The Four Change Antecedents: Culture, Capacity, Commitment, and Capability

Case Assignment

Begin the Module 3 Case assignment by reading the following Case study:

Burton, O., & Pope, D. (2012). Winds of change at Measurement Equipment Supply Co., Inc. Journal of Case Studies, 30(1), 51-57. Retrieved from EBSCO-Business Source Complete.

Then, in a well-written 5- to 6-page paper, respond to the following:

What do you believe are the most important 3-4 threats confronting the Measurement Equipment Co. Inc. (MESCO)?

Hint: As you read the case, take note as to how events that have emerged in the company's external environment, for example, increased regulation, economic, social, and technological-have created the need for the company to consider undergoing major changes.

In the Background section of this module, we reviewed the role of:

Culture

Commitment

Capacity

Capability

in determining the extent to which companies are prepared to successfully undertake major organizational changes. Your task is to rank each of these four factors from the highest (#1) to the lowest (#4) company need as they relate to MESCO's readiness to change. Next, defend each of your rankings (for example, if you ranked "Commitment" as #1, explain specifically why you believe Commitment is the factor that the company has the greatest need to address; what circumstances or threats faced by the company cause you to rank this factor as being the most important need?).

Using the factors you ranked as #3 and #4, provide 2 or 3 recommendations for each concerning what you believe the company should do in order to sufficiently prepare the company to undergo a major organizational change. For example, assuming you have ranked the company's "Capability" as #4 (the lowest of the four factors-and as the greatest need), what do you recommend Bill Smith should do to improve "Capability" before MESCO can successfully move forward with the company's major organizational changes?

The Four Change Antecedents: Culture, Capacity, Commitment, and Capability

For the Module 3 SLP, you are asked to administer the adapted Organizational Readiness to Change (Climate of Change) to someone you know who has experienced a major workplace change.

As you learned from the Background materials, one of the four factors that may be used to determine the potential success of a major organizational change is the organization's culture; that is, the organization's culture must exist in a state that is ready for-and amenable to-major change or organizational transformation.

For purposes of this SLP, you are free to administer the survey to someone who has experienced either a major (transformational) or minor organizational change.

This adapted survey is intended to measure an organization's readiness to change from the perspective of the organization's culture. Download the survey: Organizational Change Questionnaire - Climate of Change - Adapted).

Following completion of the survey, respond to the following in a 3- to 4-page paper:

Identify the nature of the change: What was the change that the organization experienced? Then, identify the change as a minor or major organizational change.

Was the organizational change successful? In other words, does the interviewee believe that the organization achieved its stated purpose?

Provide the total score and the level of readiness for organizational change.

From the perspective of the organization's culture, what does the interviewee believe was the single, most important characteristic of the organization's culture that contributed to the success or failure of the change (e.g., open communication/ poor communication, high level of trust/ mistrust, etc.)?

How does this identified characteristic compare with the general responses (and the total score) given by the interviewee?

Conclude your SLP by commenting on the extent to which the interviewee's organizational culture contributed to the success or failure of the change. How do the interviewee's responses inform (or align with) the success or failure of the organizational change?

Required Reading

Read the following article about Organizational Transformation (as contrasted with other forms of organizational change, such as "developmental change" and "transitional change").

Andersen, D., & Andersen, L. A. (2010). What is transformation, and why is it so hard to manage? Change Leader's Network.

As we learned in Modules 1 and 2, major organizational changes are often cause for resistance on the part of individuals and/or groups; for the sake of successful change, resistance to change must be managed. The extent to which the change is managed well (or not) is the key determinant of whether the change will succeed-or whether the change is doomed to failure. Because no organization wishes for a major change to fail; thus, proactive planning and communication are paramount.

Today, change is rapid, change is complex. Change management is thus made complex. As a matter of survival (let alone organizational success), organizations must be adept at change (recall from Module 1 how the best of organizations can fail when they neglect to change and/or adapt to changing environmental conditions). It is in this context that we turn to discover the steps that must be taken before a major organizational change is undertaken.

Read Sections 1 ("It's Not Working!") through Section 3.4 ("Capability to Change") in the following text:

Managing Organizational Change by Helen Campbell

Campbell, H. (2014). Managing organizational change: A practical toolkit for leaders. Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page. Retrieved from EBSCO-eBook Collection.

As noted by Campbell, organizations must have the following in order to change to be successful:

Culture "fit"

Capacity

Commitment

Capability

We have covered resistance to change (in the context of the organization's need for commitment on the part of individuals and the organization as a collective) in Modules 1 and 2.

To this extent, let's review the other three key concepts - beginning with Organizational Culture in greater depth. To begin, watch this short video on the importance of culture in the organizational change process:

PWC's Strategy. (2014, April 3). Culture is key: The 2013 culture and change management survey.

Now, watch the video "Building your capability to lead change." Note how many of the characteristics discussed within the video are related to the organization's culture:

Franklin, M. (2014, July 10). Building your capability to change. Agile CM.

Organizations not only require the capability (or the competencies) to change, but they also require the capacity for change.

Among other things, "capacity" refers to needed resources-people, capital, and money-as well as the ability of the organization to manage the change without adversely disrupting the organization's existing operations.

Read the section entitled "Change Capacity," noting the authors' assertion that organizations undergoing major change simultaneously require stability as well as change.

Meyer, C. B., & Stensaker, I. G. (2006). Developing capacity for change. Journal of Change Management, 6(2), 217-231. Retrieved from EBSCO-Business Source Complete.