1. 1 Page

2. CESR – Determine the success of the
Change
Balasubramanian Krishnamurthy – Program Manager, Alcatel-Lucent

3. Contents
1. Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 4
2. Introduction...................................................................................................................................... 4
3. Change Management Vs Project Management .............................................................................. 5
4. Building CM model from Project Management ............................................................................... 6
5. Hard side of Change ....................................................................................................................... 7
6. C.E.S.R framework ....................................................................................................................... 14
7. C.E.S.R Scorecard ........................................................................................................................ 15
8. Why C.E.S.R? ............................................................................................................................... 16
9. References .................................................................................................................................... 16
10. Author’s Profile ............................................................................................................................ 17
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4. 1. Abstract
In the world of transformation, a lot of organizations are looking for the implementation of large,
medium and small scale transformation programs. The trigger for such initiatives is mainly due to the
cost pressures, competitive situation, market trends or technological changes. The execution of the
program would vary depending upon the approach adopted by the organization. Senior management
could decide to take either the economical or structural or process oriented approach.
The strategy and the approach would define the model of execution for the change management
program. And the mode of execution itself could be based on the universally accepted standards and
principles followed by the organizations.
The following study focuses on three aspects.
(1) Can the Change management initiative be executed in the traditional Project Management
approach? We will analyze the differences between the traditional project management
methodology and the Change management. But, we will also try to understand how the
Project Management model can provide us a good platform for building a Change
Management model.
(2) The success of the transformation program depends on the way it is executed. There has to
be a proper balancing in addressing the human side of the Change and the hard side of the
execution. We will throw light on the significance of the soft and hard aspects of the change
management model.
In this study, there will be a clear focus on the hard side of the change management and address the
key factors which will determine the success the change program. A new model “CESR” will be
introduced to determine the key hard factors which can be tracked and be used to objectively
measure the success of the transformation program. The study also presents a framework which can
be used as a standard model to rate these key factors to measure the actual performance of the
change program. The role and the commitment of the senior & middle management, the effort of the
people who implement the change and the people who are affected by the change will be analyzed in
detail and how their commitment and effort will contribute to the overall success of the program will be
assessed.
2. Introduction
A lot of organizations have realized that the execution of the change initiative is a complex activity
and it requires strict discipline and process adherence. And even though the modern management
has felt that the soft skills are very critical for the success of the change initiative, they want the
change management team to be accountable for the execution and its results of the program. And,
they would like to closely monitor the program and ensure that the execution team follows certain
principles guided by the templates, policies and procedures defined by the company.
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5. 3. Change Management Vs Project Management
Companies follow the change management process inline with or close to the industry standard
models. To track the hard side of the change initiative, where the results of the program are being
tracked and reported to the management, most of the teams use the traditional project management
model which is quite robust and well defined. This is quite understandable as it is a proven model and
has less risk. But at the same time, there are two pertinent questions that need to be asked.
(1) Can Change Management be handled in the traditional project management approach?
(2) Can we use the Project Management model to create a Change Management model?
Let us try to answer both the questions in detail.
The answer for (1) is yes and no. There are a few similarities as well as differences between change
management and the traditional project management.
Firstly, both are focused on working towards a set of objectives that need to be initiated, planned,
measured/ tracked and reported. Both have a defined scope, timescale and budget for the
completion;
But there are some fundamental differences between them. They are:
1. Traditional project management would normally focus on projects which are delivered either
to the internal or external customers whereas the change initiative is normally delivered
internally within an organization, but the direct or indirect impact could be on both within and
outside(including customers) the organization
2. Commitment from the sponsor and the top management is a given thing and assured
throughout the traditional project whereas the commitment and support for a change could
vary based on various factors like confidence level of the executives, success rate and the
performance integrity of the change implementation team including the change leadership
3. Project Managers work within the circle of control whereas the Change Managers mostly
work within the circle of concern
4. Success of a traditional project management is normally measured only at the end of the
project even though there might be some intermediate deliverables; Success of a
transformation program is measured throughout, especially in each management reviews
5. Traditional Project Management normally require trained managers who need to have a strict
discipline and adherence to the processes whereas Change initiative requires a strong
leadership since there is a long term vision and there are goals to be achieved for the
organization
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6. 4. Building CM model from Project Management
Let us focus on question (2) and find out if the PM model can be used to build the CM model.
