case study on organisational change and development

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Organizational change

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How Much Change Can a New CEO Demand? (HBR Case Study and Commentary)

• Paul M. Healy
• Mitch Krebs
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Why Leadership Training Fails-and What to Do About It

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Reinventing Customer Service

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• From the November–December 2018 Issue

Getting AI to Scale

• Tim Fountaine
• Brian McCarthy
• Tamim Saleh
• From the May–June 2021 Issue

Breaking the Functional Mind-Set in Process Organizations

• Ann Majchrzak
• Qianwei Wang
• From the September–October 1996 Issue

Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy

• Michael E. Porter
• Mark R. Kramer
• From the December 2002 Issue

Convincing Your Company Leaders to Invest in New Technology

• Sonya Dineva
• January 18, 2022

How Can Big Companies Keep the Entrepreneurial Spirit Alive?

• John Browne
• Steven E. Prokesch
• From the November–December 1995 Issue

You Don’t Need a Grand Strategy to Achieve Organizational Change

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• March 10, 2020

Organize Your Change Initiative Around Purpose and Benefits

• Antonio Nieto Rodriguez
• May 17, 2023

Tipping Point Leadership

• W. Chan Kim
• Renee A. Mauborgne
• From the April 2003 Issue

The Reinvention Imperative

• Miles White
• From the November 2013 Issue

The Challenge of Change

• Amy C. Edmondson
• March 07, 2011

Ten Deadly Mistakes of Wanna-Dots

• Rosabeth Moss Kanter
• From the January 2001 Issue

What's Stifling the Creativity at CoolBurst? (Commentary on HBR Case Study)

• Suzy Wetlaufer
• Paul Barker
• Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries
• Gareth Jones
• Elspeth McFadzean
• Teresa M. Amabile
• September 01, 1997

How We Went Digital Without a Strategy

• Ricardo Semler
• From the September–October 2000 Issue

Welcome Aboard (But Don't Change a Thing) (HBR Case Study and Commentary)

• Eric McNulty
• Kathleen Calcidise
• Debra Benton
• Nina Aversano
• Debbie Cohen
• Dan S. Cohen
• From the October 2002 Issue

What's Stifling the Creativity at CoolBurst? (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)

• May 01, 2000

It's Time to Take a Fresh Look at Your Company's Values

• John Coleman
• March 27, 2022

Trust and the Virtual Organization

• Charles Handy
• From the May–June 1995 Issue

Interview with Zhang Ruimin, CEO, Haier Group, Video

• Lynn Sharp Paine
• Jennifer Benqing Gui
• December 01, 1998

Leading Change

• January 07, 1988

Deaconess-Glover Hospital (D)

• Steven J. Spear
• June 29, 2001

Southland Corp. (C)

• Richard S. Ruback
• November 08, 1991

Kotter on Accelerating Change (2 Ebooks)

• John P. Kotter
• August 12, 2014

Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth

• Jonathan Levav
• Maryanna V Quigless
• January 13, 2014

Odebrecht's "Transformation Journey" (B)

• Ruth Costas
• Pedro Levindo
• May 14, 2021

Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B)

• Michael L. Tushman
• David Kiron
• September 26, 2011

Madison Avenue: Digital Media Services (A)

• Jeremy B. Dann
• July 19, 2000

Haier Group (A)

• Robert J. Crawford
• March 09, 1998

H.E. Butt Grocery Co.: A Leader in ECR Implementation (B) (Abridged)

• Robert D. Austin
• F. Warren McFarlan
• July 14, 1997

Iz-Lynn Chan at Far East Organization

• Linda A. Hill
• Anthony J. Mayo
• Dana M. Teppert
• February 22, 2013

Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam

• Christopher Marquis
• Vinay Ganti
• Kevin Smith
• Doug Guthrie
• July 16, 2010

BMW AG: The Digital Auto Project (A)

• Stefan Thomke
• Ashok Nimgade
• November 18, 1998

Merck Latin America (B): Argentina

• James Weber
• March 12, 2001

Intel Corp.: Leveraging Capabilities for Strategic Renewal

• Christopher A. Bartlett
• Ashish Nanda
• March 09, 1994

Creating a Process-Oriented Enterprise at Pinnacle West

• February 05, 2010

Toyota Recalls (C): Bumpy Road Ahead

• John A. Quelch
• Carin-Isabel Knoop
• Ryan Johnson
• October 19, 2010

Leading the Life You Want: Skills for Integrating Work and Life

• Stewart D. Friedman
• October 07, 2014

Changing the Culture at British Airways

• James K. Leahey
• October 09, 1990

Change Management Simulation: Power and Influence V3, Quick Start Guide

• Harvard Business Publishing
• July 15, 2021

Understanding Value Migration and Putting It to Work

• Jim Billington
• June 01, 1997

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Cases and Exercises in Organization Development & Change

• Edited by: Donald L. Anderson
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc.
• Publication year: 2012
• Online pub date: December 19, 2014
• Discipline: Business & Management
• Subject: Organization Design , Organization Development , Organizational Psychology
• DOI: https:// doi. org/10.4135/9781483387444
• Keywords: consultancy , interviews , overtime , staff , supervisors , team management , teams Show all Show less
• Print ISBN: 9781412987738
• Online ISBN: 9781483387444
• Buy the book icon link

This comprehensive collection of cases and exercises allows students to practice organization development (OD) skills at the same time as learning about theories of organizational change and human behavior. The first part of the book presents cases about the OD process, and the second part includes cases in organization-wide, team, and individual interventions. The final part provides practical exercises that make the course material come alive through realistic scenarios that organizational change practitioners regularly experience.

This book can be used as a stand-alone text or as an accompaniment to Donald L. Anderson's textbook Organization Development: The Process of Leading Organizational Change, Second Edition (ISBN 978-1-4129-8774-5).

Front Matter

• Introduction

Part I: Cases in the Organization Development Process

• Case 1: Contracting for Success: Scoping Large Organizational Change Efforts
• Case 2: The Discipline Dilemma in Rainbow High School
• Case 3: A Case of Wine: Assessing the Organizational Culture at Resolute Winery
• Case 4: Utilizing Exploratory Qualitative Data Collection in Small Organizations: Consulting for the Multicultural Community Connections
• Case 5: Identifying the Scope of Work at Dixie Weaving, Inc.
• Case 6: A Manufacturing Crisis in Bayrischer Silicon Products
• Case 7: The Ivory Tower Opens Up
• Case 8: Engineering Culture Change with Strategic Initiatives
• Case 9: Organization Culture—Diagnosis and Feedback
• Case 10: Engaging Broader Leaders in the Strategic Planning of Lincoln Women's Services
• Case 11: Resistance to Change: Technology Implementation in the Public Sector
• Case 12: Resistance to Change: Assessing Readiness for the Implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System at MedDev, Inc.
• Case 13: Where Do We Begin? Selecting an Intervention at the Springfield County Office of Economic Development
• Case 14: To Change without Appearing to Change: Creating Stability in a Multichange/Multiresolution Government Agency
• Case 15: When a Contract Is Not Enough
• Case 16: Measuring Organizational Effectiveness in the Nonprofit Sector: The Case of the Community Action Network
• Case 17: Not in Watertight Compartments: Service Quality Improvement and Organization Development

