Change Management Efforts Research Articles

Disguise Learn: A Best-in-Class Hybrid Learning Program Case Study

This case study examines the development and implementation of “Disguise Learn”, a hybrid learning program designed to elevate customer training experiences, enhance product adoption, and foster client success in the extended reality (xR) and virtual production (VP) realms. The study highlights the business needs that led to the creation of Disguise Learn, the strategic design of the program, its deployment, change management efforts, and the measurable benefits realised. The study aims to showcase best practices in creating a comprehensive and engaging hybrid learning environment that aligns with organisational objectives and industry demands.

Embracing AI in Change Management

Abstract: This article discusses how organizations can leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to support rather than hinder change management efforts amid technological transformation. It first establishes a research foundation on common sources of resistance to change, such as job insecurity, lack of understanding, and lack of involvement. The article then presents examples of how AI can augment traditional change management approaches to systematically address each resistance factor. Specifically, AI enhances two-way communication through personalized outreach and question answering. It also enables immersive, dynamic training solutions for ubiquitous, experiential skill development. AI fosters wider participation and feedback while monitoring employee well-being and performance. By addressing causes of resistance at each stage, AI strengthens critical aspects of communication, education, participation, and support to build understanding of changes rather than apathy. The article argues leaders who view AI as an ally in change management will empower their workforce through disruption.

Creating dynamic environments for the hybrid work experience : A case study of repositioning the Cambridge Consultants Boston office

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the transition to hybrid work, leading to increased office vacancies globally. However, many companies grappled with the challenge of creating hybrid work models that provide staff-desired flexibility while enabling effective social connection and appropriately using physical space. The employee experience is multifaceted, involving interpersonal, occupational, physical and technological factors. Human-centred design strategies are essential for fostering well-being, satisfaction and organisational performance. Investing in workplace design fosters employee satisfaction, productivity and talent retention; influences client interactions; and strengthens the connection between employees and organisational identity. The case study detailed herein focuses on Cambridge Consultants, a research and development consulting company, navigating this transition. The company underwent a thorough assessment from autumn 2021 to autumn 2022 to develop an ideal space for their new Boston-based North American office, emphasising participatory design to support the evolving demands of the hybrid work model. The relocation process involved an extensive discovery phase, including surveys, focus groups and envisioning sessions to gather insights from staff. The design development phase further engaged staff, seeking feedback on various design concepts, finishes and layouts. The company’s commitment to inclusivity and transparency extended to change management efforts, which included shifting from assigned desks to a hotelling model. The new office design prioritised innovation, connectedness, flexibility and belonging, aiming to fulfil the staff’s vision for a dynamic and inclusive workspace. Features such as an inviting lobby, staff and project showcases, variable furniture and room options and interactive walls contributed to the vision. A post-occupancy survey in autumn 2023 revealed overall positive perceptions of the new office and considered it conducive to cross-collaboration and creativity, but highlighted challenges such as setting up hotelling desks to meet personal preferences and transit-related factors affecting office attendance. The case study emphasises the importance of ongoing staff engagement, usability assessments, and a holistic understanding of real-world context. Future research is suggested to analyse the impact of hybrid work setups on operational performance metrics and the relationships between commuting complexity and perceived value in going to the office.

Radiation Oncology Resident Education: Is Change Needed?