Any project management model typically will have certain key factors that will determine the success
of the project. These factors include Scope, Schedule, cost and Quality. Apart from these, certain
other key elements like risk management, communications, human resources management are
extensively managed, and finally the customer satisfaction level is measured for its success. At the
start of a project, the objectives of these factors are well defined, planned and measured/tracked
throughout the project.
But in a change initiative, ask five executives of a company to name one critical factor which will
determine the success of the change initiative. You will get many different answers and one will think
that all of them are important in one or another context. And there is a strong reasoning on why
certain factors are of high priority for them.
Hence, a broad based analysis is required before the start of the change implementation, and there
has to be a deep understanding of what the organization and its top executives want. Let us take an
example of a leading telecommunications company that wanted to implement a large-scale
transformation program for their internal lab operations. The main trigger was to get the cost savings
by making certain structural changes. When the business case was prepared and presented, the
CFO was more focused on optimizing the CAPEX and inventory process, which was expected to
result in cost reduction. But some of the other executives, even though they agreed that cash burning
need to be addressed, they wanted to know how this program could benefit their business operations
especially to improve in terms of efficiency, innovation and simplification of existing operations. The
company wanted to bring in a combination of economical, structural and cultural changes through this
transformation program.
Hence it became important for the change leadership to understand the vision of the top management
and translate into a set of objectives which would be acceptable to them.
The change leadership after several discussions with the management summarized the following:
1. There are multiple objectives coming from the top, but the common objective is cost saving &
improve operational efficiency
2. Consensus amongst the executives on the key factors that will determine the success of the
program is critical.
3. Commitment from the executives is not going to be consistently assured throughout the
program, and may vary after each review based on the success of the program;
We can derive the following observations from the above case study.
1. Need a clear understanding of the demand from the top management and define the
objectives which will fulfill their demand and achieve the organizational goals;
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7. 2. Identify the key factors that will determine the success of the program;
Prioritization of these key factors may change during the management reviews based on its
implementation success, changing organization scenario, difficulty in implementation and potential
customer impacts.
5. Hard side of Change
The soft factors touch the hearts of the people and hence it is called as heart of the change. But at
the same time, there is a need to have a close look at the hard side. The hard side deals with the
execution and focuses on core aspects that will determine the success of the change. The hard side
is used to determine and validate the change, and helps us to find out if the transformation program is
successful or not. The factors that contribute to the hard side are called the hard factors of the
Change initiative in an organization. In simple words, hard factors deal with the core aspects of the
Change management, and can be called as the brain of the change.
A successful integration of both the soft and hard factors will ensure the success of the transformation
itself.
In a change initiative, we need to identify the set of hard factors that can be measured and tracked to
ensure the success of the change. There are a few well proven models in the industry. But the factors
measured in these models are subjective and also does not cover the core aspects of the hard side.
It is possible that such a subjective assessment could be biased and the ratings may not be based on
the facts and the actual data. So it is important to identify those hard factors that are critical for the
change program/project and can be measured objectively. In other words, the management would be
more interested to review and measure the success of the program based on the facts and data.
The following are the critical factors that can be measured objectively for the success of the change:
1. Commitment – From the sponsor and executives who are part of the top management
committee and the middle management
2. Effort – Effort planned Vs spent by the active and passive contributors of the change
3. Schedule – Schedule planned Vs adherence of the key sub-projects inline with the program
objectives
4. Review of Results – Objectives Vs Achieved results reviewed with the management
Let us look into each of them in detail.
5.1 Commitment
The free dictionary online says; “Commitment is the state of being bound emotionally or intellectually
to a course of action or to another person or persons.” So the management commitment when looked
at in the scope of organizational change management would be that the management is bound
intellectually and full heartedly to ensure that the organizational change takes place.
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8. Commitment from the senior management is essential or is even a prerequisite to get the
commitment & the required effort from the employees who are impacted by the change, for the
implementation.
How does top management show their commitment?
