Managing Change Across Corporate Cultures

Eight Principles of ChangeMany business change programs fail because leaders neglect, overlook or don’t tackle thorny corporate culture issues. To avoid problems, you should know eight axioms about change: Change may happen with planning or not, maybe because a firm evolves or revolts.Change in an organization usually results from change in its environment.Change is necessary if an organization is to survive in a shifting environment.Change management is necessary because of the inevitability of change.Change management processes affect every other process.Poor change management can leave a firm ill-equipped to cope with future change.Change management often addresses leadership, middle management, management development, feedback, quality circles and business processes.Despite change, managers may continue to guide organizations based on core assumptions about industries, technology and people that no one bothers to question. What Corporate Culture Is and Why It MattersFour fundamental, long-accepted definitions of corporate culture say it is: 1) how we do things, 2) what our tacit rules are, 3) what our guiding values, beliefs and assumptions are; and 4) what we think is distinctive...