An Analysis and Evaluation of Critical Success Factors of selected Change Management Models for the holistic Implementation of Transformation Projects

Master's Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,3, The FOM University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, language: English, abstract: With the purpose of gaining a unified understanding of the intention of this master thesis, the following sections provide not merely the background of the research topic, but also postulates the objective of the paper including the working hypothesis and an overview of the used methodology. "Speed of change is the driving force. Leading change competently is the only answer" In recent years, dealing with change and transformations has become a crucial task for managers and their organizations as companies executed comprehensive and deep reaching change projects. It is out of the question that companies simply have to change in order to be successful in the long term. As a result, working routines in today ¿s organizations are subject to constant change and transformation arises in ever industry and branch, regardless of the size of the business and the number of employees. Today, change management can be stated as an essential task for managers and leaders as organizations have to adapt to change constantly in order to keep operating profitably. Reasons why companies undertake such complex transformations are manifold and comprise different aspects like the reorganization of business divisions, mergers & acquisitions, cost reduction and the overall rehabilitation of companies. The specific competence and knowledge to manage and supervise change projects in an adequate and fruitful manner is a crucial factor of an organization to compete in an ever increasing competitive environment. Companies have to adapt to fast changing markets and customer requirements in a short period of time in order to secure their success in the long run. Therefore, change management is a fundamental aspect for every organization, as implementing and successfully managing change is strictly a matter of survival. Paradoxically, although the successful implementation and managing of change and transformation has become such an essential subject for organizations, it is often executed without the necessary diligence respectively carefulness and therefore, without success. Most of the researches investigating the topic of the success of change projects such as KOTTER, MCKINSEY and KPMG state that approximately only thirty percent of all transformation projects are carried out successfully. However, the researches do not attest a total failure for most of the change initiatives, but transformation projects often do not fulfill the set targets regarding scope, budget and timeframe.