ABSTRACT
The author recalls the managing director of a large support services group who decided that a major change was required in the way the company operated if serious competitive challenges were to be met. The board of directors went away for a weekend and developed a new vision for the company and its ‘culture’. A human resources director was recruited and given the task of managing the change in the people and their ‘attitudes’. After several ‘programs’ aimed at achieving the required change, including a new structure for the organization, a staff appraisal system linked to pay, and seminars to change attitudes, very little change in actual organizational behavior had occurred.