5.1.1 Budget
Executives need to demonstrate the commitment to the change initiative by making the required
budget available for it to happen. There has to be a realistic budget which needs to be allocated to the
program and ensure that the change management team is fully aware of the following:
What is the allocated budget and what exactly it covers?
How long the budget will sustain?
Boundaries and restrictions of the budget which includes the resources(full time & part time,
direct & indirect), tools, processes, training, travel and so on.
5.1.2 Time
Senior management will have to provide their commitment on how time will be managed across the
program including:
How much management time is set aside for this change program?
How long do they expect or need to allow the program to be executed to get the desired
benefits and success?
Commitment on the effort expected to be spent by their line staff who are impacted by the
change(passive contributors) and also the time to be spent by their staff who will be
responsible for implementing the change(active contributors) within the respective line
organization
5.1.3 Communication
Commitment of budget and time is not even half the job done. Effective communication for a change
initiative is one of the challenging issues in the modern world. The communication need to flow right
from the top and need to be done consistently, frequently, through multiple levels and channels and
more importantly in an unbiased manner. It is no surprise that if 85% of the traditional project
management time is spent on communication, more than 90% of the time is spent on communication
for a change initiative.
Communication should flow from the top management further through the next level of management
until the level where the manager who can not only send messages further down but also provide a
strategic direction to the teams on the change initiative.
5.1.4 Role of Senior & Middle Management
Commitment is expected from the senior management to provide the buy-in along with the approvals
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9. for the required budget, allow a reasonable schedule for the change management team to execute
the program so that the program can bring in the desired results, and finally show in actions through
proper communication. The senior management needs to provide a clear and transparent
communication on the vision, the mission, and the objectives of the change effort to their group.
The middle management has to help people understand how these changes are critical for the
organization, team and the individuals. It is also the responsibility of the middle managers to provide a
clear strategic direction on how the change will be executed as per the guidelines of the senior
management and explain the role and effort required from the active and passive contributors.
5.1.5 Measure the commitment
Management commitment has to be measured constantly to ensure the success of the program.
The approved budget, agreed schedule and the effort to execute the change are committed by the
senior management during the buy-in phase itself. Senior executives Commitment on the sub-factors
budget, time and the communication are closely tied with each other. For e.g. a limited budget on the
manpower and other resources to implement the program may impact the schedule. A limited tight
schedule may require extensive repeated communication to speed up the execution.
The middle management commitment is measured by their actions on providing the required
communication and strategic direction to the employees who will implement the change(active
contributors) and those who are affected by the change(passive contributors).
The commitment score for the senior and the middle management has to be a combined one since
any lesser degree of commitment on budget or time or communication will directly impact the overall
commitment and will result in issues in the execution. So if the required budget is not available, the
commitment score need to be reduced accordingly. Similarly if the management time for the program
review is not committed and adhered fully or if the schedule for execution is not realistic or if there is
no commitment from the senior executives on the active/ passive contributors’ effort to implement the
change, the commitment score should directly reflect that. So the commitment score is purely
objective and based on the actual facts and data. Change leadership is responsible to highlight the
commitment level & issues along with the “Commitment Score” in each management review.
Budget
Top Management
Commitment Time Commitment
Score
Middle Management Communication
Commitment
Sec 5.1.5, Fig. 1: Measure Commitment
5.2 Effort
The top management commitment and the middle management support and direction are the basis to
get the required effort from the employees who need to implement the change in their respective
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10. groups. It is important to understand that an idea at 10,000 feet level when transformed into an action
at 100 feet level, the complexity increases multi-fold. So the effort to be spent by the staff has to be
realistic and need to be committed.
There are 5 levels in an organization at which a conscious significant effort is required:
1. Senior Management have to spend time on the management commitment on budget & time,
provide the necessary communication and review the program on a regular basis
2. Change Management team are the primary change agents expected to spend 100% of their
time dedicated for the program; They plan the effort required for the execution, monitor and
control the effort spent by the active and passive contributors of the program and review with
management
3. Middle management need to provide the necessary communication and strategic direction to
the active and passive contributors for the implementation within their groups. They are
responsible for the commitment of resources and empower the active contributors for the
execution.