Part II: Cases in Organization Development Interventions

• Case 18: Global Chain of Command: A Japanese Multinational Manufacturer in the United States
• Case 19: Safe Passage: An NGO in Guatemala City Responds to a Leadership Crisis
• Case 20: The Case of Jim: A Vice President in a National Nonprofit Association
• Case 21: A Small World After All
• Case 22: Accounting Team Problems at Acme Manufacturing
• Case 23: Who's Making the Decisions at Livingston University?
• Case 24: Greencycle Publishing
• Case 25: When a Team Breaks in Two
• Case 26: Diggins/Reinholdt Plastics, Inc.: A Study in Resistance to Change in the Aftermath of a Merger
• Case 27: Whole Organizational Design Intervention
• Case 28: The Change Story of Yellow Auto Company
• Case 29: We Must Learn to Innovate! Culture Change (and Shock) in a Consumer Packaged Goods Company
• Case 30: Sticker Shock in an Organization That Will Not Stick Together

Part III: Exercises in Organization Development and Change

• Exercise 1: Contracting with a Client
• Exercise 2: Organization Development Practitioner Skills
• Exercise 3: Data Gathering
• Exercise 4: Giving Feedback
• Exercise 5: Resistance to Change
• Exercise 6: Resistance to Change Scale
• Exercise 7: Cynicism About Organizational Change
• Exercise 8: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
• Exercise 9: Coaching and Individual Instruments
• Exercise 10: Team Values
• Exercise 11: Team Diagnosis and Intervention
• Exercise 12: Team Facilitation
• Exercise 13: Identifying and Changing Organizational Culture
• Exercise 14: Perceived Organizational Innovativeness Scale
• Exercise 15: Designing and Redesigning Organizations

Back Matter

• About the Editor
• About the Contributors

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• Research article
• Open access
• Published: 14 November 2019

Organisational change in hospitals: a qualitative case-study of staff perspectives

• Chiara Pomare   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9118-7207 1 ,
• Kate Churruca 1 ,
• Janet C. Long 1 ,
• Louise A. Ellis 1 &
• Jeffrey Braithwaite 1  

BMC Health Services Research volume  19 , Article number:  840 ( 2019 ) Cite this article

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Organisational change in health systems is common. Success is often tied to the actors involved, including their awareness of the change, personal engagement and ownership of it. In many health systems, one of the most common changes we are witnessing is the redevelopment of long-standing hospitals. However, we know little about how hospital staff understand and experience such potentially far-reaching organisational change. The purpose of this study is to explore the understanding and experiences of hospital staff in the early stages of organisational change, using a hospital redevelopment in Sydney, Australia as a case study.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 46 clinical and non-clinical staff working at a large metropolitan hospital. Hospital staff were moving into a new building, not moving, or had moved into a different building two years prior. Questions asked staff about their level of awareness of the upcoming redevelopment and their experiences in the early stage of this change. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Some staff expressed apprehension and held negative expectations regarding the organisational change. Concerns included inadequate staffing and potential for collaboration breakdown due to new layout of workspaces. These fears were compounded by current experiences of feeling uninformed about the change, as well as feelings of being fatigued and under-staffed in the constantly changing hospital environment. Nevertheless, balancing this, many staff reported positive expectations regarding the benefits to patients of the change and the potential for staff to adapt in the face of this change.

Conclusions

The results of this study suggest that it is important to understand prospectively how actors involved make sense of organisational change, in order to potentially assuage concerns and alleviate negative expectations. Throughout the processes of organisational change, such as a hospital redevelopment, staff need to be engaged, adequately informed, trained, and to feel supported by management. The use of champions of varying professions and lead departments, may be useful to address concerns, adequately inform, and promote a sense of engagement among staff.

Peer Review reports

Change is a common experience in complex health care systems. Staff, patients and visitors come and go [ 1 ]; leadership, models of care, workforce and governing structures are reshaped in response to policy and legislative change [ 2 ], and new technologies and equipment are introduced or retired [ 3 ]. In addition to these common changes experienced throughout health care, the acute sector in many countries is constantly undergoing major changes to the physical hospital infrastructure [ 4 , 5 ]. In New South Wales, Australia, several reports have described the increase in hospital redevelopment projects as a ‘hospital building boom’ [ 4 , 6 ], with approximately 100 major health capital projects (i.e., projects over AUD$10 million) currently in train [ 7 ]. In addition to meeting the needs of a growing and ageing population [ 8 ], the re-design and refurbishment of older hospital infrastructure is supported by a range of arguments and anecdotal evidence highlighting the positive relationship between the hospital physical environment and patient [ 9 ] and staff outcomes [ 10 ]. While there are many reasons why hospital redevelopments are taking place, we know little about how hospital staff prospectively perceive change, and their experiences, expectations, and concerns. Hospital staff encapsulates any employee working in the hospital context. This includes clinical and non-clinical staff who provide care, support, cleaning, catering, managerial and administrative duties to patients and the broader community.

One reason as to why little research has explored the perspectives of hospital staff during a redevelopment may be because hospital redevelopment is often considered a physical, rather than organisational change. Organisational change means that not only the physical environment is altered, but also the behavioural operations, structural relationships and roles, and the hospital organisational culture may transform. For example, changing the physical health care environment can affect job satisfaction, stress, intention to leave [ 11 ], and the way staff work together [ 12 ].

Redeveloping a hospital can be both an exciting and challenging time for staff. In a recent notable example of opening a new hospital building in Australia, staff attitudes shifted from appreciation and excitement in the early stages of change to frustration and angst as the development progressed [ 13 ]. Similar experiences have been reported elsewhere, such as in a study describing the consequences for staff of hospital change in South Africa [ 14 ]. However, these examples explored staff attitudes towards change retrospectively and considered the change as a physical redevelopment, rather than organisational change. Such retrospective reports may be limited in validity [ 15 ] as prospective experiences and understanding of change reported by staff may be conflated with the final outcome of the change. The hospital redevelopment literature has also prospectively assessed health impacts of proposed redevelopment plans as a means to predetermine the impact of a large change on the population [ 16 ]; while prospective, this research again considers redevelopment as a physical modification, rather than an organisational change. Thus, while the literature has reported retrospective accounts of staff experiences in large hospital change and prospective assessment of the impact of the change, there is little research examining the understanding and experiences of staff in the early stages of redevelopmental change in hospitals through a lens of organisational change.

Seminal research in the organisational change literature highlights that the role of frontline workers (in this case hospital staff) is crucial to implementation of any process or change [ 17 , 18 ]. Specifically, that the support of actors (understanding, owning, and engaging) can determine the success of a change [ 19 ]. This is consistent with complexity science accounts which suggest that any improvement and transformation of health systems is dependent upon the actors involved, and the extent and quality of their interactions, their emergent behaviours, and localised responses [ 1 , 20 ]. In health care, change can be resisted when it is imposed on actors (in this case, hospital staff), but may be better accepted when people are involved and adopt a sense of ownership of the changes that will affect them [ 21 ]. This may include being involved in the design process. For this reason, it is important to examine the understanding and experiences of actors involved in a change (i.e., hospital staff in a redevelopment), in order to understand and potentially address their concerns, alleviating negative expectations prior to the change.

