Communicating change
Professor Leif ÅbergUniversity of Helsinki,
Department of Communicationthird session, Amsterdam, April 1999
Contents
issues so far discussed models & tools open questions
first comments on the 1st assignment
commmunicating changewhat next?
Issues so far discussed
models ”kleuterschool model” pizza model kite model
tools core story 3 x 3 x 3 -diagram
Totalcommuni-cations
externalmarket-
ing
inter-nalmar-ket-ing
work instruct-ions
inductionto work
induction toorganization
internalPR &scanning
externalPR &
scanning
product/ sercivesprofile & surveys
coprporate/ manager profile & surveys
Externalsocial
networks
Internalgrapevine
Åberg’s Kite
LEGITI-
MACY
CORPORATE
CULTUREGROUP DYNAM
ICS
INDIVIDUAL DYNAMICS
B
USINESS
IDEA, M
ISSIO
N
STRATEGY
GROUP AND
TEAM G
OALS
TASKS
COMMUNICATION
MANI-MANI-FESTAT-FESTAT-ION OFION OFVISIONVISION
SCAN-SCAN-NINGNING
COM-COM-MUNI-MUNI-CAT-CAT-INGINGCHAN-CHAN-GEGE
VISION
Visioning as a process
evolutionevolution
evolution
crisiscrisis
crisis
time
evolutionevolution
tasaisenkasvunkausi
crisis
kriisi
?
timepresent
evolutionevolution
tasaisenkasvunkausi
crisis
kriisi
timepresent
?
evolutionevolution
evolution
crisis
crisis
?
timepresent
!
evolutionevolution
crisis
?
present”good old times” ”times ofturbulence”
timetime
?
same planning period
shorter wider
”times ofturbulence”
timepresent”good old times”
evolutioncrisis
evolution
”times ofturbulence”
timepresent”good old times”
evolutioncrisis
evolution
”times ofturbulence”
timepresent”good old times”
Vision, orTHE palm
islands
Communications tools:crisis communications
”times ofturbulence”
timepresent”good old times”
Vision, orTHE palm
islands
ScanningTrends
Randomfluctuation
Environ-mental
responsesto ouractions
”times ofturbulence”
timepresent”good old times”
Vision, orTHE palm
islands
timepresent”good old times” ”times ofturbulences”
Vision, orTHE palm
islands
Visionary!
Good heritage
Manifestation of vision
the people should be able to see themselves in the vision
• when Martin Luther King once said ”I have a dream” and when hundreds of thousands of people listened to that, moved, they did not think: ”this Martin, what a great vision he has”, but saw themselves as a part of that vision, and it was this that emotionally shook them
”sharp on edges, blurred in the center”vision is deliberately blurred, yet it
shows the direction
Vision
vision creates a harmonic link between what the personnel values and what the customers value (Rowley ja Roevens)
Henry Ford: ”I want to make cars that every American worker can afford to buy”
vision is a state of future events, not a fata morgana, nor an electric rabbit
it describes the future state of events and our position there (if any!)
first the simplified model: the core story, and strategic key messages
then the mission statement
Mission statement
should be a brief, clear statement of the reasons for an organization’s existence, its purpose(s), the function(s) it performs, its primary customer base, and the primary methods through which it will
fulfill its purpose(s)(Goodstein, L., Nolan, T. and Pfeiffer, J.W.,
Applied Strategic Planning. New York 1993)
To develop a mission statement, organizations must answer these basic questions:
1 What function(s) do we perform?2 For whom do we perform these
functions?3 How do we fulfill these functions?4 Why do we do all this?