4. Active contributors work with the change agents and the passive contributors of the change;
5. Passive contributors are those who are affected by the change & need to change.
Of all these, effort from the active and passive contributors is the most critical aspect of the execution
of the change program and need to be measured. Due to lack of commitment from top management
or improper communication or unclear direction from middle level, the required effort may not come
through and that might play a spoilsport. And it is also possible that due to mainstream project
activities or lack of motivation or due to resistance or due to lack of coordination between active and
passive coordinators, the effort during implementation might vary and diminish slowly. So this effort
level need to be measured on a regular basis and need to be constantly reviewed with the
management whenever there are issues.
The following sequence will help us understand how effort is managed in a change program and it is
obvious to know that the change agents are present in all the steps of the sequence;
Middle
Top Management Effort Communication & Monitor &
Management
Commitment Plan Empowerment Control Effort
Review
Major Issues Minor Issues
Sec 5.2, Fig. 2: Flow of Effort
5.2.1 Measure the Effort
Effort spent by active and passive contributors of change need to be measured on the monthly basis.
Commitment from the top & middle management along with the proper allocation of resources and
the availability & required training on the tools and processes to implement the change is critical in
getting the expected effort from the people.
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11. Active contributors of change are expected to spend between 20 to 25% of their time depending on
the scale and complexity of the change, in coordinating the implementation within their group in the
organization. They act as the interface between the change agents and the passive contributors. And
the change agents are responsible for tracking the effort of the active contributors.
Passive contributors of change are not expected to spend more than 10% of their time in accepting
the change within their group and adhering to it. Active contributors will coordinate on the training and
ensure the availability of necessary tools and processes to make the change happen and also track
the effort spent by the passive contributors.
A combined effort score will typically reflect the effort level of active and passive contributors. Change
Leadership needs to highlight the issues to the middle management if there is a lesser “Effort Score”.
And if the effort score is higher than the expected or in the other words if there is more than expected
effort spent, it either reflects poor planning or unrealistic schedule or non-availability of the required
tools and processes or lack of training. The Change Leadership is responsible to measure and track
the “Effort Score” with sufficient background facts supporting the score in each management review.
Active Contributors
Effort
Commitment Effort Score
Passive Contributors
Effort
Sec 5.2.1, Fig. 3: Measurement of Effort spent
5.3 Schedule
Most of the Change initiatives are triggered due to the competitive situation, changing market trends,
technological changes or due to the poor financial performance. The management may want to bring
in the change to get back on track. In any situation, there will be a sense of panic which will result in a
great deal of sense of urgency to implement the change. And this will translate into a high pressure in
getting the change rolled out in a tight schedule. Also there might be an apprehension that any
schedule delay will be detrimental to the change initiative and it will become very difficult for the
senior management to sustain their support. But the management should also realize that the
schedule of the change program has to be realistic and the change leadership must be fully
empowered to implement the change to accomplish the goals of the organization.
Normally, a change program will have multiple sub-projects and each sub-project will have a defined
schedule agreed with the management. It is important for the change leadership to realize the
significance of each sub-project and prioritize them. Each sub-project needs to have an exclusive
leader responsible for the execution. The budgets for the projects should also be prioritized because it
may not be possible to distribute the resources across all the sub-projects at one point of time.
Unlike in a traditional project management where the success of the project is measured only at the
end of the project, the success of the transformation program is measured throughout and especially
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12. during every management review. So every key schedule milestone and its on-time deployment are
critical in achieving the desired success. And, the first success or a quick win is the most important
milestone in a change program since it will give tremendous confidence not only to the management,
but also to the employees who are impacted by the change because they will get a sense of what is
transforming.
5.3.1 Measurement of Schedule
Schedule adherence is critical to the transformation programs/projects since any schedule delay will
create uncertainty and impatience amongst the passive contributors of the change and that will result
in frustration in the minds of the active contributors which will lead to loss of confidence in the middle
and senior management.
The change management team will have to plan and communicate the schedule. The schedule
adherence of the sub-projects of the change program needs to be measured and reviewed against
the originally planned baseline, in every management review. Time to get the first success is a critical
milestone in the schedule adherence. And whenever there is a change in scope, its impact in the
schedule need to be analyzed and realigned if needed.