This study is part of a larger project exploring how hospital redevelopment influences the organisation, staff and patients involved [ 22 ]. The present study aimed to explore the understanding and experiences of staff prior to moving into a new building as one stage in a multidimensional organisational change project. The research questions were: How do staff make sense of this organisational change? How well informed do they feel? What are their expectations and concerns? What are the implications for hospitals undergoing organisational change, particularly redevelopment?

The study protocol has been published elsewhere [ 22 ]. The Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) guidelines were used to ensure comprehensive reporting of the qualitative study results (Additional file 1 ) [ 23 ] .

Study setting and participants

This study was conducted at a large metropolitan, publicly-funded hospital in Sydney, Australia. The facility is undergoing a multimillion-dollar development project to meet the growing needs of the community. This hospital has undergone a number of other changes over the last two decades, including incremental increases in size. Since its opening in the mid 1990s (with approximately 150 beds), several buildings have been added over the years. The hospital now has multiple buildings and over 500 beds.

During the time of this study, the hospital was in the second stage of the multi-stage redevelopment. This stage included: the opening of a new acute services building, the relocation of several wards to this new building (e.g., Intensive care unit (ICU) and Maternity), increases in resources (e.g., equipment, staffing), and the adoption of new ways of working (e.g., activity-based workspaces for support staff). Essentially, the redevelopment involves the opening of a new state-of-the-art building which will include moving services (and staff) from the old to the new building, with some wards staying in the old building. For the wards moving into the new building, this change does not initially involve more patients in existing services, but is intended to increase the number of staff because there will be more physical space to cover and new models of care introduced (e.g., ICU changing to single-bed rooms, more staff needed to individually attend to patients). The current redevelopment includes space for future expansion to account for the growing population. In addition to the redevelopment of the physical infrastructure, the way staff work together is also planned to change. Hospital leadership is aiming to foster a cultural shift towards greater cohesion and unity; highlighting that the hospital redevelopment can be conceptualised as an organisational change of considerable importance and magnitude.

Participants were hospital staff (clinical and non-clinical) working at the hospital under investigation. Staff working on four wards were targeted for interviews, with the intention to capture diverse experiences of the redevelopment and the broader organisational change; two of these wards would be moving into the new building (ICU and Maternity), one ward was not moving (Surgical), and one ward had moved into a new building two years prior (Respiratory). Interviews were also conducted with staff who held responsibilities across wards (e.g., General Services Department: cleaners, porters). The hospital staff were purposively recruited by department heads and snowballed from participants. Fifty staff members were approached (until data saturation was met) with four refusing to participate because they did not have the time.

Semi-structured interviews

Semi-structured interviews were conducted in private settings at the participants’ place of work (e.g., ward interview rooms, private offices). In the event a participant was unable to meet the researcher in person, interviews were conducted over the phone. A semi-structured interview guide was created in collaboration with key stakeholders from the hospital under investigation and following a literature review. The guide (Additional file 2 ) included questions aimed at exploring participants’: (1) understanding of the hospital’s culture and current ways of working; (2) understanding of the redevelopment and other hospital changes; and (3) concerns or expectations about the organisational change. The interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim by the first author who is trained and experienced in conducting semi-structured interviews. No field notes were made during the interview nor were transcripts returned to participants for comment or correction due to the time poor characteristics of the study participants (hospital staff). Participants were informed that the research was part of the first author’s doctoral studies.

Interview data were analysed via thematic analysis [ 24 ] using NVivo [ 25 ]. This approach followed Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six phases of thematic analysis: familiarise, generate initial codes, develop themes, review potential themes, define and name themes, produce the report. Data were initially read multiple times by the first author, then descriptively and iteratively coded according to semantic features. The analysis included the use of inductive coding to identify patterns driven by the data, together with deductive coding, keeping the research questions in mind. Through examination of codes and coded data, themes were developed. The broader research team (KC, LAE, JCL) were included throughout each stage of the analysis process, with frequent discussions concerning the categorization of codes and themes. This process of having one researcher responsible for the analysis while other researchers then checked and clarified emerging themes throughout contributes to the trustworthiness of the findings [ 26 ].

In presenting the results, extracts have been edited minimally to enhance readability, without altering meaning or inference. Where extracts are presented, staff are coded according to their department (G: General – works across several wards; ICU: Intensive care unit; MAT: Maternity ward; RES: Respiratory ward; SUR: Surgical ward) and profession (AD: Administrative staff; CHGTEAM: Change management team staff; DR: Medical staff; GS: General services staff; MW: Midwifery staff; N: Nursing staff; OTH: Other profession).

Forty-six staff members participated in the semi-structured interviews. Interviews were typically conducted face-to-face ( n  = 41; 89.1%), with five interviews conducted over the phone. No differences were discerned in content between these different mediums. Hospital staff taking part in interviews included those from: nursing and midwifery, medical, general services, administrative, and change management (Table  1 ). Change management staff are external to the hospital staff, and do not report to hospital executives. Interviews ranged from seven to 33 min in length ( M  = 17 min). Participating staff had worked at the hospital for on average 10.5 years (range 5 months and 30 years).

Five themes were identified related to hospital staff’s understanding and experiences (i.e., expectations and concerns) of the change: staffing; benefits to patients; collaboration; fatigue; and adaptability. These expectations and concerns are schematically presented in Fig.  1 , with shades of red indicating negative expectations and concerns associated with the theme, and green representing positive expectations. Intensity of the colour demonstrated the frequency of positivity or negativity associated with that theme (i.e., deeper shades of red indicate frequency of negative discussion of this theme by different hospital staff). This figure also highlights the complexity and interrelatedness of these themes (e.g., the concern of inadequate staffing for the new building was linked with concerns about patient care, which could possibly impede the way the team work together, leading to staff feeling overworked and worn out; these expectations were all mitigated by the staff member’s understanding and awareness of the change). Explanations and examples are presented below.

Thematic visualisation of staff understanding and expectations of the change

Hospital staff consistently held staffing to be a major concern in this redevelopment. To them, the opening of the new building, and with it the increase in physical size and addition of new services, meant that an increase in staff was crucial to successfully implement the change: “ My biggest uncertainty at the moment is the fact that I’m really concerned about whether I’m actually going to get enough staff ” (GS1). Many participants suggested that this issue would determine the success of the new hospital building. This was particularly important for staff moving into the new building with a bigger work space: “ We just need more staff. Yeah I think that’s the main issue - if we fix that then I believe everything should be smooth ” (ICUN4). For the most part, staff were unaware about how many new staff they would have in the new building. This uncertainty involved two related issues: (1) will we get the budget for new staff that we need? And if so, (2) where will we find all these new staff to employ?

On the first point, staff reported concerns that they would not have enough staff to cover the increased physical space and new ways of working within the new building. This lingering uncertainty was the result of external factors, specifically unresolved budget issues: “ But I suppose some of the issues stem from the fact that you never know how many beds we are able to open based on the funding from the government, and that is what is still up in the air ” (ICUDR1).

