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"RESPONDING TO A CHANGING
GLOBAL MARKETPLACE:
How Timeshare Companies Can Successfully Develop And Execute Major Change Strategies"
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--by James J. Gilmartin
Responding to External/Internal Stress.
Timeshare companies are living through some stressful years. A fluctuating global economy,
competition, and employee and consumer expectations are but a few of the external and internal pressures for change.
Are they prepared to manage major organizational change? Not if they resemble other industries. In June 1993 the
"Gallup" and "Proudfoot" Change Management Company poled 400 business leaders in Fortune 1000
manufacturing and service companies to provide the answer. We think the outcome of the survey is valid today as
well.
The survey revealed that U.S. business leaders are not well prepared to develop and manage necessary major changes
in their organizations. And, the outcome has been tragic. Avoidable bankruptcy, layoffs, profit losses, takeovers,
inappropriate mergers and ill-advised reorganizations have resulted from the inability of business to recognize
the need to change. Unfortunately, many business leaders and managers have no idea of what change is and the roles
that people play in the change process. They are unfamiliar with how change is developed and executed and how to
gain commitment from the targets of major organizational change.
In the last decade, one of the more popular books on changing organizations is Reengineering the Corporation, by
Michael Hammer and James Campy. The authors discuss three forces for change that many executives and managers are
frighteningly unfamiliar with. The three forces are the three C's: Customers, Competition and Change. They state,
"The three C's have created a new world for business, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that the organizations
designed to operate in one environment cannot be fixed to work well in another."
Securing Owners' is Difficult, Keeping them is Easier
So how does this relate to marketing and sales to baby boomer and older consumers you might ask? Consumers have
generally tolerated uninvited marketing messages as a somewhat necessary evil. A price had to be paid for access
to most broadcast and print media. The Internet has laid the foundation for changing this. Reminiscent of a Gary
Larsen cartoon in which a deer peers at a hunter through the cross hairs of his own rifle, companies are becoming
the targets of consumers. In this scenario, and with the aid of infomediaries, consumers will manage their marketing
relationships, not vendors or marketers. And in such a scenario, when a consumer has no need of a company, company
access to that consumer will be shut off.
This notion should bring fear into the hearts of business. Timeshare companies spend a significant amount of capital
on marketing and sales, and perhaps too little on customer satisfaction efforts. Shifting focus may warrant significant
changes in organizational priorities and direction. If you believe you have been lacking in focusing upon service
delivery and customer satisfaction, the remainder of the article provides you with a map for approaching organizational
change.
The Load is Becoming Heavier and Heavier . . .
Responding appropriately and realistically to externally and internally generated change has become an imperative
for timeshare companies. To cope with the changing marketplace and changing society, change development and execution
skills have become necessary for survival. However, carrying out and managing organizational change demands a level
of expertise that is, unfortunately, not readily found in many companies. To compound an already challenging situation,
managers that need to make adjustments often develop a crisis approach to coping with pressures for change.
Today, timeshare companies are likely to be:
- Responding to new or increased competition pressures.
- Becoming more "customer service" oriented.
- Setting up Quality Improvement programs.
- Increasing output capacity by installing productivity improvement programs.
- Adapting to fluctuations in the economy.
- Adjusting to the changing profiles and needs of today's employees.
- Adjusting to the changing profiles and needs of today's managers.
- Adjusting to the changing profile and needs of today's customers.
- Initiating major reorganization, networking, joint ventures, plans.
- Increasing the use of computerized information systems, communications and office automation technology.
- Integrating new diversified personnel through selected recruitment and reduction in force efforts.
- Redefining the organization's culture to be more supportive of the provider's service objectives.
- Applying new approaches and procedures resulting from technological breakthroughs.
- Establishing or reducing products/services.
Management needs to understand the stress caused by excessive change, and know the impact that major change
effort will have on their organizations. Management also needs to understand how refining, redefining and reengineering
processes will contribute to successful change efforts. Understanding the process of change achievement is crucial
so they may avoid costly mistakes as to failed efforts, avoidable personnel and customer/market problems, and negative
organizational credibility.
How is Timeshare Management Responding?
Unfortunately, many timeshare companies involved in organizational change activities know very little about what
change is, how they develop it, what must be done to prepare for it, how to start it and how to manage it. Employees,
management and consequently companies do exhibit certain limits to how much change that they can absorb over a
given period. This "sponge factor" is the threshold beyond which a person or company cannot effectively
deal with change (the saturation point). Hostility, anger, apathy, isolation, low morale, absenteeism, tardiness,
defensiveness, anxiety, poor or no communication, and lower productivity are examples or symptoms of over saturation.
How to Begin: A Diagnostic Assessment:
An understanding of the organizational dynamics that drive human behavior to support desired change can contribute
to informed decision making and success. To implement sustained change effectively, leadership and management must
have an understanding of the needs, perceptions, attitudes, behaviors and assumptions of employees and customers.