The schedule score will directly reflect the schedule adherence level of the key sub-projects and its
key schedule milestones of the transformation program.
Commitmen
t
Schedule Schedule
Vs Schedule Score
Achieved planned
Effort
Sec 5.3.1, Fig. 4: Measurement of Schedule adherence
5.4 Review of Results
Schedule adherence is an important factor in achieving the desired benefits of the change program.
But it is only a path towards the destination or a good indication of what the change program can
return as benefits to the company. And it may not be the ultimate organizational goal which the
change intended to bring for. Let us take an example of a customer project, when it was delivered on
time within the allocated budget. But by no means, the project has reached its success until the
customer has accepted it and the return have come in the form of revenues back to the organization.
Similarly, the execution of the change program will also be measured only based on the results which
they are bringing in. Positive results from the change program are a boost to the company and will
bring in a lot of confidence to the management. This will also be a motivating factor to the people who
are impacted by the change because it will help them to understand and realize the benefits to the
organization.
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13. We can highlight a significant difference between a traditional project (say a customer project
deployment) and a change initiative at this point. A traditional customer project success may depend
on the customer acceptance and the revenues which are generated out of that project. But in a
transformation program, the results are closely tied not only with the return it is bringing in, but is also
closely tied with the organizational goals that have to be met.
Let us take the case of a large telecommunications company where a transformation program was
initiated to cut down the capital expenditure of that year. The business forecast for the entire year was
$100 mn, but the CFO set the financial target as $80mn and expected the $20mn savings to come
through the implementation of this transformation program. The change management team
implemented a wide range of sub-projects and returned with $25mn savings which was 25% more
than the original target. But on the other side, whatever has been saved during the year was reused
by the business for other projects and also due to other spending leaks, the company ended up
spending $110mn for that year. The management, though appreciated the efforts of the change
implementation team, concluded that the whole organization has collectively failed and also perceived
that the change program did not achieve the organizational goals because it has failed to check or
control or even address the leaks. There was a section which felt that if the change was not
implemented, the company would have spent much more than $110mn. But that argument was rightly
dismissed since any change need to be closely tied with the organizational goals and a failure in one
of them leads to the failure of both.
It is the primary responsibility of the senior management along with the change leadership to review
the change initiative on a periodical basis and align it with the organizational goals. In the above case
scenario, the focus was given more on the results of the program but the senior management and the
change leadership failed to analyze the other relevant issues which were affecting the organizational
goals. Hence, it is logical for any management to realize that the results coming from the change
program is just an input and only the review of these results is the critical factor that needs to be
measured on a regular basis.
5.4.1 Measure the Results Vs Organizational goals
The senior management needs to review the change program objectively and in detail. The program
should also be reviewed based on the current prevailing situation. Typically, there has to be a formal
review once in every 2 months for a large program which runs atleast for 1 year.
Even the positive results have to be reviewed periodically by the management in a formal forum and
evaluate the performance in all dimensions and then align it with the organizational goals. During this
process, a health check on the current company situation needs to be done to find out whether the
organizational goals can be met or not. If there is a significant gap between the results of the change
program and the organizational goals, then the corrective actions need to be advised, and if needed
even review the priorities of the sub-projects of the program. For e.g. if the results of the change are
positive, but there are other external issues (outside the program) affecting the performance and
hindering the program in meeting the organizational goals, then the organization should have systems
in place to provide the necessary warning signals and subsequently take the necessary actions.
These systems can be inside or outside the change program but has to provide relevant key inputs so
that the program can align itself to the prevailing scenario.
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14. Similarly, if there are negative results, the first step would be to analyze the measurement of other
factors such as: Management Commitment on budget, time & communication, Effort from active &
passive contributors and the schedule adherence of the sub-projects. Because, it is likely that the
results are negative due to the failure of one of the C.E.S factors or a combination of them. On the
contrary, if the C.E.S factors are positive and meeting its targets, then it is an indication that the
targets of the change program are not realistic or the performance integrity of the change
management team is ineffective or probably even the business case of the program need to be
reviewed again.