Regarding the second point, staff noted that even if budgetary issues were resolved, and there was enough money to hire new staff to fill the new building, a challenge would be finding the staff to recruit: “ I don’t know where these new staff are going to come from” (GN3). Some participants suggested that they already encountered difficulties with employing enough appropriately qualified staff and reported concerns that this issue would be compounded when they moved into the new building: “ Excitement will be way gone. It’s more to deal with that stress and the workload of other staff ” (ICUN4). Participants working on wards that were not moving into the new building also reported concerns about staffing. They noted that, despite not being directly involved in previous stages of the redevelopment, they had still been affected by these changes, because their colleagues were taken from their ward without consultation and moved into a new area. Hence, even staff not moving in the next stage of the redevelopment had concerns that their staffing levels would be affected: “ We have been told that we are not moving in there. And hopefully they don’t take our staff there ” (SURN5).

Benefits to patients

Many hospital staff expressed a positive expectation of the move related to benefits for patients. This was consistent across wards, departments and professions. Staff expected patients to experience benefits including reductions in infection rates and improved satisfaction, due to staying in a well-controlled and physically appealing environment with natural light: “ Any new place will give some joy or some happiness to people… The major change will be that because there are individual rooms, the infection rate will be lower and that I’m very pleased with” (ICUDR1).

Despite these participants reporting the improved physical environment was expected to positively affect patients, they also raised concerns that being in the new building might negatively affect patient safety because the increased physical space could introduce more room for error with the greater workload: “ Brings with it the fear, of how will we treat so many patients with nursing when you have one to one and the rooms are closed. That is a constant worry ” (ICUDR1). Participants indicated that this issue would be compounded if staffing levels were not increased.

Collaboration

Staff expressed multiple negative expectations or concerns about how their ways of working together would be affected by moving into the new building. Staff understood the change as more than just a physical expansion, but as an organisational change that would affect their ways of working. This understanding led to concern regarding how to work together in the new building. Specifically, staff moving into the new building were worried about the new layout of ICU, where nurses would be working alone in rooms with single patients. This would disrupt their ability to easily ask for support currently done by asking the nurse at an adjacent bed, or signalling to someone visible across the room: “ Single rooms are great for patients and everything but I think it becomes a bit more isolated for staffing ” (ICUOTH1). These concerns were also recognised among staff working in the change management team, who may not be directly affected by the change, but acknowledged that this is a major consequence of the move into the new building: “ All the beds, they were able to see each other all the time whereas now it’s a different work environment. They’re a bit more isolated… So that’s what we find is the challenge” (CHGTEAM2). Further, staff were concerned about working in open plan spaces that limit opportunity for private discussions, for example with other staff about workplace conflict or personal matters: “ I’m very concerned about insufficient space for private stuff ” (ICUAD1).

Staff reported negative expectations of collaboration breakdown not only within wards, but across the hospital. The organisational change will include far-flung staff and expanded infrastructure, which may decrease opportunity to collaborate directly. For several participants, the growing size of the hospital was seen as a fracturing of the positive, cohesive culture of what was once a smaller hospital—“ It used to be that the general manager would walk through and know everybody by name, the cleaner, maintenance crew, everybody knew everybody’s name ” (GN1)—into more disconnected, subunits: “ Now we’re very separate ” (ICUOTH1).

During interviews, many participants reported feeling over-worked and under-resourced. While some described being fatigued and unhappy at work, the redevelopment was, nevertheless, clearly a positive: “ We’re not happy because we’re under so much pressure and stress. But, you know, we are looking forward to the new build, it’ll be a beautiful building” (GN3). For others, there were concerns that their feelings of being over-worked would not subside with the opening of the new hospital building and that there was a lack of time to even consider the change. This was expressed by staff moving in to the new building, as well as those not moving:

Who has got the time to go and look at those decorative things ! (SURN5).

I can’t see how it will make a big difference to me… I don’t pay a lot of attention to the looks (MATDR1).

It doesn’t really matter… I could be providing it [patient care] in a tent or a building . (MATMW2).

Further, hospital staff expressed frustration in having to endure poor resourcing, which tempered their excitement for the new building: “We’ve all put up with whatever since whenever and I’m done, I’m so done” (ICUAD1). Some participants reported negative expectations related to the increase in physical space in the new building, as adding to the work load of clinical staff and requiring they travel further to get supplies and attend to patients: “They are worried about, hang on I’m going to have to do so many more laps” (ICUAD1). Similarly, an issue expressed on behalf of staff in the General Services Department was whether they will be able to adequately clean and cater for physically larger areas: “ I’m sitting here and looking at [a previous building that was opened] and seeing how filthy it is ” (CHGTEAM3). Concerns about being over-worked in the face of the redevelopment were further emphasised by some interviewees who discussed a problem with turnover: “ We’ve actually had a few people, I have had three people, which is unusual for us, who have looked for other jobs and are probably resigning. You know which is sort of the opposite of what we’d expect at this time, we’d expect they’d be excited for the new building ” (ICUN5). However, most staff in more junior positions had not seen the new building and thus were unaware of the layout and the degree to which it may impact their work: “ Because I have not seen the actual structure of the area, and I don’t know what they based it on and how they figured out a way to be friendly for both staff and patients at the same time ” (ICUN3). The unawareness and lack of understanding accentuated concerns and negative expectations among staff as they expected the worst.

Also contributing to reports of experiencing fatigue, staff described numerous other large changes taking place at the hospital over the years, in addition to the redevelopment: “ Basically for seven years we’ve been undergoing changes since I’ve been here. It is utterly exhausting having this many changes all the time ” (GS1). This highlights that while this study captures prospective insights to the change, change is constant in health care. While the move into the new building has not yet occurred, the move is part of a broader organisational change grander than the physical expansion of infrastructure. While this was a major concern for many staff, some of the senior medical staff dismissed this as being an issue, suggesting constant change is part of health care and should not lead to staff feeling worn out: “ I think once you get to my level you get good at kind of jumping through hoops… As you get more experienced, you just go with the flow a bit more” (SURDR2).

Adaptability

An additional theme involved staff’s positive expectation that they would be able to adapt to the changes brought about by the move into the new building. Reflecting on past experiences of organisational and infrastructure changes at the hospital, staff expressed that it could take time to adapt and see the benefits of the change: “ At the beginning, of course, everybody was scared of the changes and stuff like that, but eventually we got used to it. ” (SURN3). However, some staff reported that they saw adapting to the new building as a concern, potentially because of a lack of knowledge pertaining to what the new building entails: “ I just don’t know. I’m worried because I don’t know what we’re walking in to ” (ICUN2). In general, staff expressed an understanding of the change as one of physical growth (hospital redevelopment) and changes in ways of working (organisational change): “Getting bigger. So, basically taking all of our acute services and putting it in a brand spanking new building where they’re significantly expanding” (GN1); “ The biggest change is changing the way they work. Changing the way they deliver care .” (CHGTEAM2). When asked why the change was happening, hospital staff were consistent in attributing the need for redevelopment to population growth: “ To develop more resources to accommodate for the growing number of patients ” (SURDR3).

Feeling uninformed and uncertain about the change was expressed by staff of different professions and different levels throughout the hospital. In fact, even wards that were not moving to the new building were unsure if this was the case: “ There’s been no communication from anyone really. I hear from different people yes we are moving and then somebody says no we’re not. We’re staying here in the old building. So, I’m not sure exactly who’s going” (SURN1).

