Outside Article 3

Maurice Knight

Outside article 3

McAllaster, C. (2004). The 5 P’s of change: Leading change by effectively utilizing leverage points within an organization. Organizational Dynamics, 33(3), 318-328. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2004.06.008

Link to article:

http://www.sciencedirect.com.www.lib.ncsu.edu:2048/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W6S-4D4CYKB-2&_user=290868&_coverDate=08%2F01%2F2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=290868&md5=952da0746cd0eac53f469fbe4a3434c9

               

This article examines five components of organizational change and suggests that these components be used in concert in order to provide the organization leverage for successful change.  According the author the fundamental driver of change is pain.  This pain serves as the impetus that organizations need to draw attention to the change.  The second component is process which outlines the steps leaders must take to facilitate change.  The third component is politics which involves a understanding of potential change foes or allies.  The author argues that a change leader must know how to use power to get people to accept change.  The fourth component is payoff.  He asserts that a leader must understand what reward structure would work best at sustaining change.  The fifth component is persistence or overcoming resistance.  The author points out that the change message must be repeated by top management and the change must be monitored by people at the top.

                This article was of interest because it added salience to the Burke’s work.  In the final chapter of his book, he synthesizes the considerations for organizational change, which this article does as well.  This article also attempts to highlight important considerations for change, both being remarkably similar in ideas presented.  In particular there were several themes that can be found in both literatures. First, both authors highlight the fact that organizations operate in dynamic environments in which technology, economic conditions, and legal environments change often. Therefore, organizational members must see a need for change; otherwise change efforts will be viewed as temporary or just a fad.  Another similarity is the fact that both highlight the need for involvement by organizational members to reduce resistance and suspicion.     Next, both authors emphasized the need for a reward structure that reinforces the change the organization is trying to make.  People often respond to incentives, therefore a change leader must know which incentives to utilize. 

McAllaster argues that the five P’s mentioned in his article can be used independently to facilitate change but they are more effective if used in concert.  One of the primary differences between the works of these two authors is that McAllaster does not focus on the interpersonal traits needed by a change leader while Burke does.   Burke and other scholars would argue that interpersonal traits such as charisma and tolerance for ambiguity are vital to any change effort.  Burke asserts that radical changes to an organization’s structure can rip at the cultural fabric of any organization, especially radical changes such as mergers and acquisitions.  A change leader must be viewed as trustworthy, credible, and inspirational in order to facilitate deep structure change as radical changes require.

In summary, this article added salience to Burke’s work on organizational change and presents similar but somewhat incomplete ideas about organizational change.