Title: Supportive mechanisms for effective change management

Authors: Korina Diamanti, Lina Ioannou, Athanasia Pouloudi, David Baglee

Addresses: Department of Management Science and Technology, Athens University of Economics and Business, 47a Evelpidon and 33 Lefkados Street, Athens 11362, Greece. ' Department of Management Science and Technology, Athens University of Economics and Business, 47a Evelpidon and 33 Lefkados Street, Athens 11362, Greece. ' Department of Management Science and Technology, Athens University of Economics and Business, 76 Patission Street, Athens 10434, Greece. ' School of Computing and Technology, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, UK

Abstract: This paper discusses the mechanisms used to support and enable change in contemporary organisations in Europe. Based on a literature review, we identify and classify critical factors to the management of change. These include organisation structure, organisation culture and climate, communication mechanisms, training and skills development as well as evaluation procedures for the monitoring of the change effort. These factors are then analysed in the context of empirical findings in four European countries: Greece, Spain, Denmark and the UK. As a result of this analysis, best practices for change management are identified. The research findings suggest that it is critical to adopt a holistic approach to continuous change with emphasis on communication, teamwork, education and training and an adaptive culture.

Keywords: change management; key success factors; best practice; total quality management; TQM; human resource management; HRM; organisational structure; education; organisational culture; communications; training; skills development; Greece; Spain; Denmark; UK; United Kingdom; teamwork.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISCM.2007.017381

International Journal of Information Systems and Change Management, 2007 Vol.2 No.4, pp.307 - 333

Published online: 04 Mar 2008 *

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