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The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and as a viewer is that there’s a difference on what he intended to show the audience as a photojournalist and what he actually sees or meaning he gets when he looks at the images; in other word, he cannot find a way to demonstrate his real intention on the photos that he took to his audience, not even himself can get the right meaning. In this case, invisible presence and visible absence can be related to the situation. At the beginning of his presentation, he pointed out two important factors that plays an important role in his photojournalist career, he used his parent as the example to describe that the characteristics of his mother, caring and guiding, as invisible presence and the characteristics of his father, strict and stringent, as the visible absence. My understanding is that as a photojournalist he tries his best to work on giving meanings to his works and distributing those meaning to the audience through his works but it turns out that those images tend to give a different meaning to the audiences and this is a visible absence, people can see and understand objects inside the images and have a strong feeling on it but the real meaning are less likely to be observed. On the other hand, as a viewers the memories that his photos remind him are not the objective that he was focusing in his project, but those memories that are not related to the project (little things that he contributed to or discovered during the time) and this is an invisible present, those side memories are not what the images are trying to show but those memories located somewhere inside the images that may have a stronger presence than the real meaning.             My argument is that this type of discrepancy can hardly be resolved or get rid of. The point is that differences between the artist and the audiences are always existed. It will be super hard or even impossible for audiences to have the exact same thoughts as the creator/artist when they look at the his or her art piece unless the artist specifically mentions it on their work. Similar idea to Farhad’s on using his parent to explain the situation, you cannot force your mother to act like your father, vice versa, it is just a balance between life, or in the photo that taken by Farhad. Visible absence and invisible presence need each other existence in order compose a completed, meaningful image or photo, it is just the matter on the way you see and understand it. In my opinion, they are part of the factors that make art fun and frustrating to watch, to discover, and to understand. All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Microform Edition © ProQuest.

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The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and as a viewer is that there’s a difference on what he intended to show the audience as a photojournalist and what he actually sees or meaning he gets when he looks at the images; in other word, he cannot find a way to demonstrate his real intention on the photos that he took to his audience, not even himself can get the right meaning. In this case, invisible presence and visible absence can be related to the situation. At the beginning of his presentation, he pointed out two important factors that plays an important role in his photojournalist career, he used his parent as the example to describe that the characteristics of his mother, caring and guiding, as invisible presence and the characteristics of his father, strict and stringent, as the visible absence. My understanding is that as a photojournalist he tries his best to work on giving meanings to his works and distributing those meaning to the audience through his works but it turns out that those images tend to give a different meaning to the audiences and this is a visible absence, people can see and understand objects inside the images and have a strong feeling on it but the real meaning are less likely to be observed. On the other hand, as a viewers the memories that his photos remind him are not the objective that he was focusing in his project, but those memories that are not related to the project (little things that he contributed to or discovered during the time) and this is an invisible present, those side memories are not what the images are trying to show but those memories located somewhere inside the images that may have a stronger presence than the real meaning. My argument is that this type of discrepancy can hardly be resolved or get rid of. The point is that differences between the artist and the audiences are always existed. It will be super hard or even impossible for audiences to have the exact same thoughts as the creator/artist when they look at the his or her art piece unless the artist specifically mentions it on their work.
Similar idea to Farhad’s on using his parent to explain the situation, you cannot force your mother to act like your father, vice versa, it is just a balance between life, or in the photo that taken by Farhad. Visible absence and invisible presence need each other existence in order compose a completed, meaningful image or photo, it is just the matter on the way you see and understand it. In my opinion, they are part of the factors that make art fun and frustrating to watch, to discover, and to understand. All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 UMI 3536439 Published by ProQuest LLC (2013). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. UMI Number: 3536439
© Copyright William Bartlett Brock 2013 iii Abstract It has become axiomatic within the field of organization development that organizations operate within increasingly dynamic, even volatile, environments and
must improve their ability to consciously and continuously develop, change, and adapt (i.e., implement planned organizational change) in order to survive and thrive. While the need for continual organizational change is axiomatic, the approach for effecting planned organizational change is not. Based on organizational change theory, accounting metrics, and systems theory, this study develops a diagnostic- dialogic organizational change model as a resolution tool for three dilemmas identified within the literature on organizational change: organizational change approaches, a systemic perspective, and measurable change. The diagnostic-dialogic model of organizational change is empirically tested through a retrospective, longitudinal field study with the application of rigorous statistical methods: survival analysis, generalized estimating equations, and logistic regression. Empirically tested within the context of an organizational
customer proposal process, results indicate that a diagnostic-dialogic intervention provides superior results compared with either a laissez-faire approach or a traditional, diagnostic intervention. The diagnostic-dialogic intervention realized greater improvements in process iv completion time, in level of commentary, in degree of systemic commentary, in degree of profitability alignment, and in the likelihood of customer acceptance. v
Dedication To Mary – My wife, my partner for the past 30 years—by any metric, the love of my life! To Mom – What an incredible path of learning you forged for me! vi Acknowledgments I am honored to acknowledge the help of so many in this endeavor called the Ph.D. journey. To Mary, there are just not words enough to express the value of your unwavering support through this process. In spite of a road so deeply marked by the loss of sister and mother along the way, you never hesitated in cheering me to the finish line!
To my exemplary committee—Dr. Ram Tenkasi, Dr. Bill Pasmore, Dr. Dick Woodman, and Dr. Kala Visvanathan—a general acknowledgment is insufficient, so allow me to thank each of you specifically. – your vision, your persistence, and your quiet demand for the highest quality of scholarly research, combined with the highest level of practitioner applicability, made for a truly epic journey. I am proud for this work to represent that journey. Thank you! – your continuing quest for greater context pushed me well beyond my comfort zone. The result is a work immeasurably richer than I would have ever thought possible. Thank you! – you so deftly overcame my objections to adding that final hypothesis. It seemed a great price at the time, but the price pales in significance to the value added to WholeCo and the diagnostic-dialogic paradigm.
Thank you! vii – how patient you were during those many Saturday and Sunday whiteboard sessions. Because of you, I had confidence to delve into the statistics of epidemiology, and OD now boasts a higher level of rigor. Thank you! To Dr. Peter Sorensen, thank you for creating a world-class program and allowing me to be a part of it. I can only hope to emulate your passion for and contribution to the field of OD. To Dr. Ron Fisher, you absolutely amaze me. Your generosity and willingness to help so many along the way continually inspired me.
To our Quigley’s group – you know who you are – I cannot imagine how lonely this journey would have been without you all. So many shared hardships and successes – may our paths cross often. This work would not be possible without the WholeCo organization and in particular its CEO. Though he must remain nameless, his willingness to endure countless hours of coding, debating, and proofreading will never be forgotten. viii Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................... ................ x List of Tables ............................................................................................... ................ xi
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................... .. 1 Background of Study ............................................................................................... . 3 Overview of Chapters ............................................................................................... 4 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................ 6 Dilemma of Organizational Change Approaches ..................................................... 6 Synthesizing Diagnostic and Dialogic Approaches .............................................. 9 Diagnostic-Dialogic Construct............................................................................ 11 A Systemic Perspective.............................................................................. ............. 12 The Dilemma of a Systemic Perspective ............................................................ 13 Accounting Metrics: Promoting a Systemic Perspective within the Diagnostic- Dialogic Framework ...........................................................................................
15 Accounting Metrics as Cybernetic, Double-Loop Systems ................................ 20 Dilemma of Measurable Change ............................................................................ 22 Accounting Metrics as Change Measurement Instruments ................................ 23 Diagnostic-Dialogic Organizational Change Model ............................................... 24 Chapter 3: Methodology ............................................................................................. 26 Methodological Structure................................................................................. ....... 26 Field Study ............................................................................................... ........... 26 Longitudinal Study...................................................................................... ........ 28 Retrospective Study ............................................................................. ............... 29 Research Setting....................................................................................
.................. 29 The Company ............................................................................................... ....... 30 The Situation ............................................................................................... ........ 31 Customer Proposal Process ................................................................................. 32 Interventions ............................................................................................... ........ 37 Research Question ............................................................................................... ... 38 Quasi-Experimental Groups.................................................................................... 39 Laissez-faire ............................................................................................... ......... 39 Traditional ............................................................................................... ............ 39 Diagnostic-Dialogic ............................................................................................ 40
Hypotheses ............................................................................................... ............... 49 Hypothesis 1: Completion Time ......................................................................... 49 Hypothesis 2: Quantity of Commentary ............................................................. 50 Hypothesis 3: Quality of Commentary ............................................................... 51 Hypothesis 4: Profitability Alignment ................................................................ 58 Hypothesis 5: Customer Acceptance .................................................................. 60 Control Variables ............................................................................................... ..... 61 General Control Variables .................................................................................. 61 Specific Control Variables .................................................................................. 62 ix
Data Collection ............................................................................................... ........ 65 Longitudinal Dataset ........................................................................................... 66 Testing Methods.................................................................................. .................... 67 Survival Analysis ............................................................................................... . 67 Generalized Estimating Equations ...................................................................... 69 Logistic Regression ............................................................................................. 72 Summary ............................................................................................... .................. 73 Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Results ......................................................................... 75 Data Verification ............................................................................................... ...... 75 Descriptive Statistics and Correlations
................................................................... 76 Results of Hypotheses Testing ................................................................................ 79 Hypotheses 1a and 1b: Effect on Completion Time ........................................... 79 Hypotheses 2a and 2b: Effect on Quantity of Commentary ............................... 82 Hypotheses 3a and 3b: Effect on Quality of Commentary ................................. 85 Hypothesis 4: Effect on Profitability Alignment ................................................ 87 Hypotheses 5a and 5b: Customer Acceptance .................................................... 89 Summary of Findings .............................................................................................. 91 Chapter 5: Conclusion and Implications ..................................................................... 94 General Findings ............................................................................................... ...... 94 Completion Time ............................................................................................... ..... 95 Quantity of Commentary
........................................................................................ 97 Quality of Commentary ........................................................................................ 100 Profitability Alignment ......................................................................................... 102 Customer Acceptance ........................................................................................... 103 Limitations ............................................................................................... ............. 105 Implications for Future Research .......................................................................... 106 Appendix A: GEE Distributions and Link Functions ............................................... 108 Appendix B: Disposition of Outlier Records ............................................................ 109 References ............................................................................................... .................. 110
x List of Figures Figure 1. Customer Proposal Form ............................................................................. 34 Figure 2. Customer Proposal Approval Form ............................................................. 35 Figure 3. Flow of Customer Proposal Process ............................................................ 36 Figure 4. Longitudinal Timeline ................................................................................. 38 Figure 5. Diagnostic-Dialogic, Accounting Metrics Tool .......................................... 43 Figure 6. Histogram of Completion Time................................................................... 80 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837613 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837615 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837616 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837617
xi List of Tables Table 1. Comparison of Diagnostic and Dialogic Change ........................................... 8 Table 2. Diagnostic-Dialogic Organizational Change Schema .................................. 25 Table 3. Traditional Intervention - Diagnostic Tool ................................................... 41 Table 4: Preliminary Coding Definitions for Quality of Commentary ....................... 55 Table 5: Final Coding Definitions for Quality of Commentary ................................. 56 Table 6. Comment Coding Matrix .............................................................................. 58 Table 7. WholeCo Customer Base .............................................................................. 63 Table 8. WholeCo Product Groups ............................................................................. 63 Table 9: Summary of Operationalized Variables........................................................ 64 Table 10: Stratified Record Set
................................................................................... 66 Table 11. Summary of Hypotheses and Testing Methods .......................................... 74 Table 12. Descriptive Statistics................................................................................. .. 77 Table 13. Correlations for Selected Variables ............................................................ 78 Table 14. AFT Models for Completion Time ............................................................. 81 Table 15. PA-GEE Models for Quantity of Commentary .......................................... 83 Table 16. PA-GEE Models for Quality of Commentary ............................................ 86 Table 17. PA-GEE Models for Profitability Alignment ............................................. 88 Table 18. LR Models for Customer Acceptance ........................................................ 90 Table 19. Results of Hypotheses Testing .................................................................... 92 Table 20. Results of AFT, PA-GEE and LR Testing .................................................. 93 Table 21. Mean Comments per Record by Company ................................................. 99
file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837620 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837621 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837624 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837630 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837631 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837633 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837635 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837638 1 Chapter 1: Introduction It has become axiomatic within the field of organization development (OD) that organizations operate within increasingly dynamic, even volatile, environments and must improve their ability to consciously and continuously develop, change, and adapt (i.e., implement planned organizational change) in order to survive and thrive.
But while the necessity of continual organizational change is axiomatic, the approach for effecting planned organizational change is not. The literature wrestles with the merits of traditional, diagnostic- based change methods versus those of contemporary, dialogic-based change methods. Traditional, diagnostic-based change methods are recognized as those that gather organizational data for “diagnosing” organizational issues using normative models (Bushe & Marshak, 2009; Cummings & Worley, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008); whereas contemporary dialogic-based change methods view data as “generative” rather than diagnostic (Bushe & Marshak, 2008, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008) and the purpose of its collection as a “collective inquiry into the multiple [organizational] ‘realities’ in order to generate new collective understandings and cognitive maps” (Bushe & Marshak, 2008, pp. 10-11). This dichotomy of diagnostic and dialogic approaches results in a dilemma of organizational change approaches.
