their sense o! continuit over
time.
Threats to organizational identit can also occur through challenges to self-
esteem and self-efcacy (1rea,well, :BC=). This ma be more evident with
emploees !rom the larger (stronger) *rm !earing their success will be
undermined b the wea,er $in!erior% companies.
5hereas identit is to do with meaning, culture can be understood to pertain to the
wa this meaning is lived and breathed, the wa identit is enacted. The smbols and
shared meaning o! an organization%s culture are assimilated over time b
organizational members and there!ore become an important part o! organizational
identit (1uono, 1owditch, 4 Fewis, :BC<). The merger process attempts to integrate
diferent organizational cultures hence, a merger can be viewed as a threat to
cultural distinctiveness (1uono et al., :BC<). -embers o! the ac9uired companies
ma have to abandon their e'isting culture and adopt the culture o! the ac9uiring
*rm. 8uccess o! the merger depends in part on their willingness to do this and on
perceptions regarding the nature o! their e'isting culture and the attractiveness or
superiorit o! the ac9uirer%s culture.
Key social psychological issues at stake
Group confict
1 de*nition, a merger scenario will heighten the salience o! issues pertaining to
organizational and personal identit b the ver !act that it is concerned with the
rede*nition o! the organizational groups and their boundaries. >mploee%s awareness
o! the in-group (own organization) and out-group(s) (the two other organizations) will
be heightened, which ma lead to in-group !avouritism (in order to maintain a
positive social identit and to protect their sel!-esteem). The ac9uiring *rm ma be
more li,el to e'press in-group !avouritism in order to emphasize their distinctiveness
and superiorit over the ac9uired *rms. "on.ict in the !orm o! in-group+out-group
biases has been shown in a merger between two ban,s when, !or e'ample, man
wor,ers blamed people !rom the $other% ban, !or !ailures in group outcomes and
credited people !rom their $own% ban, !or successes (1uono et al., :BC<). Due to the
high degree o! integration involved in this merger, the more change that is needed,
the greater the threat to positive distinctiveness and hence the greater the degree o!
con.ict that can potentiall arise.
General confict
2 general !orm o! con.ict can also occur due to the difering cultures o! these
corporations, the emploees% perceived loss o! autonom, and a general ignorance
regarding the other corporations concerns. The uncertaint and ambiguit o!ten
associated with the pre-merger phase can lead to subse9uent con.ict during
integration, when things start to become clearer !or emploees. >mploees in all
three corporations ma start to contest decisions made to do with the merger, !eeling
that the contradict their own interests.
Culture shock and negative expectations
The absorb pattern o! cultural integration to be underta,en means that the two
ac9uired organizational cultures will in efect disappear as their emploees are
absorbed and incorporated into the ac9uiring organization. The wor,ers ma not
realize the e'tent to which their organization%s culture in.uences their wor,
behaviour. This can result in a !eeling o! shoc, due to suddenl wor,ing in a diferent
organizational $world% which, in turn, can in.uence how the wor,ers respond to the
merger and ma inter!ere with the entire running o! the newl merged compan. The
cultural integration to be underta,en ma engender negative e'pectations (derived
!rom whatever in!ormation is available to the emploees) regarding relations
between the three corporations (contact conditions), and how the emploees will be
treated b the merged organization%s management (organizational support).
>mploees !rom the two ac9uired *rms are more li,el to have lower, more negative
e'pectations than those !rom the ac9uiring *rm regarding power and @ob securit.
The negative e'pectations !elt b the ac9uired emploees ma result in increased
!eelings o! threat and lower levels o! commitment to the merged organization, which
can afect the success o! the merger.
Intra-organizational cohesiveness
The a!orementioned threats to cultural distinctiveness and identit ma increase
intra-organizational cohesiveness resulting in a resistance to change. -embers !rom
the same pre-merger organization (in-group) ma become ver cohesive (closing
ran,s !rom out-group members) in the merged organization in an attempt to retain
their distinctiveness. This will afect the level o! collaboration and cooperation with
colleagues !rom diferent pre-merger companies, and hence hinder development o!
organizational citizenship behaviour.
Stress and anxiety
The loss o! identit, threats to positive distinctiveness, and diIculties with cultural
integration, ma engender stress in emploees. 8tress ma also occur as a result o!
the present merger due to lac, o! securit and unclear promotion prospects, a lac, o!
communication, wor, overload (due to voluntar and involuntar turnover), and
wor,-related an'ieties spilling over into the wor,ers home lives ("artwright 4 "ooper,
:BB6). 2ccording to the transactional model o! merger stress individuals ma
negativel appraise the merger situation b perceiving it as potentiall threatening,
whereas others ma perceive the merger as a challenging opportunit. In line with
the identit model utilized here, it could be argued that the greater the degree o!
threat to identit and positive distinctiveness, the more li,el negative appraisal o!
the merger situation will occur. >'periencing the merger as stress!ul is li,el to occur
with negative appraisal. The resulting stress and an'iet could lead to absence,
lateness, turnover and a decrease in productivit, all o! which negativel afect the
merger%s success ("artwright 4 "ooper, :BB6).