Our findings suggest that in the early stages of hospital redevelopment, staff experience both positive and negative expectations that are dependent upon the level of personal understanding, awareness of the change to come, and how well-resourced they already feel. Interviews with hospital staff highlighted a general understanding of the change as involving physical expansion of the hospital. However, participants also reported feeling inadequately informed about what is to come and described a range of sometimes differing expectations about the organisational effects of this change (e.g., on collaboration, for patients). This supports the conceptualisation of hospital redevelopment as not only a physical change, but an organisational one too.

The present study is the first to empirically explore the experiences and understanding of staff in the early stages of a hospital redevelopment, and conceptualised this as an organisational change. This conceptualisation is an important contribution to the organisational change literature because we show that change, even when based on the best evidence-based design, can be disappointing and bring about negative experiences for staff. The concerns and negative expectations of the change expressed by staff in the present study echo past research that retrospectively explored the experiences of staff during a hospital change, in Australia [ 13 ], and elsewhere [e.g., 14]. In the present study, staffing was a major concern reported by hospital staff. This is consistent with other reports of hospital redevelopment in the Australian context. For example, in a report into the opening of a new children’s hospital, staff were frustrated about the progression of the change and that a lack of staffing impacted on service planning. Staffing was also emphasised as an issue in another Australian hospital redevelopment project, where the building opened with insufficient staffing and resources [ 27 ]. Additionally, hospital staff in the present study indicated that they felt fatigued, so much so that excitement for the opening of the new building was diminishing. Reports of low staff morale in hospital redevelopment projects has also been documented in other Australian and international studies [ 13 , 14 ]. Further, participants in this study reported a lack of awareness of the redevelopment, something that appears to be common with a report of hospital revitalisation in the United States reporting a similar finding [ 28 ].

One source of many of the issues expressed by staff was uncertainty, a common and often inevitable experience in health care [ 29 ], for example, systems uncertainty about staffing levels and uncertainty about whether collaboration and support would break down as the hospital expands. While some types of uncertainty cannot be eradicated, it is important to manage uncertainty in times where information is available. One way to do this is to make sure front-line actors have a platform to seek information and ask questions during organisational change; having access to information is a predictor of success for organisational change in healthcare [ 30 ]. This may help alleviate stress associated with change and make the transition period less uncertain for staff, particularly in early stages where uncertainty may be greater. While it is not always possible for all the concerns and expectations of staff to be individually acknowledged and addressed by those coordinating the change (e.g., change management team or hospital executives), an alternative is through the use of ‘champions’ or ‘opinion leaders’. Opinion leaders are actors with a brokerage role; they carry information across social boundaries, such as between groups of professionals or different hospital wards [ 31 ]. Otherwise referred to as a ‘champion’, by virtue of their trustworthiness and connectedness, these actors are able to lead the opinions of others and are integral in the adoption and diffusion of new phenomena. Successful champions are enthusiastic and motivated about the change they are promoting [ 32 ]. In this case, a successful champion in a hospital undergoing organisational change is a staff member who can inform others and influence acceptance, and provide a positive frame for the change.

Implications

While findings may be localised to the hospital we researched, it is important to note that the hospital redevelopment under investigation is similar to other hospital redevelopments in metropolitan cities in Australia [ 7 ] and worldwide [ 5 ]. Specifically, the redevelopment is an expansion of infrastructure to meet the growing needs of the community which the hospital serves. The perceptions and experiences maintained by hospital staff will differ dependent on the state of the new facilities; these findings broadly generalise to any hospital redevelopment where a newer, larger building is opened. The implications of this study provide broad suggestions for other hospitals undergoing this type of hospital redevelopment.

Firstly, hospital redevelopment should be considered as more than physical change, but as an organisational change, in order to recognise the ripple effects of changing the infrastructure and how this may influence social and behavioural processes. From this study’s findings of the expectations and present experiences of organisational change, we recommend four strategies to aid in the early stages of hospital redevelopment: engage actors; plan and train; learn from the past; and increase managerial engagement (see Table  2 ). These recommendations correspond with suggestions from a past review examining transforming systems in health care [ 33 ]. Effort must be taken to ensure staff are informed of the change and rectify any confusions about who, what, when, and how the change is taking place. This is consistent with organisational change theory that maintains that large scale change requires significant effort and planning to ensure its success [ 19 ]. Therefore, an implication of this study lies in the importance of exploring the understanding and expectations of staff preceding a large organisational change in order to aid in the acceptance of, rather than resistance to, the change [ 21 ]. Further, this study also highlights the importance of studying the experiences of actors not directly involved in the organisational change but who are a part of the broader system (i.e., wards not moving implied they will be affected).

Strengths and limitations

A strength of this study lies in the number of participants and variability in the professions that contribute to the transferability of the study findings. Further, checking and clarifying themes with other researchers throughout the coding process increases the trustworthiness of the findings [ 26 ]. As to limitations, interviews were on average 17 min long, with the shortest interview lasting seven minutes. While this may be perceived as a short duration for collecting interview data it was appropriate for participants who were incredibly time poor (e.g., nurses on shift who could only get a 10 min break to talk to the researcher). It is important that the opinions of these busy staff are captured to reflect the true nature of a sample of varied hospital staff. Further, the findings may not be generalisable to other instances of organisational change and may be specific to the four wards and hospital examined in this study. Wards were purposively chosen rather than randomised. While findings may be specific to the hospital under investigation, the research has been designed to optimise research credibility in this qualitative analysis. Further, considerable context was provided to help readers infer relevance to different settings. This in-depth analysis of how staff understand and interpret organisational change in hospitals provides the opportunity to uncover theoretical insights into the processes of change in the health care system and the perspectives of staff during times of organisational change.

This study explored the prospective understanding and experiences of staff in organisational change in hospitals, using an Australian hospital redevelopment as a case exemplar. Findings indicated that staff were concerned about staffing levels, fatigue, and the potential for a breakdown of current collaborative working. These concerns are similar to past reports of redevelopment in hospitals. This paper presents recommendations for the early stages of organisational change in hospitals. For present and future hospital organisational change projects, it is important that staff concerns are addressed and that staff are informed adequately about the ongoing changes in order to improve their engagement and ownership of the change.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to individual privacy, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Administrative staff

Change management team staff

Medical staff

General – works across several wards

General services staff

Intensive care unit

Maternity ward

Midwifery staff

Nursing staff

Other profession

Respiratory ward

Surgical ward

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Acknowledgements

We thank the hospital executives, ward directors and nursing unit managers for their support in recruitment of interview participants. The authors also thank and acknowledge the interview participants.

CP was funded by the Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) PhD Scholarship. JB is supported by multiple grants, including the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnership Grant for Health Systems Sustainability (ID: 9100002). The funders had no role in the design, analysis and drafting of the manuscript.

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CP and JB conceptualised the project. CP collected and analysed the data, and drafted the manuscript. KC, LAE and JCL assisted in the coding and interpretation of data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chiara Pomare .

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The study was approved by the relevant Ethics Committee in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (no: 18/233). Due to ethical requirements, the committee cannot be named because it may lead to the identification of the study site. Informed consent was obtained from all study participants.

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Additional file 1..

Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative studies (COREQ): 32-item checklist.