Whether using a diagnostic or dialogic organizational change approach, OD scholars and practitioners assert the necessity of promoting a systemic perspective within the 2 organization in order to avoid a cycle of unintended consequences (Burke, 2008b; Carucci & Pasmore, 2002; Katz & Kahn, 1978; Mohrman Jr., Mohrman, Ledford Jr, Cummings, & Lawler III, 1989; Mohrman, Mohrman, & Tenkasi, 1996; Senge, 1990; Weisbord, 2004); however, the literature recognizes that achieving a systemic perspective is difficult and uncommon (Ackoff, 2006; Argyris, 1990; Senge, 1990; Sterman, 1994; Tenkasi, Mohrman, & Mohrman, 2007); thus creating a dilemma of systemic perspective. Concurrent with these dilemmas is the challenge for OD to provide measurable
evidence of the impact of organizational change interventions on organizational performance. The need for a measureable link between organizational change and organizational performance is clearly evident, but the response within the literature is inadequate (Burke, 2008a; Pettigrew, Woodman, & Cameron, 2001; Woodman, 1989; Woodman, Bingham, & Yuan, 2008), thus highlighting the dilemma of measureable change. How can OD approach resolution of these dilemmas of organizational change approaches, a systemic perspective, and measurable change? This study proposes resolution through a diagnostic-dialogic model of organizational change drawn from a synthesis of organizational change theory with accounting metrics. It also seeks to provide empirical evidence of the efficacy of this model through a longitudinal field study testing the differential effects of three organizational change approaches:
Laissez-faire (baseline), Traditional (diagnostic), and Diagnostic-Dialogic. 3 Recognizing that organizational accounting metrics have the ability to create a synthesis of diagnostic- and dialogic-based change, to promote a systemic perspective, and to provide a method for rigorous measurement, I argue that the diagnostic-dialogic intervention in this study should accomplish the following: processes and decision making; organization; organizational goals; ood of success with organizational customers. Background of Study
A retrospective, longitudinal field study was conducted from archived records of a customer proposal process for the period from June 2008 through October 2011. The field setting is a group of existing consumer products organizations with more than 50 years’ history, referenced in this study as WholeCo. The elements of the study, as well as several elements of the WholeCo environment, are developed more fully in Chapter 3; but a critical understanding is that the study occurs during a volatile, rapidly changing period for WholeCo. The timeframe from June 2008 through October 2011 is well recognized as a period of domestic and global economic distress, including high unemployment, a depressed U.S. housing market, and bank and business closures. As described in Chapter 3, many of these items directly 4
affected WholeCo and demonstrate that WholeCo operated in a volatile environment, requiring integrated, measurable organizational change. Overview of Chapters Chapter 1 has provided a brief overview of the context of this research study along with its proposal for a diagnostic-dialogic model, founded on accounting metrics to synthesize diagnostic and dialogic organizational change approaches, to provide a systemic perspective, and to provide a means for rigorous change measurement. Chapter 2 establishes a dichotomic schema of organizational change approaches through a brief review of the literature on the diagnostic and dialogic paradigms of organizational change theory. It continues by establishing a new construct of diagnostic-dialogic organizational change and introducing organizational accounting metrics as a whole-system metaphor with the ability to enable diagnostic-dialogic
change in an integrative, and measurable, manner throughout the organizational system. Chapter 3 discusses the research methodology with a focus on the applicability of a retrospective, longitudinal field study, the WholeCo research setting, and the operationalization of quasi-experimental and outcome variables. Rigorous testing methods are chosen and described as accelerated failure time survival analysis, population-averaged generalized estimating equations, and logistic regression in order 5 to test five a priori hypotheses drawn from the literature and the proposed characteristics of the diagnostic-dialogic model. Chapter 4 reviews the data validation and verification process
and presents a summary of descriptive statistics. Each hypothesis is then tested separately. Results are provided in summary tables along with a discussion of statistical significance and a determination of whether the hypothesis is supported, partially supported, or rejected. Chapter 5 concludes the study with general findings and a discussion of the testing results for each hypothesis and the implication of those results. This chapter demonstrates the implications of a combined diagnostic-dialogic organizational change approach, founded on accounting metrics, to integrate both diagnostic- and dialogic- based organizational change, promote a systemic perspective, and provide rigorous change measurement. The chapter ends with a summary of the research limitations along with implications for areas of future research.
6 Chapter 2: Literature Review In this chapter, I examine the three dilemmas revealed in Chapter 1: the dilemma of organizational change approaches, the dilemma of a systemic perspective, and the dilemma of measurable change. This examination proceeds through sections reviewing organizational change literature and systems theory literature, along with a brief discussion of the need for OD interventions to demonstrate measurable results. Each section includes a discussion of how accounting metrics can serve as a resolution to the relevant dilemma. The chapter concludes with the development of a diagnostic-dialogic organizational change model founded on accounting metrics. Dilemma of Organizational Change Approaches The current OD tools for addressing organizational change may be broadly grouped into a diagnostic and dialogic dichotomy (Bushe & Marshak,
2008, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008). Diagnostic change is seen as the traditional approach to organizational change, generally recognized as a process of data gathering to discover the current organizational reality, to diagnose dysfunctional issues, and to develop an intervention for moving organizational reality toward a presupposed norm (e.g., Lewin’s three-step model, classical OD action research, survey feedback, socio- technical system analysis, and SWOT analysis) (Burke, 2008a; Bushe & Marshak, 2009; Cummings & Worley, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008). In contrast, dialogic change is more recently recognized as those change efforts (e.g., appreciative inquiry, world café, future search, and open space) that assert that organizational reality 7
cannot be objectively “discovered” but can be only subjectively understood through personal experience, since organizational reality is not an objective “thing” to be defined but is rather the social construction of the human systems that constitute an organization (Bushe & Marshak, 2008, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008). Here data is gathered from the subjective experiences, assumptions, and beliefs of organizational members in order to create understanding and generate a vision and strategy for reaching a desired organizational future (Bushe & Marshak, 2009). In addition to contrasting purposes for data gathering, diagnostic and dialogic approaches may be contrasted in their roles of dialogue and in their objects of change. Dialogue has historically been included in diagnostic change efforts for the discovery of “misperceptions” held by organizational members that need to be corrected or somehow reintegrated into the organizational reality (Marshak & Grant, 2008). This
dialogue is therefore comparative and diagnostic. Conversely, the dialogue incorporated into dialogic change approaches is discursive, with its intent being the development of conversations and narratives to reveal and generate meaning and create organizational reality (Bushe & Marshak, 2008, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008). These differences in purpose of data gathering and dialogue lead directly into differences in change objects between the two organizational change approaches. 8 Both approaches recognize the systemic aspect of organizations, but diagnostic approaches tend to view organizations as open systems, defined by structure and function, and seek to change people’s behavior in light of the
diagnosis of dysfunctional behavior relative to the defined system (Bushe & Marshak, 2008, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008), whereas dialogic approaches view organizations as human systems, defined only through the meaning making of their participants, and seek to change the mental frameworks that guide people’s thinking as they create the organizational system (Bushe & Marshak, 2008, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008). These contrasts between diagnostic and dialogic organizational change approaches are summarized in Table 1. Table 1. Comparison of Diagnostic and Dialogic Change Characteristic Diagnostic Dialogic Ontology Objectivist Subjectivist Epistemology Positivist Interpretivist View of Organizations Open Systems (Structurally-Functionally
Constructed) Meaning-Making Systems (Socially Constructed) Role of Dialog Comparative & Diagnostic Interactive & Constructivist Change Object Behavior Mental Frameworks Process Gather data, diagnose issues, and prescribe change effort Gather data, interpret data, generate new reality and achievement strategy
9 Synthesizing Diagnostic and Dialogic Approaches While Table 1 indicates that the diagnostic and dialogic approaches to organizational change share little in their characteristics and assumptions, researchers have argued that, rather than being disparate methods, the two approaches may be viewed as elements of a whole approach toward organizational change (Oswick, 2009; Woodman, 2008). The combination, or synthesis, of diagnostic and dialogic methods would allow a more holistic approach to organizational change; and this study argues that such a synthesis can occur through the use of accounting metrics as both diagnostic and dialogic instruments of change to promote outcome efficacy and foster a systemic perspective. Note that accounting metrics are here defined not only as the summarized metrics presented in organizational financial
statements but also as any level of summarized or transactional accounting metrics that represent intra- or interorganizational activity, such as individualized invoice and payment transactions as well as aggregated accounts receivable and accounts payable balance sheet amounts. Accounting Metrics as Diagnostic Instruments The use of accounting metrics as diagnostic instruments is well established in the literature. Accounting metrics are often equated with objective organizational reality (i.e., discovering organizational reality) (Argyris, 1953, 1990), are useful in “accumulating data on actual events and comparing them with planned objectives” (i.e., diagnosing dysfunctions) (Lawrence & Lorsch, 1969, p. 225), and are the foundation of budgetary controls, the pivotal tool of organizational control (i.e., 10
interventions to change behavior toward normative goals) (Argyris, 1952; Lawrence & Lorsch, 1969; Marginson & Ogden, 2005). These aspects of accounting metrics clearly fit within the diagnostic approach, described earlier, as discovering the current organizational reality, diagnosing dysfunctions, and developing interventions to change behavior toward a normative reality. Accounting Metrics as Dialogic Instruments While the aspect of accounting metrics as diagnostic instruments is generally assumed, the literature also clearly recognizes their potential as dialogic instruments. Boland (1993) notes that accounting metrics are symbols that organizational actors use to create both context and meaning and are “a central element in the shaping of organizational reality” (1989, p. 598). Argyris (1990) suggests that accounting metrics can be used to engage, rather than merely describe, the
mental frameworks which create organizational defensive routines. These aspects clearly demonstrate that accounting metrics can fit within the dialogic approach, described earlier, as creating organizational reality through context and meaning, and as developing interventions to change the mental frameworks that guide people’s thinking as they create the organizational system. Accounting Metrics as Diagnostic-Dialogic Instruments The prior sections demonstrate that accounting metrics can be both diagnostic and dialogic instruments, but the literature provides a further path for managing this dichotomic tension through a diagnostic-dialogic synthesis. Simons (1991, 1994) charts a path for this synthesis by recognizing that diagnostic controls can be 11
converted into interactive mechanisms to encourage dialogue and learning in an organization. He posits that the conversion of a diagnostic control into an interactive mechanism can occur through a combination of four steps: 1. ensuring that the control is an important and recurring agenda in discussions, 2. ensuring that the control is a focus of operating managers, 3. management participation in face-to-face meetings, and 4. the continual challenge and debate of data, assumptions and action plans. (Simons, 1994) Creating a diagnostic-dialogic synthesis by capturing the dual capabilities of accounting metrics through this conversion path allows for a resolution to the dilemma of organizational change approaches by providing diagnostic, comparative abilities relative to a normative performance factor while simultaneously allowing dialogic, interactive conversion of that normative performance factor and of the
organizational change process itself. Diagnostic-Dialogic Construct Based on the key elements of accounting metrics as both diagnostic and dialogic change instruments in combination with Simons’ (1994) interactive conversion steps, I define the construct of a diagnostic-dialogic organizational change process, for the purpose of this research study, as follows: An organizational change process, framed by organizational accounting metrics, which retains its diagnostic, comparative abilities relative to a normative performance factor while allowing interactive conversion of that normative 12 performance factor, and of the organizational change process, through a dialogic process by:
ing that the factor and process are an important part of continuing discussions, operating managers, -to-face meetings related to the factor and process, and and action plans related to the factor and to the process. Having now defined the diagnostic-dialogic organizational change construct for this research study, and recognizing that both the diagnostic and dialogic paradigms of organizational change incorporate a systemic perspective, the following sections provide theoretical support for the diagnostic-dialogic model as a tool to foster a systemic perspective. A Systemic Perspective One of the recognized similarities between diagnostic and dialogic change approaches
is their focus on organizational systems. Bushe and Marshak (2009) note that at least three common themes can be identified in both approaches: self- awareness, behavior, and actualization of organizational systems. One can paraphrase their argument for these three themes: 1. Self-awareness indicates that the more developed a system is, the greater awareness it has of itself, and the greater ability organizational members have to talk with one another about their perceptions of the organization. 13 2. Behavior becomes increasingly more goal-directed and rational versus emotional and reactive the more developed a system becomes. 3. More developed systems have greater capacity to actualize their potentials and greater capacity to achieve their purposes within their