Turnover
The integration o! operations and wor, groups implies that redundanc !or some
emploees (!rom all three *rms) is inevitable. #oluntar turnover will also occur.
-ethods that bring about voluntar turnover in smaller corporations involved in a
merger are o!ten used b the larger corporation involved, which is applicable to the
present merger. This will afect the attitudes and behaviour o! the surviving
emploees !rom the two ac9uired *rms and also increase the prevalence o! !uture
voluntar turnover.
Practical Implications for Ensuring a Successful Merger
&rom the conceptualization and identi*cation and discussion o! ,e issues the
!ollowing need to be addressedD
&rom the conceptualizationD
o organizational identitE
o positive distinctivenessE
o continuitE
o sel!-esteem and sel!-eIcacE
o cultural integration.
&rom the ,e issuesD
o group con.ict and general con.ictE
o culture shoc,E
o negative e'pectationsE
o commitmentE
o intra-organizational cohesivenessE
o stress and an'iet (that is, through negative appraisal)E
o redundanc+turnover.
The above list enables several practical implications to be deduced.
Re-establish sense of continuity
>mploees need to be given a sense o! past and !uture, the need to have a notion o!
end time and not @ust a sense o! stabilit. Detailed in!ormation about wh the merger
is happening, what the merger will entail, and the timeline involved should be
provided, along with in!ormation regarding what the new organization%s long-term
plans will be.
Establish organizational identity for the NEW organization
The new organization needs to be seen b its members asD
distinctiveE
prestigiousE
competitive.
De*ne the new organization in terms o! distinctive and enduring characteristics.
8tress the distinctiveness o! the organization%s values and practices in relation to
comparable organizations, hence providing the new organization with a uni9ue
identit. To enable members to identi! with the new organization, ma,e it appear
prestigious. Identi! how the new organization is $bigger and better% than comparable
*rms as a result o! combining the good 9ualities !rom all three pre-merger
companies. The salience o! the new organization can be heightened b ma,ing the
organization appear to be in competition with other organizations (or merel ma,e
emploees aware o! other organizations). 1 introducing a $common enem%, the
emploees o! the $other% organization ma be viewed as an out-group b the merged
organization emploees, who ma then begin to regard one another as a single in-
group. Identi!ing with one%s organization can in itsel! lead to the enhancement o!
sel!-esteem as well as support !or and commitment to the new organization and its
culture.
Out with the old, in with the new
2s well as the new organization being seen as distinctive, prestigious and
competitive, removing smbols o! previous identities and imposing new identi*cation
smbols is a ,e implication to ensure merger success. 1 the manipulation o!
smbols (that is, traditions, rituals, metaphors) individuals% membership in the
organization can be made salient and can provide power!ul images o! what the new
organization represents. 8mbols o! an organization are also one aspect o!
organizational culture, there!ore, b imposing new smbols, this ma be a step
towards emploees understanding and internalizing the culture o! the new
organization.
From them & us to we a collaborative workforce
This is more o! a speci*c implication than that mentioned above regarding
organizational identit, and is to do with reducing con.ict and increasing cooperation
and collaboration between members !rom the pre-merger companies. The "ommon
In-group Identit -odel (3aertner, Dovidio, 2nastasio, 1achman, 4 Gust, :BB;)
suggests that to reduce bias and it will be necessar to recategorize the group
members% mental representations o! separate groups ($them% and $us%) to a one-group
representation ($we%). This can be done b ma,ing the boundaries between the three
organizations less salient through introducing e9ual status contact and mutual
respect b stressing to emploees the notable, outstanding 9ualities o! the other
organizations and emploees involved. This will also reduce the threat to sel!-esteem
and sel!-eIcac b ma,ing emploees less li,el to !eel their status+worth+abilit will
be undermined b an $in!erior% organization. In!ormal interaction and communication
between emploees !rom the three *rms should also be implemented in order to
individuate out-group members. 1 trans!erring emploees between the three
corporations or more speci*call, moving the merged wor,groups to a new location
or giving them new names, situational cues in the wor, setting, that ma be
associated with pre-merger group membership, will be eliminated. These, as well as
continual reassurance about preserving pro!essional distinctiveness, and creating
clearl speci*ed super-ordinate goals, will hope!ull result in an organization where
there is cooperation and collaboration (see 1rown, :BB=).
Turn the negative into positive (or at least reality)
The negative e'pectations (due to cultural integration) and negative appraisals o! the
merger situation (which ma lead to stress) can be addressed b presenting realistic
merger previews (G-(s) ("artwright 4 "ooper, :BB6). The implications here are
similar to the continuit solution regarding suppling in!ormation to emploeesE
however, the proposed content is slightl diferent. The G-(s should provide
in!ormation regarding what one can e'pect the $new% organization to be li,e,
stressing aspects o! organizational support (how the will be treated b the merged
organization) and what the contact relations will be between emploees !rom the
three pre-merger companies. This will enable emploees to ma,e realistic cognitive
appraisals which in turn ma reduce the level o! stress e'perienced and the level o!
threat, and ma even increase subse9uent levels o! commitment towards the merged
organization.
