Approaches to Change Management
1.0 Introduction to Strategic Management
It is important to understand what strategic management means prior to considering the different approaches used to analyse, develop and implement change. Johnson and Scholes (2002 cited Burnes 2009 pg. 250) provide a useful summary of the three key areas of strategic management as understanding the strategic position of the organisation, identifying strategic choices for the future and turning strategy into action. Initially, it is important to recognise where the company aspires to be in the future. For British Airways, this is communicated through their vision to be the world’s leading global premium airline (British Airways 2009). There is often a conflict between the vision that the company want to portray and what others perceive management’s real message to be (Crotts et al 2005). It is important to align strategic action with the overall vision in order to minimise confusion for all involved in implementing the strategy.
To avoid any confusion, the distinction between decisions made at a strategic level and those at an operational level need to be made. Evans et al (2003) state that there are six areas in which each management type differ, which are level of seniority, focus, scope, time horizon, degree of certainty, and complexity of the decision. Firstly, strategic management concerns decisions at a top corporate level, which are normally the responsibility of company directors. The focus is on the long term vision for the business to ensure it maintains competitive advantage, decisions are often complex and are based on a thorough analysis of the internal and external environments. Although managers at an operational level may take their lead from decisions made at a corporate level, their responsibilities focus on the short term objectives for the company and day to day running of the business (Evans et al 2003. To summarise, Goldsmith (1996 pg.1431) defines the process as such,
“Strategic management
It is important to understand what strategic management means prior to considering the different approaches used to analyse, develop and implement change. Johnson and Scholes (2002 cited Burnes 2009 pg. 250) provide a useful summary of the three key areas of strategic management as understanding the strategic position of the organisation, identifying strategic choices for the future and turning strategy into action. Initially, it is important to recognise where the company aspires to be in the future. For British Airways, this is communicated through their vision to be the world’s leading global premium airline (British Airways 2009). There is often a conflict between the vision that the company want to portray and what others perceive management’s real message to be (Crotts et al 2005). It is important to align strategic action with the overall vision in order to minimise confusion for all involved in implementing the strategy.
To avoid any confusion, the distinction between decisions made at a strategic level and those at an operational level need to be made. Evans et al (2003) state that there are six areas in which each management type differ, which are level of seniority, focus, scope, time horizon, degree of certainty, and complexity of the decision. Firstly, strategic management concerns decisions at a top corporate level, which are normally the responsibility of company directors. The focus is on the long term vision for the business to ensure it maintains competitive advantage, decisions are often complex and are based on a thorough analysis of the internal and external environments. Although managers at an operational level may take their lead from decisions made at a corporate level, their responsibilities focus on the short term objectives for the company and day to day running of the business (Evans et al 2003. To summarise, Goldsmith (1996 pg.1431) defines the process as such,
“Strategic management
References: * BBC., 2012. UK inflation rate falls to 4.2% in December. UK: BBC News. Available from http://www.bbc.co.uk [Accessed 14th February 2012] * British Airways, 2009 * Burnes, B., 1996. No such thing as … a “one best way” to manage organizational change. Management Decision, 34(10), 11-18. * Burnes, B., 2009 * By, R,T., 2005. Organisational Change Management: A critical review. Journal of Change Management, 5 (4), 369-380 * Crotts, J.C, Dickson, D.R and Ford, R.C., 2005 Aligning organizational processes with mission: The case of service excellence * Elrod, P.D and Tippett, D.D., 2002. The Death Valley of Change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 15 (3), 273 – 291 * Evans, N, Campbell, D and Stonehouse, G., 2003 * Garvin, D.A., 1993. Building a Learning Organisation. Harvard Business Review, 71 (4), 78-91 * Gavetti, G and Rivkin, J.W., 2007 * Goldsmith, A.A., 1996. Strategic Thinking in International Development: Using Management Tools to See the Big Picture. World Development, 24 (9), 1431 - 1439 * Goodman, J and Truss, C., 2004 * Grundy, T., 2006 Rethinking and reinventing Michael Porter’s five forces model. Strategic Change, 15 (5), 213 – 229 * Kotter, J.P and Schlesinger, L.A., 2008 * Lynch, R.L., 2003. Corporate strategy. 3rd ed. Harlow : Financial Times Prentice Hall * Mintzberg, H * Wood, S., 1979. A Reappraisal of the Contingency Approach to Organization. Journal of Management Studies, 16 (3), 334 -354 Figure 2 STEEP Framework