In addition, management should conduct a WOTS-UP (weaknesses, opportunities, threats and strengths underlying planning)
analysis to have a clear understanding of the company's current internal position
The assessment should include interviews with selected key stakeholders and influencers (management, major vendors,
owners) to learn their perceptions of critical success factors that give direction to the development, execution
and management of major organizational change. In addition management should analyze current available documents
to learn socioeconomic trends, sales, and customer purchasing patterns, and analyze current strategic/marketing
plans, current contracts, employee development plans, and financial performance measures. Competitive intelligence
gathering and analysis are also necessary to provide information concerning opportunities and threats. Finally,
management should survey potential major purchasers and consumers to find out perceptions, needs and desires.
Identify the Change(s) - Strategic Thinking.
Management must facilitate a Strategic Thinking process as the next step in the process. Incorporating the findings
of the diagnostic assessment, management must critically examine success factors and issues for the development
of a "common construct," i.e., a vision, critical success factors and prioritized goals and strategies
that should lead to the internal development of time bounded and measurable action plans for execution and performance
monitoring.
Father Theodore Hesburgh, former president, Notre Dame University once said, "The very essence of leadership
is [that] you have a vision. It has to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You
can't blow an uncertain trumpet." Quite simply, the vision must supplant the rulebook and the policy manual.
To achieve their objectives, management must determine the vision and direction of the organization.
The vision of an organization should reflect its aspirations, and should inspire its employees to strive to achieve
the "common construct" it articulates. This vision, and related goals and strategies will serve as a
foundation for specific plans and projects leading to improved efficiency, effectiveness, service and employee/customer
satisfaction. The "common construct" will also serve as the standard for organization directions that
change advocates must meet to secure sponsorship for recommended change. While most managers understand the organization's
mission - its purpose or reason for being - managers who also develop a strategic vision for the future will be
better positioned to succeed.
They should design the process to provide an enlightened and focused approach while allowing increased opportunity
for individual and organization "buy in." The process should also include an educational program to understand
the key elements of successfully developing and executing change, and the accomplishment of major initiatives within
the organization.
The components of the Strategic Thinking Process should include:
- 1. Creating a vision (or revisiting the existing vision) to set how the company wants to be positioned in its
market increasingly characterized and dominated by a changing and aging population.
2. Identifying critical success factors and the key organizational processes that contribute to efficiency, effectiveness
and customer satisfaction.
3. Developing goals (or revisiting existing goals) to chart the future direction for the company to assure accomplishment
of the key success factors while assuring appropriate use of resources and least conflict with existing operations
and initiatives.
4. Developing strategies (or revisiting existing strategies) to achieve designated goals, and to position the company
in the marketplace appropriately.
5. Setting priorities, goals and strategies.
6. Identifying means for measuring success.
7. Creation of time bounded and measurable action plans to carry out the strategies of the company.
8. Creation of tools to carry out major change successfully.
Commitment is Key to Success.
As we identify major change through the strategic thinking process, the next step is to gain commitment from the
targets of the change contemplated. The greater the change contemplated the greater the necessary commitment to
the effort, and the more resources, like time, money, personnel, endurance, self-control, political chits, energy
and ingenuity, must be invested to achieve the desired outcome.
Making a Compelling Case (Creating Pain).
Management/change advocates must understand the need for the creation of a compelling case for sustained major
change to occur. Creating a compelling case demands the creation of pain or significant loss, that is, information
so compelling that the "status quo" will be clearly less attractive than the change advocated.
Change Management is a Process:
We can characterize major organizational change as significant alterations in established patterns or expectations.
Change is a Process. It is the movement from the status quo to the change wanted . Strategies and tactics to manage
change include:
- Creating pain or a real sense of loss (compelling case) to move from the status quo.
- Managing the process and gaining commitment for the change.
- Internalization of the remedy.
Gaining Commitment:
We need several skills to respond to organizational change appropriately. There is a need to understand the dynamics
of change, and the organization can deal with ambiguity effectively. That is, management must develop an adaptability
to respond to constant transition, and create strategies for overall goal achievement.
Commitment is a Developmental Process:
The approach to carrying out change is as important as the change itself. How often heard is the comment "Hey,
I can deal with what they want us to do, but I just don't like the way they went about it." Short cuts to
sustained major change achievement do not exist. The process is usually sequential in nature. Beginning with contact,
the process takes the targets through awareness, understanding, adoption and finally to internalization of the
change.
Be prepared to pay for it:
Commitment calls for a personal investment by those responsible for executing change. Do not start the wheels in
motion unless you are prepared to pay the price. Management must expend time, money, energy and other resources
to assure they appropriately implement the change. Those who are the targets of the change must be involved in
the decision making process, and rewarded for their efforts. Communication is the key to sustained organizational
change. We must accurately inform the targets of the change during each step of the process.
The secret of successful major change achievement is to pursue a process that will result in the change advocated
becoming integrated into the culture of the organization. Management must be prepared, and have the abilities,
consistently to test the organization's reception of the change advocated. Generally, three stages are necessary
to lead to the internalization of the change being carried out. The first is the preparation stage - when we make
contact and a positive perception for the change is gained from the targets. Next is the acceptance stage - when
understanding is achieved and we gain a positive perception of the change from the targets. And, finally the commitment
stage - when the change is operationalized and internalized by the targets of the change.