Successful cultural integration
The implications !or ensuring as smooth as possible cultural integration include
emploees perceiving the new culture as more attractive and superior to their old
one. This can be done b suppling emploees with culture-relevant in!ormation
(which alone can reduce culture clash issues), stressing the superior nature o! the
newl integrated culture, and pre!erabl indicating that there will be an increase in
autonom and emploee participation (more attractive).
Reduce merger stress
The above implications (re-establishing identit, distinctiveness and reducing the
diIculties with cultural integration) are li,el to have some efect in reducing the
stress e'perienced during the merger. To efectivel reduce the stress e'perienced b
the emploees, speci*c stress interventions should be matched to diferent phases o!
the merger implementation. &or e'ample, in the earl stages there should be open
communication, !ollowed b stress management wor,shops, and individual
counselling during the middle stages. In the *nal stages, an integration team should
be set up with managers !rom all three corporations (to increase !eelings o! !airness
and also the !eeling that the have an in.uence on the changes that will result !rom
the merger).
Turnover & the surviving employees
The problems identi*ed regarding turnover (both voluntar and involuntar) impl
that career advice and retraining opportunities should be made available to those
leaving the organization. This not onl provides the remaining emploees with
in!ormation about the organization%s values but also how !airl emploees will be
treated in the !uture.
Limitations to the Social Psychological Approach to Mergers
There are, however, a !ew limitations to the social-pschological approach to mergers
that need to be pointed out, including the lac, o! comprehensive theor. 2t present,
research tends not to be theoreticall driven with regards to merger processes and
outcomes. 2lso, much o! the literature has !ocused on @ust one process variable or
outcome o! mergers (!or e'ample, culture or commitment), however, no two mergers
are the same and variables !ound to be important in one merger situation ma not be
so in another. There!ore, in evaluating processes and outcomes, the speci*c
ob@ectives and goals o! each merger need to be considered. -easures o! the man
constructs investigated are also limited b the problem o! general agreement in
de*nition (!or e'ample, there is no one accepted de*nition o! culture). The
pschometric properties o! the measures themselves ma also be 9uestionable.
8tudies have used case-stud approaches and others have used student samples, et
this 9uestions the reliabilit and validit o! *ndings and generalizabilit to
emploees, respectivel. -ore research is also needed into the long-term efects o! a
merger (once change has been implemented).
Conclusion
It is clear that a merger is not something that happens merel to organizations, but
something that happens to people in the organizations. It is necessar !or people
implementing mergers to !ocus on the human side as much as the *nancial side.
Aope!ull then we ma see a decrease in the number o! !ailed mergers.
Appendix 13 Some Change Management Tools
Key Working Assumptions within an Appreciative Inquiry Approach to Change Management
:. (eople respond to their map o! realit and not to realit itsel!. 5e operate and
communicate !rom those maps. "hange begins with a change o! map.
6. Auman behaviour is purpose!ul though we are not alwas conscious o! what
purpose is.
;. 2ll behaviour has a positive intention. Our behaviour is alwas tring to
achieve something valuable !or us. 2 person is not their behaviour. Our
intention or purpose is not the action itsel!. 5hat ma appear to be a negative
behaviour is onl because we do not see the purpose.
0. (eople ma,e the best choice the can at the time. Ko matter how sel!-
de!eating, bizarre or unacceptable the behaviour, it is the best choice
available to that person at the time given their map o! the world. 3ive them a
better choice in their map and the will ta,e it.
<. (eople wor, per!ectl. Ko one is wrong and nothing is bro,en. It is a matter o!
*nding out how the+it !unctions so that it can efectivel be changed to
something more constructive and desirable.
=. The meaning o! a communication is the response ou get. This ma be
diferent !rom that ou intend. There are no !ailures in communication, onl
responses and !eedbac,. >ver e'perience can be used. I! ou are not getting
the result ou want, do something diferent.
J. 5e alread have all the resources we need or we can create them. There are
no un-resource!ul people onl un-resource!ul states.
C. -odelling success!ul per!ormance leads to e'cellence. I! one person can do
something, it is possible to model it and teach it to others.
B. I! ou want to understand, act. The learning is in the doing
:7. 1uild on what is going well and wor,ing o,a rather than what is wrong or
problematicD be aware o! ampli!ing the problem b ma,ing an issue o! it and
using the language o! ds!unction (principles o! appreciative in9uir) so use
positive language (what wor,s, what we are doing well, what we could do
more o! or better). Fanguage in.uences realit so we can re!rame realit with
the words we use. The envisioned organization or !uture realit must be
perceived as attractive and something with which people can identi! and
move naturall towards. 8ome practical was o! doing this are given below.
Language as a source of change
2ppreciative in9uir highlights the power o! language in !raming our perception and
e'periences o! the world. This is a potentiall ver power!ul tool in itsel! !or
generating change. "hange the language, and change the wa realit is perceived.
This also e'tends to the wa we $categorize% the world. (roblems o! inter-operabilit
(diversit management) are not directl traceable to diferences per se, but the wa
these diferences are used and managed b people in the wa the interact and
communicate on a dail basis. These diferences are not *'ed realities ? the are
interpretations of reality. Thus, gender diferences and other categorical diferences
signi*ed b terms li,e ethnicit and se'ualit are not *'ed indisputable realities but
important sources o! identi*cation and are thus strategic resources !rom which to
draw in the sense-ma,ing process.
