Integrating   Change   Processes   into   a   Business   Strategy
Rob   Lambert
RL   Hello,   I’m   Rob   Lambert.
I’m   a   senior   lecturer   here   at   Cranfield   School   of
Management.
This   podcast   is   concerned   with   the   criticality   of   aligning   and   filtering   strategic   change   initiatives.
Here   at   Cranfield   I   am   particularly   interested   in   helping   organisations   successfully   execute   their   strategic   change   initiatives.
Delivering   business   strategy   and   the   associated   goals   is   something   many   businesses   find   problematic.
Yet   in   today’s   turbulent   economic   climate   organisations   need   to   ensure   any   investment   of   scarce   resources   delivers   the   expected   outcomes   and   improvements   that   their   shareholders   and   stakeholders   are   looking   for.
When   it   comes   to   strategic   change   initiatives   much   of   the   literature   on   change   focuses   on   executing   a   single   change   initiative.
They’re   impacted   by   other   change   initiatives   that   compete   for   resources   and   management   time.
As   well   as   this,   organisations   have   to   manage   today,   in   terms   of   delivering   today’s   performance,   today’s   goals,   and   deliver   tomorrow.
This   provides   a   conundrum   for   many   organisations.
Our   recent   research   suggests   that   critical   to   successful   execution   of   change   is   the   need   to   be   better   able   to   align,   filter   and   prioritise   change   initiatives.
If   organisations   can   do   this   it   should   help   stop   many   of   the   issues   that   they   have   with   change   overload,   stress,   and   the   failures   that   are   endemic   in   many   organisations   in   terms   of   strategic   change.
This   is   critical   to   the   success   of   future   organisations.
In   order   to   better   align   and   filter   their   change   initiatives   organisations   need   to   address   several   key   issues.
Firstly,   whilst   all   organisations,   yes,   have   a   vision,   a   strategic   statement   and   so   on,   what   is   really   critical   is   the   need   for   a   statement   of   their   strategic   goals,   in   terms   of   key   performance   indicators   (KPIs)   or   balance   scorecard   metrics.
These   will   provide   a   focus   to   each   change   initiative   and   act   as   a   basis   for   alignment.
As   well   as   having   a   clear   set   of   KPIs   or   balance   scorecard   indicators   that   people   need   to   align   to,   organisations   need   a   consistent   way   of   presenting   their   change   initiatives.
We   find   written   business   cases   are   not   always   exciting   and   engaging   and   perhaps   not   the   best   way   to   communicate   what   the   change   is   about.
Here   at
Cranfield   we   developed   very   strongly   a   visualisation   of   a   change   initiative   through   our   benefits   networks.
The   benefits   network   starts   with   the   vision   of   the   organisation,   for   each   vision   it   tries   to   identify   clear   quantified   business   benefits,   with   clear   metrics   and   outcomes   i.e.
the   success   criteria   that   the   organisation   is   looking   for   out   of   that   change   initiative.

Rob Lambert
In   order   to   deliver   each   outcome   the   organisation   needs   to   say   ‘well   what   business   processes,   business   activities   are   involved,   how   do   they   need   to   change   and   do   they   need   any   IT   support?
Our   view   of   developing   a   visual   view   of   the   change   is   really   critical.
We   find   it   help with   stakeholder   buying,   getting   shared   understanding   of   the   change   early   on.
Having   got   this   visualisation,   it   is   much   easier   to   produce   a   business   case.
Our   research   suggests   that   developing   realistic   and   complete   business   cases   is   difficult   for   many   organisations.
In   fact   many   business   cases   are   inadequate,   particularly   in   terms   of   the   clarity   of   business   benefits,   in   terms   of   defining   the   level   they   can   be   monitored   and   tracked   and   actually   provide   clarity   that   they’ve   been   achieved.
The   change   implications   in   terms   of   business   change.
Are   they   clear   in   business   cases?
Our   actual   experience   is   that   they   are   not.
Finally,   the   internal   resources  ‐  key   business   people  ‐  that   are   needed   to   deliver   that   change.
Quite   often   in   business   they   are   not   clearly   defined   in   terms   of   the   number   of   days,   the   particular   types   of   people   you   need   available.
These   people   are   key   because   they   are   your   business   people   who   are   delivering   today’s   performance   but   you   also   need   them   on   your   change   initiatives.
Our   experience   is   that   business   cases   are   often   a   request   for   capital   so   that   the   team   can   start   the   project,   which   is   rather   strange   because   the   business   case   should   be   the   foundation   for   which   the   project   is   delivered.
Having   a   good   clear   business   case   allows   organisations   to   better   develop   a   prioritised   change   portfolio.
This   change   portfolio   needs   to   be   understood   and   agreed   by   the   leadership   team.
In   order   to   get   a   realistic   business   case,   in   order   to   get   an   agreed   change   portfolio   requires   openness   and   honesty   and   actually   shared   values   across   people   within   an   organisation.
Having   developed   a   changed   portfolio   is   a   good   basis   to   move   on   into   execution.
However,   once   organisations   move   in   to   execution   of   these   changes   then   more   issues   occur.
Many   organisations   do   not   have   the   mechanism   for   balancing   resources.
Finally,   organisations   are   complex.
They   have   to   deliver   today’s   results   as   well   as   create   tomorrow.
The   environment   is   getting   increasingly   competitive   and   more   difficult.
Managing   change   initiatives   successfully   is   critical   and   requires   organisation   to   review   its   processes   for   developing   a   portfolio   of   change.
The   leadership   team   of   an   organisation   need   to   owe   the   alignment   process   and   prioritisation   process   as   the   ability   to   deliver   the   strategic   priorities   and   promises   of   today   is   critical   for   both   their   and   the   organisation’s   long ‐ term   success.