It goes without saying that the economic downturn has taken a significant toll on manufacturers since 2008. While many organizations have suffered, some in the same industry have actually prospered, and often the main differentiator has been the organizations' abilities to evolve.

If your company continues to struggle because the global economy is still mired in a trough, you may be looking closely at leading one final attempt at change within your organization. This change should not involve a weekend retreat, or a slogan on a coffee mug -- such simplistic attempts at "change" are certain to fail. In fact, more than 70% of all organizational change initiatives fail because there is a lack of lasting commitment after the initial introduction phase.

No, to truly instill lasting change at your company will involve hard work, time and most importantly, a greater sense of involvement at all levels within your organization than ever.

If you are looking to begin a change initiative within your organization, take a moment first to ask yourself the following six primary questions. Your answers to these questions will provide the context for making the change, and will help lay a critical foundation for you to begin any top-to-bottom organizational transformation.

Primary Question #1:
"Where is the organization's culture?"

Change-management initiatives often false-start when the leader cannot or does not answer this question. The fact is the culture of your company is in your employees' hearts and heads. Culture is the sum total of the emotions, experiences, beliefs and expectations of everyone involved with the organization -- the "collective mind" of the organization.

Whether your organization is made up of five people or 50,000, your culture is created and sustained in what each person thinks, believes, feels and expects about the organization. Until you can describe the core emotions, experiences, beliefs and expectations of your employees, you cannot change their spirit.

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