environments. These systemic elements of greater discussion, goal-directed behavior, and actualized potentials and purposes are each evident in the diagnostic- dialogic construct. The Dilemma of a Systemic Perspective The literature has long recognized that organizations are complex systems comprising differentiated, yet interdependent, subsystems that must systematically integrate in order successfully operate in changing environments, where uncertainty and ambiguity tend to increase (Burke, 2008b; Katz & Kahn, 1978; Lawrence & Lorsch, 1969; Mohrman, et al., 1996; Senge, 1990; Weisbord, 2004). Indeed, this understanding is a foundational element of a systemic or “whole-systems” approach toward organizational change (Ackoff, 1994; von Bertalanffy, 1972), which recognizes that, lacking a systems view, management makes decisions provoking unforeseen reactions, thus creating future problems as the result
of today’s solutions (Senge, 1990; Sterman, 2002; Zexian & Xuhui, 2010). But while the need for systemic organizational change is well recognized, it is not as frequently applied. Ackoff, a prominent systems theorist, argues: “Very few 14 managers have any knowledge or understanding of systems thinking, and for good reason. Very little of our literature and lectures are addressed to potential users” (2006, p. 705). The literature also recognizes that managers are frequently not able to apply academic knowledge that is presented since it is presented without contextual relevance to their organizational systems (Tenkasi, et al., 2007). In addition to the lack of practical and contextual approaches, Sterman calls attention
to several problems in learning and comprehending systems concepts. The robustness of the misperceptions of feedback and the poor performance they lead us to create across many domains result from two basic and related deficiencies in our mental models of complexity. First, our cognitive maps of the causal structure of systems are vastly simplified compared to the complexity of the systems themselves. Second, we are unable to infer correctly the dynamics of all but the simplest causal maps. Both are direct consequences of bounded rationality (Simon 1979; 1982); that is, the many limitations of attention, memory, recall, information processing, and time that constrain human decision making. (Sterman, 1994, p. 307) Similarly, Gharajedaghi (2007) has noted a general difficulty in visualizing behavior among interdependent variables and the effects of nonlinear feedback loops arising from cognitive ability formed around independent variables and
closed loop linearity. And this difficulty is not restricted to the untrained organizational member: even graduate-level students in elite schools have been found to have poor understanding of basic systems thinking concepts (Sweeney & Sterman, 2000; Zulauf, 2007), as a 15 result of the imperceptibility, complexity, and counterintuitive nature of intercausal relationships (Hung, 2008). The literature’s clear recognition of both the need for a systemic perspective in organizational change and the difficulty of achieving it reveal the dilemma of a systemic perspective. This study argues that when accounting metrics are embedded in a diagnostic-dialogic framework, they can aid in resolving the dilemma of a
systemic perspective by metaphorically revealing organizational systems and enabling organizational members’ cognition and sense-making activities within the context of a cybernetic, double-loop system. Accounting Metrics: Promoting a Systemic Perspective within the Diagnostic-Dialogic Framework 1 If you are a member of an organization and you’ve never considered yourself to be a part of a subsystem which in turn is part of a larger system which has a myriad of additional subsystems, then you’ve never been involved in a budget meeting. (Burke, 1980, p. 209) Having served in financial leadership roles for a number of years, personal experience leads me to agree wholeheartedly with Burke’s implication that organizational budgeting and accounting metric processes are among the most
revealing processes 1 Note: Portions from “Synthesizing a Systems Perspective and Organizational Change: Principles of a Whole-Systems Metrics Model,” by W. Brock, OD Journal, 30, (3), 17-28, 2012. Copyright 2012 by The International Society of Organizational Development. Reprinted with permission. 16 for seeing organizational systems. While not exhibiting the full complexity of systems dynamics or elaborated causal-loop diagrams, organizational accounting metrics (particularly those of integrated financial models) are the closest experience that many managers have had with a systemic perspective. But the apparent simplicity of
these metrics must not dissuade one from considering their application in understanding the whole system, since research has shown that abstract, simplistic concepts have great power to create and manage complex systems (Wolfram, 2002). Organizations are replete with accounting metrics; but while this research study limits discussion to customary accounting based metrics, personal experience shows that sufficiently abstracted or translated nonfinancial metrics can be converted into financial metrics that are readily linked to the organizational level. Clearly, a financial, or accounting, metrics viewpoint of organizational reality is prevalent in contemporary society. Its presence is ubiquitous in the quarterly and annual reports of any publicly traded firm; constitutes a major component of communications with investors in earnings calls, shareholder meetings, and analyst conferences; and is referenced in news reports of national, state, or local budgetary
crises. It exists in codification of both its principles, many of which are captured officially as local country GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and through regulating mechanisms (e.g., chartered and certified public accountant licensure, audited financial statements, and Sarbanes-Oxley testing). Both causal to 17 and resulting from its prevalence in society, the financial or accounting metrics viewpoint is generally equated with an objective view of the organization (Morgan, 1988). Its foundational process of budgeting is recognized as the pivotal organizational control tool (Argyris, 1952; Lawrence & Lorsch, 1969; Marginson & Ogden, 2005), and it is regarded as a critical element in transforming organizational strategy into reality (Melnyk, Stewart, & Swink, 2004).
In spite of this general acceptance, however, (Morgan, 1988) has posited that the view provided by accounting metrics is not the objective view of reality but is instead a lens for understanding the whole systems of organizations through numerical metaphor. As discussed in the section on accounting metrics as dialogic instruments, the OD literature recognizes that accounting metrics are symbols that organizational actors use to create both context and meaning. (Boland, 1993) and (1989) calls them “a central element in the shaping of organizational reality” (p. 598) and (Argyris, 1990) says that they may be used to engage, rather than merely describe, mental frameworks. But support for this concept of accounting metrics as abstract and metaphorical is not limited to the OD literature. Measurement theory provides that metrics, such as accounting metrics, are an abstraction of the attributes of
tangible and intangible things, but they are not the attributes themselves (Woodman, 1989). Enumerology 18 theory lends support by theorizing that these metrics are not objective and specific but, instead, are subjective and holistic representations of phenomena. With its focal concern around the social processes by which numbers are constructed and used for everyday purposes (Bogdan & Ksander, 1980; Gephart, 2006), enumerology theory, as indicated by Bogdan & Ksander (1980), Carlon, Downs, & Wert-Gray (2006), and Gephart (2006), posits that re not objective but are the result of attitudes toward those phenomena; metrics can make
the amorphous appear concrete; metrics are “signs” that represent value but lack the attributes they represent; environment; and concreteness of metrics. Far from the popular perception of metrics as objective and specific, the literature recognizes that accounting metrics are a subjective and holistic representation of phenomena. They are: organizational nature (Swieringa & Weick, 1981); 19
numerical view of reality” (Morgan, 1988, p. 480); and members’ cognition and sensemaking activities (Boland, 1981; Napier, 2006; Tenkasi & Boland, 1993). Based on this theoretical support, we might stop here, satisfied that accounting metrics indeed serve as metaphorical representation of organizational systems. But as a lifelong musician, I would be remiss if I failed to consider a final support for this argument: the jazz metaphor. A jazz metaphor of organizational change has been used in the literature to demonstrate that the flexibility required to execute whole- system, integrated change within the interdependent, complex systems of organizations is like jazz improvisation techniques (Barrett & Peplowski, 1998; Hatch & Cunliffe, 2006;
Pasmore, 1998). But while a jazz metaphor calls to mind flexibility, one of its counterintuitive features is that what appears fully flexible is actually a structured form supporting maximum flexibility while always allowing participants to understand the current harmonic reality (i.e., the whole system) of the song in play (Barrett & Peplowski, 1998; Pasmore, 1998). 20 An even more fundamental observation of the jazz metaphor reveals that its structural form is based on metrics. Indeed many, if not most, of its practitioners refer to song progressions as a series of metrics, such as the II, V, I chord progression of many popular songs (Barrett & Peplowski, 1998). It is easy to understand why. Even jazz
music relies on a structure of defined measure, beats, and rhythms; and its complex structure with multiple iterations of named chord patterns in various keys can be simplified into just a few holistic metric representations. When we consider that metrics are the underlying, holistic representation of even one of the most improvisational music forms, we have further theoretical support for using an accounting metrics-based metaphor to view complex, organizational whole systems. Accounting Metrics as Cybernetic, Double-Loop Systems As described above, organizational accounting metrics are possibly the most relevant lens for organizational members, as well as being extremely revealing lenses based on their metaphorical and symbolic representation of the whole organizational system and of members’ cognition and sensemaking activities (Argyris, 1990; Boland Jr, 1989; Boland, 1981, 1993; Morgan, 1988; Napier, 2006; Tenkasi & Boland, 1993). However, organizational accounting metrics can go further than
metaphorical and symbolic representation. When embedded in a diagnostic- dialogic approach as described in earlier sections, accounting metrics can serve as the foundation of cybernetic, or double-loop, systems. 21 Cybernetics is generally ascribed as originating from Norbert Wiener’s work in the 1940s (Churchman & Ackoff, 1950; Jackson, 2006; Wolfram, 2002) and can be thought of as systems control through communication (Ackoff, 1974; Churchman & Ackoff, 1950). It focuses primarily on the structure, adaptation, and learning of organizations in order to maintain stability when confronted by exogenous disturbances (Schwaninger, 2001, 2006) and is based on “active learning and control
rather than the passive adaptability” of open systems (Flood & Jackson, 1991, p. 10). This distinction relates to the ability of a cybernetic system to exhibit double-loop feedback (Montuori, 2000), thus allowing the cybernetic system not simply to adjust to a variation of inputs in order to continue toward a preset goal but also to determine whether the preset goal is still appropriate in light of internal and external feedback (Montuori, 2000; Senge, 1990). This cybernetic process underlies the concept of learning organizations. Within OD literature, cybernetic systems are probably best represented through the double-loop learning model. This model extends the concept of single-loop feedback and correction (i.e., diagnostic processes) to double-loop feedback and learning, which do not merely make corrections to reach an existing normative goal but go further to question whether a normative goal is still appropriate or relevant and to
provide organizational members the ability to contextually determine appropriate goals and strategies (i.e., dialogic processes) (Argyris, 1976, 1977; Morgan, 1982), 22 with an understanding that individual elements may need to operate at suboptimal levels (Pasmore & Khalsa, 1993). Using accounting metrics in a synthesized diagnostic-dialogic approach, as described in the section on organizational change approaches, creates a cybernetic, double-loop system. The diagnostic element of the synthesized approach provides the traditional, and necessary, negative feedback role associated with single- loop learning, thus enabling the equifinality aspect of systems thinking (i.e., different paths to reach the same goal) (Hammond, 1997; Montuori, 2000). The dialogic
element of the synthesized approach provides an interactive and inclusionary role with a focus on dialogue and inquiry thus supporting Argyris’s double-loop learning process associated with organizational learning (Argyris, 1976, 1977; Henri, 2006) and thereby enabling the equipotentiality aspect of systems thinking (i.e., changing, differentiating to establish systemic congruency) (Hammond, 1997). By utilizing an accounting metrics lens that is readily available and understandable to organizational members to enable application of a systemic perspective through the potential of accounting metrics within a diagnostic-dialogic framework, the diagnostic-dialogic approach provides a resolution to the dilemma of a systemic perspective. Dilemma of Measurable Change The OD literature describes organizational change as the empirical observance of variation in an organizational entity’s form, quality, or state over time (Ford & Ford,
23 1995; van de Ven & Poole, 1995; Weisbord, 2004). But how is empirical observance measured? This question lies at the root of OD’s continual challenge to provide measurable evidence of the impact of organizational change interventions on performance (Pettigrew, Woodman, & Cameron, 2001; Woodman, 1989), and the dilemma of providing this evidence is that change is messy, outcomes are difficult to measure, and participants often do not see necessity of rigorous evaluation (Melnyk, Hanson, & Calantone, 2010; Woodman, et al., 2008). This study argues that accounting metrics, within a diagnostic-dialogic framework, can also aid in resolving the dilemma of measurable change by serving as change measurement instruments for both diagnostic- and dialogic-based organizational change.
Accounting Metrics as Change Measurement Instruments The measurement mechanism of accounting metrics is actually incorporated within the previous sections on accounting metrics as diagnostic- dialogic change instruments, as metaphorical representation of organizational systems, and as cybernetic double-loop systems. A quick summary of elements from these arguments supports the use of accounting metrics as change measurement instruments based on their characteristics of being (Argyris, 1952; Lawrence & Lorsch, 1969; Marginson & Ogden, 2005); 2008a); with an objective view of the organization (Morgan, 1988); 24
(Boland, 1989, p. 598); and system and members’ cognition and sensemaking activities (Argyris, 1990; Boland Jr, 1989; Boland, 1981, 1993; Morgan, 1988; Napier, 2006; Tenkasi & Boland, 1993). Through these characteristics, accounting metrics, within a diagnostic-dialogic framework, provide a resolution tool for the dilemma of measurable change by serving as a control tool to deal with “messiness” (i.e., pivotal organizational control tool), an accepted measurement mechanism (i.e., indicative of organization performance, equated with objective view), and an aid in rigorous evaluation through cognition and sensemaking activities (i.e., metaphoric symbols, shaping organizational reality).
