Organizational Development, Business Transformation, Change Management: Definitions

I distinguish several approaches to corporate change:

  • ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

    • Develop organizational and individual capabilities in order to enhance performance, effectiveness, efficiency, quality, timeliness, compliance and staff satisfaction/ motivation/ adhesion.
    • The objective basically is to DO BUSINESS BETTER/ PERFORM BETTER on a set of specifications and criteria. It is a more gradual and systematic approach.
    • Examples: analyze + improve organizational and team functioning, identify and address skill gaps, align projects and teams, newly appointed leadership, new management style, new work programmes, new working practices or tools, identify means and mechanisms enabling corporate strategy to be implemented and measured.

  • BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION

    • Radically change the nature of an organization and how it is operating.
    • This is more about PERFORMING DIFFERENTLY, fundamentally changing paradigms, mindsets and rules of the game. It is a more RADICAL and PROACTIVE approach, where it is not about adapting to the environment factors or changes, but to change the environment in a way that is beneficial to the company.
    • Exemples: strategic repositioning, mergers/ acquisitions, re-engineering and business improvement projects, installing a new corporate culture and values.

  • CHANGE MANAGEMENT

    • Change management is a discipline aiming at achieving the objectives of ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT or BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION initiatives as defined above, dealing proactively with potential resistance.
    • This approach basically ensures the organization, departments, teams and/or individuals deal with the change adequately, adhere to it and commit to it. Active consultation, involvement and communications are key components.
    • Includes the enhancement of the individual, group and overall capability to handle planned or unplanned change, anticipating future decisions or situations.

  • CORPORATE BREAKTHROUGH

    • This approach is even more ambitious than BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION.
    • Its objectives are to stretch the whole organization (respectively department, team or executive) to start performing at levels considered as unrealistic or almost impossible to achieve.
    • This approach requires a high commitment at all levels of the organization, a solid encompassing Transformation Framework where all interventions neatly fit in, strong alignment of subprojects, an absolute focus (no dispersion allowed) plus ongoing measurement, communication and follow-up.
    • Core components of the Breakthrough Transformation Framework:
      • Executive and manager group and individual coaching
      • Organizational Development
      • Team building and facilitation
      • Change management
      • Organizational end individual skills development
      • Transformation of corporate culture, identity, values
      • Change of management style, strong use of empowerment, trust, self-organizational capabilities, recognition, feedback, two-way communication, co-development