When there is a strategic change coming, an open rebellion against superiors is the worst scenario you can imagine. Pressure to meet targets is strong and you must maintain your leadership to see the change though. Beware of implementation problems across the whole organization that can appear after the initial kick-out phase, warns an article on the management-issues.com website.
Quy Huy, Associate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD, describes the results of a three-year study entitled From Support to Mutiny: Shifting Legitimacy Judgments and Emotional Reactions: Impacting the Implementation of Radical Change.
Change should not cause mutiny
When a massive company restructuring is expected, it is important to shift the often judgmental and emotional relationship middle managers have with top management. The success of the strategic change process depends on it. That proved to be true in a three-year period after a new CEO was brought in to boost an international IT and communications company. The company was in trouble because of changes in the technological environment. The CEO and his approach had a positive reception in the beginning, but ultimately his work provoked a mutiny and the top team left the company. The legitimacy judgments of middle managers evolved through four different phases.
Announcement of radical changes
The new CEO and his newly-appointed top management team had the trust of the middle managers who were responsible for overseeing a hundred change projects. The CEO's previous successes, and that of his top-management colleagues, made them credible leaders. However, don’t expect that high internal support will be maintained no matter what you do. The new CEO then turned to external issues and negotiated with investors and key customers. He should have spoken with the middle managers as well. They needed to discuss issues that appeared during the implementation of change. Another problem was that many people left the company and the rest of the staff was overburdened.
How did the company cope with the problems? How should you lead a transformation better with respect to middle management? You will learn in the second part of the article.
-jk-