Chapter 18: Organizational Development And Change

The increasingly complex world in which we live forces individuals and organizations to routinely engage in change. An organization’s long-term viability depends more and more on its ability to change and continuously grow, develop, and reinvent or renew itself. Change is inevitable. Many firms report that they undertake moderate organizational change at least once a year and major changes every 4 to 5 years (Allen, 1978). At what rate of success? Consider the following statistics on change:

• One-half to two-thirds of major corporate change initiatives are deemed failures (Beer & Nohria, 2000).

• Fewer than 40% of change efforts produce positive change (Porras & Robertson, 1983).

• 80% of mergers are considered unsuccessful 5 years later.

• One-third of major change efforts don’t work or actually make the situation worse (Beer, Eisenstat, & Spector, 1990; Bibler, 1989; Porras & Robertson, 1983).