Diferences are !undamentall self-referential (that is, sel!-de*ning, sel!-protective,
sel!-e'pressive). )nderstanding sel! and identit processes are critical to
understanding how diferences are interpreted and managed. These processes are
ine'tricabl lin,ed with group considerations and are at wor, in everda interaction
and communication practices. )nderstanding this is one ,e to leveraging immediate
change.
&or instance, i! diference is tal,ed about in categorical terms (recognizing diversit
across groups ? gender, ethnicit, se'ualit and so on), the identities evo,ed b this
will be ampli*ed (and accordingl also, stereotpical assumptions and attributions
will be made). I!, on the other hand, diferences are tal,ed about and addressed at
the individual level (!or e'ample, b valuing the individual and e'plicitl recognizing
individual diferences), categorical diferences will become less salient and people will
act accordingl on this basis. This does not den the realit or validit o! categorical
diferences, it merel de-emphasizes them in !avour o! an appreciation o!
$individuals%. To this e'tent, a meritocratic sstem can thrive in which individuals are
appreciated irrespective o! their categor memberships and identities.
5hen we appreciate individuals, we accept that the will de*ne themselves in man
diferent was, with re!erence to man diferent categorical or role identities.
Gecognizing this diversit o! sel!-representation is to some e'tent more important
than recognizing diversit across individuals because the latter puts people into
bo'es, whilst the !ormer ac,nowledges that there is no one bo' in which an one
person can be slotted. Diversit management practices can thus to some e'tent both
simpli! diferences and perpetuate !alse diferences, rather than regarding diversit
as a concept to illuminate and herald individual diferences. There is no substitute !or
getting to ,now the individual as an individual with a uni9ue personal histor and
pro*le.
Aow can our organization move beond the language o! categories to the language
o! individualsH Aow can individual diferences be applauded and nurtured whilst also
being appropriatel and realisticall contained within organizational !ramewor,sH
Aow does our organization tal, about and address diferenceH To what e'tent does
this perpetuate !alse diferencesH
Aow are categories used in e'planations o! organizational eventsH 5hat stereotpes,
images, $stories% and assumptions abound in association with diferenceH 5hat ,ind
o! language is embedded in our policies and guidelines that unwittingl !ocus our
attention on diferences that are otherwise not relevant to the wa we go about our
businessH Aow do assumptions about categor diferences impact on perception and
behaviourH
-erel re.ecting on the language we use to describe, e'plain and organize situations
can be suIcient to illustrate the power o! language to !rame perception and action.
Conversation for change
True change comes about naturall and constantl through people in their attempt to
ma,e sense o! their e'periences. This involves dialogue. "hange cannot be imposed,
it must be generated through people in the course o! their everda interaction. 2n
increasingl common and highl efective strateg !or !acilitating trans!ormational
change is to simpl get people in conversation with each other about the ,ind o!
organization the wish to wor, !or, about what wor,s well and how to ta,e this
!orward. "ompanies li,e 1(, I1-, I"F, and 1T have all success!ull used $conversation
!or change%, rolling out change through the creation o! !orums designed to get people
!rom diferent levels o! the hierarch, across diferent !unctions+departments and
division, and geographical, even national divided, tal,ing to each other about
organizational practices. "onversation opportunities are created through in!ormal and
!ormal (staged) means, all with the purpose o! engaging people !rom all parts and
levels o! the compan in discussing, envisioning and translating rhetoric into their
everda realit. &or e'ample, an aspired to organizational image o! $valuing
diversit% can be unpac,ed (made sense o!) in !ocus group discussions and translated
into real everda @ob terms.
Visualization and the use of metaphor
#isualization is a strateg used b athletes to pro@ect themselves into a game, to
mentall simulate themselves per!orming at their best and, ultimatel, to represent
their win. #isualization can be sel!-!ul*lling, because it creates a positive mind-set in
which people come to appreciate the authorship o! their own success and because it
afords mental rehearsal and preparation !or diIcult situations. #isualization involves
a pro@ection o! sel! into the !uture and creates a sel!-!ul*lling $stor% with a particular
(positive) ending in which sel! ta,es ownership o! the success process. It encourages
goal setting (setting speci*c achievable and realistic targets or milestones) and as
such has a !ocusing and energizing efect.
The same strateg can be used to create the momentum !or change (and success) in
organizational terms. (eople can be encouraged (as part o! a group e'ercise) to
visualize the !uture o! the organization in desirable and attractive terms, pro@ecting
themselves into it and mentall rehearsing the practicalities o! what this would mean
in practice. In so doing, a sel!-!ul*lling process is spar,ed. One wa o! helping this
process along, is to use metaphor. -etaphors can capture the essence o! something
in simple, concrete terms, and, as such, are eas to engage with and internalize as a
wa o! thin,ing and seeing. -etaphors can also constrain and limit, so the need to
be selected care!ull and unpac,ed to identi! their energizing potential within a
visualization e'ercise.