Leading successful change efforts first requires assessment of the "before change" environment and culture. At our institution, the radiation oncology (RO) residents follow a longitudinal didactic learning program consisting of weekly 1-h lectures, case conferences, and journal clubs. The resident didactic education series format has not changed since its inception over 10years ago. We evaluated the perceptions of current residents and faculty about the effectiveness of the curriculum in its present form. Two parallel surveys were designed, one each for residents and attendings, to assess current attitudes regarding the effectiveness and need for change in the RO residency curriculum, specifically the traditional didactic lectures, the journal club sessions, and the case conferences. We also investigated perceived levels of engagement among residents and faculty, whether self-assessments would be useful to increase material retention, and how often the content of didactic lectures is updated. Surveys were distributed individually to each resident (N = 10) and attending (N = 24) either in-person or via Zoom. Following completion of the survey, respondents were informally interviewed about their perspectives on the curriculum's strengths and weaknesses. Compared to 46% of attendings, 80% of RO residents believed that the curriculum should be changed. Twenty percent of residents felt that the traditional didactic lectures were effective in preparing them to manage patients in the clinic, compared to 74% of attendings. Similarly, 10% of residents felt that the journal club sessions were effective vs. 42% of attendings. Finally, 40% of residents felt that the case conferences were effective vs. 67% of attendings. Overall, most respondents (56%) favored change in the curriculum. Our results suggest that the perceptions of the residents did not align with those of the attending physicians with respect to the effectiveness of the curriculum and the need for change. The discrepancies between resident and faculty views highlight the importance of a dedicated change management effort to mitigate this gap. Based on this project, we plan to propose recommended changes in structure to the residency program directors. Main changes would be to increase the interactive nature of the course material, incorporate more ways to increase faculty engagement, and consider self-assessment questions to promote retention. Once we get approval from the residency program leadership, we will follow Kotter's "Eight steps to transforming your organization" to ensure the highest potential for faculty to accept the expectations of a new curriculum.

Barriers to successful change management

Change management plays a crucial role in an organisation’s ability to adapt and thrive in today’s ever-evolving and fast-changing technologically enabled business landscape. Many organisations continue to struggle with effective change management, resulting in failed projects and missed opportunities for growth and development. This paper analyses the reasons why organisations frequently falter in change management efforts and provides insights into overcoming these barriers. The paper identifies a host of significant barriers to effective and successful change management. Each barrier is discussed in detail, explaining the negative effect it can have on change initiatives. Among these barriers are the lack of change management role accountability, a culture where change management is not embraced at all levels, a lack of change champions and leadership support, resistance to change, limited employee involvement, inadequate and poorly designed communications and a failure to properly integrate change management with other complementary approaches. The paper provides practical recommendations to overcome these barriers. It emphasises the crucial role of leadership in championing the change, communicating the vision and actively involving employees in the change process. It underscores the importance of a well-crafted, clear and consistent communication that can help build trust, ensure buy-in and reduce resistance. The paper also highlights the need for robust integration of change management with other complementary approaches. Furthermore, the paper underscores the significance of a centralised change management approach, incorporating tools, best practices and standardised change management practices, and setting realistic expectations to sustain change efforts over time. It stresses the need for organisations to provide the necessary resources, authority and support to staff to effectively fulfil their change management roles. In conclusion, this paper provides insights into overcoming the main barriers to successful change implementation. By implementing the suggested strategies, organisations can enhance their change management capabilities and increase their adaptability, thereby ensuring long-term success in a rapidly changing business landscape.

Perceived Organizational Support as an Antecedent of Knowledge Sharing Behaviors: Achieving Sustainability of Change Management Efforts

Knowledge is the only way organizations gain sustainable competitive advantage in such a hyper-competitive era. Given its importance, the study examines the antecedents to tacit and explicit knowledge and the mediating role of psychological ownership. We have collected a sample of 157 using online Google forms and physically visiting the banks in certain cases. The study used Smart PLS for statistical analysis. Structural equation modeling was performed on Smart PLS for data analysis as the constructs are reflective. The study found that perceived organizational-support positively influences both dimensions of knowledge-sharing behavior – tacit and explicit knowledge. Psychological ownership positively “mediates perceived organizational support and explicit knowledge sharing.” However, we did not find support for the mediating role of psychological ownership between perceived organizational-support and tacit knowledge sharing. The study recommends the HR department must create awareness of the support it provides to employees. HR professionals must build an all-inclusive workplace culture that embodies organizational support. Furthermore, customized incentives such as extrinsic and intrinsic benefits can encourage employees to share knowledge.

