Discontinuous change in the New Zealand police service – A case study

In a country that has experienced over 15 years of politically driven change, the New Zealand Police Service (NZP) is now in the midst of an ambitious change programme called Policing 2000 (P2). Challenging traditional policing assumptions, P2 is a total quality management (TQM) approach that seeks alignment with an increasingly service orientated public by utilising state‐of‐the‐art technology and strategic management practices more akin to the private sector. Reports on an exploratory case study that investigated individual anticipatory reactions to organisational change. The findings provide insights into the factors necessary for the implementation of a discontinuous change programme; namely alignment of vision, culture and implementation.