So the results of the change program need to be mapped to the objectives or in other words the
organizational goals, and the score is derived from its achievement level.
Commitmen
t
Effort Organizational Results Review
Results
goals Score
Schedul
e
Sec 5.4.1, Fig. 5: Measurement of Results Vs Objectives
6. C.E.S.R framework
As we have understood the CESR factors, we can now have the CESR framework in place which can
help the organization to evaluate objectively the transformation initiatives.
Each of the CESR factors has got its own individual significance and will contribute to the success of
the change initiative. These 4 factors can be classified under 3 categories namely:
(1) Instrumental factors
(2) Indicative factor
(3) Target factor
Commitment and Effort can be classified as instrumental factors since these are considered as the
instruments or the tools used in achieving the desired success out of the change program.
Schedule is an indicative factor since schedule adherence with the achievement of key milestones is
a good indication of whether the change program is heading in the right path and direction. It is a
good indicative factor to know about how good the instruments were and make a forecast on how
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15. good the results will be. This is considered more like a weather forecast based on the climatic
conditions.
Review of results against the organizational goals with the management is the target factor which
needs to be achieved as the ultimate goal of the organization.
Apart from the individual significance, there is also a strong underlying relationship between the
CESR factors. The CESR factors work in a sequence as follows:
Effort Schedule
Commitment Review of
Results
Sec 6, Fig. 6: CESR – Sequence
It all starts with the commitment from the management to allocate the necessary budget including the
resources, the time to implement the initiative and provide the necessary communication and
direction. This management commitment will then get translated into a concrete effort from the people
who will implement the change. The change management team will drive the execution on schedule
which is expected to yield the desired results. Finally, the results have to be reviewed by the
management to make the recommendations and suggest the corrective actions wherever necessary
and reinstate the management commitment again to move further. Infact, management commitment
is considered as the platform to build the other factors and it again comes back to the management
platform to rebuild it.
7. C.E.S.R Scorecard
This CESR scorecard is a mechanism which can be used based on the organization standard and the
scores of the previous projects can be set as a benchmark for the future projects. Each CESR factor
has to be rated objectively based on the scoring mechanism by the change management team based
on its performance and need to be reviewed with the senior executives during the management
review.
For a change program, each of these CESR factors will have its own significance and its high score
will contribute the success of the overall initiative. Similarly the low score of even one factor will give a
warning or give an indication that all is not well with the program. So each and every CESR factor will
have to be monitored closely throughout the program. And the CESR rating can be applied to the
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16. overall program itself or to the individual sub-projects in case of a complex or a large transformation
program.
8. Why C.E.S.R?
As per the various studies conducted by Prosci Change Management Learning centre and extensive
researches on Change Management by John P.Kotter, Boston Consulting group and various other
research institutions, Leadership support on budget, allocation of resources including the level of
effort, duration of the program and the management time for reviews have been considered as very
critical for the successful execution of the change initiative. 70% of the transformation programs fail
due to the failure of one or combination of these critical factors. As per the Change Management
Learning centre’s 2012 edition of Best Practices in Change Management benchmarking report, Active
and visible executive sponsorship, funding and dedicated resources, communication process, support
from middle management and employee participation in the implementation especially the passive
contributors have found to be the top key elements for the success of the transformation programs.
DICE model has clearly indicated in its research studies that the management time and the duration
of the program as the critical points to be measured for the success of the change initiative.
The CESR study has taken into consideration various industry research studies including the above,
analyzed various best practices from the industry and has a presented in an innovative way the best
possible combination of critical hard factors which will contribute to the success of the change
initiative and how these factors can be objectively measured based on the facts and data
9. References
1. Harvard Business Review – The hard side of Change Management (DICE model)
2. Leading Change – John P. Kotter
3. PROSCI Change Management Centre
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17. 10. Author’s Profile
The author is a Program Manager in Alcatel-
Lucent, a world leader in Telecommunication
solutions. He has an overall 14 years experience
in the telecommunications industry with 3 years
experience in the deployment and execution of
large and complex transformation programs
worldwide within Alcatel-Lucent.
Email:
Krishnamurthy.Balasubramanian@alcatel-
lucent.com
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