(Goodstein, L., Nolan, T. and Pfeiffer, J.W., Applied Strategic Planning. New York 1993)
time
Balance
Transformation
Control Chaos
Enhance Perturb
AttractExcite
Task centered change
Communicating change
A dynamic model of organizational change
Revolution: VISION
Evolution: VALUES
Balance
Transformation
Control Chaos
Enhance Perturb
AttractExcite
Task centered change
Robin M. Rowley & Joseph J. Roevens:Organize with Chaos. Lint 1996
Rowley ja Roevens argue, that
when the environment is in a state of rapid and unforeseeable change, the organization can best react to these conditions if internal, shared values guide the behavior of the personnel
the customers’ values play the crucial role here: they should be the ultimate guide
Bringing about change á la Rowley & Roevens
Enhance: create an atmosphere that enhances risk taking, cooperation, and self-organizing behavior
enhance risk taking and self-organizing behavior
manifestation of vision
key strategic concepts
allow experimenting
stress the value of customerhip, service, and competition
define and surface internal values
enhance free cooperation and communication
create a constructive feedback system
Perturb:”shake” the organization out of its current orbit: create a controlled state of uncertainty -> self-organization begins
abandon old status symbols, rituals and rules
emphasize positive criticism
emphasize open communications at all levels
question old ways: ask ’why’ and ’what if’
pick to the front line the ”true rebels”
throw in ”impossible” professional challenges and make them ”pro-jects of national pride”
use benchmarking and scanning to detect signals of change
Attract:bring about emotional commitment, in order to produce the critical mass needed for change
motivate and bring about commitment
ask all the time the synergic groups to argue and to reason their new ways of doing things
enhance new symbols and rituals, created by synergic groups
use creative problem solution techniques
Excite:create an emotional state that excites people, this gradually leads to a higher level of order
create excitement over things being done ”the new way”
allow outbreaks, bursts of excellence
reward top performance
tell stories about top teams and synergy
bury with dignity old ways of doing things
make the new ways of doing things part of the new vision
timepresent”good old times” ”times ofturbulence”
Vision, orTHE palm
islands
20002001
2002
RP&B
Tools for directing the change:”rolling” planning and budgeting
in order to survive in an environment desribed earlier, the organization has to be adaptive, knowing and learning
Knowing organization (Choo)
The knowing organisation possesses information and knowledge so that it is well informed, mentally perceptive, and enlightened
Its actions are based on shared and valid understanding of the organization’s environments and needs
Choo, Chun Wei: The Knowing Organization. New York 1998
By managing information resources and information processes, the knowing organization is able to adapt itself in a timely and effective manner to
internal and external changes engage in continuous organizational learning mobilize the knowledge and expertise of its
members to induce innovation and creativity focus its understanding and knowledge on
reasoned, decisive action
conversion
processing
Action
The knowingorganization
Choo, C.W., The KnowingOrganization. New York 1998
informationinterpretation
Sense-making processes
Environmentalchange
Enactment Selection Retention
Choo, C.W., The KnowingOrganization. New York 1998
Knowledge creation (Nonaka and Takeuchi)
knowledge creation in organizations is achieved through a recognition of the synergistic relationship between tacit and explicit knowledge
Nonaka, I., and Takeuchi, H., The Knowledge-Creating Company. New York 1995
tacit knowledge is personal knowledge that is hard to formalize or communicate to others:
subjective know-how, insights, and intuitions
explicit knowledge is formal knowledge that is easy to transmit between individuals and groups:
mathematical formulas, rules, specifications, research reports
explicit
tacit
tacit explicit
INTERNALIZATION
COMBINATIONEXTERNALIZATION
SOCIALIZATION
COMBINATION
specialists analyze data
From explicit to explicit
INTERNALIZATION
”meester” adapts
From explicit to tacit
SOCIALIZATION
”meester” guids ”gezel”
From tacit to tacit
EXTERNALIZATION
”meester’s” work is modelled
From tacit to explicitKnowledge creationNonaka, I., and Takeuchi, H., The Knowledge-Creating Company. New York 1995
explicit
tacit
tacit explicit
INTERNALIZATION
COMBINATIONEXTERNALIZATION
SOCIALIZATION
Knowledge creationNonaka, I., and Takeuchi, H., The Knowledge-Creating Company. New York 1995
specialists analyze data
”meester” guids ”gezel”
”meester’s” work is modelled
”meester” adapts
The knowing cycle
streams of experience
Sense making
shared meanings
Knowledgecreating
Decisionmaking
new knowledge,capabilities
goal-directed,adaptivebehavior
Choo, C.W., The KnowingOrganization. New York 1998
The knowing cycle
streams of experience
Sense making
shared meanings
Knowledgecreating
Decisionmaking
new knowledge,capabilities
goal-directed,adaptivebehavior
scanning
latency
Choo, C.W., The KnowingOrganization. New York 1998
Latency
the time between the observation of those weak signals that have to be taken into account and the execution of decisions made on the basis of these signals
years”the one who knew” travelled
monthstransportation means
weeksmail messengers
daystelegraph
hourstelefax, telephone
0new information technology
zero latency enterprises
Zero latency enterprise
a concept created by Gartner groupan organization with instant, real-time
decision makinga theoretical concept, similar to the
concept of absolute zero temperaturea zero-latency enterprise has to
possess tolerance for erratic decisions
What next?
communi-cation
strategy
culture structure
LEGITI-
MACY
CORPORATE
CULTUREGROUP DYNAM
ICS
INDIVIDUAL DYNAMICS
B
USINESS
IDEA, M
ISSIO
N
STRATEGY
GROUP AND
TEAM G
OALS
TASKS
COMMUNICATION
MANI-FESTAT-ION OFVISION
SCAN-NING
COM-MUNI-CAT-INGCHAN-GE
VISION
Totalcommuni-cations
Externalsocial
networks
Internalgrapevine
contingencymodels
models bySchein,
Hoofstede,etc.
A contingency model of organization
there is not the one best way to organize
the organization has to adapt for external and internal factors
these factors are called contingency factors, or situational factors external: stability, compexity, and diversity
of the environment, etc. internal: production technology, size, etc.
a close fita close fit
A Contingency Analysis ofOrganizational Communications
Environmental factors
Structuralfactors
Otherfactors
Ind & groupfactors
Managementfactors
Establishment and structuringof the communications system
Effectiveness of communications
Åberg and Moisala, 1980Åberg and Moisala, 1980