Monday, January 16, 2012

Merit's Engage-to-Change Research




About this Report
For a decade or more, research by leading research groups such as Gartner
and others have shown convincingly that the great majority of large-scale
change or transformation projects fail or under-deliver. While this information
has been consistent during this period, there has been less tangible
information on how to address these problems.
Most leaders and managers, who are responsible for implementing
organizational change, experience the trials and tribulations of large-scale
project work on a day-to-day basis. Over the past few years however we have
become increasingly concerned (as the rate of change projects escalates
dramatically in companies) that we see the same challenges and mistakes
occurring over and over. Yet as external consultants we don’t often have the
leverage to make the significant enterprise-wide improvements that would
greatly enhance organizational adaptability and the success of projects.
This research study was designed to test our experience and thinking about
what we collectively believe “works”, and add research rigor and statistical
data to our recommendations to our clients on how to be more efficient and
effective in large-scale change initiatives. This research has supported our
hands-on, albeit subjective, thoughts and experience about what works,
but has produced a number of fascinating and thought provoking insights.
Increasingly, the results of this study are reinforcing our consulting methods
and recommendations to our clients, and we hope readers of this report will
find it useful as well. The bottom-line is that with careful planning and by taking
a proactive approach it is possible to address the problem of failing projects.

Read the full report here