Note to Reader. I am publishing the "Plurality" document I frequently refer to in this blog. This will enable searching based on the text within the entire document. The word count is approximately 35,000 words and is provided as background for the discussions.
A number of technology changes have occured since it was originally published in 2004. IBM has chosen not to support this effort, and as a result I am replacing the components of the technology architecture as the opportunities and needs require. We are moving to the Sun strictly for their support of Java, and the synergies of the visions. As I recently noted, Ingress would be the database that we will use. Other then that, I have chosen to host the entire development and operating environment on Sun's Grid and as funds become available we will secure those resources.
References are to the literature noted in the bibliography. So here it is, warts and all. I hope you enjoy it, any and all comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Thank you
Paul Cox
Dr. Tichy states that the level of change (circa 1983) is accelerating and companies need to look towards strategic change. He describes this change as more fundamental in its nature then the incremental changes that management introduces through their traditional experience-based management philosophies. Stating the need for change should be strategic in nature and more involved than limiting changes to re-organizations. Dr. Tichy feels that changes need to be more fundamental and include the technical, political and cultural components of an organization to ensure that these changes are adopted as they are designed to do.
Summary of and application to oil and gas firms of Dr. Noel Tichy’s book;
“Managing Strategic Change Technical, Political and Cultural Dynamics.” 1983, John Wiley & Sons.
Chapter 1, Strategic Change Management: Organizational Development Redefined.
The three major change initiatives of this proposal are:
- Innovation focused around the science and engineering of exploration and production of oil and gas.
- Adding direct accountability and operational control to the SJOC.
- ERP Software development based on the web services paradigm.
These three proposed changes are analyzed based on the technical, political and cultural criteria Dr. Tichy introduces in his book.
Dr. Tichy (1983) states that there are nine change levers that management can use to make strategic changes effective. These levers form the basis and structure of his book and are summarized as follows:
- “The external interface”.
The complications and complexity of the environmental elements becomes more difficult to identify and manage. This requires changes to the means of evaluating the environment and may include the development of new information systems.
Clear mission statements of how the changes are affecting the overall purpose of the firm can help to align the organization to meet the new requirements.
Revising the overall and operational strategies of a firm to meet the new organizational objectives.
- “Managing Organizational Mission / Strategy Processes”.
The ability and capability of an organization must be constantly developed to meet the needs of the organization’s future requirements. This is particularly relevant when it is considered in the context of the strategic change initiative.
New technologies such as web services, and the organizational changes introduced in this proposal require the training and development of staff and management.
As this proposal suggests, the ability of the organization’s communication networks continue to be constrained by its overuse. Email and phone mail communications have saturated the user’s capacity to communicate and needs to be augmented through different channels.
This is one of the major issues that this proposal foresees as a result of the Workplace and WebSphere technologies. These technologies will replace and circumvent the traditional forms of communication due to their efficiency and effectiveness. The training and management of these and other new networks has / will become an area of concern as a result of the issues regarding the saturation of users and their capacity.
- “Organizational Process: Communication, problem solving, and decision-making”. (p. 6)
The processes of the organization’s communication and hence problem solving capacity are intimated in the previous point regarding prescribed networks. These points are also an issue for the independent petroleum producer, which needs to consider how to augment its decision-making processes.
The joint operating committee has the operational decision making power. To more directly associate the operational decisions of the committee with the implications and accountability of those decisions, there needs to be a realization by the committee participants of the impact of these decisions, and therefore, be accountable for the implications of the decisions. Dr. Tichy suggests that the blurring of the decision-making only increases as the complexity and lines of authority increase.
The motivation of the staff and management to undertake the required work needs to be considered in any change management initiative. Motivation based on financial incentives does not sustain the organization in the long term and only leads to additional future costs. The need to augment the traditional organizational forms of compensation suggests other incentives should be introduced.
The method of motivating staff that this proposal suggests is through enhanced and extensive employee training and education. As documented elsewhere the need to have training and education as rewards for work is effective both for the organization and the employee. Making explicit these forms of motivation will increase employee performance.
