Page 27 - Managing Change in Organizations

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Chapter 1 ■ The challenge of change

Creating a KPMG which looked and acted like a single global firm was a real chal-
lenge, not least because it was not so in terms of structure. Thornbury argued that to
achieve this aim, the organization needed ‘glue’ to hold it together. This was to be
sought via four initiatives:
■ creating a shared set of values;
■ aligning what was on offer to create a consistent core service offering;
■ developing common and consistent business processes;
■ creating a common infrastructure.
At the heart of this, clearly, are the shared values but, arguably, the other initiatives are
vital to moving the organization in a common direction and they therefore play a role
in defining and then living up to shared values.
For us the key issue relates to the strategy for change. It must deal with a number of
contextual factors:

■ the remnants of old structures;
■ the ‘not invented here’ syndrome;
■ the primacy of the client in the sense that those with good client track records are
often influential internationally over issues about which they know little or nothing;
■ a tradition of intellectualism which often means that changes are debated rather than
implemented.
To overcome these barriers, not least to encourage the engagement of KPMG people,
had to be a key element of the strategy.
A three-phase process was established:
1 Phase 1 (a) Diagnosis – researching the culture using surveys and focus groups.
(b) Launching the values via an international council workshop (involving
the 35–40 leaders of the firm).
(c) Revision of the KPMG mission statement.
2 Phase 2 (a) Defining the desired culture via a series of development programmes
and the 1997 KPMG international partners conference.
(b) Refining the values at the Asia Pacific conference.

(c) Finalizing the values statement at the March 1998 meeting of the
international council.
3 Phase 3 (a) Developing an implementation toolkit to be used in practices around
the world – guidelines, workbooks, questionnaires, workshop designs
and exercises which could be used by local ‘change agents’ – including
a board-game to be used by workshop participants, known as the
values game.
(b) Built into the implementation toolkit is material on leadership align-
ment, personal and team development, communications, managing
the process as well as the culture change content listed above.

And a crucial piece of learning! A real key is the word ‘integration’. While initially you
may run with the culture change concept as a separate activity, the more you integrate
with other initiatives and programmes the better.
Source: Thornbury (1999)

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