Strategic Leadership and Innovation

492 CHAPTER 14 LEADING STRATEGIC CHANGE

SUMMARY A recurrent theme in this chapter has been that approaches, styles and means of change need to be tailored to the context of that change. Bearing in mind this general point, this chapter has emphasised the following:

● Situational leadership suggests that strategic leaders need to adopt different styles of managing strategic change according to different contexts and in relation to the involvement and interest of different groups.

● The c hange kaleidoscope is a way of understanding how approaches to leading change relate to organisa- tional context. The features of the kaleidoscope include the resources and skills that need to be preserved , the degree of homogeneity or diversity in the organisation, the power to make change happen and the capacity, capability and readiness for change.

● Forcefi eld analysis is a useful means of identifying blockages to change and potential levers for change.

● Levers for managing strategic change need to be considered in terms of the context of change. These levers include building a compelling case for change , challenging the taken for granted , the need to change opera- tional processes , routines and symbols , the importance of political processes , and other change tactics .

● There are different types of strategic change which can be thought of in terms of the extent of culture change required and its nature – whether it can be achieved through incremental change or requires urgent action (the ‘big bang’ approach).

● Different approaches to leading change are likely to be required for the different types of change.

VIDEO ASSIGNMENTS

Visit MyStrategyLab and watch the Wilmington case study for Chapter 14 .

1 How would you describe Charles Brady’s style of leading change? Why might this style be

particularly suited to a company like Wilmington?

2 Charles Brady claims that there have been significant changes in the company. In terms of

section 14.5, what type of change does he describe? What might the advantages and

disadvantages of this be?

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