Diagnostic-Dialogic Organizational Change Model Table 2 demonstrates how the diagnostic-dialogic organizational change model, founded on accounting metrics, functions to resolve the dilemmas of organizational change approaches, a systemic perspective, and measurable change by: dialogic organizational change, conceptualize the system, and change. 25 T a b
le 2 . D ia g n o st ic -D ia lo g ic O r g a n iz a ti o n a
l C h a n g e S c h e m a S y n th e s is m e c h a
n is m s D ia g n o s ti c D ia lo g ic O rg a n iz a ti
o n a l C h a n g e S y s te m ic P e rs p e c ti v e M
e a s u ra b le c h a n g e D is c o ve ri n g o rg a n
iz a tio na l re a lit y E n su ri n g t h a t th e n o rm a tiv
e a c c o un tin g m e tr ic a n d p ro ce ss a re a n i m
p o rt a n t an d re c u rr in g a g e n d a in d is c u ss
io ns D ia g n o si n g d ys fu n c tio ns & C h a n g in g
b eh a v io r to w a rd n o rm a tiv e g o al s E n su ri
n g t h a t th e n o rm a tiv e a c c o un tin g m e tr ic a
n d p ro ce ss a re a f o cu s o f o p er a tin g m a n a
g e rs S h a p in g o rg a n iz a tio na l re a lit y E n su
ri n g a c tiv e p ar tic ip at io n in m e e tin g s re la te d
t o t h e a c c o un tin g m e tr ic a n d p ro ce ss C re
a tin g c o nt e x t a n d m e a n in g & E n g a g in g
m e n ta l fr a m e w o rk s E n c o ur a g in g t h e c
h a lle n g e a n d d eb at e o f d at a , as su m p tio ns
a n d a c tio n p la n s re la te d t o t h e a c c o un tin
g m e tr ic a n d p ro ce ss (S im o ns 1 9 9 1 , 1 9 9
4 ) C h a ra c te ri s ti c s o f A c c o u n ti n g M e tr
ic s in a n O rg a n iz a ti o n a l C h a n g e P
ro c e s s D ia g n o s ti c -D ia lo g ic O rg a n iz a ti o
n a l C h a n g e M o d e l: F o u n d e d o n A c c o
u n ti n g M e tr ic s D ia g n o st ic p ro ce ss e s w ith
c o m p ar is o n to n o rm a tiv e p er fo rm a n c e
f a c to r. B e h a v io ra l fo cu s D ia lo gi c p ro ce ss e
s w ith c o nv e rs io n an d d ev e lo p m e n t o f p
er fo rm a n c e f a c to r. In te ra c tiv e f o cu s C y b er n
e tic , le a rn in g s y st e m . D o ub le -l o o p s e
rv e s in te ra c tiv e a n d in c lu si o na ry r o le &
e q ui p o te n tia lit y M e ta p ho ri c a l, s y m b o lic
re p re se n ta tio n o f o rg a n iz a tio na l sy st e m . S
in g le -l o o p s e rv e s n e g a tiv e f e e d b ac k r
o le & e q ui fin a lit y R ig o ro us e v a lu a tio n th
ro ug h c o gn iti o n an d se n se m a k in g a c tiv iti e s
C o nt ro l t o o l t o d ea l w ith "m e ss in e ss ." A c c
e p te d m e a su re m e n t m e c h a n is m 26 Chapter 3: Methodology The diagnostic-dialogic organizational change model developed
in Chapter 2 was proposed as a conceptual model for organizational change based on a synthesis of the characteristics of accounting metrics as tional systems and members’ cognition and sense-making activities, -loop) systems, and But it remains for this conceptual model to be empirically tested with regard to its effectiveness as a causal agent of organizational change. The following sections provide the methodological structure and basis for empirically testing this model in an organizational setting. Methodological Structure The methodology chosen for this study is a single-case, retrospective, longitudinal field study. Each element of this methodological structure (i.e., field study, single-
case, longitudinal, and retrospective) is both elaborated and discussed for appropriateness in the following paragraphs. Field Study A field study is a nonexperimental scientific inquiry occurring in a real organizational setting rather than in a laboratory setting. As a field research method, it serves as a powerful research approach within behavioral science (Kerlinger & Lee, 2000). Snow 27 and Thomas (1994) state that “field research methods can, perhaps more than any other method, realistically examine strategic processes and outcomes – that is, they provide mechanisms for observing strategists and organizations in their natural settings” (pp. 457-458). As a research approach, field studies are noted as comprising
five characteristics: 1. They occur ex post facto with no independent variables manipulated by the researcher. 2. They occur in intact, naturally occurring systems. 3. Their variables are systematically measured. 4. The researcher attempts to minimize intrusion. 5. Their focus is exploration, description, or hypotheses testing. (Stone, 1978) This study is appropriately conducted as a field study because it meets the five criteria denoted. It is conducted after the occurrence period, it occurs within an existing organization, variables are operationalized and measured systematically, intrusion is minimized by limiting the research data to archival records, and the focus is to test hypotheses developed from the diagnostic-dialogic theoretical model. Using a single case to conduct the study is also valid because the study fits one of five scenarios
described by Yin (2003) in which a single case is appropriate. Specifically, it is a 28 longitudinal study in which the researcher can study the same case at multiple points of time. Longitudinal Study Longitudinal studies can be used to provide valid measurements of development over time for explanatory or descriptive purposes (Schaie & Hertzog, 1982). In longitudinal studies, time actually sets a frame of reference, providing context for the changes seen and how those changes are explained. It is a method used “to capture reality in flight” (Pettigrew, 1990, p. 270). The ideal goal of longitudinal research, as with many research methods, is to provide clear and unambiguous answers to research questions through
the benefit of a view of complex and dynamic changes over time (Collins, 2006; Featherman, 1980). This ideal is most closely met when the longitudinal research seamlessly integrates three characteristics: 1. It is based on a well-articulated theoretical change model. 2. Its temporal design provides a clear and detailed view of the research process. 3. The resulting data is statistically analyzed through a model that operationalizes the theoretical model. (Collins, 2006) 29 This study fits the longitudinal research ideal since -dialogic
organizational change model developed from the literature review provided in Chapter 2, section, and operationalized version of the theoretical model and is statistically analyzed. Retrospective Study While sometimes opportunistically chosen, retrospective longitudinal data is actually an advantageous resource for research data. One of its benefits is its provision of simultaneous, replicative measurements, which improves measurement consistency and equivalency (Featherman, 1980). Retrospective data also provides a viable manner for conducting longitudinal studies since it provides a view of complex and dynamic changes over time, while reducing one of the primary drawbacks to longitudinal research, namely, the time span and cost required to do the study (Featherman, 1980). Although one weakness typically identified
with retrospective studies is the unreliability of memory recall (Featherman, 1980), this study avoids that weakness because its design relies completely on written, archival data. Research Setting The following sections provide a contextual setting for this research study by briefly describing the WholeCo organization, as well as the customer proposal process and the process interventions that serve as the focus of this research study. 30 The Company The research setting is a group of consumer products organizations with more than 50 years of history, referenced in this study as WholeCo. WholeCo comprises two consumer products companies with multiple categories and operating under the
umbrella of one management group. WholeCo operates as a wholesaler to home hardware centers, mass merchants, wholesale clubs, and the electrical contractor market. Product breadth ranges from textile and hardware products with low consumer brand recognition and relatively high volatility in the exogenous environment (CommodityCo) to specialty electronics products with high consumer brand recognition and relatively low volatility in the exogenous environment (SpecialtyCo). Although WholeCo enjoys a substantial market position within almost all its product lines, some of its categories compete as commodities against many domestic providers and direct foreign importers, while other categories benefit from high brand recognition and have few direct competitors. WholeCo is a U.S.-based company but operates as a global sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution company with sourcing activities throughout the Americas, Europe,
and Asia; manufacturing operations in the Americas and Asia; and distribution occurring either directly or through distributors in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. WholeCo seeks to maintain a competitive cost position, but it does not strategically operate as a low-cost provider since much of the company’s market and competitive positioning are believed to result from its long history in its product categories, its 31 substantial breadth of product line, its supply-chain flexibility, and its long relationships within its customer channels. The Situation The time period in this longitudinal study occurs during a volatile, rapidly changing environment. Retrospective, longitudinal data is drawn from June 2008 through
October 2011, a well-recognized period of domestic and global economic distress including high unemployment, a depressed U.S. housing market, and bank and business closures. Many of these items affected WholeCo, since performance of its key product categories is directly tied both to retailer performance and to housing starts. Market volatility was high and predictability low for WholeCo during this period as retailers increased the frequency of product line reviews in an effort to both lower their own cost structures and improve their cash flow positions. Simultaneously, product and component suppliers increased their selling prices to help offset rising production costs, and lenders tightened credit policies, which forced several of WholeCo’s long-time customers to file bankruptcy, thus confronting WholeCo with both loss in receivables and loss in continuing revenue stream. In summary, during the study period, WholeCo operated as a complex and dynamic
entity in a volatile environment that required organizational change to be frequent, rapid, and coordinated throughout the whole-system of WholeCo. The following section describes a particular process, the customer proposal process, used by WholeCo to coordinate organizational change. 32 Customer Proposal Process As is common with the wholesaler-retailer relationship in the consumer products industry, frequent customer proposals are submitted by WholeCo to its retail customers. These proposals are often initiated by retailer line reviews, which typically resemble an auction process as the retailer bids out a particular category to the incumbent wholesaler and its competitors in order to obtain price concessions and improve its product portfolio. WholeCo may also initiate
customer proposals as it develops new products, enters new categories, or attempts to change pricing in order to compensate for cost changes or to potentially delay retailer line reviews through price reductions. WholeCo has long used a cross-functional process for developing and approving customer proposals because of their critical importance to its revenue and profit. It is essential for the continued relationship with its customers that WholeCo makes only proposals that it can fully support from a product, delivery, and financial standpoint. WholeCo seeks to ensure this support through cross-functional alignment before it submits proposals to its retail customers. In order to establish cross-functional alignment, customer proposals are initiated by the WholeCo Marketing department, either in response to a customer request or as a proactive push for new product placement or pricing, by
compiling information (see Figure 1) including product mix and estimated volumes, customer programs, product 33 costs, estimates of retail sales price and retailer margin, and aggregated sales and profit impact for WholeCo. Once initiated by the Marketing department, customer proposals flow through each functional department (Operations, Finance, and various Sales channels) for review, commentary, and approval or rejection (see Figure 2). Customer proposals might be modified anywhere along the process but generally require unanimous approval before submission to the CFO and CEO for final approval. A flowchart of the process is presented in Figure 3.
The WholeCo customer proposal process is presented in this study as an example of a whole-system process since it serves as a critical component of external and internal systems boundaries between the organization, its customers, its suppliers, and its parent organization. It involves essentially all functions of the organization (either directly or through representation), it provides feedback both to and from the system and its exogenous and endogenous environments, and the WholeCo metrics it represents (e.g. sales, margins, and profitability) define WholeCo’s raison d’être relative to its parent company. 34
B u s in e s s U n it C u
s to m e r N a m e C o o p C a s h D is c o u n t 0 .0 0
% T y p e o f P ro p o s a l V o lu m e R e b a te P a
y m e n t T e rm s L in e R e vi e w , P ro m o , N e
w P ro d u c t, N e w C u s to m e r O th e r A ll o w a n
c e s C o m m is s io n % 0 .0 0 % P ro d u c t O th e
r G ro s s S a le s & E s ti m a te d E s ti m a te d It
e m & D e s c ri p ti o n Q u a n ti ty P ri c e C o
s t C o s ts M a rg in A d m in P ro fi t R e ta il M a
rg in P ro d u c t # 1 - D e s c ri p ti o n X P ro d u c t
# 2 - D e s c ri p ti o n X P ro d u c t # 3 - D e s c ri p
ti o n X T o ta l P a c k a g e O ff e ri n g X N e t S a
le s $ 0 .0 P ro d u c t C o s t $ 0 .0 O th e r C o s t o
f S a le s $ 0 .0 G ro s s M a rg in $ 0 .0 S a le s a n d
A d m in is tr a ti v e C o s ts $ 0 .0 P ro fi ta b il it y
$ 0 .0 T o ta l V a lu e o f P ro p o s a l P R O P
O S A L F O R M C u s to m e r P ro g ra m s 0 .0
0 % 0 .0 0 % 0 .0 0 % C u s to m e r W h o le C o F
ig u r e 1 . C u st o m e r P r o p o sa l F o r m
35 Figure 2. Customer Proposal Approval Form Originator: Date: Project Title: Number:
Project Description: Product Category: New Model Number: Expected Launch/Ship Date: Approval / Signatures Yes No Comments: Originator(s) (Trade Mktg Mgr & Sales) Date Comments: Marketing Manager--Trade Date Comments: VP Marketing Manager - Retail Date Comments: VP Marketing Manager - Contractor Date Comments: VP Sales Date Comments: VP Sales Date
Comments: Director of Finance Date Comments: VP Finance and Operations Date Comments: Director of Supply Chain Date Comments: CFO Date Comments: CEO Date APPROVAL APPROVAL FORM 36
S a le s 1 C o m m e n ta ry & A p p ro v a l / R
e je ct io n S a le s 2 C o m m e n ta ry & A p p ro
v a l / R e je ct io n C F O /C O O C o m m e n ta ry
& A p p ro v a l / R e je ct io n M a rk e ti n g D
e p a rt m e n t S u b m it s C u st o m e r P ro p
o sa l fo r F u n ct io n a l A p p ro v a ls S a le
s 3 C o m m e n ta ry & A p p ro v a l / R e je ct
io n U n a n im o u s C o n se n t to P ro ce e d ?
Y e s A p p ro v a l? Y e s N o ti fi ca ti o n o f
A p p ro v a l to F u n ct io n a l H e a d s O p
e ra ti o n s C o m m e n ta ry & A p p ro v a l /
R e je ct io n N o C E O C o m m e n ta ry & A p p ro
v a l / R e je ct io n N o F in a n ce C o m m e n ta
ry & A p p ro v a l / R e je ct io n C E O & C F O
m e e t w it h M a rk e ti n g /S a le s Y e s A
p p ro v a l? N o N o ti fi ca ti o n o f R e je ct io n
t o F u n ct io n a l H e a d s F ig u r e 3 . F
lo w o f C u st o m e r P r o p o sa l P r o c e ss
37 Interventions Because of the critical role of the WholeCo customer proposal process in generating and managing organizational revenue, margins, and profitability, WholeCo management initiated two distinct and successive interventions during the longitudinal period covered by this study, in efforts to improve the efficacy of the customer proposal process by quotation responses to customers, so that decisions were more relevant to the current environments of both WholeCo and its customers, and maintain alignment of each proposal with the greater system goals.