- “Emergent Networks”. (p. 7)
As can be tacitly understood, the need to recognize and deal with the various cultural influences within an organization needs to be addressed for the change management initiative to succeed. The ability to address the needs of these groups and have them sponsor and support the change initiative is required. Of particular difficulty is the fact that the members of the joint operating committee are populated by other independent organizations.
These nine points are considered in the context of the political, technical and cultural frameworks of an independent producer. The ability, capability and success of any major strategic change initiative require that these three strategic change management tools be considered and implemented. Additional consideration should be applied to the implications that change in one-area impacts on the other two.
Dr. Tichy (1983) observes that there are times when strategic change becomes necessary. These times are identified by the following categories and are applied to the environment of the independent petroleum producer.
Key to the oil and gas industry is the environmental variables that make up the competitive environment. The change in commodity prices over the past five years is asserted as the key structural and strategic change affecting the independent producer. These product-pricing changes are predicated on the scarcity of the underlying resource and reflect the compensation and costs associated with a new competitive environment.
This level of fundamental change reflects, and this proposal asserts, that the entire basis of oil and gas production and exploration has changed in fundamental ways. The levels of change being introduced by the commodity price changes are unparalleled in this industry’s history.
- “Diversification”. (p. 18)
The capability of an oil and gas organization requires diversification to include an enhanced basis of innovation. Reliance on exploitation has or will be augmented by an anticipated increased reliance on exploration. These changes in a producer’s capability will therefore create a need to better understand and match the anticipated change, and pace of change, of the underlying sciences and engineering disciplines.
Technology is a key component of the Structuration theory of Giddens and explicitly noted in the model of Structuration of Orlikowski. Are the management of North American based companies underestimating the technological changes that are occurring in the software and hardware area? This proposal argues that the level of change that all businesses will experience in the next five to ten years will be the most dramatic and may accurately reflect the level of change that has occurred over the past 50 years or more.
People are another key component of the Structuration theories this proposal discusses. The need to address the changing motivations and needs of a technically capable staff in an oil and gas company will continue to accelerate. The demands of time will continue to be an issue due to the technologies’ capability of virtually always being at “work”. The reality of depreciated loyalty of the past few years will not be resolved as a result and may begin to be a substantial issue.
As described above, the application of the theory and writings of Dr. Noel Tichy has direct application in the context of the oil and gas producer. Tichy’s theories provide significant support to the recommendations within this proposal. Each of the four bases that Tichy suggests as individual justification for implementing major strategic change are supported in this analysis.
Will the “branch plant” mentality that many of the American based subsidiaries proliferate? And hence will Calgary lose the ability to compete as a “cluster” within the global oil and gas industry.
Chapter 2, Organizational Models.Dr. Tichy asserts a variety of myths that perpetuate the reasons for the management behavior seen in organizations. Dr. Tichy (1983) uses many of the myths that were identified in Dr. Henry Mintzberg’s in 1973. The three particular myths, and their actual effect are as follows.
- “Managers are systemic planners”.
Tichy asserts that it is reasonable to assume that managers will not do much systemic planning prior to launching of any major strategic change initiative.
- “Managers rely on formal computerized management systems”.
Actual data employed in the support and analysis of change initiatives is considered to be minimal. The decisions and actions of management are based on the small and frequent interactions that managers employ in implementing the day-to-day activities of the organization. These interactions and data are not recorded by the organization and are therefore not readily available for analysis or comparison.
- “Management is fast becoming a science.” (p. 38)
This myth is eliminated when the interactions of managers as noted in item 2, are based on “the intuitive and implicit models of organization and change”. And management’s understanding of those models is based on their perspective of the organization.
Dr. Tichy (1983) states that basing the major change initiative on “the intuitive and implicit models are 1) consonant with the problems that need resolving and 2) consonant with the models of the other people with whom he or she must collaborate.” Until the management is aligned around the specific organizational model difficulties in implementing the change initiative, unnecessary conflict will occur. (p. 39).
