BENCHMARKING AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT | Six Sigma and Beyond: Design for Six Sigma, Volume VI

Several behavioral models underscore the psychological requirements for change in a person or an organization. The classic equation for change is:

D — V — F > R

where D = dissatisfaction with current situation; V = vision of a better future; F = the first steps of a plan to convert D to V; and R = resistance to change.

Typical attitudes/comments of resistance are:

Perceived threat of loss ” power, position
Everything is OK. Why fix it?
What should we change? How?
What is management trying to tell me?
Takes a long time to see results!
We do not have time to do that "stuff."
If this is so good, why aren't they doing it?

Benchmarking can accelerate the change process by offering the organization's managers facts that relate to their needs and expectations, by understanding the psychology of change. For example, while the previous mathematical formula is a quantifiable entity on its own, it gives us little opportunity to explore change from the individual's perspective. Change begins with an individual. That individual must:

Believe that he or she has the skill necessitated by the change. Can I do it?
Perceive a reasonable likelihood of personal value fulfillment as a result of making the change. What will I get out of it?
Perceive that the total personal cost of making the change is more than offset by the expectation of personal gain. Is it worth making the change?

This model suggests that we manage change by education and communication to influence what a person thinks and that this, in turn , causes a change in behavior. Thought is affected by:

Beliefs
Facts
Values
Feelings

Benchmarking can help implement change by providing the required facts and challenging beliefs, especially if there are data to be supported from other organizations. Other models to manage change are:

Facilitation and support
Participation and involvement
Negotiation
Manipulation
Explicit and implicit coercion

Corporate culture is important:

Reward risk taking
Encourage passionate champions
Focus on base hits versus home runs

Sources of dissatisfaction that can drive change include:

Financial pressure
Quarterly earnings
Cash flow (Need: to improve operational efficiency)

STRUCTURAL PRESSURE

Cyclical business mix
Customer mix
Cash flow conflicts
Product life cycle mix (Need: To improve business mix or effectiveness)

ASPIRATION FOR EXCELLENCE

The need to improve is an internal perception. "You do not have to be bad to improve." Organization positions can be viewed as having either innovation and/or maintenance responsibilities relative to change. How does the mix change for workers, supervisors, middle management, and top management in an organization that strives for excellence?

Current success can mask underlying problems and can prevent or delay action from taking place when it should, i.e., when the company has the time and resources to do something. Consider the classic story of the "boiled frog" as an example. (If you recall, the frog was boiled when the temperature was increasing at a very slow rate. The frog was adapting. The frog could not differentiate the change and ultimately, was boiled. On the other hand, the frog that was thrown into hot water jumped out right away and saved its life.)

FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS

Force field analysis is a systematic way of identifying and portraying the forces (often people) for or against change in an organization. The specific forces will differ depending upon the area where benchmarking is applied. Here is how the process works:

Define the current situation.
Define the desired position based on the results of the benchmarking study.
Define the worst possible situation.
What are the forces for change? What is their relative strength?
What are the forces against change? What is their relative strength?
What forces can you influence?
Define the specific action to be taken relative to each of those forces that you can influence.

One effective way to start the benchmarking process is to select one high visibility area of concern to the influence leaders in a company and produce results that can showcase the benchmarking process. This might start with a library search to highlight the results that are possible.