BPRandOrganisationalCultureASurveyintoOrganisationalCulturalChangeTechniquesThissurveywaspartofanMBADissertationattheHenleyManagementCollege,England,undertakenbyAlanCooper.Thefulldissertationisnowavailableon-line.ExecutiveSummaryBackgroundWheneventhemostardentprotagonistsofBPR,suchasHammer&Champy,arequotingfailureratesfrom50%upto80%,isBPRreallysuchasurefiresolutiontothechallengesofthenineties?Isthereasonforthesefailuressolelytheinabilitytomanageorganisationalchange,oristhereamorefundamentalproblemwithBPR?Andismanagingtheculturekeytoeffectivechange,particularlywithinthecontextofaBPRinitiative?ThesequestionsweretheimpetusbehindaHenleyManagementCollegeMBAdissertation.ThismanagementsummaryreportsontheresultingsurveyintoorganisationalchangetechniquesusedbyUKorganisationsundertakingBPR.ExecutiveHighlightsMostBPRorganisationsaremakingsignificantandwidereachingchangestotheirorganisationinresponsetostrategicbusinessneeds.Thetrendistoresultsorientedandmorefluidstructures.Highlycentralisedorganisations,asepitomisedinrolemanagementstyles,haveseentheirday,butthereremainsatendencytoformalisetheworkprocessesthroughtaskallocation,procedures,rulesandcontrols.BPRresultsinanaverage18%reductioninstaff.Managementareemphasisingthehardertechniquesthatmoreovertlycontrolstaffbehaviour.However,manydogettheirstaffinvolvedinprocessredesign.Manyinmanagement(middlemanagement?)arenotexhibitingtherequiredbehaviour.BPRandchangemanagementconsultantsarewidelyusedbuttheydonotovertlyinfluencethechoiceofculturechangetechniquesselected.Neitherdostaffhavemuchinfluenceinthechoiceoftechniquesused.Manyimprovementarebeingrealisedbuttheempowermentofstaffisnotoneofthem.Staffcommitmentappearstobethebiggestconcernandinnovationbystaffislow.Despitethesefindings,respondentsdefinitelybelievetheycanchangetheiremployee'svaluesandbeliefs.Moreimprovementscamewithusingmanychangetechniquesbutmostoccurredwhenarangeofbothhardandsofttechniqueswereused.Managementneedspatience.Upto2yearsmaybeneededtogainevenmodestemployeeimprovements.Thismaywellberecognised,asthedurationofBPRprojectsisincreasing.Currentprojects,withadefinedenddate,areplannedtorunfor30monthscomparedto19monthsforcompletedones.WithintheUKbusinesscommunity,itisthebankingandfinancecompaniesthatarepredominatelyundertakingBPR.ThereisaabsenceofcasestudiesconcerningBPRfailures.McKinsey's7SModelThewellknownMcKinseymodelwasusedasabasisforassessingtheextenttowhichorganisationsundertakingBPRarechangingthemselves.Allthe25organisationsanalysedwereextensivelychanging5,6orall7elementsaspartoftheirBPRproject.Overall,allelementswereequallyreceivingattention.80%statedthattheirBPRprogrammewasextensivelydrivenbybusinessstrategy,and88%oforganisationswereaimingtoextensivelychangetheirsharedvalues.Thesesharedvalues,alongwithbeliefsandassumptions,formtheheartofMcKinsey'sorganisationmodel.Furtheron,thisreportreviewswhetherorganisationsareinfactusingchangetechniqueswhichaddressthesefundamentalbuildingblocksoforganisationalcultureandwhethertheyarereportingpositivechangesinemployeebehaviour.OrganisationalStructuresAllbar3organisationswerechangingtheirtypeofstructure.Therewasanearmajoritymoveawayfromhierarchicalstructureswith15ofthe25movingtoaprocessmodelandanother6toadecentralisedmodel.Afewwereimplementingmixedstructuresandacouplechoosetoremainwithahierarchicalstructure.Overal...