Understanding of continuous change among senior leaders

Abstract

The fast-evolving external environment imposes a need for the organizations to be in a mode of constant change so that they can keep up with their competitors. As new tools and technologies are introduced, processes and practices need to adjust and evolve as well. The top management teams are constantly trying to improve the efficiency of their companies by planning and implementing projects that may lead to changing the way of work for some people. These changes are continuous, and they put an extra burden on the personnel. The rate that an organization can accumulate such changes depends on its change adoption capacity.

The purpose of this study is to shed some light on top management’s perceptions about organizational change capacity. The study is based on current academic literature regarding change management, leadership and organizational change capabilities. Sorpanot’s (2011) model of organizational change capacity was used as its theoretical framework.

This is a qualitative research and the empirical data used in the analysis part derived from eight semi-structured interviews with senior managers from top-tier Finnish companies. The study’s objectives were to explore senior leaders’ perceptions about their companies’ ability to cope with continuous change, mainly from the people aspect of the organization, and their perceptions of their own role in balancing the planned changes with the organizations’ change capacity.

The findings indicate that the senior leaders realise that people retain an inherent aversion towards change and that being in a mode of constant movement can be strenuous for the staff. However, they regard continuous change as imperative for the organization’s survival. In line with the existing literature, communication and leadership ranked higher as factors contributing to success. Another notion that stood out was that every case of change is unique; therefore, it should not be approached by prescribed methods and typical change management models and frameworks.

Finally, four distinct roles were identified for the senior leaders: (1) They give meaning to change for their employees, (2) they facilitate the implementation by planning and resource allocation, (3) they assess the progress, measure success and take corrective actions if it is required, and (4) they develop change capabilities in the organization.