5hen attempting to generate a change-inducing $stor% metaphor, decide on the
outcome that ou want the metaphor to achieve (or agree, in a group setting, the
desired outcome). The outcome must e'press the needs and desires o! the group
(that is, it must be something with which the group can collectivel identi! and
invest in). There are no right or wrong meanings to metaphors. Ko matter how much
people might as, ou to tell them the $meaning%, this is our meaning, not theirs.
-etaphors ma be single words, e'pressions or stories. "ommon metaphors areD
$being in the *ring line%, $aiming at the target%, $I need to overcome his ob@ections%,
$business has died down%, $steaming ahead%. -etaphors e'press e'perience, and also
perpetuate it, through behaviour that is congruent with this.
-etaphors pro@ected into the !uture can be grounded with re!erence to $stories% about
what has wor,ed well in the past (appreciative in9uir), thereb retaining a sense o!
continuit !rom past, present to the !uture. -oreover, the metaphor can be grounded
in meaning!ul practical terms and is easier to engage with.
Force-feld analysis
The assumption behind !orce-*eld analsis is that there are alwas going to be
various tensions to deal with in association with change, tensions in particular that
arise !rom con.icting pressures to move one wa rather than another. /urt Fewin
described these con.icting pressures as $push and pull% !actors. (ush !actors
constitute the drivers o! change, whilst pull !actors constitute the inhibitors. &or
e'ample, a ,e driver !or change underpinning diversit management initiatives is a
legal imperative on companies to demonstrate that the are abiding b >9ual
Opportunit legislation. 2nother driver is the increased pluralit o! societ combined
with the need !or !ront-line behavioural snerg. 2n inhibitor, however, in this
instance, would be deepl ingrained stereotpes about people who belong to
particular categories or groups. /urt Fewin argued that in an situation o! planned
change, it is essential to map the push and pull !actors (o! all tpes and at all
possible levels o! analsis) to get a handle on the *eld. 1 mapping the *eld in this
wa, sources o! potential resistance can in principle be pre-empted or addressed, and
the natural drivers o! change can be mil,ed.
In identi!ing the push and pull !actors it is use!ul to categorize them as $legal%,
$environmental%, $economic%, $technological%, $people%, and so on. )nder $people%, one
wa to start the process is to identi! all o! the sta,eholders and to per!orm a
$sta,eholder% analsis. 5ho are sta,eholders and what are their interestsH 5hat
might their role be in the process o! changeH
Appendix 14 Knowledge Management
First generation ? !ocus on timel in!ormation provision !or decision support
and in support o! business process re-engineering (1(G) initiatives. Fi,e 1(8, it
!ailed to deliver on is promised bene*ts.
Second generation ? tacit-e'plicit ,nowledge conversion ? content
management.
Third generation ? re9uires a clear separation o! conte't, narrative and
content management and challenges the orthodo' o! scienti*c management.
"omple' adaptive sstems theor is used to create a sense-ma,ing model
that utilizes sel!-organizing capabilities o! the in!ormal communities and
identi*es a natural .ow model o! ,nowledge creation, disruption and
utilization. Aowever, the argument !rom nature o! man comple'it thin,ers is
re@ected given the human capabilit to create order and predictabilit through
collective and individual acts o! !reewill.
/nowledge is seen, parado'icall, as both a thing and a .ow re9uiring diverse
management approaches.
The assumptions underpinning ,nowledge management is that there are inherent
uncertainties o! sstems comprised o! interacting agents. (hsical and biological
models do not ta,e into consideration the uni9uel human capacities o! !reewill,
awareness and social responsibilit. /nowledge management is about engaging
human comple'it in its man mani!estations, including the ancient collective and
emergent patterns o! narrative, ritual, negotiation o! identit and truth, sel!-
representation and ,nowledge e'change.
The Paradoxical Nature of Knowledge
8ome o! the basic concepts underpinning ,nowledge management are now being
challenged. /nowledge is not a thing (awaiting to be discovered through scienti*c
investigation), or a sstem, but an ephemeral, active process o! relating. I! one ta,es
this view, then no one, let alone a corporation, can own ,nowledge. /nowledge itsel!
cannot be stored, not can intellectual capital be measured, and certainl neither o!
them can be managed. The $thing% metaphor o! ,nowledge is the underpinning o! the
content mgt tradition o! ,nowledge management. In third-generation ,nowledge
management, ,nowledge is managed as a .ow, re9uiring attention to conte't and
narrative rather than content.
The 9uestion about the manageabilit o! ,nowledge is not @ust academic.
Organizations have increasingl discovered that the tacit and e'plicit distinction
tends to !ocus on the container, rather than the thing contained. Three heuristics
illustrate the change in thin,ing re9uired to manage ,nowledgeD
Knowledge can only be volunteered ? it cannot be conscripted !or the
ver simple reason that I can never trul ,now i! someone is using his or her
,nowledge. I can ,now I have complied with a process or a 9ualit standard.
Tet to some e'tent, managers have been trained to be conscripts not
volunteers.