This research is basing its suggested organizational model and development on a variety of existing structures and models as defined by Dr. Tichy (1983). These models include:
- “Classical mechanistic model.”
The traditional hierarchy with its defined chain of command and span of control are augmented by its highly defined job description for each participant within the structure. This is the premier method of organization in oil and gas primarily because of its generic nature and intuitive understanding by those within non-management positions. The advantage of this model is its consonance between the participants within the structure.
Over the past few decades the only revisions made to this style of organizational structure has been its optimization through the flattening of the hierarchy. To suggest further optimization of this model as a means to enable enhanced innovation and change management is considered for the purposes of this research as foolhardy.
The advantages of this structure are to be salvaged and used in the Genesys® model of organizational optimization that this research details. It would be just as foolhardy to suggest the standard hierarchy be eliminated before an acceptable model has been developed, tested, optimized and accepted as the standard, and the role of many of the existing functions of a firm may best be managed in the long term by a traditional hierarchical organizational structure.
- “Human resource organic model.”
Is best defined by the bureaucratic vs. organic style of organizational structures. These have best been defined by Theory X and Theory Y management systems. The bureaucratic or Theory X method of management assumes people need to be disciplined and monitored to ensure that the work is done, vs. the organic or Theory Y understanding. Theory Y assumes production is best facilitated through the acceptance that people are motivated internally to work and produce.
Dr. Tichy asserts that the downfall of this thinking is the movement to the “optimal” system is through pursuit of the most well defined theory Y or organic model, which has proven not to be the case. Nonetheless the need to maintain theory Y based strategies is stated explicitly to ensure that no incorrect assumptions are made.
Dr. Tichy (1983) states that there are a variety of political forces that influence and define the organizational model. The six types are as follows.
- “Commander power configuration.”
Reflects the influence of the founding entrepreneur in the organization. Since this research is focused on the international independent producers, this political force is limited in its application.
- “Continuous chain power configuration.”
Where the major political influence is a group of closely held shareholders, or the organization is a subsidiary of a larger organization. This is a political influence that is identified as being an impediment to this research. The “branch plant” method of management has become the standard for many of the subsidiaries of larger American independent producers. It is well known that this “branch plant” method of management is not the optimal method, and this research proposal would suggest, that until subsidiaries can exhibit the more advanced capability of effectively and efficiently managing their assets, their ability to optimize their assets will continue to wane irrespective of the local management talent.
The preferred method of management by a larger group is that which Shell Canada Ltd has traditionally employed. In which the Royal Dutch Shell group relies heavily on the securities and regulatory environment of Canada to ensure their investments are optimized and managed effectively.
- “Closed system power configuration.”
The closed system is the traditional organizational method of influence and power used within Government organizations.
- “Missionary power configuration.”
Where the leaders personality defines the organization and is the center of power within the organization. This method of organizational influence may have peaked as a result of the securities irregularities in the United States in the past few years. The super star CEO is less acceptable as a result.
- “Professional power configuration.”
Where disparate groups, such as medical Doctors and administrators in a hospital, provide the overall management drive of an organization. This again does not have any direct application to the oil and gas industry.
- “Conflictive power configuration.”
This type of political influence reflects the situation in the joint operating committee. Where internal and external power coalitions are divided and politicized. As detailed in this research, conflict as a tool needs to be better understood and implemented by industry. The ability for conflict to clearly identify the “right and wrong” in a situation can help to mitigate the muddling style of decision making that compromise invokes. (p. 48)
Dr. Tichy asserts the political, technical and cultural influences need to be addressed in the context of the whole organization. Focusing on one factor should be in the context of the other two.
Development of The Genesys® Model of Strategic Innovation.
The appendix to chapter 2 of Dr. Tichy’s book provides a template or model to use for the development of the appropriate model for an organization. This research proposes the “The Genesys® Model of Strategic Innovation.” (Appendix “A”) as a discussion point and beginning of the development of a usable model to be used during the actual research that this proposal recommends. This model is academic in its nature and should not be implemented without the appropriate groundwork and necessary supporting research.
