Most vital strategies for successfully implementing changes in industry


Date:
April 19, 2022
Source:
University of Kansas
Summary:
Researchers have conducted a study in which they studied change
initiatives at more than 600 architecture, engineering and
construction firms in North America. They found those that were
very successful and sustainable used six key strategies, and that
effective change agents and a realistic timeline were vital to
making an initiative a lasting success.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Organizations regularly need to implement change initiatives to stay
current, update technology, improve efficiency, enter new markets or
make other improvements. However, research has suggested that more than
half of change initiatives attempted in the architecture, engineering
and construction (AEC) industry fail. A new study from the University
of Kansas has found that six change strategies are key to successful implementation and two of them are vital for highly successful,
sustained change.


==========================================================================
The study also found that the type of change is not as important to
its success as key management strategies. In surveying AEC firms across
North America about an attempted change initiative, researchers found
that effective change agents and a realistic timeline for the change
were the two most important factors for an initiative to be deemed very successful and to last.

In their survey, researchers asked 633 firms to describe a change
initiative they had attempted to install. They then implemented a scale
to determine if the effort was unsuccessful, somewhat successful or
very successful. The scale evaluated if the initiative was successful
by three key metrics: if it was implemented into operations, benefits
achieved and long-term sustainability.

"We analyzed data from across the entire industry. With organizational
change, it's something that starts with management and reaches all
levels," said Omar Maali, a doctoral candidate in engineering at KU and
the study's lead author.

"They are attempted to improve efficiency, have better outcomes or make
some update to the work environment. The worst thing that could happen is
you lose your investment, or people try the change and revert back to what
they used to do. There are a lot of recommendations in the professional literature about how to implement change. We found six key organizational change management practices." The six key practices authors identified,
in order of importance to achieve successful implementation of change:
* Effective change agents * Establishing a realistic timeframe
for the adoption process * Communicated benefits of the change *
Establish clear and measured benchmarks of the change process *
Senior leadership commitment * Training resources.

Maali co-wrote the study with Nancy Kepple, associate professor of social welfare, and Brian Lines, associate professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering, all at KU. Their work, titled "Strategies to
Achieve High Adoption of Organizational Change Initiatives within the AEC Industry," was published in the Journal of Management in Engineering,
part of a special issue on rethinking the benefits of adopting digital technologies in the AEC industry.

Effective change agents are defined as those working within a company who
are affected by or need to accommodate a change. Maali used an example of someone required to use a new technology or software who adopts it before
a deadline, advocates for its benefits with colleagues, answers questions
they may have and demonstrates the value of making the change to their
peers. That importance of establishing the value of change among equals
instead of through mandates from management -- coupled with a realistic timeframe for making the change -- were the most vital practices,
according to the analysis. However, the authors said management could
not only focus on those two practices and realistically expect success.

"To avoid unsuccessful change efforts, you needed to use at least five organizational change management strategies to get a return on investment
and make it successful," Maali said. "To move to very successful, it
was vital to have effective change agents and a realistic timeframe."
The one strategy that didn't prove critical to avoiding unsuccessful
change was training resources, which the authors said was surprising,
as previous research has suggested otherwise, especially in adopting
digital technologies. And while adopting digital technologies has been
a traditionally difficult change, it was not shown to be different
than other types of change initiatives in that all six strategies were necessary to make it successful.

The value of the findings lies both in the large data set with information
from firms across the architecture, engineering and construction
industry in different regions attempting many types of changes with
varying levels of success. Understanding which management strategies
are most important can help firms successfully reach their goals when implementing necessary changes. Maali said future research will further
explore what constitutes a realistic timeframe, and if it is not possible
to achieve one, what other factors become most important. In the meantime, better understanding how to successfully implement change initiatives
can help avoid unsuccessful or unsustained efforts, a major barrier in
the industry.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Kansas. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Omar Maali, Nancy Kepple, Brian Lines. Strategies to Achieve High
Adoption of Organizational Change Initiatives within the AEC
Industry.

Journal of Management in Engineering, 2022; 38 (4) DOI: 10.1061/
(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0001051 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220419112425.htm

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