STRATEGIC CHANGE.

Major change requires a shift in the underlying culture of the organisation and therefore the attitudes and behaviours of the employees. Many change initiatives stumble because they

fail to deliver this shift by addressing the cultural and political reality of organisations. This occurs because there is

a misunderstanding about:

● the nature of culture in organisations;

● how difficult it is to change culture;

● the wide range of interventions that

are required if a cultural shift is to be

achieved.

If change implementation efforts are to be successful, they need to be designed to fit the organisational context, that is, they need to be context sensitive. All too often, because of the complex nature of change, organisations attempt to pull down off the shelf solutions or recipes which they have seen work in other contexts, but which are inappropriate to

their context of operation.

■ Change is about changing people, not organisations. Organisations change when the managers and employees

change their way of doing business. It needs to be recognised that employees are an intrinsic part of the change process.

Balogun (2001)