Company X,Y,Z establishes a vision for change where "cutting costs is critical to our survival" and establishes a reward system to the department which cuts costs the most in one quarter, and states it will be a "department-based reward" system for the next four quarters. By the "most" the management establishes, the cuts will be valued by a somewhat complicated algorithm % and $ of cut in the total expense budget. The sales team goes for the gold and cuts their travel budget by 50%, which is by far the biggest department cut in both $ and %. They win the 1st quarter reward. In quarter 2, the IT team cuts expenses the most by ending the purchase of all new software or PCs. In quarter 3, the production line cuts their expenses the most by laying off 60% of the workers (sales have dropped significantly and technology problems have slowed production, so this was needed anyway.)
The company did a good job establishing urgency and aligning metrics with the vision for change, and this change appears to be successful.
The company aligned metrics with the vision for change, and created its own nStep method of change.
The company culture is dysfunctional and could have learned from CEO Bethune and the Continental Airline's own culture of "cost is everything."
The company will probably win the J.D. Power and Associates award for customer satisfaction this year.
The reward system is a "spray and pray" system.