Lean and Industry 4.0 mitigating common losses in Engineer-to-Order theory and practice: an exploratory study

Companies employing an Engineer-to-Order (ETO) manufacturing strategy often develop, design and produce complex goods in single or small batches based on an individual customer order. The increased complexity caused by project business multiplies the engineering, cost, and change management efforts that are often required, resulting in lost productivity and more non-value-adding activities. To improve efficiency and reduce losses, ETO organizations strive to implement Lean practices and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies, but the relevant literature in ETO industrial context is more exploratory and contains less empirical data. Building on the preliminary work categorizing the common losses in ETO organizations, the study examined how these can be reduced by Lean and I4.0 practices. Current literature was analyzed, and empirical data was collected using a survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with 16 companies from the construction, shipbuilding, and machinery and plant manufacturing industries. The scientific literature was compared with the empirical data to find out whether Lean methods and I4.0 technologies are known in research but not applied in practice and vice versa. As a result, there are several practices from both domains applied in practice to reduce losses, but the analyzed literature indicates few successful implementations. Future research should aim to provide more empirical data on the application of Lean and I4.0 practices to mitigate losses in companies with an ETO strategy and provide best practices and guidelines.

An Agile Systems Engineering Process for Stakeholder Needs Identification and Solution Concept Design

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a case study where an agile systems engineering process was used to identify stakeholder needs to design an improved cross‐organizational proposal development process during the proposal formulation phase of a program. The agile systems engineering process leveraged the incremental application of design thinking techniques to engage the stakeholders and identify the care‐abouts of an organization during proposal formulation in support of a change management effort. The goal of the change management effort was to design solutions that increased collaboration and engagement across the various internal and external stakeholders without changing the overarching corporate proposal development process. The identified solutions broke existing organizational silos and changed the dynamics of the organization impacting over 1,200 employees. The case study relates to the future of systems engineering (FuSE) concepts of stakeholder engagement and agility across organizational boundaries.

Considering Team Dynamics during Human Factors Work in Healthcare

A significant body of human factors (HF) work has focused on how people collaborate on teams in various operational settings such as aviation and nuclear power. Less work, however, has focused on the team dynamics of groups conducting HF studies. This paper describes a collaborative effort led by HF practitioners to understand and document user needs and challenges associated with the adoption of a new electronic health record (EHR) at a medical facility. By examining the challenges and opportunities presented by the interdisciplinary nature of the team, we can identify best practices for future study and change management efforts that may ultimately lead to greater organizational maturity and the development of better, safer systems.

Geographic Analysis of the Vulnerability of U.S. Lakes to Cyanobacterial Blooms under Future Climate

Abstract Cyanobacteria blooms are an increasing concern in U.S. freshwaters. Such blooms can produce nuisance conditions, deplete oxygen, and alter the food chain, and in some cases they may produce potent toxins, although many factors may modulate the relationships between biomass and toxin production. Cyanobacterial blooms are in turn associated with nutrient enrichment and warm water temperatures. Climate change is expected to increase water temperatures and, in many areas, surface runoff that can transport nutrient loads to lakes. While some progress has been made in short-term prediction of cyanobacterial bloom and toxin risk, the long-term projections of which lakes will become more vulnerable to such events as a result of climate change is less clear because of the complex interaction of multiple factors that affect bloom probability. We address this question by reviewing the literature to identify risk factors that increase lake vulnerability to cyanobacterial blooms and evaluating how climate change may alter these factors across the sample of conterminous U.S. lakes contained in the 2007 National Lakes Assessment. Results provide a national-scale assessment of where and in which types of lakes climate change will likely increase the overall risk of cyanobacterial blooms, rather than finer-scale prediction of expected cyanobacterial and toxin levels in individual lakes. This information can be used to guide climate change adaptation planning, including monitoring and management efforts to minimize the effects of increased cyanobacterial prevalence. Significance Statement Cyanobacteria blooms and associated algal toxins are an increasing problem in U.S. freshwater lakes and reservoirs. Climate change may further increase bloom frequency and severity. We survey the literature on relationships between bloom formation and climate. These relationships are combined with projections of future climate and lake response to develop indices of where and in what types of lakes such blooms are most likely to increase relative to current conditions. The results can help to focus monitoring and management measures to mitigate potential impacts on human health, wildlife, and aquatic biota.

