Mapping Transformation Types: an essential step

As companies are still challenged by post crisis choices and leaders need to react quickly on pressure
coming from all directions, it is impossible not to be faced with (the need for) Change. With
technological accelerators of change airing at a high speed, and the digital (r)evolution strongly changing
the typology of change itself, the challenge becomes even to keep up with the Change of Change.
Change, however, is not only a holistic concept with a capital C. It is also a reality with a capital S: one
with different ChangeS, as a focus on the different types of Change/Changes is at least as important.
Time for a rapid preview.
Change is something special. Everyone knows the concept of change. But in the same organization,
everyone will have a different opinion or understanding of it. On C-level, change may be seen in terms
of strategy and organisation. Managers regard it more as a matter of people and processes. And others
will see change in terms of technology and tools. The fact is that Change has different components, and
it is the shaded and integrated view that offers the means to steer.
ERP projects, for example, can wrongly be seen as a mere development of a technical solution. If this
would be the case, managing the Change could be limited to informing users that things will be
different soon, sending them some documentation, and pushing the ignition button two weeks later.
But it happens rarely this way. ERP projects are indeed linked to a product or process change. But they
are usually driven by an overarching strategy, and can also impact the organizational way of working,
the way teams are shaped, and the way managers take decisions. If driven by a desire for cross-border
standardization, ERP projects can even influence the culture and the governance of the company.
There are thus many different, sometimes overlapping, areas of Change to take into account: Strategy &
Operations, Physical setting, Culture, People & Organisation, Technology
A good understanding of the different transformation types is essential in the preparation of the
Project. By analyzing the different change types, and putting them into perspective through an analysis
of the change climate and the different groups of stakeholders, one will be able build an adapted
approach to create awareness and to make sure the change is embedded - and gets accepted over time.
In M&As, for instance, a company is taken over mostly for financial and strategic reasons. Traditionally,
it is advised to do the integration in the new mother company within the first 6 months, to ensure the
right balance between integration and independence. Such an integration, however, is more than an
administrative harmonization. It involves also human and technical integration, most probably involving
an adapted way of working. Each of these types of Change impacts a series of stakeholders (board
members, managers, blue and white collar staff, suppliers). It is only by cross-mapping these different
types of change and the concerned stakeholders that one will be able to build a tailored Change
Management plan, as part of the overall acquisition Project(s)/Program.
Details on the categorization of the change types, stakeholders and change methodologies will be
covered in our next newsletters, together with the related experience sharing.

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Information about TETRADE Consulting: http://www.tetrade.be/

JRGEN JANSSENS