Leading strategic change: lessons learned from practice

A Systematic Study of Change Management during CMMI Implementation: A Modified Activity Theory Perspective

“…For many years, scholars have proposed the stages of change based on both observations and theory (Armenakis, Harris, & Feild, 1999). Based on change practice in real‐world situations, Flamholtz and Randle (2008) proposed the management systems model, which divides change into the following four stages: (1) “planning” focuses on identifying the needs for (or barriers to) change, identifying the goal of the change process, and developing a plan to establish the awareness of change and convey it to organizational members; (2) “getting started” refers to beginning to implement the change plan and to establishing new mechanisms, behaviors, and attitudes; (3) “letting go” refers to letting go of the “old ways,” embracing the change in the plan, and to building positive organizational culture, standards, and policies; and (4) “completion” entails completing the global change program to maintain the post‐change status and sustained and stable operations, and it represents the beginning of planning for the next change. In the change process, excellent internal communications and contributions are thus extremely important to promoting change (Legris & Collerette, 2006; Scholey, 2005).…”

Leading organizational change in the ‘new’ South Africa

“…Leadership theory has increasingly focused on strategic leadership (Boal & Hooijberg, 2001; Flamholtz & Randle, 2008; Ireland & Hitt, 2005; Storey, 2005). Research has demonstrated the critical importance of strategic leadership to performance, long‐term sustainability, and innovation (Elenkov, Judge, & Wright, 2005; Vera & Crossan, 2004).…”

“…The literature on leading change emphasizes the critical role of top executives in leading what is referred to as radical, episodic change or discontinuous change (Flamholtz & Randle, 2008; Higgs & Rowland, 2005). Radical, episodic change is most often triggered by disruptive events in an organization's external environment (Demers, 2007; Plowman et al , 2007; Romanelli & Tushman, 1994).…”

“…In contrast, emergent change models view change as an emergent process that can only be successful if leaders focus on how and why change happens, eschewing step models (e.g., Cooperrider & Srivastava, 1987; Higgs & Rowland, 2005; Lichtenstein, 2000; Weick, 2000; Woodward & Hendry, 2004). These scholars argue that leaders cannot manage change but must rather lead change by creating the context for change to occur (Flamholtz & Randle, 2008; Woodward & Hendry, 2004). For example, based on case studies of nine organizations, Flamholtz and Randle (2008) found that the key to long‐term organizational success was the ability of leaders to adapt to and manage different types of change.…”

“…These scholars argue that leaders cannot manage change but must rather lead change by creating the context for change to occur (Flamholtz & Randle, 2008; Woodward & Hendry, 2004). For example, based on case studies of nine organizations, Flamholtz and Randle (2008) found that the key to long‐term organizational success was the ability of leaders to adapt to and manage different types of change.…”