Strategic change and organizational culture at hay management consultants

In summer 1994 Hay Management Consultants responded to market and stakeholder demands by embarking on a strategic change program which aims at transforming the way the organization operates over a 5-year period. Experience from leading and researching the change process suggests, among other things, that diagnosing and considering the implications of organizational culture at the initial stages of a change programme, as well as conducting subsequent periodic cultural audits, is extremely helpful to its effective management. Moreover, the case highlights important issues relating to the management of knowledge workers in the context of strategic change. Within a simplified framework of strategic decision-making we discuss the importance and role of organizational culture in strategic change programmes, as well as other change management issues and lessons arising from this case. In so doing we illustrate the use of a potent diagnostic tool—the ‘cultural web’—which has assisted the executive to plan and manage the change process and is currently used for monitoring the change.