Putting it into practice: the acid test of strategic change

This blog post was published on June 23, 2013 at 09:17 pm GMT

David Wilson, Professor in Organisation Studies and Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship

I’m very pleased to have recently joined the Open University Business School and I am looking forward to interacting with you at this event to discuss a research passion of mine, namely the successful implementation of strategic change. Together with insights from our guest speakers, senior managers who come from a wide variety of organisations, we hope to reach out to our graduates, students and partners, and engage them in a dialogue about strategic change and its successful implementation.

Much of the management literature has concentrated on the behavioural aspects of change, such as individual perception, anticipation or resistance, but has neglected to recognise that change is an integral part of organisational strategy, governance and its resources.   It is these factors which form the distinctive competences and features of an organisation and which can impede or help successful implementation.  Some factors are more influential than others and I argue that the preoccupations of the last decade – and longer – with cultures and structures of organisations as key to successful change implementation have been over-emphasised.  What matters most is the knowledge base, or intellect, of the organisation.

On 11 July, I will lead an interactive day, looking at a wide range of key factors such as organisational structures, cultures and design; governance and the role of the Board as well as the contribution of intellectual capital as a key organisational resource.  The aim is to help those with strategic responsibilities for implementing change and learn more about what makes some changes more successful than others.

Implementation – putting it into practice – can be seen as the acid test of strategic change.  Without successful implementation, even the most innovative ideas can run into the quicksand.  Commercial organisations can quickly lose their competitive advantage by struggling to put changes into practice and public sector and non-profit organisations can become rule-bound and resistant to change.

I hope you find this an engaging day, with plenty of discussions and that you are provided with motivation, knowledge and insight to take back to your own roles and organisations.

I very much look forward to meeting you during the day.