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[ba-unrev-talk] The Matrix of Change


http://ccs.mit.edu/papers/CCSWP189/CCSWP189.html    (01)

"One school of change management argues that old practices must be 
"obliterated" and new processes designed from scratch to fully leverage new 
technologies and business realities. In practice, few managers have the 
luxury of re-designing their processes or organizations from "clean sheet 
of paper" - people, equipment and business knowledge cannot be so easily 
scrapped. Furthermore, organizational change almost inevitability becomes a 
learning process in which unanticipated obstacles and opportunities emerge 
(Orlikowski & Hofman, 1996). Recognizing this, movements like Total Quality 
Management have sought to institutionalize continuous learning and 
incremental improvement. This approach has been formalized and greatly 
aided by tools like statistical process control and the "House of Quality" 
(Hauser & Clausing). However, some types of organizational change are 
riskier if undertaken piecemeal or incrementally. Existing tools are often 
inadequate when radical change is contemplated (Davenport & Stoddard). To 
make matters worse, when the costs of change are considered, it may not 
even be clear whether the best course is to strive for radical change, 
incremental change or no change at all, even if a potential organizational 
goal is precisely envisioned and represents an unambiguous improvement. "    (02)

Now, is that about OHS, or what?    (03)