cameron and green making-sense-of-change-management

Emerging inquiriesIn this chapter we consider more deeply the question of how changereally works, and if there is one right way to lead it. Firstly we look at theresearch about failure rates and success factors of change initiatives. Thenwe examine the different ways that organizations get ready for change.We go on to share some of our explorations about leading change, andfinally to examine how organizations can evaluate change and what theylearn from their successes and failures.This is tackled under the following headings:• what the research says.• different approaches to getting ready for change;• leading change;• how do we know whether it’s working or not?WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYSWhen change goes wrongManaging organizations at any time canbe problematic, particularly throughtimes of change. Much of the evidencein the change management field shows that overly planned change has ahigh failure rate.Despite some individual successes... change remains difficult to pull off, andfew companies manage the process as well as they would like. Most of theirinitiatives – installing new technology, downsizing, restructuring, or trying tochange corporate culture – have had low success rates. The brutal fact is thatabout 70 per cent of all change initiatives fail.Beer and Nohria (2000) Harvard Business Review, May-June, 133–141Three out of four mergers and acquisitions fail to achieve their financial andstrategic objectives.Marks and Mirvis (2001) Academy of Management Executive, 15, 80–94332