Transformational
Strategies
Organization
transformation (OT) is “drastic, abrupt change to total structures, managerial processes,
and corporate cultures” (Brown, 2011, p. 399).
Examples of OT, are takeovers, mergers, and plant closures. Brown (2011) describes the OT process as “more
revolution than evolution” (p. 399). As
such, OT approaches tend to use directive rather than participative approaches”
(p.400). Armed with the information I
learned from the text, it was time for me to watch the videos required for this
assignment.
To my surprise, neither
video had anything to do with a takeover, merger, or plant closure. However, both videos did, indeed, illustrate
total transformations. The first
described the transformation of a retail furniture company in Texas and the
second described the transformation of a senior military leader.
Jim, ‘Mattress Mack” McIngvale
owns Gallery Furniture in Houston, Texas.
His business had suffered two major setbacks about a year apart that
nearly decimated is business. He quickly
realized that if he did not do something to change the way Gallery Furniture
did business, Gallery would be lost.
The transformation
process at Gallery made sense to me and I felt it closely fit the textbook
discussion. Reading between the lines
and making a few assumptions allowed me to assess the conditions at
Gallery. I personally assessed the
corporate culture at Gallery as weak as referenced in fig, 15.4. I think Galaxy enjoyed a ready customer base
from the beginning that required little or no effort to attain. When housing production dropped by 75
percent, so did his core customer base.
The sales staff never had to learn how to attract customers into the
store. Jim would not have questioned it
because sales were good. That was the
culture at Gallery. Wait for the next
customer, wait for them to tell you what they want, and sell it to them. Up until the major setbacks occurred sales were
nearly automatic. McIngvale would not
have had a reason to change anything.
When the time came and McIngvale saw that change was necessary to keep
Gallery afloat, he did not know what to change or how to change it.
Strategy under the
circumstances would have fallen into the same trap. A business successfully operating on
autopilot for years will not see small changes in the environment and
therefore, will not learn to adapt. So,
when the environment disintegrated, the need for strategic change was very high
and extremely important to the company.
This coupled with a weak corporate culture meant that McIngvale could begin
making changes to strategy with little fear that they would be incompatible
with the existing culture. Brown (2011)
refers to this condition as “manage the change”(p. 407, fig. 15-5). The fit here is not perfect because the
culture is weak, but not necessarily compatible. However, it may be the best fit under the
circumstances because as strategic changes are made and emphasized by sharing
the vision, reshuffling key people into positions important to implementing the
new strategy, and reinforcing the new values required by the new strategy would in effect serve to
strengthen the corporate culture at the same time (Brown, 2011).
The company McIngvale
hired to help reinvent Gallery was quite successful in doing so. They were able to transform Gallery by
instilling practices that are fundamental to any sales organization to include
following up with customers that had been in the store and left without making
a purchase, learning to love prospecting for new customers, utilizing
technology as an enabler to improve their effectiveness, emphasizing customer
service by reducing post-delivery rework, and sharing data openly so that
everyone could reap the benefits of their colleague’s success or learn from
each other’s failures. Finally, the
practitioner provided reinforcement of the desired behavior through simple
public recognition. Whenever an
individual makes a contact sell they must ring a bell. This makes everyone aware of the achievement
and reinforces the behavior for the individual that made the sale.
The results are very
impressive for Gallery and its associates.
They successfully transformed the company in a participative manner over
a short period of time. This does not
fully agree with the textbook, but I accept that between any two quadrants
there is always room for deviations to occur.
Gallery fell somewhere between Participative Evolution and Charismatic
Transformation. The transformation
resulted in a stronger culture for sales practices and customer
service/appreciation which created a better Strategy-Culture Fit (Brown, 2011).
General Stanley
McChrystal, U.S. Army, Retired, described a transformation that impressed me. I understand the transformation he
experienced although I have never really experienced it myself. It was real for him and he was forced to
overcome and adapt. For me , it was a recurring nightmare. When it came time for me to act in the role I
had been trained for, nothing I did worked.
The more I tried the worse things got…and so on. So, his feelings of frustration and
inadequacy were not lost on me. I am
grateful he was able to work through those issues.
Transforming oneself does
not happen every day. What
transformation do you implement when everything has changed? Changing how you think, respond, react, or
behave in any given situation sounds difficult, almost unnatural. However, if it is even possible, the
situation the general found himself in would certainly provide the motivation
to try.
Without doubt General
McChrystal’s commitment to cultural values would be extremely strong, (as would
the entire Army I assume) placing him solidly in the strong culture
quadrant. Brown (2011) warns that having
a strong culture does not ensure effectiveness.
“The definition of the culture and the degree to which its solutions fit
the problems posed by the environment seem to be the critical variables here,
not strength alone. A strong culture may
also encourage the organization’s members to adhere to the demonstrated methods
of the past and to blind members to new opportunities” (p. 406, also see fig.
15.4).
General McChrystal needed
to implement important strategy changes not only to communicate with his people
but to provide leadership, establish trusting relationships, and effectively
guide their actions. Changes of his
nature would be compatible with existing corporate culture. This places him in quadrant 1 of figure
15.5in the textbook. This quadrant
advises to manage the change. According
to Brown (2011) the General “can pursue a strategy requiring major changes and
should manage the change by using the power of cultural acceptance and reinforcement”
(p. 407).
Considering the
circumstances, I believe the general probably eliminated the formality of a
cumbersome and confusing process and took the quickest and most direct method
possible to safely and securely communicate with his people.
~Pete
Reference
Brown, D.R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization
development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
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