In the four-step process that is summarized as follows, each step is premised by Dr. Tichy (1983) as a “Helps” to…, and “develop” … These variables and categorization's for the purpose of this research proposal are limited to the scope of the areas of direct impact of the technology and organizational changes proposed. The other important consideration is the reiteration that this should be considered as a preliminary draft and that the Genesys® model will be developed further through the research and study period proposals.
“Determine a set of key variables that identifies the new organizational perspective.” Please see “The Genesys® Model of Strategic Innovation.”
Helps to establish “a higher-order-concepts components” of the model. “These are variables that cluster together to form broader categories, the basic building blocks of the model”.
“Helps to develop a framework for a dynamic model, including the causal connections between model components.”
“Helps develop a graphic representation of the dynamic model.” (p.56)
Please see Appendix “A” to this thesis, “The Genesys® Model of Strategic Innovation.”
Chapter 7. Change strategy.Dr. Tichy (1983) introduces the change strategy implementation as consisting of three components.
- “The overall development of the strategic change plan.”
- “The selection of appropriate change technologies for implementing the strategy.”
- “The development of a transition or implementation process.” (p. 185)
It should be reiterated that these are developed around the three change system dynamics of political, technical and cultural components. Another aspect of these theories is the need to have them developed and operating in concert with one another. Alignment of each dynamic system to the overall change strategy is important for the success of the change initiative.
Key to the understanding of the alignment of the three systems is the fact that they are not tightly integrated, but loosely woven. The systems interact but not in wholly predictable or definitive manners. In order to achieve the strategic change initiative, the need to un-bundle the loose coupling is required. It is also necessary to develop a vision or image of the prospective organization in order to have the re-coupling of the loosely woven dynamic systems, the political, technical and cultural, operate in the desired fashion.
- The strategic change objective.
The purpose and goal of change should be well defined and understood. The aim of this thesis and its model is stated as follows:
“The Genesys® Model of Strategic Innovation.” is designed to augment the independent oil and gas producers’ existing strategies to accommodate the need for greater innovation. This assumption is based on the revised market conditions that now require that speed and capability of innovativeness demand organizational and technical changes that are complex and interrelated.
Guidelines for developing a change strategy.The objective here is to map the needs and capabilities of the current organization and its definition to the future organization proposed in this research report. Once the two definitions are analyzed and determined there will be the need to define the technical, political and cultural changes, and their implications and structure . Key to these is to ensure the following components and guidelines are in place Tichy (1983).
- “Empower the change managers and set the stage for vigilant decision-making”. (p. 193)
- “Summarize the diagnosis.” Including the diagnostic findings, turbulence and expectations. (p.194)
- “Move from diagnosis to strategy”.(p.197)
Chapter 8, Technical change strategy.Critical to the success of “The Genesys® Model of Strategic Innovation” is the development of technologies that will support the underlying strategic and organizational changes required. Structuration theory notes that constraints are defined through the development of past technologies and market forces. The need to support a new strategy based on the needs of the future requires a minimum of the technical constraints of what is, can and should be possible. These points accurately reflect why Genesys®, February 2003 development proposal provides such value.
Dr. Tichy (1983) begins with an excellent summary of the technical aspects of strategic change with the following quote. “Technical change strategies alter the information-processing capacity of the organization. The strategies involve adjusting components of the organizational model. These adjustments are made either to increase or decrease the organizations capacity to deal with uncertainty brought on by changing environmental condition, new technological developments, or complexities in the tasks.” (p. 203)
The information processing capability of an oil and gas concern needs to be increased to enable:
- The organization to deal with uncertainty.
As the industry continues to be affected by increasing commodity prices and scarcity and difficulty in reserve replacement, the capacity of staff and organizational methodology to change is being challenged.
- New technological developments.
