Organizational Readiness for Change in the Transformation Towards Service Business
Turta, Tapio Antero (2011)
Turta, Tapio Antero
2011
Tuotantotalouden koulutusohjelma
Teknis-taloudellinen tiedekunta - Faculty of Business and Technology Management
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2011-09-07
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-2011091614809
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-2011091614809
Tiivistelmä
This thesis examines organization’s readiness for change when moving towards service business. Especially for traditionally product-centric manufacturing companies, services can be seen as a potential way to gain competitive advantage. The focus of this thesis is on Finnish-based product-oriented companies operating in metals, engineering and construction industries. The main research question is as follows: How can the readiness for change be taken into account at the early phase of the transformation process towards service business? The objective is to identify factors and elements of organizational readiness for change that are relevant in the business transformation and thus give suggestions to managers at companies willing to make transformation from products towards services.
Multiple case study method was used and the empirical data were collected through semi-structured thematical interviews. Altogether 31 interviews were conducted in 6 different business units. The theoretical part of the study reports the relevant literature from the fields of strategic change and its management, organizational readiness for change and transformation towards services. Based on the literature review, a conceptual framework for organizational readiness for change was built to assist the analysis of the empirical data. The empirical part of the thesis is concerned with the results of the interviews, namely the elements of the organizational readiness for change and how those appear in the early stage of the business transformation.
The main finding is that the content of the change, i.e. the clarity of objectives, scope of change and the change message, is somewhat unclear and needs to be taken into account at the early stage of the business transformation. Clarifying the objectives regarding services and thus initiating so-called service-talk within the organization is suggested. Also, allocating needed resources, top management support, and using an IT system supporting the services are requirements in the transformation. The receptivity of customers and the industry’s readiness for change for new kinds of business models must be assessed before taking further steps. In turn, the psychological readiness of individuals seems to be at a good level, promoting the organizational readiness for change. Bringing changes step-by-step to the organization and building an organization culture receptive for changes is a mean to improve organizational readiness for change in the transformation from products towards services. Possible future research topics could include industry’s readiness for change, validating the framework used, and reviewing the whole readiness for change literature. /Kir11
Multiple case study method was used and the empirical data were collected through semi-structured thematical interviews. Altogether 31 interviews were conducted in 6 different business units. The theoretical part of the study reports the relevant literature from the fields of strategic change and its management, organizational readiness for change and transformation towards services. Based on the literature review, a conceptual framework for organizational readiness for change was built to assist the analysis of the empirical data. The empirical part of the thesis is concerned with the results of the interviews, namely the elements of the organizational readiness for change and how those appear in the early stage of the business transformation.
The main finding is that the content of the change, i.e. the clarity of objectives, scope of change and the change message, is somewhat unclear and needs to be taken into account at the early stage of the business transformation. Clarifying the objectives regarding services and thus initiating so-called service-talk within the organization is suggested. Also, allocating needed resources, top management support, and using an IT system supporting the services are requirements in the transformation. The receptivity of customers and the industry’s readiness for change for new kinds of business models must be assessed before taking further steps. In turn, the psychological readiness of individuals seems to be at a good level, promoting the organizational readiness for change. Bringing changes step-by-step to the organization and building an organization culture receptive for changes is a mean to improve organizational readiness for change in the transformation from products towards services. Possible future research topics could include industry’s readiness for change, validating the framework used, and reviewing the whole readiness for change literature. /Kir11