Chapter 8: The Time Factor in Socio-Economic Interventions: Short-Term Versus Long-term Performance¹

In our contemporary context, the ability of corporations to anticipate, adapt and be adapted to their environment determines their vision and reveals their agility. Piloting the structures, behaviors, and interactions between both these factors (Savall & Zardet, 1987) becomes a primary issue for decider-strategists and their collaborators. The reality is that nothing is really ever “fixed” forever in organizations, ensuring that the ability to carry out change processes, rooted in practices and aimed at creating sustainable performance, is a sine qua non condition in order to ensure enterprise survival and development.

When a company decides to embark on a deep and sustainable change process, it is obviously important that the various actors—from the CEO and management to employees—who are acting on various perimeters—team, department, establishment or group—coordinate themselves around the change in order to effectively implement it. Similar to a patient asking a physician for medical advice, the CEO could have the insight to of consult with an intervener-researcher team.