Shaping implementation

strategies – part 1
Different approaches to implementing change
6e Chapter 10
© John Hayes (2018) 1
Historical overview of
change strategies
1900-1950 Autocratic top-down,
with focus on techno-structural
issues

1950-1970s Recognition of value of

participation and involvement led to
development OD strategies

1970s onward Need to adjust

quickly to disruptive changes in
external environment led to greater
use of top-down organization-wide
transformational strategies

Source: Getty Images/EyeEm

© John Hayes (2018) 2
Three approaches to
managing change
Beer (2000) identified two well-
tried strategies
• Economic strategies
• Organisation Development
strategies
but he also discovered a third
strategy that that combines the
best of both

Source: © Royalty-Free/Corbis
© John Hayes (2018) 3
 Economic strategies
Focus on the drive for economic
value through tough, top-down,
results driven action.
They involve the imposition of
technical solutions to problems that
undermine organisational
effectiveness.
Solutions/interventions include:
• Restructuring
• Reengineering
• Drives for efficiencies

Source: © Royalty-Free/Corbis
• Layoffs

© John Hayes (2018)

4
Organisation Development
(OD) strategies
Focus on creating the capabilities required
to sustain competitive advantage and high
performance.
These capabilities include:
• Coordination and team work
• Commitment and trust
• Competencies (technical and
leadership)
• Open communications
• The capacity for constructive conflict
• Learning

Source: © Royalty-Free/Corbis
© John Hayes (2018)
5
Beer’s third way –
a combined economic/OD
strategy
Change strategies that are capable of
delivering sustained high performance
require:
• The development of a vision that
offers a compelling and balanced
business and OD direction
• The management of key
stakeholders to buy time to develop
organisational capabilities
• The adoption of a socio-technical
approach that involves the

Source: © Royalty-Free/Corbis
development of down-the-line
managers
© John Hayes (2018) 6
With reference to organizations that you are familiar
with, which is the dominant strategy?

1 Economic strategies

2 OD strategies

3 Combined economic/OD
strategies

7
Beer found that the dominant strategy was Economic
but the most effective was combined economic/OD

1 Economic strategies

2 OD strategies

3 Combined economic/OD
strategies

8
In many organizations top
management are reluctant to
adopt a combined strategy
They often have a mind-set that favours a
top-down drive for results. The three key
aspects of this mind-set are:

• Shareholder interests
• The assumption that the
organisation’s technical (rather
than social) systems determine
performance
• The assumption that there is little
to be gained from dialogue with

Source: © Royalty-Free/Corbis
employees

© John Hayes (2018) 9

No single best strategy
Although Beer’s “third way” – the
approach that combines features of
Economic and OD strategies – has been
found to be effective in many situations,
there will be circumstances where the
ideal balance between a top-down drive
and a more collaborative develop
approach will vary
Implementation strategies need to be
internally consistent and compatible with
key situational variables
Some of these will be considered here

Source: ImageSource
© John Hayes (2018) 10
Stability of external
environment
When the organization is embedded
in a stable environment, incremental
adjustment might be an effective
change strategy
But when the environment is unstable
and the organization has to cope with
external discontinuities, then a more
transformational strategy might be
called for

Source: ImageSource
© John Hayes (2018) 11
Urgency and stakes involved
The greater the short-run risks to the
organization if the current situation is
not changed quickly, the more change
managers may have to adopt a top-
down directive strategy
Involvement and participation takes
time, and this time might not be
available if the need for change is
urgent

Source: ImageSource
© John Hayes (2018) 12
Level of support
If support for change is low, those
initiating the change need to consider
whether resistance could be reduced
by adopting a more collaborative
approach
If they believe this is unlikely to work,
then a more top-down coercive
strategy might need to be considered

Source: ImageSource
© John Hayes (2018) 13
Degree to which stakeholders
trust those leading the change
The more stakeholders trust those leading
the change, the more likely they are to be
prepared to follow the direction of trusted
leaders
In these circumstances both directive and
collaborative strategies might work

A directive strategy could be effective

when trust is low, time is short, and those
leading the change have more power than
those who will be affected by the change

Source: ImageSource
© John Hayes (2018) 14
Extent to which change
managers have access to all the
information they need
The more change managers
anticipate that they will need
information from others to help
design and implement the change the
more they might have to adopt a
collaborative approach and seek
inputs from others

Source: ImageSource
© John Hayes (2018) 15
Extent to which they must rely
on the commitment and energy
of others
The more change managers are
dependent on the commitment of
others and their willingness to engage
in discretionary behaviours to make
the change plan work, the more
attention they need to give to
winning their commitment and
support
One way of achieving this is to adopt
a more collaborative approach

Source: ImageSource
© John Hayes (2018) 16
Alignment of values
When the values of those initiating the
change are aligned with those affected
by the change, the change initiative is
more likely to be successful.
When values are misaligned, support
may be limited and, because it is difficult
to modify people’s values in the short
term, those initiating the change may
feel that the only way forward is to adopt
a more directive approach

Source: ImageSource
© John Hayes (2018) 17
Variations over time
In the short term, the critical
requirement might be to secure the
organization’s survival, and this might
require radical transformation and a
tough top-down implementation
strategy
Over the longer term, the focus might
switch to a more incremental
approach designed to deliver
continuous improvement

Source: ImageSource
© John Hayes (2018) 18
Summary
This first tutorial on shaping implementation
strategies has focused on the types of strategy
favoured by change managers
It draws on the work of Beer to explore the
strengths and weaknesses of three strategies
Some of the situational variables that need to
be considered when shaping an
implementation strategy have also been
considered
The second part of this tutorial builds on
these ideas and presents a contingency model
that change managers can use to help them
identify an effective implementation strategy

Source: © Royalty-Free/Corbis
19