Additional file 2.

Semi-structured interview guide.

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Pomare, C., Churruca, K., Long, J.C. et al. Organisational change in hospitals: a qualitative case-study of staff perspectives. BMC Health Serv Res 19 , 840 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4704-y

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Cases and Exercises in Organization Development & Change

• Donald L. Anderson - University of Denver, USA

"Has a number of timely case studies, including ones on non-profit and educational institutions."

An excellent book with lots of applied problems/case studies.

Good cases and excellent overall structure of the book. however, I was also looking for mini-cases

A well written book that has a number of useful cases and activities that will help to link theory to practice for change management and organisational development.

A mix of great, some useful exercises and cases though some seem to be a bit basic and perhaps out of date

Donald L. Anderson

Donald L. Anderson , Ph.D., University of Colorado, teaches organization development at the University of Denver and organization design at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is a practicing organization development consultant and has consulted internally and externally with a wide variety of organizations, including Fortune 500 corporations, small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions. Dr. Anderson’s research interest is in discourse in organizational and institutional settings, and his studies of organizational discourse and change have been published in journals such as the Journal of Organizational Change Management, Gestion , and Journal of Business and Technical Communication . He is the author of the text Organization Design: Creating Strategic and Agile Organizations (SAGE, 2019) and editor of the text Cases and Exercises in Organization Development & Change (2nd ed., SAGE, 2017).

Research in Organizational Change and Development: Volume 25

Table of contents, the future of research and practice in organizational change and development.

Given the opportunity to reflect on the three decades of research and practice that have passed since the first volume of Research in Organizational Change and Development was published, we note a number of shifts in our world that are causing us to rethink what we know and how we intervene. These shifts, and their attendant effects on individuals, organizations, and society, have opened up exciting possibilities for the advancement of the field. These advances can be achieved through combined research and action, aimed at producing new insights into core topics like motivation, leadership, and organization design. We suggest an ambitious agenda for current and future scholar-practitioners that we hope will stimulate enough thoughtful work to help fill the next three decades of volumes of Research in Organizational Change and Development .

Taking Stock of 30 Years of Change Management: Is It Time for a Reboot?

The world of management and technology has become accustomed to the notion of “2.0” advancements and transformative innovations. Is the field of Change Management/Organizational Development itself in this story? Not enough! We re-examine the field’s foundational beliefs, practices, focus, research directions, and value add. We conclude that there is strong evidence from the front line and from an IBM Case Study that the field must “reboot” – to rethink our methods and frameworks; the role and skills of change leadership for the future; change practitioner capabilities for the future; the metrics needed to evaluate progress; and the knowledge exchange between Academe and practitioners.

The Gift of New Eyes: Personal Reflections after 30 Years of Appreciative Inquiry in Organizational LifeAppreciative Inquiry in Organizational Life ☆

It’s been thirty years since the original articulation of “Appreciative Inquiry in Organizational Life” was written in collaboration with my remarkable mentor Suresh Srivastva (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987). That article – first published in Research in Organization Development and Change – generated more experimentation in the field, more academic excitement, and more innovation than anything we had ever written. As the passage of time has enabled me to look more closely at what was written, I feel both a deep satisfaction with the seed vision and scholarly logic offered for Appreciative Inquiry, as well as well as the enormous impact and continuing reverberation. Following the tradition of authors such as Carl Rogers who have re-issued their favorite works but have also added brief reflections on key points of emphasis, clarification, or editorial commentary I am presenting the article by David Cooperrider (myself) and the late Suresh Srivastva in its entirety, but also with new horizon insights. In particular I write with excitement and anticipation of a new OD – what my colleagues and I are calling the next “IPOD” that is, innovation-inspired positive OD that brings AI’s gift of new eyes together in common cause with several other movements in the human sciences: the strengths revolution in management; the positive pscyhology and positive organizational scholarship movements; the design thinking explosion; and the biomimicry field which is all about an appreciative eye toward billions of years of nature’s wisdom and innovation inspired by life.

This article presents a conceptual refigurationy of action-research based on a “sociorationalist” view of science. The position that is developed can be summarized as follows: For action-research to reach its potential as a vehicle for social innovation it needs to begin advancing theoretical knowledge of consequence; that good theory may be one of the best means human beings have for affecting change in a postindustrial world; that the discipline’s steadfast commitment to a problem solving view of the world acts as a primary constraint on its imagination and contribution to knowledge; that appreciative inquiry represents a viable complement to conventional forms of action-research; and finally, that through our assumptions and choice of method we largely create the world we later discover.

How Organizational Transformation Has Been Continuously Changing and Not Changing

We explore how scholarly understandings of and the practice of organizational transformation have evolved since Bartunek and Louis’s (1988) Research in Organizational Change and Development chapter. While Bartunek and Louis hoped to see strategy scholarship and OD approaches to transformation inform each other, strategy literature has drifted away from transformation toward more continuous change. OD practice has focused on the implementation of its own versions of transformation through Large Group Interventions, Appreciative Inquiry, the new dialogic OD, and Theory U. Based on a discussion of Theory U, we call attention to the importance of individuals as an important source of new ideas in understanding and practicing large-scale change.

Co-Researching and – Doing M&A Integration: Crossing the Scholar-Practitioner Divide

We review our work as collaborators over nearly 40 years as researchers and OD practitioners on the human, cultural, and organizational aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). This chapter addresses (1) how our thinking, research methods, and practices developed over time, (2) accounts of deriving theory from practice and contrariwise of applying theory to practical matters, (3) how our respective shifts from academe toward scholarly-practice influenced our thinking and how we write, and (4) varieties of scholarly collaboration – ranging from intensive interchange to sequential pitch and catch. Early work covers a study of a “white-knight” acquisition and then advising on post-merger integration in a hostile takeover, revealing the stages of a deal, dynamics of buyers and sellers, and human factors that produce the “merger syndrome.”

Throughout we talk about confronting challenges of the scholar-practitioner divide as it pertains to role definition and boundary management as well to our theorizing, writing, and publication agenda. The chapter concludes with reflections on doing applied research in collaboration with a colleague (and friend).

X-Ray Vision at Work: Seeing Inside Organizational Life

The study of group dynamics was central to the field of organization development at its inception. More recently, there has been a move away from considering irrational and unconscious dynamics in organizational life and more attention focused on rational and observable behavior that can be measured and quantified. We introduce the tool, Beneath the Surface of the Burke-Litwin Model, that invites consideration of how the overt behavior of individuals, groups, and entire systems is linked to covert dynamics. This more comprehensive view of organizational life provides scholar-practitioners with a systemic perspective, a view of covert dynamics by organizational level, and support for the ongoing development of one’s capacity for using self-as-instrument when engaged in organization development and organization change efforts.

Achieving Strategic Change through Performance Management: The Role of Identity Threat

Performance management can play an important role in the implementation of strategic change, by aligning employees’ mindsets and behavior with organizational goals. However, the ways in which employees react to change efforts aided by performance management practices are far from straight-forward. In this chapter, we develop a conceptual framework for understanding employees’ reactions to strategic change as a consequence of their occupational identities and their performance management outcome. We further apply the framework to an empirical study of a strategic change initiative in a school organization that was supported by a new performance management practice. We show how variations in perceived identity threat translate into four distinct patterns of emotional and behavioral reactions, where only one represents whole-hearted change acceptance. The study contributes to our understanding of individual- and group-level heterogeneity in reactions to strategic change, and also to a more nuanced conception of identity threat.