Leading Change: Perceptions of Current Radiation Oncology Residents and Attending Physicians about the State of the Didactic Curriculum

<h3>Purpose/Objective(s)</h3> Leading successful change efforts first requires assessment of the "before change" environment and culture. At our institution, the Radiation Oncology (RO) residents follow a longitudinal didactic learning program consisting of weekly one-hour lectures, case conferences, and journal clubs organized by disease site specialty. The resident didactic education series format has not changed since its inception over ten years ago. We evaluated the perceptions of current residents and faculty about the effectiveness of the curriculum in its present form. <h3>Materials/Methods</h3> Two parallel surveys were designed using a survey platform, one each for residents and attendings, to assess current attitudes regarding the effectiveness and need for change in the RO residency curriculum, specifically the traditional didactic lectures, the journal club sessions, and the case conferences. Online surveys were individually distributed in person or via video conference and took 5-10 minutes to complete. Attending faculty who practiced at the main campus or regional site and participated in the teaching program were eligible, with the senior author on this project excused. No identifiers were used to preserve anonymity of the respondents given the nature of this single institution cohort. Following completion of the survey, respondents were informally interviewed by the first author about the curriculum's strengths and weaknesses. <h3>Results</h3> Online surveys were individually distributed to 100% of residents (N=10) and 100% of eligible attendings (N=24). Compared to 46% of attendings, 80% of RO residents believe the current curriculum should be changed. Twenty percent of residents believe the traditional didactic lectures are effective in preparing them to manage patients in the clinic, compared to 74% of attendings. Similarly, 10% of residents feel that the journal club sessions are effective vs. 42% of attendings. Finally, 40% of residents believe the case conferences are effective vs. 67% of attendings. Overall, residents were less satisfied and more oriented towards change than faculty members. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Our results suggest that the perceptions of RO residents about the current didactic curriculum do not align with those of attending physicians. Main changes would be to increase the interactive nature of the course material, incorporate more ways to increase faculty engagement, and consider self-assessment questions to promote retention. The discrepancies between residents and faculty highlight the need of a dedicated change management effort to mitigate this gap. Pending approval from the residency program leadership, we will follow Kotter's "Eight steps to transforming your organization" to ensure the highest potential for faculty to transition to a new curriculum.

Understanding Human Nature, Temporal and Resource Assumptions in Organization Change

Though academic literature has covered organizational change management for more than seven decades, an intriguing question arises “Why do most organizational change efforts fail to achieve the desired goals?”. Given that the majority of large complex change management efforts fail, the fundamental question which intrigues researchers are the reasons for such change failure. One of the possible reasons can be that classical change management theories are based on simplistic assumptions related to resources, temporal and human nature. We investigate and illustrate assumptions related to time, human nature and resources in the context of change management theories. The assumptions in these theories are unrealistic, which hinder our understanding of change management. We posit that a more realistic understanding will help to understand the complex change management process, which will help managers to better implement change management in practice.

The Role of Leadership Political Skills in the Context of Organizational Change

In this research, we measured the impact of leaders’ political skills on employee behavioral support for organizational change and the latter's effect on change fatigue and change outcome. Organizations nowadays face dynamic environments that require constant change. Therefore, leaders should develop the political skills necessary to gain employee behavioral support for organizational change, manage employees' change fatigue, and ultimately achieve positive change outcomes. We based our study on a sample of 197 participants from Canadian organizations and used structural equation modeling to test our research hypotheses. We found that leader networking ability and apparent sincerity positively affect employees’ intentions to support change, whereas interpersonal influence and social astuteness do not. In turn, employees’ intentions to support change positively affect change outcome, although it has no significant effect on employees’ change fatigue. Finally, we found that change fatigue negatively affects change outcome. The findings have implications on organizations' HRD practices to facilitate effective change management efforts and have a theoretical contribution.

A post-Flexner comparative case study of medical training responses to health system needs in Brazil and Germany.