Technologies offer greater levels of automation, collaboration and interaction. The capacity to operate beyond the firms own internal systems and interact with suppliers and partners is a definitive requirement for the future. These developments require new technologies be developed to achieve those means in an effective manner that matches specifically the requirements of the business.
- Increased complexity of tasks.
As detailed in the innovation review of Dr. Dosi’s theory the need to innovate has become a basic requirement of an oil and gas firm to deal with the increasing pace of the underlying earth sciences and engineering disciplines. The capacity to keep pace and understand the implications of the scientific changes is asserted in this research as a fundamental competitive requirement.
Dr. Tichy writes that as the operating environment becomes more complex and difficult the need to organize towards a more “organic” form, and away from the more mechanistic forms of organization structure is required. Complexity requires a closer and tighter alignment of the organization towards the overall strategy of the firm. These should be considered as two of the key justifications to move towards a business unit structure, such as this research’s recommendation to use the joint operating committee as such. Use of the joint operating committee supports the legal, investment, operation, decision-making and cultural environment of oil and gas firms, providing strong alignment of the organization.
Without the ability to develop systems around the joint operating committee the alternative would be to continue with the development of SAP like hierarchical organizational structures of accounting, land and production, which are inappropriate for oil and gas from an alignment point of view.
Dr. Tichy offers many tools and techniques in aiding the organizations transition from the current to future organizational structure. These tools and techniques are beyond the current scope of this research proposal and will be used to implement the appropriate changes when companies subscribe to Genesys®, research and development proposal. These tools involve the altering of the processes of control, reward, communications and conflict.
It is important to identify the conflict process as a key to the future success of this research, and the ability of successful oil and gas firms. Conflict has been anathema as the cultural operative in Canadian oil and gas. The “do as your told” mindset has been the key to the long-term survival of the individual employee, and the “muddling along” in terms of strategy development has traditionally been the means of the industry over the past 20 years, and as detailed elsewhere in this thesis, inappropriate for the future of this industry. Conflict is a powerful tool and an effective method for management to deal with issues. The compromise of an organization’s strategy is usually the outcome of conflict avoidance. The ability to align the organization will require that conflict be identified and resolved as it occurs, as opposed to the traditional conflict avoidance methods. This will be of particular value as the conflict between suppliers, and particularly between partners, becomes more dependent and critical to the ability of the firm.
Chapter 9, Political Change Strategies.The various political influences that affect the change strategies of an organization are many and dynamic. According to Dr. Tichy (1983), the following are generic in nature and are therefore discussed in this research proposal. The need to identify and integrate other political influences will be required on a go forward basis, once Genesys®, research and development proposals are undertaken by industry.
- “Succession concerns.” (p. 227)
These are beyond the scope of concern of this research and are therefore not discussed.
- “Goal concerns.” (p. 228)
The effect of overall strategic and goal changes can have significant impact on the internal politics of a concern. The winners and losers of groups and individuals as a result of the movement from a cost containment strategy to that of a innovative leader should not be underestimated or unplanned for.
- “Means of doing the work concerns.” (p. 229)
These political concerns are affected through this research proposal’s changing of the organizational structure to include the joint operating committee as the means of financial performance accountability. These work methods are through the relatively new means of collaboration, conflict management, and beyond the scope of the current organizations direct influence, command and control.
- “Environmental concerns.” (p. 230)
As noted elsewhere, the environment that oil and gas concerns find themselves is increasingly changing. The commodity pricing and reduced reserve life are two of the major changing components that are part of the political landscape changes. Various individuals and groups may or may not benefit as a result of the internal changes and emphasis. The winners and losers of these changes may also be more perceived then actual. Moving from a “banking” basis, where the motives are to provide a stable return, to a “scientific” basis is a dramatic change for the industry. Who will survive and who will prosper as a result of these environmental changes?
- “Reward reallocation concerns.” (p. 230)
The effect of changes in employee compensation and reward can have effects on the performance of the organization. These political influences have a tendency to affect the employee’s personal motivations directly and therefore planning for the effective and efficient implementation of these changes needs to be done. Of particular concern is this research proposals recommendation that the enhanced benefits of these changes be education and knowledge enhancement as opposed to the traditional financial compensation. It is also important to understand the implications and effects of these changes on the makeup and capability of the human resources.