Organizational Change and Ambidexterity in Higher Education: A Case Study of Institutional Merger

This chapter examines a case study of inter-institutional merger in higher education, and explores the complex challenges institutional leaders may face in pursuing a merger process within a university setting where centuries-old tradition frames the context within which new innovations occur. Using the conceptual lens of organizational ambidexterity, findings uncover seven distinct phases of this merger process and propose a pre-merger Affiliation period as a strategy for establishing trust and mutual respect, aligning institutional cultures, and achieving balance between innovation and preservation in order to achieve full merged status. The chapter concludes with implications for theory and opportunities for practice.

Learning to Fly – And Other Life Lessons ☆

This chapter has six sections. I summarize and refine key themes I explored at length during 25 years in three editions of Productive Workplaces . In Flying Lessons section, I describe how the invention of the airplane changed life on earth, not least my own. In Life Lessons section, I discuss how flying influenced my consulting career. In Myths section, I describe beliefs that I abandoned as I learned my trade. In The Future Never Comes section, I explore what it means to encounter the future as having already arrived. In Afterthoughts section, I sum up what learning to fly has to do with learning Organization Development consulting. The section Postscript contains excerpts from my dialogue with Bill Pasmore, a colleague who also flew airplanes and sought to improve workplaces.

How Might We Learn about the Philosophy of ODC Research from 24 Volumes of ROCD? An Invitation to Interiority

For 30 years the series, Research in Organizational Change and Development (ROCD) has provided an extensive range of scholarly research and philosophical reflections on the field of organization development and change (ODC). On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the first volume, this chapter poses the question as to how we might learn about the philosophy of ODC research from the 24 published volumes. Taking the author’s explicit pursuit of the question as a process of interiority, it invites readers to engage with the question themselves and thereby enact interiority within ODC itself.

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Short Case Study on Change Management

A short case study on change management can be very helpful in learning how to manage change effectively. In today’s business world, change is constantly happening and it can be very difficult to keep up.

Having a solid understanding of change management is essential for any manager or business owner.

A good case study will show you how one company successfully managed a major change and what lessons can be learned from their experience.

By studying short case study on change management, you will gain valuable insights into the importance of planning, communication, and employee involvement when managing change.

You will also learn about the different stages of change and how to overcome resistance to change.

These are all important topics that any manager or business owner should be familiar with. Learning about them through a short case study is an excellent way to gain a better understanding of these concepts.

Here are 05 short case studies on change management that offer you valuable insights on managing change.

1. Adobe- a transformation of HR functions to support strategic change

Many a times external factors lead to changes in organisational structures and culture. This truly happened at Adobe which has 11,000 employees worldwide with 4.5 billion $ yearly revenue.

Acrobat, Flash Player, and Photoshop are among the well-known products of Abode.

Due to new emerging technologies and challenges posed by small competitors Adobe had to stop selling its licensed goods in shrink-wrapped containers in 2011 and switched to offering digital services through the cloud. They gave their customers option of downloading the necessary software for free or subscribing to it every month rather than receiving a CD in a box.

The human resource (HR) function also took on a new role, which meant that employees had to adjust to new working practices. A standard administrative HR function was housed at Adobe’s offices. However, it was less suitable for the cloud-based strategy and performed well when Adobe was selling software items. 

HR changed its role and became more human centric and reduced its office based functions.

The HR personnel did “walk-ins,” to see what assistance they might offer, rather than waiting for calls. With a focus on innovation, change, and personal growth, Adobe employed a sizable percentage of millennials.

Instead of having an annual reviews, staff members can now use the new “check-in” method to assess and define their own growth goals whenever they find it necessary, with quick and continuous feedback. 

Managers might receive constructive criticism from HR through the workshops they conduct. The least number of employees have left since this changed approach of HR.

Why did Adobe’s HR department make this change? Since the company’s goals and culture have changed, HR discovered new ways to operate to support these changes.

2. Intuit – applying 7s framework of change management 

Steve Bennett, a vice president of GE Capital, was appointed CEO of Intuit in 2000. Intuit is a provider of financial software solutions with three products: Quicken, TurboTax, and QuickBooks, which have respective market shares of 73 percent, 81 percent, and 84 percent. 

Despite this market domination, many observers believed Intuit was not making as much money as it could.

Additionally, the business was known for making decisions slowly, which let rivals take advantage of numerous market opportunities. Bennett desired to change everything.

In his first few weeks, he spoke with each of the top 200 executives, visited the majority of Intuit’s offices, and addressed the majority of its 5,000 employees.

He concluded that although employees were enthusiastic about the company’s products, internal processes weren’t given any thought (based on Higgins, 2005).

He followed the famous Mckinsey 7S Model for Change Management to transform the organization. Let’s see what are those changes that he made:

By making acquisitions, he increased the products range for Intuit.

He established a flatter organizational structure and decentralized decision-making, which gave business units more authority and accountability throughout the whole product creation and distribution process.

To accomplish strategic goals, the rewards system was made more aligned to strategic goals.

He emphasized the necessity of a performance-oriented focus and offered a vision for change and also made every effort to sell that vision.

He acknowledged the commitment of staff to Intuit’s products and further strengthened process by emphasizing on quality and efficiency of his team.

Resources were allotted for learning and development, and certain selected managers were recruited from GE in particular skill categories, all to enhance staff capabilities concerning productivity and efficiency.

Superordinate goals:

Bennett’s strategy was “vision-driven” and he communicated that vision to his team regularly to meet the goals.

Bennett’s modifications led to a 40–50% rise in operating profits in 2002 and 2003.

8,000 people worked for Intuit in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India, and other nations in 2014, and the company generated global revenues of nearly $5 billion.

3. Barclays Bank – a change in ways of doing business

The financial services industry suffered heavily during mortgage crisis in 2008. In addition to significant losses, the sector also had to deal with strict and aggressive regulations of their investing activities.

To expand its business, more employees were hired by Barclays Capital under the leadership of its former chief executive, Bob Diamond, who wanted to make it the largest investment bank in the world. 

But Barclays Capital staff was found manipulating the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and Barclays was fined £290 million and as a result of this the bank’s chairman, CEO, and COO had to resign.

In an internal review it was found that the mindset of “win at all costs” needed to be changed so a new strategy was necessary due to the reputational damage done by the LIBOR affair and new regulatory restrictions. 

In 2012, Antony Jenkins became new CEO. He made the following changes in 2014, which led to increase of 8% in share price.

Aspirations

The word “Capital” was removed from the firm name, which became just Barclays. To concentrate on the U.S. and UK markets, on Africa, and on a small number of Asian clients, the “world leader” goal was dropped.

Business model

Physical commodities and obscure “derivative” products would no longer be traded by Barclays. It was decided that rather than using its customers’ money, the business would invest its own.

Only thirty percent of the bank’s profits came from investment banking. Instead of concentrating on lending at high risk, the focus was on a smaller range of customers.