Health systems need medical professionals who can and will work in outpatient settings, such as general practitioner practices or health centres. However, medical students complete only a small portion of their medical training there. Furthermore, this type of training is sometimes seen as inferior to training in academic medical centres and university hospitals. Hence, the healthcare system’s demand and the execution of medical curricula do not match. Robust concepts for better alignment of both these parts are lacking. This study aims to (1) describe decentral learning environments in the context of traditional medical curricula and (2) derive ideas for implementing such scenarios further in existing curricula in response to particular medicosocietal needs.This study is designed as qualitative cross-national comparative education research. It comprises three steps: first, two author teams consisting of course managers from Brazil and Germany write a report on change management efforts in their respective faculty. Both teams then compare and comment on the other’s report. Emerging similarities and discrepancies are categorised. Third, a cross-national analysis is conducted on the category system.Stakeholders of medical education (medical students, teaching faculty, teachers in decentral learning environments) have differing standards, ideals and goals that are influenced by their own socialisation—prominently, Flexner’s view of university hospital training as optimal training. We reiterate that both central and decentral learning environments provide meaningful complementary learning opportunities. Medical students must be prepared to navigate social aspects of learning and accept responsibility for communities. They are uniquely positioned to serve as visionaries and university ambassadors to communities. As such, they can bridge the gap between university hospitals and decentral learning environments.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts Are Organizational Change Management Efforts.

The year 2020 was an awakening into the racial disparities that exist across the United States and within health care. Global protests after the murder of George Floyd were a poignant recognition of the disproportionate—and often deadly—burden for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Systemic inequalities within our health system are well documented. From birth to death, BIPOC Americans experience poorer health outcomes than White Americans. For example, Black women have lower screening mammography rates than White women [1], which contributes to higher mortality rates due to higher-grade malignancies and later-stage diagnoses.

Hitting the procurement trifecta : How FHLB San Francisco transformed and aligned procurement, risk and diversity in the middle of a pandemic

Procurement transformations involve a strategic review and realignment of an organisation’s procurement function to address critical operational gaps. This paper focuses on the execution of such transformation activities within a heavily regulated financial services organisation that faced several internal and external gaps. Gaps included a heavy reliance on suppliers to maintain critical operations, increased regulatory oversight and a lack of standardisation and organisational integration within the procurement function needed to service internal customers. A successful transformation for such an organisation required a focus on three primary pillars (workstreams): procurement, supplier diversity and supplier risk. Each workstream addressed a unique set of challenges and, as such, were carried out independently; however, the interrelated nature of these challenges called for strong planning, shared resources and parallel efforts. The results of the initial gap assessments showed a need for procurement team right-sizing (in terms of resources and role definitions), a revision of core policy and standard operating procedures, and a re-evaluation of the technologies that supported both procurement operations and regulatory reporting/compliance. The transformation, embodied by the three pillars above, addressed each of these gaps. This transformation began the reimagining of the procurement function but work in this space is ongoing. Requirements around third-party risk management, supplier diversity and the regulatory landscape will continue to shift and evolve. Regular monitoring of the effectiveness of this transformation must be conducted, and strategic pivots and change management efforts must be undertaken to ensure long-term success.

Implementing Co-Creation as a Policy Norm in Sweden — Steering Strategies for a Robust Municipal Organisation

Abstract Building upon findings from a strategically selected case study of a pioneering Swedish municipality, Jönköping, a participant in a Horizon2020 project on co-creating public service innovations in Europe (CoSIE), this paper illustrates how local municipalities may take a systemic approach to creating the necessary conditions for sustainable co-creation and assesses whether this illustrates an ongoing paradigmatic shift in service management and culture. The strategic change management efforts in adapting a public sector organisation to a co-creation culture, are assessed against a normative theoretical framework for such a transformative change (Finansdepartementet 2018; Torfing et al, 2016;). The study employs the concept of co-creation to highlight the paradigmatic shift in the approach to citizens as service end users from passive clients to active citizens with resources and capabilities to exert an impact on service design, delivery, and value creation. Th e article offers new insights into how a robust organisation may be moving towards a new public administration paradigm that accommodates co-creation, and especially how a new approach to management based on trust may be strategically implemented as a key factor in facilitating systemic change (Torfing et al, 2016). Against the background of a significant shortage of studies exploring how conditions for such a transformative change are created at different system levels, the article examines a longitudinal real-time study and illustrates new management approaches, strategies, and tools used. The study also contributes a normative framework to explore a shift to more trust-based steering and a more nuanced explanation of an ongoing managerial shift towards a ‘co-creation’ paradigm. It argues that achieving trust-based steering has major potential to facilitate a co-creation culture but that a paradigmatic shift towards such a culture requires congruence in discourses and actions on different system levels and a major transformation of approaches, roles, and relationship dynamics between senior and first-line management.