Key Players in the Management Process:
There are several key roles in the change process. The Inventor wants change but usually has no power to effect
change. The Legitimizer of change has the power and resources to sponsor and effect change, and can legitimize
the change within the organization. The Legitimizer is critical to successful change accomplishment. Without sponsorship
for major organizational change, sustained change will not happen! The remaining roles are the Manager/Expert the
Integrator and the Target of the change. The Manager/Expert helps the Legitimizer to make the change a reality.
The Integrator is the change agent that plans for and executes the change. The Target of course, is expected to
change. Without an understanding of these roles, and the structure that includes a well-designed interrelationship
of all the key roles in the change process, we lessen the chances for sustained change to occur.
Synergy:
In his book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," Stephen R. Covey discusses how trust plays
an important part in the development process of a synergistic organization. Covey states, "Synergy is exciting.
Creativity is exciting. It is phenomenal what openness and communication can produce. The possibilities of truly
significant gain, of significant improvement are so real that it's worth the risk that such openness entails."
For sustained major change to occur there is a need for synergistic relationships to exist between/among key influencers
within the organization. Simply put, we can define synergy as 2+2 is greater than 4. Trust, Communication, compromise,
integration and action are necessary elements that create a synergistic organization. Legitimizers' of major organizational
change must assure that the Managers/Experts are striving to achieve a common construct and there is an interdependent
environment. They must also assure that a clear understanding of the results of the noncompliance exists, and that
they exercise control during the change process.
Organizational Culture:
We can define culture as the shared behaviors, beliefs and unconscious assumptions of a group developed over time.
If a business is considering a major change, and the culture required by the change is not consistent with that
required by the change, the change would most likely fail, or be less effective. If the culture is not supportive
of the change contemplated, the Legitimizer has several options. He or she can change the culture or the change.
The most appropriate course of action to take under these circumstances is to modify the change to be more consistent
with the culture. However, some major changes may call for drastic organizational culture modification for sustained
major change to occur.
Resistance to Change:
Most would agree that negatively perceived change would generate resistance. However, even if the targets initially
perceive the change as positive, over time, as information of the change is processed, resistance will surface.
Resistance is usually expressed in inability or unwillingness to support the change, and will be either overt or
covert. Understanding the resistance to a contemplated change will help avoid unnecessary disruption and expenses.
Many managers are surprised when there is evidence of resistance by the targets of the change to the change being
carried out. The surprise is usually the result of insufficient communication among the legitimizers, integrators
and the targets of the change. The key to overcoming resistance is an abundance of accurate and truthful communication.
A healthy dose of "realistic selling" to avoid sugar coating the implications and projected outcomes
of the change should be a constant and consistent part of the process.
You Can Pay the Price of Change Several Ways:
Paying the price on the front end requires the Legitimizer and Integrator to manage the process by allocating the
appropriate resources to the effort encouraging target participation, and managing the process. It requires energy,
communications, time and real participation of the targets in the change process. If they do not manage the change
application process, the company will pay the price on the back end by suffering the consequences of employee/customer
dissatisfaction, low moral, absenteeism, low productivity, sabotage, a damaged image, poor service, etc.
Tools for Diagnostic Action:
When contemplating major change, Legitimizer, Managers/Experts, and Integrators must develop and use tools to find
out the ease or difficulty of carrying out the change(s) considered. An understanding of success factors is essential
for sustained change application including:
- The commitment of the Legitimizer?
- How disruptive the change is to the target?
- The predisposition of the culture to change (will it support or resist the change)?
- The skill level of Integrator?
- The anticipated level of resistance?
- The level of synergy and cooperation within the organization?
Management's tools can be as simple as developing a series of questions to diagnose the organization's culture;
level of existing synergy and cooperation among key influencers; philosophical values, (are they at the periphery
or the core); company orientation (process vs. outcomes); politics (personalities vs. principles); etc.
Conclusion:
In her book, The Change Masters: Innovation for Productivity in the American Mode, Rosabeth Moss Kanter discusses
the architecture of change management. "Change Masters are - literally -the right people in the right place
at the right time. The right people are the ones with the ideas that move beyond the organization's established
practice, ideas they can form into visions. The right places are the integrated environments that support innovation,
encourage the building of coalitions and teams to support and implement visions. The right times are those moments
in the flow of organizational history when it is possible to reconstruct reality on the basis of accumulated innovations
to shape a more productive and successful future."
There is no simple formula for successful sustained major change development and execution; it is hard work and
time consuming. However, the timeshare company that approaches internal and external pressures for change through
the process described should significantly increase their chances for successful major change execution. Beginning
with a clear direction (strategic thinking), management will avoid the dilemma described by Lewis Carroll in "Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland." When Alice, lost in wonderland, came upon the Cheshire Cat at a fork in the road,
and asked "Which road do I take," the cat responded, "It really doesn't matter if you don't know
where you're going."
Are you ready for change? Are you capable to develop and execute major change? Do you recognize the challenge?
Do you understand the process of change development and execution? Have you identified critical success factors
for your company? Do you understand when to refine, redefine or reengineer critical processes to accomplish critical
success factors?
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