In place of an aggressive, short-term growth strategy that rewarded commercial drive and success and fostered a culture of fear of not meeting targets, “customer first,” clarity, and openness took precedence. Investment bankers’ remuneration was also reduced.

Beginning in 2014, branches were shut, and 19,000 jobs were lost over three years, including 7,000 investment banking employees, personnel at high-street firms, and many in New York and London headquarters. £1.7 billion in costs were reduced in 2014.

There was an increase in customers’ online or mobile banking, and increased automation of transactions to lower expenses.  To assist customers in using new computer systems, 30 fully automated branches were established by 2014, replacing the 6,500 cashiers that were lost to this change with “digital eagles” who used iPads.

These changes were made to build an organization that is stronger, more integrated, leaner, and more streamlined, leading to a higher return on equity and better returns for shareholders. This was also done to rebuild the bank’s credibility and win back the trust of its clients.

4. Kodak – a failure to embrace disruptive change

The first digital camera and the first-megapixel camera were both created by Kodak in 1975 and 1986 respectively.

Why then did Kodak declare bankruptcy in 2012? 

When this new technology first came out in 1975, it was expensive and had poor quality of images. Kodak anticipated that it would be at least additional ten years until digital technology started to pose a threat to their long-standing business of camera, film, chemical, and photo-printing paper industries.

Although that prediction came true, Kodak chose to increase the film’s quality through ongoing advances rather than embracing change and working on digital technology.

Kodak continued with old business model and captured market by 90% of the film and 85% of the cameras sold in America in 1976. With $16 billion in annual sales at its peak, Kodak’s profits in 1999 was around $2.5 billion. The brand’s confidence was boosted by this success but there was complete complacency in terms of embracing new technology.

Kodak started experiencing losses in 2011 as revenues dropped to $6.2 billion. 

Fuji, a competitor of Kodak, identified the same threat and decided to transition to digital while making the most money possible from film and creating new commercial ventures, such as cosmetics based on chemicals used in film processing.

Even though both businesses had the same information, they made different judgments, and Kodak was reluctant to respond. And when it started to switch towards digital technology, mobile phones with in-built digital camera had arrived to disrupt digital cameras.

Although Kodak developed the technology, they were unaware of how revolutionary digitalization would prove to be, rendering their long-standing industry obsolete.

You can read here in detail Kodak change management failure case study.

5. Heinz   – a 3G way to make changes

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and the Brazilian private equity business 3G Capital paid $29 billion in 2013 to acquire Heinz, the renowned food manufacturer with $11.6 billion in yearly sales.

The modifications were made right away by the new owners. Eleven of the top twelve executives were replaced, 600 employees were let go, corporate planes were sold, personal offices were eliminated, and executives were required to stay at Holiday Inn hotel rather than the Ritz-Carlton when traveling and substantially longer work hours were anticipated. 

Each employee was given a monthly copy restriction of 200 by micromanagement, and printer usage was recorded. Only 100 business cards were permitted each year for executives.

Numerous Heinz workers spoke of “an insular management style” where only a small inner circle knows what is truly going on.

On the other side, 3G had a youthful team of executives, largely from Brazil, who moved from company to company as instructed across nations and industries. They were loyal to 3G, not Heinz, and were motivated to perform well to earn bonuses or stock options. 

“The 3G way,” a theory that 3G has applied to bring about change in prior acquisitions like Burger King, was the driving reason behind these modifications. Everything was measured, efficiency was paramount, and “nonstrategic costs” were drastically reduced. 

From this vantage point, “lean and mean” prevails, and human capital was not regarded as a crucial element of business success. It was believed that rather than being driven by a feeling of purpose or mission, employees were motivated by the financial gains associated with holding company stock.

Because it had been well-received by the 3G partners, those who might be impacted by a deal frequently saw a “how to” guide published by consultant Bob Fifer as a “must read.”

However, many food industry experts felt that while some of 3G’s prior acquisitions would have been ideal candidates for a program of cost-cutting, Heinz was not the most appropriate choice to “hack and slash.” The company had already undergone several years of improved efficiency and it was already a well-established player in the market.

In summarizing the situation, business journalists Jennifer Reingold and Daniel Roberts predicted that “the experiment now underway will determine whether Heinz will become a newly invigorated embodiment of efficiency—or whether 3G will take the cult of cost-cutting so far that it chokes off Heinz’s ability to innovate and make the products that have made it a market leader for almost a century and a half.” 

Final Words

A short case study on change management can be a helpful tool in learning how to effectively manage change. These case studies will show you how one company successfully managed a major change and what lessons can be learned from their experience. By studying these case studies, you will gain valuable insights into the importance of planning, communication, and employee involvement when managing change. These are all vital elements that must be considered when implementing any type of change within an organization.

About The Author

Tahir Abbas

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Ready for Change? pp 145–163 Cite as

Organizational Change and Development: A Case Study in the Indian Electricity Market

• Pawan Budhwar ,
• Jyotsna Bhatnagar &
• Debi Saini  

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The present economic growth of India is largely an outcome of the liberalization of its economic policies in 1991. Since gaining independence in 1947, India adopted a “mixed economy” approach (emphasizing both private and public enterprise). This had the effect of reducing both entrepreneurship and global competitiveness. Despite the formalities of planning, the Indian economy reached its worst in 1990 and witnessed a double digit rate of inflation, decelerated industrial production, fiscal indiscipline, a very high ratio of borrowing to the GNP (both internal and external) and a dismally low level of foreign exchange reserves. The World Bank and the IMF agreed to bail out India at that time on the condition that it changed to a “free market economy” from what at the time was a regulated regime. To meet the challenges, the government announced a series of economic policies, followed by a new industrial policy supported by fiscal and trade policies. A number of reforms were made in the public sector that affected trade and exchange policy. At the same time, the banking sector together with activity in foreign investment was liberalized.

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Further reading

Budhwar, P. and Varma, A. (2011a) (eds) Doing Business in India , London: Routledge.

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Budhwar, P. and Varma, A. (2011b) “Emerging HR Management in India and the way forward”, Organizational Dynamics , 40(4), pp. 317–25.

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Budhwar, P. and Varma, A. (2010) “Guest Editors’ Introduction: Emerging Patterns of HRM in the New Indian Economic Environment”, Human Resource Management , 49(3), pp. 343–51.

Budhwar, P. and Bhatnagar, J. (2009) The Changing Face of People Management in India , London: Routledge.

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Burnes, B. (2006) Managing Change , Harlow: FT Prentice-Hall.

Clardy, A. (2004) “Toward an HRD Auditing Protocol: Assessing HRD Risk Management Practices”, HumanResourceDevelopment Review , 3(2), pp. 124–50.

Kotter, J. P. and Cohen, D. S. (2006) The Heart of Change: Real-life Stories of How People Change their Organizations , Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Ramnarayan, S. (2003) “Changing Mindsets of Middle-level Officers in Government Organizations”, Vikalpa , 28(4), pp. 63–76.

Sharma, R. R. (2007) Change Management: Concepts and Applications , New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill.

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Budhwar, P., Bhatnagar, J., Saini, D. (2012). Organizational Change and Development: A Case Study in the Indian Electricity Market. In: Rathbone, C.L.H. (eds) Ready for Change?. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137008404_9

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