The successive timing of these two management interventions provides three distinct time segments within the longitudinal period that serve for hypotheses testing as quasi-experimental groups (see Figure 4): -faire group – experiencing no intervention itional group – experiencing a diagnostic-based intervention, and -Dialogic group – experiencing a diagnostic- dialogic-based intervention. 38 The following sections frame the research question,
operationalize the three quasi- experimental groups, operationalize five outcome variables, and develop hypotheses to respond to the research question and to test the effect of the quasi-experimental groups on the outcome variables. Research Question Based on the three quasi-experimental groups (Laissez-faire, Traditional, and Diagnostic-Dialogic), the research question is: In the context of the WholeCo customer proposal process, how do the effects of a Diagnostic-Dialogic intervention contrast with those of a Traditional (diagnostic) intervention and those of a Laissez-faire approach? The research question refers specifically to the following: the quality of commentary incorporated into the process, Figure 4. Longitudinal Timeline
Diagnostic-Dialogic From: June 10, 2008 March 3, 2010 March 3, 2011 To: February 26, 2010 February 28, 2011 October 25, 2011 Laissez-Faire Traditional 39 proposal profitability metrics, and Quasi-Experimental Groups The following sections describe the organizational changes initiated by the two management interventions that operationalize the three quasi- experimental groups. Laissez-faire The Laissez-faire group of customer proposals may be characterized as opportunistic or reactive proposals since they were generally initiated in
response either to a general growth goal or to a retailer special request. While the process flow and approval forms were consistent with the description provided earlier, each proposal tended to stand alone and was evaluated on somewhat ambiguous standards. WholeCo set total business objectives during this period, but it did not typically establish aligned and specific profit objectives by customer and product categories. This practice essentially made general revenue growth and average profit rates the primary benchmarks. Both the WholeCo CEO and CFO were heavily involved in most customer proposals during this period, since each proposal was unique and was often evaluated against overall strategic plans and management intuition. Traditional As WholeCo experienced growth, WholeCo management realized that the Laissez- faire customer proposal process was becoming too burdensome to maintain, since it
40 required the CEO and CFO to allocate greater amounts of time evaluating an increasing number of customer proposals. This realization led to a management intervention in March 2010 designed to provide WholeCo functional areas with a budgetary framework for proposal evaluation, as is characteristic of a traditional, diagnostic-based process, by requiring that all customer proposals include a diagnostic review form (see Table 3). With this intervention, WholeCo management hoped to influence functional behavior by reducing ambiguity relative to business objectives (i.e., financial goals), enabling comparison with a known performance standard, constructing a comparative framework for dialogue, and encouraging functional areas to prescribe changes to meet normative
standards. These goals are each consistent with diagnostic organizational change approaches that are characterized by comparative and diagnostic dialogue and by a focus on gathering data in order to diagnose problems, prescribe change, and influence behavior. Diagnostic-Dialogic WholeCo management initiated another organizational change to the customer proposal process in March 2011 in response to concerns that too many proposals were becoming stuck in a “churning” mode as the Marketing department wrestled with incompatible WholeCo and retailer goals for product pricing, delivery timing, or other objectives. Management realized that the Marketing department (proposal initiating department) often dealt with these dilemmas by repeated shuffling of potential product offerings and by procrastination in proposal routing.
41 Direct appeals by the Marketing department to the CEO, prior to routing customer proposals, also became more commonplace as a result of concerns that the Finance department or the CFO would reject the customer proposal because of its inability to meet targeted WholeCo profit goals as defined by the diagnostic process Table 3. Traditional Intervention - Diagnostic Tool
Better Packaged (Worse) Proposal Plan vs. Plan Gross Sales $230 $185 $45 Customer Allowances 30 10 (20) Net S ales 200 175 25 Product Costs 150 140 (10) Product Margin 50 35 15 % of Net Sales 25.0% 20.0% 5.0% Other Cost of Sales 25 10 (15) Gross Margin 25 25 0 % of Net Sales 12.5% 14.3% -1.8% Sales & Admin Costs 5 3 (2) Profitability $20 $22 ($2) % of Net Sales 10.0% 12.6% -2.6% DIAGNOS TIC COMPARIS ON 1 1 Numbers are demonstrative and are not drawn from any sp ecific WholeCo p rop osal in
order to maintain confidentiality 42 used in the Traditional segment. In these cases, the CEO and CFO generally met to personally structure creative proposals that would provide a competitive offering to the retailer and provide WholeCo with a sustainable revenue and profit stream. These restructured proposals often required contemplation of factors outside the normal diagnostic process to alter the perception of either WholeCo or retailer goals in order to create a previously unrecognized alternative. With this second intervention, WholeCo management intended to their interrelationships for deeper dialogue;
through a systemic lens and multiple frameworks; and WholeCo environment continued to dynamically change in relation to suppliers, retailers, its parent company, and the overall marketplace. Management intervened in the customer proposal process by requiring all proposals to include a diagnostic-dialogic, accounting metrics review (see Figure 5) to encourage organizational change, a systemic perspective, and rigorous measurement. 43
F ig u r e 5 . D ia g n o st ic
-D ia lo g ic , A c c o u n ti n g M e tr ic s T o o l S a
le s & G ro ss A d m in S a le s M a rg in % E x p e
n se s % P ro fi t % B u d g e te d W h o le C o G o
a l $ 2 ,3 5 0 $ 4 7 5 2 0 .2 % $ 2 4 0 1 0 .2 % $
2 3 5 1 0 .0 % P re -s u p p o se d , n o rm a ti v e
o b je ct iv e D ia g n o st ic E le m e n ts S in g le -l
o o p d ia g n o st ic p ro ce ss : C h a n g e i n
c u st o m e r fo re ca st s ($ 5 0 0 ) ($ 7 5 ) 1 5 .0
% ($ 7 5 ) 1 5 .0 % s R e co g n it io n o f e n v ir
o n m e n ta l ch a n g e s C h a n g e i n c u st
o m e r re b a te s $ 5 $ 5 $ 5 fr o m e x te rn a l
cu st o m e r & s u p p li e r sy st e m s S u p p li
e r p ri ce n e g o ti a ti o n s $ 2 0 $ 2 0 s C o
rr e ct iv e m e a su re t o p u ll r e su lt s b a ck S
u b -t o ta l ($ 4 9 5 ) ($ 5 0 ) 1 0 .1 % ($ 5 0 ) 1
0 .1 % to w a rd n o rm a ti v e o b je ct iv e D ia g n
o st ic -D ia lo g ic E le m e n ts D o u b le -l o o p d
ia g n o st ic -d ia lo g ic p ro ce ss : P o te n ti a l n
e w p ro d u ct p la ce m e n t $ 2 0 0 $ 8 0 4 0 .0
% $ 2 5 $ 5 5 2 7 .5 % s P ro p o se d s a le s to e
x te rn a l sy st e m S u p p ly p u rc h a si n g d
is co u n ts $ 8 $ 8 s C o ll a b o ra ti v e d is cu ss
io n s to d e te rm in e D e p a rt m e n ta l su p p o
rt c o st s $ 1 5 ($ 1 5 ) a lt e rn a ti v e f a ct o
rs a n d a ct io n s S u b -t o ta l $ 2 0 0 $ 8 8 4
4 .0 % $ 4 0 2 0 .0 % $ 4 8 2 4 .0 % T o ta l P a ck
a g in g O ff e ri n g $ 2 ,0 5 5 $ 5 1 3 2 5 .0 % $
2 8 0 1 3 .6 % $ 2 3 3 1 1 .3 % C h a n g e B e tt
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% ($ 2 ) 1 .3 % D o u b le -l o o p d ia g n o st ic -d
ia lo g ic p ro ce ss : D ia g n o st ic E le m e n ts ($ 4
9 5 ) ($ 5 0 ) 2 .7 % $ 0 -2 .7 % ($ 5 0 ) 0 .0 % s R
e co g n it io n o f e n v ir o n m e n ta l d is tu rb
a n ce D ia g n o st ic -D ia lo g ic I m p a ct s $ 2 0
0 $ 8 8 1 .9 % $ 4 0 -0 .8 % $ 4 8 1 .1 % s F o cu s
o n n e w D ia g n o st ic /D ia lo g ic g o a l st a te
T o ta l Im p a ct s ($ 2 9 5 ) $ 3 8 4 .6 % $ 4 0 -3
.5 % ($ 2 ) 1 .1 % w h ic h i m p a ct s o v e ra ll o
rg a n iz a ti o n f a v o ra b ly W S M S u m m a
ry B ri d g e o f Im p a ct s 1 N u m b e rs a re d e m
o n s tr a ti v e a n d a re n o t d ra w n f ro m a
n y s p e c if ic W h o le C o p ro p o s a l in o rd e r
to m a in ta in c o n fi d e n ti a li ty 44 As indicated in the conceptual diagnostic-dialogic model developed in Chapter 2, the WholeCo diagnostic-dialogic, accounting metrics model (Figure
5) starts with an accounting metric symbolization of WholeCo’s link with its parent company (exogenous system). From this normative boundary (i.e., budget or plan), the diagnostic section of the WholeCo model recognizes environmental impacts through the feedback properties of accounting metrics (i.e., change in demand and increase in supplier cost). It then reveals diagnostic (corrective) processes that attempt to sustain homeostasis (stability) among the WholeCo (endogenous) system and exogenous systems (i.e., release of customer program funds). Following this diagnostic section, the diagnostic-dialogic section of the WholeCo model demonstrates how accounting metrics promote and record the double-loop processes that are in action. This characteristic is shown by the encouragement of collaborative discussions to reach a new goal state (i.e., new sales opportunity, make/buy conversation, and incremental overhead absorption
opportunity) indicative of a cybernetic double-loop process. The WholeCo model then completes with a summary of both diagnostic and diagnostic-dialogic impacts of the customer proposal. But perhaps the best way to demonstrate the diagnostic-dialogic and systemic characteristics of the customer proposal process, post- diagnostic-dialogic 45 intervention, is to provide a narrative account of one of its successes, which resulted in the launch of a new million-dollar product line. Diagnostic-Dialogic Narrative Early in the second quarter of 2011 (after the diagnostic- dialogic intervention), the WholeCo Marketing and Sales functions met with a major retailer to propose its
switch of a particular product line from a competitor to WholeCo. This proposal was unsuccessful; however, during their meeting, the retailer mentioned an issue it faced with a Christmas promotional offering that required a specialty product outside of the product categories offered by either the competitor or WholeCo. This type of discussion would typically have ended in pleasantries such as “maybe we can help in the future” or “perhaps next year we can meet again,” particularly since the specialty product mentioned was not contemplated as a WholeCo product line, the introduction timeframe was extremely short (approximately six months), and initial profitability levels would not likely meet WholeCo targets. Indeed, the meeting ended without commitment but with a general understanding that WholeCo would see what it could do. The Marketing and Sales functions returned to WholeCo and initiated interactive
discussions, using a diagnostic-dialogic process (see example in Figure 5) to determine whether a feasible alternative to the specialty product might be offered to the retailer. During the next few weeks, the various organizational functions gathered 46 data on sourcing and manufacturing capabilities, estimated marketplace acceptance, preliminary product designs, investment requirements, and estimated profitability. This data gathering resulted in the generation of an alternative that would meet the retailer’s objective and timeline but would not meet WholeCo profit requirements. However, the strategic importance of the retailer was highlighted during dialogue initiated as part of completing the diagnostic-dialogic model; and because of the revised lens of the customer proposal as a “new product
introduction” rather than as a one-time product promotion, WholeCo committed to the project. The subsequent proposal won the retailer’s Christmas promotion. WholeCo delivered the product in less than six months, dramatically less than normal product development time of a year or more, and the product was a hit on the retailer shelf. But like any good story, there was not an immediate happy ending; the project reduced WholeCo profitability in the category below its planned objectives. Retailer promotions, especially seasonal promotions, are notoriously unpredictable in their potential for recurrence, and the mix of retail product success but WholeCo profitability reduction would normally have led to this WholeCo event being relegated to “experience” while it moved on to the next line review or next promotional opportunity. But WholeCo was intrigued by what it had accomplished—
something that had not been done before; and the functional areas continued running 47 the customer proposal process to determine whether potential for a better outcome existed. Note that the process was not running in a typical “corrective” fashion that would seek to turn around profit margins on a poorly performing product line. This product was considered one-time, and WholeCo was content to recognize it as a strategic concession for future growth with its customer. But this time was different. Now the WholeCo functions had a way to surface hidden functional assumptions through accounting metrics embedded in a diagnostic-dialogic process and to see them through a greater lens, a systemic lens. The WholeCo functions continued to use the customer proposal forms as a framework but also
extended discussions outside the official forms in order to discover resolutions to the dilemmas revealed through the surfacing of underlying assumptions. In short order, WholeCo was able to accomplish several objectives: -party royalty charge by converting to a related company brand ncept to similar product items 48 Changes occurred throughout the WholeCo system, resulting in the launch of a new million-dollar product line for WholeCo with higher than planned profitability.
