Scandinavian change survey Globalisation is driving the need for improved change leadership practices Most companies and organisations today recognise an increase in complexity as well as uncertainties in the external environment. Managers are feeling pressure, are fighting to get ahead of the issues, yet are facing a foggy view of the market’s demands as well as shifting stakeholder expectations. Balancing the need for constant efficiency improvements with growth ambitions, shifting political agendas and big events on a global scale is the day-to-day situation most Scandinavian managers face. Simplifying matters, the external forces that shape the management agenda can mostly be attributed to globalisation. In this case, globalisation causes the context in which the company or organisation exists in to change rapidly and in an unpredictable manner. Obvious as it might be, it is by no means a trivial matter. Contextual change requires adaptation, plain and simple. Valcon’s survey unveils that Scandinavian companies and organisations expend a great amount of resources on their change efforts. 50% of the respondents report that they have implemented at least one yearly large scale change effort over the past five years. Both the quantity as well as complexity appear to be increasing. 80% of the respondents expect an increase in quantity and complexity of their change challenges of the future. The one most important driver of change is the need for increased efficiency. The overall conclusion of our study is; although conscious and focused change leadership is more than ever before a critical competence, it is still viewed as a challenge to grasp and manage. This is reflected in the reported lack of sustainability of results from a great number of change efforts. Results are not sustained Our survey shows that the majority of the respondents only succeed to a certain degree in sustaining the change results. Only one third of the survey respondents succeed with their changes while over one fourth of the survey respondents report that they have only been able to sustain their desired results in less than 50% of the change initiatives. ABOUT THE SURVEY In the 4th quarter of 2011, Valcon performed a web-based survey among private companies and public institutions in Scandinavia. The study is based on responses from 148 respondents, 84 from Denmark, 16 from Norway and 48 from Sweden. 3
Download PDF file