We can always now more than we can tell! and we will always tell
more than we can write down ? the nature o! ,nowledge is such that we
alwas ,now, or are capable o! ,nowing more than we have the phsical time
or the conceptual abilit to sa. I can spea, in *ve minutes what it would
otherwise ta,e two wee,s to get round to spending two hours writing it down.
The process o! writing something down is re.ective ,nowledgeE it involves
both adding and ta,ing awa !rom the actual e'perience or original thought.
Ge.ective ,nowledge has high value, but is time-consuming and involves loss
o! control over its subse9uent use.
We only now what we now when we need to now it ? human
,nowledge is deepl conte'tual, it is triggered b circumstances. In
understanding what people ,now we have to recreate the conte't o! their
,nowing i! we are to as, a meaning!ul 9uestion or enable ,nowledge use. To
as, someone what he or she ,nows is to as, a meaningless 9uestion in a
meaningless conte't, but such approaches are at the heart o! the mainstream
consultanc method.
The three heuristics partiall support our view o! ,nowledge as an $active process o!
relating%. Aowever, it does not mean that we abandon second-generation practice,
merel that we recognize its limitations.
(hilosophers have long seen parado' as a means o! creating new ,nowledge and
understanding. (hsicists brea,ing out o! the Kewtonian era had to accept that
electrons are parado'icall both waves and particlesD i! ou loo, !or waves ou see
waves, i! ou loo, !or particles ou see particles. (roperl understood ,nowledge is
parado'icall both a thing and a .owE in the second age we loo,ed !or things and
!ound things, in the third age we loo, !or both in diferent was and embrace the
conse9uent parado'.
"ulture is ,e to the .ow o! ,nowledge within an organization. "ulture is the wa in
which humans provide standards !or deciding what is what can be, how one !eels
about it, deciding what to do about it and !or deciding how to go about doing it. 8uch
cultures are tacit in nature, networ,ed, tribal and .uid. The are learning cultures
because the deal with ambiguit and uncertaint originating in the environment, or
sel!-generated !or innovative purposes. 5e need to trans!er ,nowledge to new
members, in both societ and the organization, ,nowledge that has pain!ull been
created at cost over previous generations. The mechanisms !or learning are ver
diferent !rom those !or teaching. In the case o! teacher there is little ambiguit
between teacher and taught. In learning, such ambiguit is o!ten a precondition o!
innovation. The costs and scalabilit are also diferent. In the case o! teaching, the
population o! taught can be large, varing to some degree with the level o!
abstractionE reliabilit, scalabilit and economies o! scale are both realistic and
sensible. Fearning is more about providing space and time !or new meaning to
emerge, research !acilities are not cheap and not all emploees can realisticall be
provided with space o! learning, as opposed to the application o! what can be taught.
Diversity over Time and Space
C#nefin (,un-ev%n) is a 5elsh word with no direct e9uivalent in >nglish. 2s a noun it
denotes a habitat, as an ad@ective, ac9uainted or !amiliar, but this does not do it
@ustice. 8inclair (:BBC) sas it $describes a relationshipD the place o! our birth and o!
our upbringing, the environment in which ou live and to which ou are naturall
acclimatised%. It difers !rom the Qapanese word $1a% denoting a $shared space !or
emerging relationships%, in that it lin,s a communit into its shared histor ? or
histories ? in a wa that parado'icall both limits the perception o! the communit
while enabling an instinctive and intuitive abilit to adapt to conditions o! pro!ound
uncertaint. In general, i! a communit is not phsicall, temporall and spirituall
rooted, then it is alienated !rom its environment, and will !ocus on survival rather
than creativit and collaboration. In such conditions, ,nowledge hoarding will
predominate and the communit will close itsel! to the e'ternal world. I! the
alienation becomes e'treme, the communit ma even turn in on itsel!, atomizing
into an incoherent babble o! competing sel!-interests. "riticall, it emphasizes that we
never start !rom a zero base when we design a ,nowledge sstem, all plaers in that
sstem come with the baggage, positive and negative derived !rom multiple
histories.
&our open spaces or domains o! ,nowledge can be envisaged, all o! which have
validit within diferent conte'ts. The are domains not 9uadrants as the create
boundaries within a centre o! !ocus, but the do pretend to !ull encompass all
possibilities.
Common"sense maing
In!ormal interdependent
Social networks
(ro!essional logical
Communities of practice, known
membership and objectives
)ncharted innovative
emporary communities
1ureaucratic structured
Coherent groupings
Distinction between Complex and Complicated
2n aircra!t is a complicated sstemE all o! its thousands o! components are ,nowable,
de*nable and capable o! being catalogued, as are all o! the relationships between
those components. I! necessar, it can be ta,en apart and e'amined to discover the
nature o! the components and their relationships. "ause and efect can be separated
and b understanding their lin,ages we can control outcomes.
