3. Case Study: Monitoring Expenditures

Maria Roselli, manager of purchasing and supply, annually submitted budget estimates for the next year’s supplies. Because she underestimated expenditures for the last two months of a previous budget, she exceeded the budget by 10 percent. Extra funds were taken from another department’s budget, and people in accounting took time from other responsibilities to straighten this out. Because of this problem, Maria’s supervisor asked her to devise a better way of keeping track of expenditures, so that she would not run short again.

Maria reviewed systems for monitoring expenditures and selected the one that proved most successful in organizations similar to hers. She developed procedures to implement the new system and introduced it at a weekly staff meeting. Although Marie was excited about the system, the staff didn’t share her enthusiasm. They expressed considerable resistance toward the procedures. Most considered the current system the best available and felt that there was no need to change it. Several argued that the budget problem wouldn’t occur again.

Based on the reports she read, Maria was convinced that they new system had definite advantages over current procedures. Before it could be successfully implemented, however, she needed to overcome her staff’s resistance. In thinking through their reluctance, she could not find any reason for resistance except their preferring the status quo. Therefore, she needed to encourage them to want the new system rather than the old. She recalled that two people showed less resistance than others during the staff meeting, but they went along with the group. So she asked them to implement the system as a pilot test to see if it was more effective. They agreed.

After six months, both employees were enthusiastic about the new system. It helped them keep better track of expenditures while cutting down on paperwork. Other employees gradually became interested in using the new system; their belief about the old system changed. Maria concluded that she might have been more successful at first if she had involved the staff in selecting a new system. Since she chose it, assuming that its merits would be obvious, their resistance caught her off guard. She needed to reassess matters and find a way to encourage them to adopt the system. The pilot test spared her from ordering implementation of the new system over staff objections.

The previous case study provides an example of the challenges managers face implementing change. On your own, recount a challenging experience you had implementing change. What was the change designed to do? What kinds of resistance to the change did your team exhibit toward you and/or the new policy or procedure? In retrospect, would, could or should you have done differently to reduce resistance from team members?

Maria’s experience illustrates the kinds of challenges a manager can face when implementing change. Katzenbach, provides the next example of balancing a traditional management function with a view toward change leadership. Katzenbach explains how a new kind of leader is emerging in our global-local project/programme purpose world. This new kind of leader differs from the traditional manager in mindset, assumptions, leadership phil

osophy, sources of productivity and innovation, accountability and willingness to risk.

As you read about the McKinsey case, think about how you see yourself as a manager-leader and of what kind of leadership your organization encourages and rewards.