Five (And More) Change Tools

Times are changing, and not just for Bob Dylan.

Among large U.S.-based multinationals, leadership training and customer relationship management (CRM) are tops in the tool kit of ways to manage change, according to a recent Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) survey of 133 senior executives. They reported employing an average of five change strategies as, among other benefits, they sought to lower their companies' operating costs, improve customer responsiveness and increase employee productivity. CRM simplification, restructuring, Total Quality Management, re-engineering, adoption of service-oriented IT architecture and implementation of Six Sigma quality improvement also were among their most-used ways of dealing with change.

Potential Roadblocks Top 5 Barriers To Change Competing priorities Organizational inertia Lack of change-management skills in middle management Insufficient cross-functional collaboration Workers' inability to adapt to change

Growth, cost reduction, new technologies, domestic competition and quality improvement were the top five drivers of change in the companies PwC surveyed.

Fifty-six percent of the executives interviewed said their companies had undergone "a great deal of change" during the past two to three years. An additional 34% said their companies had experienced "moderate" change. Only 10% reported "very little change" at their firms.

Nearly 90% of the executives interviewed foresaw -- what else -- continued change.