Subsequently, WholeCo management requested feedback from the functional managers about the customer proposal process post- diagnostic- dialogic intervention. The following quotes, obtained from that feedback, provide additional empirical observation of the dual characteristics of the diagnostic- dialogic, accounting metrics process. (Marketing Head) One of the primary differences in the [diagnostic-dialogic] process is that it opens up discussions to new options as well as recognizing the consequences of those options and potential alternatives. It widens the benchmarking process from a narrowly defined goal benchmark to discuss what is the actual, right benchmark for comparison. It forces you to think not just of the decision of the moment but also about likely future impact and decisions that will need to be made
down the road. (Operational Head) You have to anticipate how the proposal will fit with existing goals and call together functions to determine appropriate corrective actions or goal revisions before submitting the proposals if you see there is a disconnect. It helps make departmental functions aware of changing priorities and helps them know when to call together ad hoc groups for discussion. This results in more discussion and better alignment among the functions and enables proposals to go through more quickly. (Finance Head) Preliminary conversations are key to the process, and the written commentary within the proposal forms is reflective of those preliminary conversations. This results in proposals being
accepted by management faster and more frequently. 49 (Sales Head) One of the differences in the [diagnostic-dialogic] process is that it is not just a financial tool. It is a decision process to see more scenarios and to help make strategic decisions. Hypotheses The research model is designed to test the impact of the three quasi-experimental variables on five outcome variables: completion time, quantity of commentary, quality of commentary, profitability alignment, and customer acceptance. With the exception of profitability alignment, each outcome variable was
present in all quasi- experimental groups. The outcome variable profitability alignment was present only in the Traditional and Diagnostic-Dialogic groups since archived data was not available for the Laissez-faire group. The following paragraphs describe the operationalization of these outcome variables and develop a priori hypotheses regarding their behavior under the influence of each quasi- experimental group. Hypothesis 1: Completion Time Each customer proposal contains an initiation date to indicate when the WholeCo Marketing department initiated the approval process) as well as the date of final approval or rejection (see Figure 2). The time between the final approval or rejection date and the initiation date is captured as a total number of elapsed days to represent completion time.
50 Because of the ambiguity of the Laissez-faire process, the greater structure of the Traditional process, and the greater interactive nature of the Diagnostic-Dialogic process, I hypothesized the following: H1a Completion time will decrease in the Traditional group relative to the Laissez-faire group. H1b Completion time will decrease in the Diagnostic-Dialogic group relative to both the Traditional and Laissez-faire groups. Hypothesis 2: Quantity of Commentary As shown in Figure 2, specific and assigned space was provided on each customer proposal, during all quasi-experimental groups, for each functional head to record any written comments desired. While comments were not required, they were encouraged, particularly in cases where the functional head had a strong
opinion (pro or con) or where the functional head believed additional explanation was required to explain what might appear a strategic or counterintuitive decision. This written commentary was captured by department for each customer proposal and maintained on the archived proposals. The quantity of commentary for each proposal was captured by dummy coding, with “0” being assigned for each comment field that either was blank or contained only the notations “N/A” or “None,” and with“1” being assigned for each comment field that contained written commentary other than “N/A” or “None.” The aggregate number of nonzero comment fields for each record was assigned as the value of quantity of commentary for that record. The potential value for any record 51
ranged from 0, reflecting no comments, to 9, reflecting comments by each function (i.e., marketing, 3 sales functions, operations, finance, other, CFO, and CEO), although no record exhibited more than 6 comments. Since the diagnostic nature of the Traditional group should logically motivate individuals to explain significant differences of the proposal to the normative goal (plan), and since the combined nature of the Diagnostic- Dialogic group should logically motivate even greater commentary because of its inclusion of both normative comparison and generative double-loop construction of new goals, the following hypotheses were proposed: H2a Quantity of commentary will increase in the Traditional group relative to the Laissez-faire group. H2b Quantity of commentary will increase in the Diagnostic- Dialogic group relative to both the Traditional and Laissez-faire groups.
Hypothesis 3: Quality of Commentary Written commentary provided in the space for functional comments was maintained verbatim in the archived forms. These comments provided the basis for the outcome variable, quality of commentary, by representing the degree of systemic commentary present in each proposal. 52 The archived proposals contained a total of 1,206 comments, which were coded as functional, systemic, or unclassified. Quality of commentary is defined for each record as the number of systemic comments divided by the total number of functional and systemic comments, namely, Systemic / (Functional + Systemic). Descriptions of functional and systemic comments, examples of each type of comment from the
Marketing department, and a discussion of the iterative coding process are given in the following sections. Commentary Types Functional comments are those describing or justifying the decision to approve or reject a proposal without evidence of discussions with or data retrieval from others. Examples include the following: TDA are due to the heavy amount of business [customer] does in [specific product which]…is our highest margin sku. . . . Priced to be competitive at retail with [competitor] & provide [customer] a min margin of [X]% centages prep for line review Systemic comments are those describing or justifying the decision to approve or reject a proposal, with specific reference to discussions or decision-making activities
with (or data retrieval from) other organizational or external functions. Examples include the following: 53 [Customer] and [WholeCo] with a positive change… The long term goal is to show a lift in POS [i.e. retailer sales rate] with this new sku which will lead to increased distribution and possible [sic] an innovation end cap feature. Sales team indicates a high confidence in successfully passing …. price adder to the customer….. This will be a good test of [product] in market in U.S. (emphasis added) proposing this sku as a tax season promo for 2012 that should still provide a re-order for us in 2011. This lowers GM
[slightly]. This is a small impact to keep our positive positioning going with the Associate buyer as we were recently notified we will have a new buyer and we wish to start our relationship positively. This is a new buyer and we are working to build a relationship with him. (emphasis added) needed. The plan per [Sales] is to maintain these at [X]% EBITDA which is above plan. levels and offer them at a net- net with no program or Price up if program is needed (emphasis added) Unclassified comments are those representing comments that are neither functional nor systemic. Examples include the following: [customer] by [date]. -time purchase. Consensual Coding Process Before proceeding to hypotheses development for the outcome
variable, quality of commentary, it is important to describe the iterative process used to code commentary in the customer proposal forms. Through this process, I reached full consensus with 54 the WholeCo CEO as to the coding for each of the 1,206 comments as functional, systemic, or unclassified. Step 1 All comments were segregated by their membership in the following functional departments: Marketing, three different Sales functions, Finance, Operations, and Other. In order to avoid potential bias in coding, all comments from the CFO and CEO were excluded, resulting in an exclusion of 159 comments and a final coding population of 1,206 comments.
Step 2 All record identifiers were hidden before coding, leaving only the department name and actual comment visible in order to ensure blind coding. The department name was necessary in order to make contextual judgments about whether a comment was functional or systemic based on the intradepartmental, interdepartmental, or external nature of discussions. Step 3 As researcher, I conducted initial coding of 483 comments made by the Marketing department and subsequently requested that the CEO code a sample of 19 of the most difficult comments, representing approximately 4% of the Marketing comments, for comparison. Comments were identified as difficult whenever I vacillated between the appropriate codes during coding. The first round of coding comparison resulted in a 31.6% agreement rate between my coding and the CEO’s coding.
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The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx
The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx

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The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and .docx

  • 1. The conflict between Farhad’s experience as a photojournalist and as a viewer is that there’s a difference on what he intended to show the audience as a photojournalist and what he actually sees or meaning he gets when he looks at the images; in other word, he cannot find a way to demonstrate his real intention on the photos that he took to his audience, not even himself can get the right meaning. In this case, invisible presence and visible absence can be related to the situation. At the beginning of his presentation, he pointed out two important factors that plays an important role in his photojournalist career, he used his parent as the example to describe that the characteristics of his mother, caring and guiding, as invisible presence and the characteristics of his father, strict and stringent, as the visible absence. My understanding is that as a photojournalist he tries his best to work on giving meanings to his works and distributing those meaning to the audience through his works but it turns out that those images tend to give a different meaning to the audiences and this is a visible absence, people can see and understand objects inside the images and have a strong feeling on it but the real meaning are less likely to be observed. On the other hand, as a viewers the memories that his photos remind him are not the objective that he was focusing in his project, but those memories that are not related to the project (little things that he contributed to or discovered during the time) and this is an invisible present, those side memories are not what the images are trying to show but those memories located somewhere inside the images that may have a stronger presence than the real meaning. My argument is that this type of discrepancy can hardly be resolved or get rid of. The point is that differences between the artist and the audiences are always existed. It will be super hard or even impossible for audiences to have the exact same thoughts as the creator/artist when they look at the his or her art piece unless the artist specifically mentions it on their work.
  • 2. Similar idea to Farhad’s on using his parent to explain the situation, you cannot force your mother to act like your father, vice versa, it is just a balance between life, or in the photo that taken by Farhad. Visible absence and invisible presence need each other existence in order compose a completed, meaningful image or photo, it is just the matter on the way you see and understand it. In my opinion, they are part of the factors that make art fun and frustrating to watch, to discover, and to understand. All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway
  • 3. P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 UMI 3536439 Published by ProQuest LLC (2013). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. UMI Number: 3536439
  • 4. © Copyright William Bartlett Brock 2013 iii Abstract It has become axiomatic within the field of organization development that organizations operate within increasingly dynamic, even volatile, environments and
  • 5. must improve their ability to consciously and continuously develop, change, and adapt (i.e., implement planned organizational change) in order to survive and thrive. While the need for continual organizational change is axiomatic, the approach for effecting planned organizational change is not. Based on organizational change theory, accounting metrics, and systems theory, this study develops a diagnostic- dialogic organizational change model as a resolution tool for three dilemmas identified within the literature on organizational change: organizational change approaches, a systemic perspective, and measurable change. The diagnostic-dialogic model of organizational change is empirically tested through a retrospective, longitudinal field study with the application of rigorous statistical methods: survival analysis, generalized estimating equations, and logistic regression. Empirically tested within the context of an organizational
  • 6. customer proposal process, results indicate that a diagnostic-dialogic intervention provides superior results compared with either a laissez-faire approach or a traditional, diagnostic intervention. The diagnostic-dialogic intervention realized greater improvements in process iv completion time, in level of commentary, in degree of systemic commentary, in degree of profitability alignment, and in the likelihood of customer acceptance. v
  • 7. Dedication To Mary – My wife, my partner for the past 30 years—by any metric, the love of my life! To Mom – What an incredible path of learning you forged for me! vi Acknowledgments I am honored to acknowledge the help of so many in this endeavor called the Ph.D. journey. To Mary, there are just not words enough to express the value of your unwavering support through this process. In spite of a road so deeply marked by the loss of sister and mother along the way, you never hesitated in cheering me to the finish line!
  • 8. To my exemplary committee—Dr. Ram Tenkasi, Dr. Bill Pasmore, Dr. Dick Woodman, and Dr. Kala Visvanathan—a general acknowledgment is insufficient, so allow me to thank each of you specifically. – your vision, your persistence, and your quiet demand for the highest quality of scholarly research, combined with the highest level of practitioner applicability, made for a truly epic journey. I am proud for this work to represent that journey. Thank you! – your continuing quest for greater context pushed me well beyond my comfort zone. The result is a work immeasurably richer than I would have ever thought possible. Thank you! – you so deftly overcame my objections to adding that final hypothesis. It seemed a great price at the time, but the price pales in significance to the value added to WholeCo and the diagnostic-dialogic paradigm.
  • 9. Thank you! vii – how patient you were during those many Saturday and Sunday whiteboard sessions. Because of you, I had confidence to delve into the statistics of epidemiology, and OD now boasts a higher level of rigor. Thank you! To Dr. Peter Sorensen, thank you for creating a world-class program and allowing me to be a part of it. I can only hope to emulate your passion for and contribution to the field of OD. To Dr. Ron Fisher, you absolutely amaze me. Your generosity and willingness to help so many along the way continually inspired me.
  • 10. To our Quigley’s group – you know who you are – I cannot imagine how lonely this journey would have been without you all. So many shared hardships and successes – may our paths cross often. This work would not be possible without the WholeCo organization and in particular its CEO. Though he must remain nameless, his willingness to endure countless hours of coding, debating, and proofreading will never be forgotten. viii Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................... ................ x List of Tables ............................................................................................... ................ xi
  • 11. Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................... .. 1 Background of Study ............................................................................................... . 3 Overview of Chapters ............................................................................................... 4 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................ 6 Dilemma of Organizational Change Approaches ..................................................... 6 Synthesizing Diagnostic and Dialogic Approaches .............................................. 9 Diagnostic-Dialogic Construct............................................................................ 11 A Systemic Perspective.............................................................................. ............. 12 The Dilemma of a Systemic Perspective ............................................................ 13 Accounting Metrics: Promoting a Systemic Perspective within the Diagnostic- Dialogic Framework ...........................................................................................
  • 12. 15 Accounting Metrics as Cybernetic, Double-Loop Systems ................................ 20 Dilemma of Measurable Change ............................................................................ 22 Accounting Metrics as Change Measurement Instruments ................................ 23 Diagnostic-Dialogic Organizational Change Model ............................................... 24 Chapter 3: Methodology ............................................................................................. 26 Methodological Structure................................................................................. ....... 26 Field Study ............................................................................................... ........... 26 Longitudinal Study...................................................................................... ........ 28 Retrospective Study ............................................................................. ............... 29 Research Setting....................................................................................
