8.3.1 Principles for Constructive Change
Involvement and good communication have been consistently identified in this second part of this chapter as being key to ensuring that change initiatives progress well. World Vision is one organisation that is focussed on making major change happen in the world and in 1999, Peter Corney developed the following list for facilitating constructive change:
Principle 1 - Leadership must provide an exciting and inspiring Vision - a dream, a hope for the future. We won't venture out of our comfort and safety zones without a vision.
Principle 2 - Acknowledge the past as you initiate change. Recognise and acknowledge the past achievements, the significant stages and events of the organisation's history, the significant people, the heroes and heroines. Value the past.
Principle 3 - Remember this is a process - it takes time for us to see and grasp the Vision. We must be helped to understand the changes that will be necessary to get us there. This will involve: information, education, knowledge and experience (a taste of the possibilities). In this phase there are a lot of questions that need answers. Our fears need to be allayed. We need dialogue and discussion about the change.
Principle 4 - Besides emotional reassurance we need at least three other things satisfied:
- Our beliefs and our values (is this appropriate to our organisation?)
- Will this promote our organisation?
- Will this create a more vital organisation?
- Our minds
- Does this make sense?
- Is it reasonable?
- Our experience
- Is there a working model of this somewhere else?
- Talk to other people and get them to relate their experiences
Principle 5 - Decisions are also a process. Different people decide at different rates. Research shows that up to 15% of people are 'late adopters' of change. Initially they are quite resistant but later change their view. A further 10% is made up of people who accept the change begrudgingly but very late.
Principle 6 - Implementation of the change must be placed towards the end of the process. All of the above takes time. Remember the 80/20 principle. It takes 80% of the time to communicate the Vision and 20% to get the task done. Reverse this process and you will have problems. Remember you cannot over communicate.
Principle 7 - If we are to own change, we have to have a say in negotiating it and deciding how it is to be implemented. The more people are involved in the process the greater the chance of its acceptance and success.
Principle 8 - Give the change boundaries - let's revisit and evaluate in 6 months.
Principle 9 - Don't try to change too much too quickly (Corney 1999).
Reading 8.3
Smith, M (June, 2004), 'Improving Supply Chain Performance' Ascet, Vol. 6, pp. 56-58. Sourced February 2005, at http://www.ascet.com/documents.asp?d_id=2521# .
Activity 3
Read the above reading with a focus on the concept of agility and the ability of leaders to make supply chains not only more responsive, but part of how they build competitive advantage..
- How do you think the concept of absorptive capacity could be applied to creating agile supply chains?
- Read and examine in general terms the link between business structures evidenced in supply chain management as depicted in the Smith reading and earlier discussion on the importance of responsive deign and process interconnectedness discussed earlier.
- Is absorptive capacity and agility a critical differentiator between a transport and logistics organisation being able to change supply chain performance through transformational rather than transitional processes? How would we see evidence of this?
Activity 4
Complete an audit of an organisation's agility. Using the Benchmarking Organisational Agility tool please now complete an agility audit.
Note that this exercise will take at least three hours to complete. For ease of use it is also recommended the tool be copied onto A3 paper. The tool may be completed alone, or with a group of peers.
Benchmarking Organisational Agility [Download]
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