Auman sstems are comple'E a comple' sstem comprises man interacting agents,
an agent being anthing that has identit. 5e all e'ist in man identities. 2s we
.uidl move among identities, we observe diferent rules, rituals, and procedures
unconsciousl. In such a comple' sstem, the components and their interactions are
changing and can never be 9uite pinned down. The sstem is irreducible. "ause and
efect cannot be separated because the are intimatel intertwined. Two e'amples
ma,e this clearD
"onsider what happens in an organization when a rumour o! reorganization
sur!acesE the comple' human sstem starts to mutate and change in
un,nowable wasE new patterns !orm in anticipation o! the event. On the
other hand, i! ou wal, up to an aircra!t with a bo' o! tools in our hand,
nothing changes.
2 !eature o! a comple' sstem is the phenomenon o! retrospective coherence
in which the current state o! afairs alwas ma,e logical sense, but onl when
we loo, bac,wards (post hoc rationalization). The current pattern is logical,
but is onl one o! man patterns that could have !ormed, an one o! which
would be e9uall logical.
Organizations tend to stud past events to create predictive and prescriptive models
!or !uture decisions based on the assumption that the are dealing with a
complicated sstem in which the components and associated relationships are
capable o! discover and management. This arises !rom Talor%s application o!
Kewtonian phsics to management theor in the principles o! scienti*c management
(8-). 8ubse9uentl, a whole industr has been built between business schools and
consultancies in which generalized models are created !rom analtical stud o!
multiple case histories. 8- served well in the revolutions o! total 9ualit management
and 1(G and continues to be applicable in the domain o! the complicated. Aowever,
@ust as Kewtonian phsics was bounded b the understandings o! 9uantum
mechanics, so 8- has been bounded b the need to manage ,nowledge and
learning.
The second distinction is between a comple' sstem comprising man interacting
identities in which one cannot distinguish cause and efect relationships but can
identi! and in.uence patterns o! interactivit and a chaotic sstem in which all
connections have bro,en down and are in a state o! turbulence or eternal boiling. It is
dangerous to con!use comple' and chaotic. In the comple' domain, we manage to
recognize, disrupt, rein!orce and seed the emergence o! patternsE we allow the
interaction o! identities to create coherence and meaning. In a chaotic domain, no
such patterns are possible unless we intervene to impose themE the will not emerge
through the interaction o! agents.
5hat to one organization is chaotic, to another is comple' and ,nowable. In the
chaotic domain, the most important thing is to actE then we can ma,e sense and
respond.
The Knowledge Spiral
The law o! re9uisite variet is well understood in ecologE i! the diversit o! species
!alls below a certain level then the ecolog stagnates and dies. >'cessive !ocus on
core competence, a single model o! communit o! practice or a common investment
appraisal process are all e'amples o! was in which organizations can destro variet.
Dependence on Informal Networks
2 mature organization will recognize that in!ormal networ,s are a ma@or competitive
advantage (&or e'ample, $swarming% ? li,e bees in a hive).
Appendix 15 Newcomer Socialization
Kew organizational recruits represent a particular tpe o! emploee to an
organization, o!ten displaing high e'pectations, motivation and a desire to achieve
within their new role. Aowever, the initial perceived pschological contract between
emploees and emploing organization ma alter mar,edl during the earl period o!
tenure !or newl recruited staf (Gobinson, /raatz, 4 Gousseau, :BB0). The !ul*lment
o! new recruits% e'pectations o! the wor,place and the organization is !undamental to
ma'imizing satis!action, commitment levels, desire to sta with the compan and @ob
per!ormance. 5hilst later researchers have 9uestioned the size o! relationship
between met e'pectations and these wor,-related outcomes, there is general
agreement that an emploing organization !ul*lling contractual obligations and
e'pectations will lead to more positive outcomes !or new recruits(2nderson, 677:).
it can be argued that hast establishment o! pschological and emploment
contracts at the outset o! an individual%s tenure within an organization are largel
responsible !or subse9uent !eelings o! disillusionment and possible attrition,
suggesting provision o! ade9uate @ob-relevant in!ormation as a possible mediator o!
this outcome.
Becoming an Organizational Member
The in!usion and maintenance o! strong corporate cultures begins with selection and
training. 2t 8outhwest 2irlines, !or instance, onl prospective emploees who *t with
the culture are hired. In companies such as (rocter and 3amble, Da!t describes the
process o! acculturationD $new emploees are assigned minor tas,s while the learn
to 9uestion their prior behaviours, belie!s and values. Through e'tensive training,
new recruits constantl hear about the compan%s transcendent values and
overarching purposes, about watershed events in the compan%s histor, and about
e'emplar individuals ? the heroes.%
The wa in which an individual becomes a !ull integrated member o! the
organization is ordinaril addressed as an issue o! socialization. Aebden (:BC=) tal,s
o! socialization as the in!usion o! organizational culture within newcomers (the
$transmission o! culture$), as does 8impson (:B=J) that is, $learning the cultural
content (s,ills, ,nowledge, was o! behaving) o! a role and sel!-identi*cation with the
role which leads to internalization o! certain values and goals%. 8ocialization has been
studied !rom a number o! diferent perspectives and conceptual orientations
including, !or e'ample, in!ormation gathering approaches (!or e'ample, Ostrof 4
/ozlows,i, :BB6), cultural approaches (!or e'ample, Aebden, :BC=), and social
identit approaches (!or e'ample, 2sh!orth 4 -ael, :BCB).