- Developing political strategies.
Dr. Tichy (1983) defines political uncertainty as “the degree of stability and predictability with regard to the bargaining and exchange relationships among interest groups over the allocation of resources, power, prestige, etc.” And “Organizations must either minimize political uncertainty or else develop mechanisms for managing it.” (p. 231).
It is clear to this author that the scope of change that is being considered in this research is significant and accurately reflected in management’s actions to date in tacitly, but not explicitly, supporting this proposal. The political influences of these strategic changes should not be underestimated. The additional aggravating factor is that the traditional political influences that have operated in a classical hierarchy are rendered less effective in a more business unit or politically democratic structure that includes direct influence by outside interests through a more dynamic joint operating committee.
It is asserted throughout this research that the capacity for an oil and gas concern to continue with the status quo is of limited value due to the environmental issues of commodity pricing and reserve replacement. Acceptance of the move from a “banking” to a “scientific” structure and the associated political issues requires a more direct management approach to reducing the risks identified.
- Politically organic strategies.
Faced with the complexity of the political issues that arise from the change strategies, organic strategies would enhance the capacity of the firm to “enable the organization to manage major disruptions triggered by the environment which alter strategic contingencies within the organization.
Tichy states
“The politically organic organization is able to manage goal conflicts, conflicts over the means for goal accomplishment and succession issues through democratic procedures.” (p. 241)
Dr. Tichy reflects on the irony of democratization of the workplace being a radical thought in western-based economies. The democratization and freedom that has occurred over the time period since Dr. Tichy’s book was written is by far the greatest the world has ever seen. Taken in the limited context of “economic” freedom China alone would support that claim.
As Giddens structuration theory notes the need for the organization, society and people to retain a balance is required to avoid failure. Therefore there is a need to parallel the societal changes with organizational changes. And in using Giddens theory it would be predictable that these un-reconciled changes might manifest in the collapse of the organization or the regression to a less democratic society, with only one of these alternatives being viable or probable.
- Development of political change strategies.
Dr. Tichy (1983) suggests the following guidelines in determining the development of the political change strategy.
- “Determine the level of political uncertainty.”
- Clearly the political uncertainty is stratospherically high.
- “Link political uncertainty to the internal and external culture of the organization.”
- There is a diversity of management structures that extend from pure independents to the branch plant methods. However, each employs similar systems and structures and is therefore limited in their competitive and structural capabilities as the future leaders move to a more scientific basis.
- “Link the political to the technical strategy.” (p. 251)
- It should be asked how the political environment could be linked to a hierarchical based, bureaucratic, SAP style of ERP system.
- “Develop an image of good political alignment.” (p. 252)
- The image that this proposal asserts is that of a globally competitive independent producer whose capability is effective and efficient:
- Over the scope of international operations and competition.
- Aligned with the development in society and people.
- Aligned to the technology and its future developments.
- Based on innovation in the development and understanding of the underlying earth sciences and engineering disciplines.
Summary of the political change strategy.
We have seen a regression in the management of several of the oil and gas firms in Calgary, to that of what might be described as a “branch plant management” style. These changes have significant implications for all of the companies in this industry by way of the ability to extend the “cluster” that has been developed to a more “global cluster”. The “branch plant management” style that has been established at some of the oil and gas companies is as a result of the parent firm’s perception regarding this industry’s ability to manage itself. This has lead to a variety of firms now being operated from distant head offices that reduce the effectiveness of the local organization, and would now have a greater effect on the capability within all companies within the Calgary “cluster”.
The political situation as detailed above lends credence to the technical changes proposed through this research and provides further justification of the proposed Genesys® development. The outcome and direction of the “cluster” needs to be determined and developed based on innovation based competitive advantages. The need to assert a capability that is global in its scope and application is within the domain of the current management, and this research asserts is the primary political issue to be addressed over the next few years. Waiting for these decisions to be made is an inappropriate stance for this industry leadership.