  • 13. .................. 29 The Company ............................................................................................... ....... 30 The Situation ............................................................................................... ........ 31 Customer Proposal Process ................................................................................. 32 Interventions ............................................................................................... ........ 37 Research Question ............................................................................................... ... 38 Quasi-Experimental Groups.................................................................................... 39 Laissez-faire ............................................................................................... ......... 39 Traditional ............................................................................................... ............ 39 Diagnostic-Dialogic ............................................................................................ 40
  • 14. Hypotheses ............................................................................................... ............... 49 Hypothesis 1: Completion Time ......................................................................... 49 Hypothesis 2: Quantity of Commentary ............................................................. 50 Hypothesis 3: Quality of Commentary ............................................................... 51 Hypothesis 4: Profitability Alignment ................................................................ 58 Hypothesis 5: Customer Acceptance .................................................................. 60 Control Variables ............................................................................................... ..... 61 General Control Variables .................................................................................. 61 Specific Control Variables .................................................................................. 62 ix
  • 15. Data Collection ............................................................................................... ........ 65 Longitudinal Dataset ........................................................................................... 66 Testing Methods.................................................................................. .................... 67 Survival Analysis ............................................................................................... . 67 Generalized Estimating Equations ...................................................................... 69 Logistic Regression ............................................................................................. 72 Summary ............................................................................................... .................. 73 Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Results ......................................................................... 75 Data Verification ............................................................................................... ...... 75 Descriptive Statistics and Correlations
  • 16. ................................................................... 76 Results of Hypotheses Testing ................................................................................ 79 Hypotheses 1a and 1b: Effect on Completion Time ........................................... 79 Hypotheses 2a and 2b: Effect on Quantity of Commentary ............................... 82 Hypotheses 3a and 3b: Effect on Quality of Commentary ................................. 85 Hypothesis 4: Effect on Profitability Alignment ................................................ 87 Hypotheses 5a and 5b: Customer Acceptance .................................................... 89 Summary of Findings .............................................................................................. 91 Chapter 5: Conclusion and Implications ..................................................................... 94 General Findings ............................................................................................... ...... 94 Completion Time ............................................................................................... ..... 95 Quantity of Commentary
  • 17. ........................................................................................ 97 Quality of Commentary ........................................................................................ 100 Profitability Alignment ......................................................................................... 102 Customer Acceptance ........................................................................................... 103 Limitations ............................................................................................... ............. 105 Implications for Future Research .......................................................................... 106 Appendix A: GEE Distributions and Link Functions ............................................... 108 Appendix B: Disposition of Outlier Records ............................................................ 109 References ............................................................................................... .................. 110
  • 18. x List of Figures Figure 1. Customer Proposal Form ............................................................................. 34 Figure 2. Customer Proposal Approval Form ............................................................. 35 Figure 3. Flow of Customer Proposal Process ............................................................ 36 Figure 4. Longitudinal Timeline ................................................................................. 38 Figure 5. Diagnostic-Dialogic, Accounting Metrics Tool .......................................... 43 Figure 6. Histogram of Completion Time................................................................... 80 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837613 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837615 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837616 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837617
  • 19. xi List of Tables Table 1. Comparison of Diagnostic and Dialogic Change ........................................... 8 Table 2. Diagnostic-Dialogic Organizational Change Schema .................................. 25 Table 3. Traditional Intervention - Diagnostic Tool ................................................... 41 Table 4: Preliminary Coding Definitions for Quality of Commentary ....................... 55 Table 5: Final Coding Definitions for Quality of Commentary ................................. 56 Table 6. Comment Coding Matrix .............................................................................. 58 Table 7. WholeCo Customer Base .............................................................................. 63 Table 8. WholeCo Product Groups ............................................................................. 63 Table 9: Summary of Operationalized Variables........................................................ 64 Table 10: Stratified Record Set
  • 20. ................................................................................... 66 Table 11. Summary of Hypotheses and Testing Methods .......................................... 74 Table 12. Descriptive Statistics................................................................................. .. 77 Table 13. Correlations for Selected Variables ............................................................ 78 Table 14. AFT Models for Completion Time ............................................................. 81 Table 15. PA-GEE Models for Quantity of Commentary .......................................... 83 Table 16. PA-GEE Models for Quality of Commentary ............................................ 86 Table 17. PA-GEE Models for Profitability Alignment ............................................. 88 Table 18. LR Models for Customer Acceptance ........................................................ 90 Table 19. Results of Hypotheses Testing .................................................................... 92 Table 20. Results of AFT, PA-GEE and LR Testing .................................................. 93 Table 21. Mean Comments per Record by Company ................................................. 99
  • 21. file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837620 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837621 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837624 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837630 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837631 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837633 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837635 file:///F:/Final%20Brock%20- %20Dissertation%20(edited)%20v1.docx%23_Toc344837638 1 Chapter 1: Introduction It has become axiomatic within the field of organization development (OD) that organizations operate within increasingly dynamic, even volatile, environments and must improve their ability to consciously and continuously develop, change, and adapt (i.e., implement planned organizational change) in order to survive and thrive.
  • 22. But while the necessity of continual organizational change is axiomatic, the approach for effecting planned organizational change is not. The literature wrestles with the merits of traditional, diagnostic- based change methods versus those of contemporary, dialogic-based change methods. Traditional, diagnostic-based change methods are recognized as those that gather organizational data for “diagnosing” organizational issues using normative models (Bushe & Marshak, 2009; Cummings & Worley, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008); whereas contemporary dialogic-based change methods view data as “generative” rather than diagnostic (Bushe & Marshak, 2008, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008) and the purpose of its collection as a “collective inquiry into the multiple [organizational] ‘realities’ in order to generate new collective understandings and cognitive maps” (Bushe & Marshak, 2008, pp. 10-11). This dichotomy of diagnostic and dialogic approaches results in a dilemma of organizational change approaches.
  • 23. Whether using a diagnostic or dialogic organizational change approach, OD scholars and practitioners assert the necessity of promoting a systemic perspective within the 2 organization in order to avoid a cycle of unintended consequences (Burke, 2008b; Carucci & Pasmore, 2002; Katz & Kahn, 1978; Mohrman Jr., Mohrman, Ledford Jr, Cummings, & Lawler III, 1989; Mohrman, Mohrman, & Tenkasi, 1996; Senge, 1990; Weisbord, 2004); however, the literature recognizes that achieving a systemic perspective is difficult and uncommon (Ackoff, 2006; Argyris, 1990; Senge, 1990; Sterman, 1994; Tenkasi, Mohrman, & Mohrman, 2007); thus creating a dilemma of systemic perspective. Concurrent with these dilemmas is the challenge for OD to provide measurable
  • 24. evidence of the impact of organizational change interventions on organizational performance. The need for a measureable link between organizational change and organizational performance is clearly evident, but the response within the literature is inadequate (Burke, 2008a; Pettigrew, Woodman, & Cameron, 2001; Woodman, 1989; Woodman, Bingham, & Yuan, 2008), thus highlighting the dilemma of measureable change. How can OD approach resolution of these dilemmas of organizational change approaches, a systemic perspective, and measurable change? This study proposes resolution through a diagnostic-dialogic model of organizational change drawn from a synthesis of organizational change theory with accounting metrics. It also seeks to provide empirical evidence of the efficacy of this model through a longitudinal field study testing the differential effects of three organizational change approaches:
  • 25. Laissez-faire (baseline), Traditional (diagnostic), and Diagnostic-Dialogic. 3 Recognizing that organizational accounting metrics have the ability to create a synthesis of diagnostic- and dialogic-based change, to promote a systemic perspective, and to provide a method for rigorous measurement, I argue that the diagnostic-dialogic intervention in this study should accomplish the following: processes and decision making; organization; organizational goals; ood of success with organizational customers. Background of Study
  • 26. A retrospective, longitudinal field study was conducted from archived records of a customer proposal process for the period from June 2008 through October 2011. The field setting is a group of existing consumer products organizations with more than 50 years’ history, referenced in this study as WholeCo. The elements of the study, as well as several elements of the WholeCo environment, are developed more fully in Chapter 3; but a critical understanding is that the study occurs during a volatile, rapidly changing period for WholeCo. The timeframe from June 2008 through October 2011 is well recognized as a period of domestic and global economic distress, including high unemployment, a depressed U.S. housing market, and bank and business closures. As described in Chapter 3, many of these items directly 4
  • 27. affected WholeCo and demonstrate that WholeCo operated in a volatile environment, requiring integrated, measurable organizational change. Overview of Chapters Chapter 1 has provided a brief overview of the context of this research study along with its proposal for a diagnostic-dialogic model, founded on accounting metrics to synthesize diagnostic and dialogic organizational change approaches, to provide a systemic perspective, and to provide a means for rigorous change measurement. Chapter 2 establishes a dichotomic schema of organizational change approaches through a brief review of the literature on the diagnostic and dialogic paradigms of organizational change theory. It continues by establishing a new construct of diagnostic-dialogic organizational change and introducing organizational accounting metrics as a whole-system metaphor with the ability to enable diagnostic-dialogic
  • 28. change in an integrative, and measurable, manner throughout the organizational system. Chapter 3 discusses the research methodology with a focus on the applicability of a retrospective, longitudinal field study, the WholeCo research setting, and the operationalization of quasi-experimental and outcome variables. Rigorous testing methods are chosen and described as accelerated failure time survival analysis, population-averaged generalized estimating equations, and logistic regression in order 5 to test five a priori hypotheses drawn from the literature and the proposed characteristics of the diagnostic-dialogic model. Chapter 4 reviews the data validation and verification process
  • 29. and presents a summary of descriptive statistics. Each hypothesis is then tested separately. Results are provided in summary tables along with a discussion of statistical significance and a determination of whether the hypothesis is supported, partially supported, or rejected. Chapter 5 concludes the study with general findings and a discussion of the testing results for each hypothesis and the implication of those results. This chapter demonstrates the implications of a combined diagnostic-dialogic organizational change approach, founded on accounting metrics, to integrate both diagnostic- and dialogic- based organizational change, promote a systemic perspective, and provide rigorous change measurement. The chapter ends with a summary of the research limitations along with implications for areas of future research.
