Evaluating the Change Agent

Program at Siemens Nixdorf

Bacalanmo, Sonny A.
Buenviaje, Soisoi
Echavez, John Kristoffer R.
Umblero, John
 Overview of the case

Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme (SNI)

was the largest European-owned computer
manufacturer and information technology
vendor in 1994.
 It was created by a 1990 merger between
Nixdorf computer and the mainframe
computer division of Siemens AG.
 the result of the merger wasnt that good.
Their performance in responding to the
market changes wasnt that good and the
organizational structure was considered too
bureaucratic.
 Industry analysts observed that the company
was constrained by a rigid corporate culture
established during the merger.
 In mid 1994, a new CEO was hired named
Gerhard Schulmeyer. He introduced two
programs that would change the company for
the better, the Culture Change Program (CCP)
and the Change Agent Program (CAP).
 CCP
The Culture Change Program had 4 major
change events which was held in Hanover,
Germany. The events involved employees,
managers, customers, and other people that
are related to the company, to talked about
changes, how the company should be run,
how it should treat customers, and so on.
 CAP
The Change Agent Program was about training
employees, also known as Change Agents
(CAs), for them to find innovative ways to
approach and implement their projects. These
projects are expected to be used when they
return in SNI.
 When Siemens absorbed all of SNIs activities,
the change efforts of the company suddenly
faded.
THE FOUR-FRAME MODEL
 The Four-Frame Model
The model has four different frames, each of
which provides a different angle on how
organizations should operate.

Without the capacity to use multiple frames,

managers may become locked into their one
favored way of seeing the world.
THE FOUR FRAMES
 The Structural Frame
The Structural Frame presents organizations
as akin to machines that are designed to
efficiently turn inputs into outputs.
the focus of this frame is about getting the
correct formal design as one would find in an
organizations charts, rules, and procedure
manuals.
 The Structural Frame
To execute the program, a road map was
created, published, and set in motion in
October 1994.
To change SNI, two foundations were
prioritized; behavioral and learning
components of the road map
 The road map was initiated and gave the
employees a 13-week program for change.
Due to objective inconsistencies, the 13-week
program was short to a 2 3-week program.
As a result, the employees werent able to
cope with the discussion and the flow of the
programs objectives were completely
scattered and unorganized.
 The Human Resource Frame
The Human Resource Frame directs attention
to the relationship between the organization
and the people that comprise it.
it is based on the proposition that a good fit
between the needs of the organization and
what the people want out of work, benefits
both parties.
 The Human Resource Frame
The two programs that Schulmeyer introduced
to the company, was clearly supported in the
case. The conferences that were held in
Hanover, for the Culture Change Program,
were supported financially. The chosen
participants in the Change Agent Program had
two sponsors, the Business Leader and the
Executive Sponsor.
 The Human Resource Frame
There was clearly a good connection between
the employees and the organization. The
employees participated in the programs that
the company made. However, most senior
managers showed little interest in learning
from either the project results or the enhanced
skills of the CAs. As a result, the objective,
which is to inculcate the whole corporation to
the said culture change, was lost.
 The Political Frame
The Political Frame suggests that we see
organizations as sites where participants
interact in pursuit of a range of objectives.
 The Political Frame
Because the company used mid level
managers rather than high potential
participants which causes stress to their
employees, and because of their shifts in the
environmental and political situation, the
official CAP was terminated at the end of
2000.
 The Symbolic Frame
The Symbolic Frame proposes that the
essence of an organization may lie not in its
formal structure and processes but in its
culture the realm if symbols, beliefs, value,
rituals, and meanings.
 The Symbolic Frame
Clearly, when Schulmeyer wasnt the CEO of
SNI and the programs he introduced have not
yet existed, the company didnt have that kind
of culture that a company should have. As a
result, they became slow in responding to
market change and the organizational
structure became too bureaucratic. They also
lost $350 million in fiscal 1994.
 The Symbolic Frame
Schulmeyer wanted to recreate SNIs
corporate culture, a culture that enhances
entrepreneurial thinking and team building.
through the 4 major events of the Culture
Change Program, employees can learn new
patterns of behavior that would help the
company have a better corporate culture.
 The Symbolic Frame
The program (CCP) deeply affected the
participants, they returned to their day-to-day
activities motivated and fired up with a new
sense of mission.