8chein (:BJ:) describes socialization as individual movement within and between
organizations. 5henever an individual crosses an organizational boundar (!or
e'ample, moving !rom one ran, to another) he or she is re-socialized to learn or
construct a public sel! around the re9uirements o! their changing roles. The !ocus o!
this model is, however, on structural and strategic aspects i! socialization to the
neglect o! the cognitive and afective side o! becoming an organizational member.
8ocialization into a pro!ession or organization ma ta,e place through in!ormal and+or
!ormal channels. &ormall, induction courses ma be run !or new organizational
recruits, which $sell% the organization%s identit and culture through the compan
mission statement, provision o! compan literature (o!ten branded and
communicating the $.avour% o! the organization through speci*c use o! language,
phrasing and stle) and via training. In!ormal channels o! socialization ma includeD
observation o! e'isting wor,ersE initiation rites (where a recruit is tested b
emploees)E $budding% or $mentoring%E and being corrected !or mista,es and
organizational faux pas at the outset o! one%s tenure.
The socialization process thus results inD speci*cations !or behaviour (the appropriate
rules and norms to !ollow)E change in attitude (to reduce cognitive dissonance
resulting !rom mismatch between one%s own attitudes and those o! the group)E and, i!
pro!essional socialization, active internalization o! ideologies, values and norms
representing that pro!ession.
)ntil recentl, it has been assumed that the individual is a passive recipient o!
socialization practices regulated and controlled b a socializing agent. Kowadas,
however, it is common to ac,nowledge that the recruit ta,es a proactive role in the
socialization process via mechanisms such as $sel!-to-prototpe matching% (8etterland
4 Kiendethal, :BB;) and anticipator sel!-stereotping. &or e'ample, Kiendethal and
colleagues have shown that individuals see, out situations the believe to be sel!-
de*ning and in which the receive sel!-veri!ing !eedbac,. Individuals imagine the
tpical person !ound in a particular situation then compare the de*ning traits o! the
prototpes with those o! him- or hersel! and select the product, situation or institution
associated with the greatest similarit between the sel! and the prototpic person-in-
situation (8etterland 4 Kiendenthal, :BB;D 6=B?6J7).
Aowever, it is important to recognize that selection and internalization o! prototpe
value sets ma result in an idealized (and not realistic) perception o! the group (and
the sel!) during the socialization process. Thus, $realit shoc,% ma occur upon the
realization that their stereotypical behaviours, norms and values are not consistent
with realit. The mechanisms that ma be used to reduce cognitive dissonance in
such situations have been little studied. It is possible that such ,nowledge- and
e'perience-based matching is under a constant review process, and is sub@ect to
change on a continuous basis over time, as suggested b -oreland and Fevine
(:BC6).
Gesearch has demonstrated a clear lin, between perceived socialization e'periences
and commitment (-eer, :BBJD :BJ). Gesearch has tended to rel heavil on the si'-
dimensional classi*cation scheme o! #an -aanan and 8chein (:BC=). The dimension
most strongl associated with commitment is $investiture versus divestiture%, which
re.ects the $degree to which newcomers received positive ($investiture%) or negative
($divestiture%) support a!ter entr !rom e'perienced organizational members% (.
Investiture is !ound to be more strongl predictive o! commitment that divestiture.
One potential problem with $instilling commitment% is its conse9uences !or emploee
inclination to be innovative. 2nother problem associated with the use o! socialization
practices to instill commitment is the tendenc to !ocus on the !orm (that is,
processes, practices), rather than the content (that is, messages) o! commitment,
and on organizationall initiated rather than emploee-initiated (!or e'ample,
in!ormation see,ing) socialization strategies.
"ommitment ma also arise !rom the provision o! training, although this is more o! a
,noc,-on conse9uence o! training rather than an intended conse9uence. Gesearch
shows that commitment ma result !rom perceptions o! training eforts, as opposed
to the training e'perience itsel! (-eer, :BBJ). "ommitment can, in turn, increase
motivation to participate in training.
It is commonl e'pected that perceived provision !or, and actual upward progression,
will have a positive impact on emploee commitment. Gecent research indicates that
this assumption should be 9uali*ed with re!erence to considerations o! @ustice ? that
is, whether promotion procedures are perceived to be !air. The implication o! this !or
organizations is the need to conve clear messages to emploees about promotion
opportunities and in particular how promotion decisions are made (-eer, :BBJD
677).
5ithin this conte't, the pschological contract has been seen both as a potential
mediator o! disillusionment in new recruits to organizations, and as a metaphor !or
career structure and development. 1a,er and 1err (:BCJ) cited improved entr-level
career counselling, combining dissemination o! @ob-relevant in!ormation and recruit
sel!-assessment in the pursuit o! increased sel!-,nowledge as resulting in improved
person?@ob+organization match and an improved pschological contract between
emploee and emploer. &eller (:BB<) discussed was in which emploment
counsellors could assist clients in planning and ta,ing action to enhance personal
competitiveness in a wor,place undergoing ma@or structural change, using the
pschological contract construct as a use!ul descriptor o! that change process.