Water the odds? Spring rainfall and emergence‐related seed traits drive plant recruitment

Recruitment of new individuals from seed is a critical component of plant community assembly and reassembly, especially in the context of ecosystem disturbance and recovery. While frameworks typically aim to predict how communities will be filtered on the basis of traits influencing established plant responses to the environment, assembly from seed is more complex: the responses of seeds (affected by dormancy and germination function) and establishing plants (affected by root and leaf function) can both influence outcomes within a single growing season. This creates a potential role for a more diverse set seed and seedling traits, and for environmental variability on shorter timescales (e.g. seasonal versus annual dynamics), than are typically considered. We followed thousands of individual seeds comprising eleven herbaceous grassland species through the first growing season, seeking to uncover critical environmental (precipitation amount and timing) and trait‐based filters on seedling emergence and survival in assembling communities. We saw the biggest recruitment limitation when seeds failed to emerge, driven independently by a dry spring and interspecific variation in seed mass (positive effect) and seed dormancy (negative effect). Seedling survival rates were higher than emergence, with weaker predictive roles for traits like seedling root mass allocation (positive effect) and seed mass (positive under spring drought), and lesser impacts of summer rainfall on soil moisture and survival. Interestingly, most trait relationships were not conditional on rainfall, suggesting water‐independent mechanisms of their respective advantages. Although recruitment is a complex process, our findings suggest that trait‐based assembly frameworks can be a useful way to anticipate outcomes, particularly if dynamic early‐stage conditions (e.g. spring rainfall) and attributes (e.g. seed dormancy) receive greater attention. Given the importance of recruitment for community turnover in the context of global change and land management efforts, this is an area ripe for continued expansion in trait‐based and applied ecology.

Change-efficacy: the glue that connects organizational change with employees’ actions

PurposeThe article presents and discusses the concept of employee change-efficacy as an outcome of a series of interactions between employees and their respective line managers.Design/methodology/approachThe article draws from the extant literature on change-efficacy and builds a procedural framework for achieving change-efficacy based upon the author’s independent viewpoint.FindingsMost organizations are struggling with change resistance and they are investing in employee readiness to change without following a practical topology. The article prescribes a sequence of steps and a practical guide which integrates the efforts of line managers with employees to strengthen employees’ change-efficacy.Research implicationsThe article contributes to the scarce literature on change-efficacy and indicates a framework which can be tested empirically by researchers.Originality/valueThe author introduces change-efficacy as the most important investment for employee readiness for change and suggests how organizations should channelize their change management efforts to successfully implement change.

A Case Study on Change Management Readiness for an Oil & Gas SME Company in Malaysia

Change management is vital in sustaining and remain competitive in a volatile environment. A well-planned change management effort has been craved by organizations in need as being more profitable, reputable and sustainable is the ultimate achievement. These changes to the pillars of the organization normally are more transformative than incremental in nature. All arrows pointing to the single biggest step an organization is to embark if they choose to ride the path of a successful change management execution – the change management readiness. This paper discusses the aspects of change management readiness which entails the need for readiness, the activities within readiness, the factors of leadership, communication and awareness that embodies the readiness as a whole. A case study of an actual organization participated in the study using leadership profiling assessment, organizational communication survey, change management awareness survey and maturity assessment. The results from this study is realistic and impactful to its readers. This paper validates the underlying theory of the three factors in a real industry environment and how successful change management readiness can be obtained with diligent planning and execution.