Managing Organizational Change

Nicole Jones

June 19, 2011

HR587 Managing Organizational Change

Course Project

Communication and Change

When you listen to people talk about their experience of change, problems of communication are usually at the forefront. In spite of the persistence of this shortcoming, very few serious studies have been made of the subject with a view to identifying effective practices. Nevertheless, the scant information available provides a number of interesting indications. Among them, it shows that in general, top management has an over-simplified idea of what is at stake in communication practices are far removed from management’s usual reflexes. One common mistake, in particular, is to confuse information with communication.

Euram Laboratories specializing in the development and marketing of anit-influenza drugs employs 850 staff spread over five sites in Europe, North America and Asia. The range of products varies somewhat from one site to another and each is relatively independent at the operational level. For historical reasons, until 2000 each site had its own quality management program. In a highly competitive setting and with a view to obtaining ISO 9000 certification, top management then decided to introduce a single unified quality management program.

A working group was assigned by corporate headquarters to draw up a program suited to the company. A one-year, on-site pilot project was conducted to fine-tune the program, after which it was extended to the whole company. The responsibility for its implementation was entrusted to the management team on each site.

At the yearly management review, the company’s management was informed about the program and the pilot project. The staff received the same information in the company’s internal magazine, published on its intranet. The following year, a progress report on the implementation of the project was given through the same channels.

Barbara Turenne is in charge...