[cite]
Back to: Business Management
What is an Organizations Capacity for Change?
Organizational capacity for change entails the organizations preparedness and ability to respond to situations requiring change. It is comprised of three elements:
- Human skill sets and resources,
- Formal systems and procedures,
- Organizational culture, values, and norms.
An organizations capacity for change is measured along eight dimensions:
- Dimension 1: Trustworthy Leaders – To what extent is the leader trustworthy? Trustworthiness is the ability to rely on an individual to pursue objectives that are consistent with their beliefs.
- Dimension 2: Trusting Followers – To what extent are the members and stakeholders of the organization trusting in the leader?
- Dimension 3: Capable Change Champions (Change Agents) – To what extent are change agents present? What is their level of proactiveness and influence?
- Dimension 4: Involved Middle Managers – Unsponsored middle managers provide support, stability, and sell the idea of change. They facilitate information flow, adaptability, and are crucial in the process of implementing the elements of change.
- Dimension 5: Systems Thinking – To what extent do all participants in the process engage in system thinking? Systems thinking concerns how the whole affects its parts and how the parts affect the whole.
- Dimension 6: Communication Systems – How effective is communication up, down, and throughout the organization?
- Dimension 7: Accountable Culture – To what extent are leaders, managers, and employees obliged or willing to accept responsibility for ones actions.
- Dimension 8: Innovative Culture – To what extent do employees demonstrate creativity and imagination in developing new ideas, combining existing ideas in new ways, and effectuating those ideas.