1st Edition

Leading Business Change A Practical Guide to Transforming Your Organization

By Karin Stumpf Copyright 2015
    145 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
    by Productivity Press

    Most books dealing with change management focus on how companies reach their corporate goals, instead of on what individual leaders must do. Filling this need, Leading Business Change: A Practical Guide to Transforming Your Organization is an easy and fun read that will inspire you to think more closely about how you implement change as a leader.

    The book presents a proven approach to help leaders of global initiatives grapple with impossible projects and deliver on their goals. The first part of the book explains the author’s approach to change management, centering on the need not just for an effective approach but for effective leadership. The remaining three parts walk readers through the three phases of the authors' methodology, using actual examples to demonstrate how to apply each step in the real world.

    • Introduces the topic of strategic implementation and organizational change
    • Supplies an overview of the challenges a leader will face when tasked with transforming aspects of a global company
    • Discusses the need to align the goals of the company, sponsors, and project
    • Highlights the need to understand the resources available to change leaders
    • Addresses the challenges of planning the design and delivery of organizational change

    The author begins each chapter with a short story around the experiences of a fictional executive with a multinational company who has been tasked with implementing a global outsourcing project. Different stories illustrate the application of the methodologies discussed in the book. Each chapter concludes with questions to help you assess your own leadership style.

    Leading the Journey to Success
    What Is the Determining Factor in Successfully Turning Strategy into Reality?
    The Process of Success
    The Number-One Challenge
    Three Phases, Four Questions
    Nothing Ever Goes According to Plan

    The Captain for the Journey
    Modelling the Role
    Motivating Other People
    Mediating Resistance
    Shaping the Change
    Communicating the Change
    Embracing Your Role as a Change Leader

    PHASE I MOBILIZE—ENVISIONING THE SOLUTION

    Determining the Destination
    Who Are the Decision Makers?
    Clarifying the Strategic Objective
    Identifying Stakeholder Groups
    Taking Stock of Ship and Crew
    Assembling Your Coalition
    Inventorying Available Skill Sets
    Assessing the Current Situation
    Challenge Questions

    Setting the Course
    Identifying Possible Plans
    Building on Your Strengths
    Seeing and Filling the Gaps
    Challenge Questions

    PHASE II CRUSADE—DESIGNING THE SOLUTION

    Embarking on the Journey
    Designing the Change
    Be Ready to Adapt Your Plan
    Shoring Up Your Original Support
    Converting Others into Your Evangelists
    Challenge Questions

    Captaining, Despite Shortages and Scurvy
    Managing Project People
    Modelling the Change
    Motivating the Change
    Shaping the Change
    Mediating the Change
    Communicating the Change
    Challenge Questions

    Surviving the Tempests
    Contingency Planning
    Expecting the Worst
    Asking the Big Question Again
    Remaining Agile
    Asking for Help
    Challenge Questions

    PHASE III POPULATE—DELIVERING THE SOLUTION

    Land Ho!
    The Biggest Challenges in Populating
    100% Buy-In?
    Success Hinges on Communication
    Knowing You Have Arrived
    Measuring Success
    Shades of Success
    Challenge Questions

    Captain’s Log
    The Importance of Reflecting
    Taking Personal Inventory
    The End as the Beginning

    Biography

    Dr. Karin Stumpf consults for multinational companies implementing strategic change, such as DaimlerChrysler, Universal Pictures, Deutsche Bank, Bombardier Transportation, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Formerly a consultant with McKinsey as well as Deloitte, she has worked with clients in more than 20 countries to successfully support them in driving corporate strategy.

    Dr. Stumpf regularly lectures in English, German, and French in venues such as the Swiss Institute of Technology, among others. She holds an MSc, an MBA, a PhD, and a master’s in organizational psychology. Her consultancy, Acrasio, is based in Berlin, where she lives with her husband and daughter.

    If you are a change leader or simply interested in the topic, this is a must-read. ... I have a lot of faith in Karin Stumpf's book, as it is written based on her previous experience working for some of the top-notch consulting companies this planet has to offer.
    —Navid Nazemian, Global HR Business Partner, Roche, Switzerland

    Karin Stumpf has captured the challenges and the trade-offs integral to today’s dynamic organizational changes. She also presents solutions which are, in general, broadly applicable, but go much beyond the mere mundane and the cookie cutter recipes.
    —Sam N. Basu PhD, CMA, Professor, Economics, Finance, and Global Business, Cotsakos College of Business, William Paterson University

    Leading Business Change is an excellent book for people managers and leaders who want to understand how the theory applies in everyday life when dealing with change-management challenges. It saves you a lot of ‘trial and error’ mistakes and therefore truly boosts your transformation process and your development towards a true change master.
    —Luca Bitonto, Head of Learning and Organizational Development, eBay

    Dr. Stumpf has created a nice, easy-to-remember change model from her real-world organizational experiences. She will show you three phases in the change process—how to mobilize, crusade, and populate—so that you can lead change successfully in your organization. In today’s world, one needs to be a change master in order to keep up. Dr. Stumpf’s book will help you move in that direction.
    —James G. Clawson, Johnson & Higgins Professor of Business, The Darden School, University of Virginia

    This book is based on Karin's common sense paired with her vast experiences in supporting organizations with their change processes. In fact, it’s an easy-to-read forceful resource and it’s useful for all those dealing with change in an organization.
    —Roberto Wittlin, Change Manager, AXA Winterthur

    Because I am a former aviation fighter pilot, converted into a management researcher, the book and the position of Karin Stumpf spoke to me. To continue the maritime analogy of the author, I would say that when situations of change or mergers arise, managers always fantasize of one day finding a cove where they can keep themselves safe from errors and stress. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately so, this cove does not exist. Instead managers are given the ability to understand that they are at the service of their situation and the people whom they are responsible for. Thus, being of service becomes the noblest challenge a captain can undertake. And so, the captain instinctively understands that the only way to face the storm is by accepting the waves and violence. His single mission is to go beyond expectations and worry about the men and women who are on board his ship. This is the strength of this book!
    —Dominique Steiler, Director, Personnel and Managerial Development Centre, Grenoble

    There's no question that the ability to promote and manage change in your organization is a leadership requirement for today's fast-paced, global economy. In her book
    Leading Business Change, Dr. Karin Stumpf shows leaders not only how they can enable their employees to commit to change, but how leaders can encourage their employees to feel a sense of shared ownership in driving that change forward.
    —Tanveer Naseer, Award-Winning Leadership Coach, Speaker and Writer

    Business leaders and change practitioners will certainly benefit from Karin’s approach to organizational change. She draws a meaningful picture of today’s leadership challenges and proposes a simple and practical framework to address the impact of the human and organizational reactions during change initiatives.
    —Carole Levesque, Director, Change Management and Organizational Transformation, Bombardier Aerospace