Chapter ten, Cultural Change Strategies.The cultural influences within an organization need to be reviewed from a variety of perspectives. This review is required in order for the organization to attain an alignment with the political and technical influences of the strategic change initiative. The current overall culture of oil and gas is predominately focused on the competitiveness of the individual. The ability of the firm to now focus on the team oriented nature of new technologies needs to be addressed and dealt with through the change management initiatives introduced in this research.
The “culture” also needs to reconsider the nature of co-opetition amongst producers as represented in active participation and sharing through the various joint-operating committees. This culture of sharing will be a difficult and necessary component of the ability of the producer to enhance its competitiveness through innovation and cooperation within the “cluster.” These points accurately reflect the need to incorporate the knowledge, education and training motivations of the people involved.
Dr. Tichy (1983) writes “The cultural system glues the organization together because it provides members with cognitive maps with which to understand and influence behavior in the organization and provides a social justification for what people are doing.” (p. 253)
Of particular concern since the time that Dr. Tichy wrote this book is the “message of the month” style of management that many employees have been subjected to. These have culminated in a variety of initiatives that have flattened the hierarchy with little of the promised changes from these initiatives materializing. The commitment to cultural strategic change is necessary for management to overcome employee’s preconceived notion of the “message of the month”. Although this is beyond the scope of this research, it reflects the level of planning required ensuring these changes materialize.
To a great extent the culture of the company is a significant issue from a change management point of view. The innovations and sharing of ideas, although part of the past and current culture, are moving into the area of being a primary competitive advantage and capability. Culture therefore becomes a key component of making the political and technical changes, and therefore their alignment to the cultural components
Dr. Tichy (1983) states tasks are the results of strategies, as he states “strategies imply tasks” (p. 260). This point reflects that innovation and the culture of the organization are key to creating greater innovation. This is implicit and therefore requires policies be supportive of the sharing of information, the development of ideas, both within the organization, partnerships and suppliers.
A controversial component of this research is that conflict would need to be fostered to enable the more rapid innovativeness desired. Conflict, and its good partner controversy, appears in contrast to the harmony that most individuals seek to attain in organizations. Conflict as a tool, and conflict resolution are two additional components that need to be developed in concert within the culture of an innovative oil and gas producer. Conflict provides a means of identifying issues and determining the appropriate solutions. The compromise methodology maintains the status quo, whereas conflict provides the means to move organizations in different directions. In other words alignment will not be a smooth road.
Dr. Tichy (1983) writes “The culture of the existing organization is generally driven by operating concerns which are short term, certain, predictable, and control oriented, whereas, the culture to support innovation must be supportive of uncertainty, risk, long-term plans, and assume failure is good in the early stages.” And “Organizations that are very good at doing something for the millionth time are not very good at doing something for the first time”. (p. 263)
How the organization enhances their capability to innovate is of concern. The existing culture may conflict with the desired culture to support the political and technical changes needed for innovation. The need to identify and create the appropriate culture is a key component of the strategic change management initiative.
Comments regarding Dr. Tichy’s writings.Considering the time frame that Dr. Tichy wrote his book (1983), and the dearth of writings that support these theories, suggest that his writings are either comprehensive enough in their initial release, or did not receive the necessary support to achieve a more “commercial” level of acceptance.
In reviewing his book it is clear that the majority of the work is substantially beyond the time frame when it was written. I would assert that the level of change that has occurred since 1983 has been significant enough for management’s time and effort being consumed by the changes itself. This will continue as we move into what I suspect will be an increased level of change. Management needs to adopt these strategic change management initiatives in order to ensure that the difficulties that were present in the past do not carry on in the future.
In other words, Dr. Tichy’s ideas are becoming more prevalent currently and need to achieve a greater acceptance and distribution. It would be appropriate for this text to be updated to the current time frame and re-release his writings so that management can include these theories in their tool kit.
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