Managing change strategically: the technical, political, and cultural keys.

Managing strategic change is increasingly a way of life for organizations faced with the turbulent economic, political, and cultural forces of the 1980s. To manage such change, organizations and their managers will have to confront basic questions regarding the organization's technical, political, and cultural foundations. The technical questions include: What business(es) should we be in? How should we be organized to accomplish our strategy? What kinds of people do we need, and how will they be acquired, developed, and rewarded? The political questions include: Who gets to influence the mission and strategy of the organization? How is power allocated both vertically and horizontally across the organization? Who gets promoted to what key positions? The cultural questions include: What values and beliefs are necessary to support the organization's strategy? What subcultures are desirable, and should there be an overarching corporate culture? How should the human resources system shape and mold the culture?