  • 30. 6 Chapter 2: Literature Review In this chapter, I examine the three dilemmas revealed in Chapter 1: the dilemma of organizational change approaches, the dilemma of a systemic perspective, and the dilemma of measurable change. This examination proceeds through sections reviewing organizational change literature and systems theory literature, along with a brief discussion of the need for OD interventions to demonstrate measurable results. Each section includes a discussion of how accounting metrics can serve as a resolution to the relevant dilemma. The chapter concludes with the development of a diagnostic-dialogic organizational change model founded on accounting metrics. Dilemma of Organizational Change Approaches The current OD tools for addressing organizational change may be broadly grouped into a diagnostic and dialogic dichotomy (Bushe & Marshak,
  • 31. 2008, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008). Diagnostic change is seen as the traditional approach to organizational change, generally recognized as a process of data gathering to discover the current organizational reality, to diagnose dysfunctional issues, and to develop an intervention for moving organizational reality toward a presupposed norm (e.g., Lewin’s three-step model, classical OD action research, survey feedback, socio- technical system analysis, and SWOT analysis) (Burke, 2008a; Bushe & Marshak, 2009; Cummings & Worley, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008). In contrast, dialogic change is more recently recognized as those change efforts (e.g., appreciative inquiry, world café, future search, and open space) that assert that organizational reality 7
  • 32. cannot be objectively “discovered” but can be only subjectively understood through personal experience, since organizational reality is not an objective “thing” to be defined but is rather the social construction of the human systems that constitute an organization (Bushe & Marshak, 2008, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008). Here data is gathered from the subjective experiences, assumptions, and beliefs of organizational members in order to create understanding and generate a vision and strategy for reaching a desired organizational future (Bushe & Marshak, 2009). In addition to contrasting purposes for data gathering, diagnostic and dialogic approaches may be contrasted in their roles of dialogue and in their objects of change. Dialogue has historically been included in diagnostic change efforts for the discovery of “misperceptions” held by organizational members that need to be corrected or somehow reintegrated into the organizational reality (Marshak & Grant, 2008). This
  • 33. dialogue is therefore comparative and diagnostic. Conversely, the dialogue incorporated into dialogic change approaches is discursive, with its intent being the development of conversations and narratives to reveal and generate meaning and create organizational reality (Bushe & Marshak, 2008, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008). These differences in purpose of data gathering and dialogue lead directly into differences in change objects between the two organizational change approaches. 8 Both approaches recognize the systemic aspect of organizations, but diagnostic approaches tend to view organizations as open systems, defined by structure and function, and seek to change people’s behavior in light of the
  • 34. diagnosis of dysfunctional behavior relative to the defined system (Bushe & Marshak, 2008, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008), whereas dialogic approaches view organizations as human systems, defined only through the meaning making of their participants, and seek to change the mental frameworks that guide people’s thinking as they create the organizational system (Bushe & Marshak, 2008, 2009; Marshak & Grant, 2008). These contrasts between diagnostic and dialogic organizational change approaches are summarized in Table 1. Table 1. Comparison of Diagnostic and Dialogic Change Characteristic Diagnostic Dialogic Ontology Objectivist Subjectivist Epistemology Positivist Interpretivist View of Organizations Open Systems (Structurally-Functionally
  • 35. Constructed) Meaning-Making Systems (Socially Constructed) Role of Dialog Comparative & Diagnostic Interactive & Constructivist Change Object Behavior Mental Frameworks Process Gather data, diagnose issues, and prescribe change effort Gather data, interpret data, generate new reality and achievement strategy
  • 36. 9 Synthesizing Diagnostic and Dialogic Approaches While Table 1 indicates that the diagnostic and dialogic approaches to organizational change share little in their characteristics and assumptions, researchers have argued that, rather than being disparate methods, the two approaches may be viewed as elements of a whole approach toward organizational change (Oswick, 2009; Woodman, 2008). The combination, or synthesis, of diagnostic and dialogic methods would allow a more holistic approach to organizational change; and this study argues that such a synthesis can occur through the use of accounting metrics as both diagnostic and dialogic instruments of change to promote outcome efficacy and foster a systemic perspective. Note that accounting metrics are here defined not only as the summarized metrics presented in organizational financial
  • 37. statements but also as any level of summarized or transactional accounting metrics that represent intra- or interorganizational activity, such as individualized invoice and payment transactions as well as aggregated accounts receivable and accounts payable balance sheet amounts. Accounting Metrics as Diagnostic Instruments The use of accounting metrics as diagnostic instruments is well established in the literature. Accounting metrics are often equated with objective organizational reality (i.e., discovering organizational reality) (Argyris, 1953, 1990), are useful in “accumulating data on actual events and comparing them with planned objectives” (i.e., diagnosing dysfunctions) (Lawrence & Lorsch, 1969, p. 225), and are the foundation of budgetary controls, the pivotal tool of organizational control (i.e., 10
  • 38. interventions to change behavior toward normative goals) (Argyris, 1952; Lawrence & Lorsch, 1969; Marginson & Ogden, 2005). These aspects of accounting metrics clearly fit within the diagnostic approach, described earlier, as discovering the current organizational reality, diagnosing dysfunctions, and developing interventions to change behavior toward a normative reality. Accounting Metrics as Dialogic Instruments While the aspect of accounting metrics as diagnostic instruments is generally assumed, the literature also clearly recognizes their potential as dialogic instruments. Boland (1993) notes that accounting metrics are symbols that organizational actors use to create both context and meaning and are “a central element in the shaping of organizational reality” (1989, p. 598). Argyris (1990) suggests that accounting metrics can be used to engage, rather than merely describe, the
  • 39. mental frameworks which create organizational defensive routines. These aspects clearly demonstrate that accounting metrics can fit within the dialogic approach, described earlier, as creating organizational reality through context and meaning, and as developing interventions to change the mental frameworks that guide people’s thinking as they create the organizational system. Accounting Metrics as Diagnostic-Dialogic Instruments The prior sections demonstrate that accounting metrics can be both diagnostic and dialogic instruments, but the literature provides a further path for managing this dichotomic tension through a diagnostic-dialogic synthesis. Simons (1991, 1994) charts a path for this synthesis by recognizing that diagnostic controls can be 11
  • 40. converted into interactive mechanisms to encourage dialogue and learning in an organization. He posits that the conversion of a diagnostic control into an interactive mechanism can occur through a combination of four steps: 1. ensuring that the control is an important and recurring agenda in discussions, 2. ensuring that the control is a focus of operating managers, 3. management participation in face-to-face meetings, and 4. the continual challenge and debate of data, assumptions and action plans. (Simons, 1994) Creating a diagnostic-dialogic synthesis by capturing the dual capabilities of accounting metrics through this conversion path allows for a resolution to the dilemma of organizational change approaches by providing diagnostic, comparative abilities relative to a normative performance factor while simultaneously allowing dialogic, interactive conversion of that normative performance factor and of the
  • 41. organizational change process itself. Diagnostic-Dialogic Construct Based on the key elements of accounting metrics as both diagnostic and dialogic change instruments in combination with Simons’ (1994) interactive conversion steps, I define the construct of a diagnostic-dialogic organizational change process, for the purpose of this research study, as follows: An organizational change process, framed by organizational accounting metrics, which retains its diagnostic, comparative abilities relative to a normative performance factor while allowing interactive conversion of that normative 12 performance factor, and of the organizational change process, through a dialogic process by:
  • 42. ing that the factor and process are an important part of continuing discussions, operating managers, -to-face meetings related to the factor and process, and and action plans related to the factor and to the process. Having now defined the diagnostic-dialogic organizational change construct for this research study, and recognizing that both the diagnostic and dialogic paradigms of organizational change incorporate a systemic perspective, the following sections provide theoretical support for the diagnostic-dialogic model as a tool to foster a systemic perspective. A Systemic Perspective One of the recognized similarities between diagnostic and dialogic change approaches
  • 43. is their focus on organizational systems. Bushe and Marshak (2009) note that at least three common themes can be identified in both approaches: self- awareness, behavior, and actualization of organizational systems. One can paraphrase their argument for these three themes: 1. Self-awareness indicates that the more developed a system is, the greater awareness it has of itself, and the greater ability organizational members have to talk with one another about their perceptions of the organization. 13 2. Behavior becomes increasingly more goal-directed and rational versus emotional and reactive the more developed a system becomes. 3. More developed systems have greater capacity to actualize their potentials and greater capacity to achieve their purposes within their
  • 44. environments. These systemic elements of greater discussion, goal-directed behavior, and actualized potentials and purposes are each evident in the diagnostic- dialogic construct. The Dilemma of a Systemic Perspective The literature has long recognized that organizations are complex systems comprising differentiated, yet interdependent, subsystems that must systematically integrate in order successfully operate in changing environments, where uncertainty and ambiguity tend to increase (Burke, 2008b; Katz & Kahn, 1978; Lawrence & Lorsch, 1969; Mohrman, et al., 1996; Senge, 1990; Weisbord, 2004). Indeed, this understanding is a foundational element of a systemic or “whole-systems” approach toward organizational change (Ackoff, 1994; von Bertalanffy, 1972), which recognizes that, lacking a systems view, management makes decisions provoking unforeseen reactions, thus creating future problems as the result
  • 45. of today’s solutions (Senge, 1990; Sterman, 2002; Zexian & Xuhui, 2010). But while the need for systemic organizational change is well recognized, it is not as frequently applied. Ackoff, a prominent systems theorist, argues: “Very few 14 managers have any knowledge or understanding of systems thinking, and for good reason. Very little of our literature and lectures are addressed to potential users” (2006, p. 705). The literature also recognizes that managers are frequently not able to apply academic knowledge that is presented since it is presented without contextual relevance to their organizational systems (Tenkasi, et al., 2007). In addition to the lack of practical and contextual approaches, Sterman calls attention
  • 46. to several problems in learning and comprehending systems concepts. The robustness of the misperceptions of feedback and the poor performance they lead us to create across many domains result from two basic and related deficiencies in our mental models of complexity. First, our cognitive maps of the causal structure of systems are vastly simplified compared to the complexity of the systems themselves. Second, we are unable to infer correctly the dynamics of all but the simplest causal maps. Both are direct consequences of bounded rationality (Simon 1979; 1982); that is, the many limitations of attention, memory, recall, information processing, and time that constrain human decision making. (Sterman, 1994, p. 307) Similarly, Gharajedaghi (2007) has noted a general difficulty in visualizing behavior among interdependent variables and the effects of nonlinear feedback loops arising from cognitive ability formed around independent variables and
  • 47. closed loop linearity. And this difficulty is not restricted to the untrained organizational member: even graduate-level students in elite schools have been found to have poor understanding of basic systems thinking concepts (Sweeney & Sterman, 2000; Zulauf, 2007), as a 15 result of the imperceptibility, complexity, and counterintuitive nature of intercausal relationships (Hung, 2008). The literature’s clear recognition of both the need for a systemic perspective in organizational change and the difficulty of achieving it reveal the dilemma of a systemic perspective. This study argues that when accounting metrics are embedded in a diagnostic-dialogic framework, they can aid in resolving the dilemma of a
  • 48. systemic perspective by metaphorically revealing organizational systems and enabling organizational members’ cognition and sense-making activities within the context of a cybernetic, double-loop system. Accounting Metrics: Promoting a Systemic Perspective within the Diagnostic-Dialogic Framework 1 If you are a member of an organization and you’ve never considered yourself to be a part of a subsystem which in turn is part of a larger system which has a myriad of additional subsystems, then you’ve never been involved in a budget meeting. (Burke, 1980, p. 209) Having served in financial leadership roles for a number of years, personal experience leads me to agree wholeheartedly with Burke’s implication that organizational budgeting and accounting metric processes are among the most
  • 49. revealing processes 1 Note: Portions from “Synthesizing a Systems Perspective and Organizational Change: Principles of a Whole-Systems Metrics Model,” by W. Brock, OD Journal, 30, (3), 17-28, 2012. Copyright 2012 by The International Society of Organizational Development. Reprinted with permission. 16 for seeing organizational systems. While not exhibiting the full complexity of systems dynamics or elaborated causal-loop diagrams, organizational accounting metrics (particularly those of integrated financial models) are the closest experience that many managers have had with a systemic perspective. But the apparent simplicity of
  • 50. these metrics must not dissuade one from considering their application in understanding the whole system, since research has shown that abstract, simplistic concepts have great power to create and manage complex systems (Wolfram, 2002). Organizations are replete with accounting metrics; but while this research study limits discussion to customary accounting based metrics, personal experience shows that sufficiently abstracted or translated nonfinancial metrics can be converted into financial metrics that are readily linked to the organizational level. Clearly, a financial, or accounting, metrics viewpoint of organizational reality is prevalent in contemporary society. Its presence is ubiquitous in the quarterly and annual reports of any publicly traded firm; constitutes a major component of communications with investors in earnings calls, shareholder meetings, and analyst conferences; and is referenced in news reports of national, state, or local budgetary
  • 51. crises. It exists in codification of both its principles, many of which are captured officially as local country GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and through regulating mechanisms (e.g., chartered and certified public accountant licensure, audited financial statements, and Sarbanes-Oxley testing). Both causal to 17 and resulting from its prevalence in society, the financial or accounting metrics viewpoint is generally equated with an objective view of the organization (Morgan, 1988). Its foundational process of budgeting is recognized as the pivotal organizational control tool (Argyris, 1952; Lawrence & Lorsch, 1969; Marginson & Ogden, 2005), and it is regarded as a critical element in transforming organizational strategy into reality (Melnyk, Stewart, & Swink, 2004).
  • 52. In spite of this general acceptance, however, (Morgan, 1988) has posited that the view provided by accounting metrics is not the objective view of reality but is instead a lens for understanding the whole systems of organizations through numerical metaphor. As discussed in the section on accounting metrics as dialogic instruments, the OD literature recognizes that accounting metrics are symbols that organizational actors use to create both context and meaning. (Boland, 1993) and (1989) calls them “a central element in the shaping of organizational reality” (p. 598) and (Argyris, 1990) says that they may be used to engage, rather than merely describe, mental frameworks. But support for this concept of accounting metrics as abstract and metaphorical is not limited to the OD literature. Measurement theory provides that metrics, such as accounting metrics, are an abstraction of the attributes of
  • 53. tangible and intangible things, but they are not the attributes themselves (Woodman, 1989). Enumerology 18 theory lends support by theorizing that these metrics are not objective and specific but, instead, are subjective and holistic representations of phenomena. With its focal concern around the social processes by which numbers are constructed and used for everyday purposes (Bogdan & Ksander, 1980; Gephart, 2006), enumerology theory, as indicated by Bogdan & Ksander (1980), Carlon, Downs, & Wert-Gray (2006), and Gephart (2006), posits that re not objective but are the result of attitudes toward those phenomena; metrics can make
  • 54. the amorphous appear concrete; metrics are “signs” that represent value but lack the attributes they represent; environment; and concreteness of metrics. Far from the popular perception of metrics as objective and specific, the literature recognizes that accounting metrics are a subjective and holistic representation of phenomena. They are: organizational nature (Swieringa & Weick, 1981); 19
  • 55. numerical view of reality” (Morgan, 1988, p. 480); and members’ cognition and sensemaking activities (Boland, 1981; Napier, 2006; Tenkasi & Boland, 1993). Based on this theoretical support, we might stop here, satisfied that accounting metrics indeed serve as metaphorical representation of organizational systems. But as a lifelong musician, I would be remiss if I failed to consider a final support for this argument: the jazz metaphor. A jazz metaphor of organizational change has been used in the literature to demonstrate that the flexibility required to execute whole- system, integrated change within the interdependent, complex systems of organizations is like jazz improvisation techniques (Barrett & Peplowski, 1998; Hatch & Cunliffe, 2006;
  • 56. Pasmore, 1998). But while a jazz metaphor calls to mind flexibility, one of its counterintuitive features is that what appears fully flexible is actually a structured form supporting maximum flexibility while always allowing participants to understand the current harmonic reality (i.e., the whole system) of the song in play (Barrett & Peplowski, 1998; Pasmore, 1998). 20 An even more fundamental observation of the jazz metaphor reveals that its structural form is based on metrics. Indeed many, if not most, of its practitioners refer to song progressions as a series of metrics, such as the II, V, I chord progression of many popular songs (Barrett & Peplowski, 1998). It is easy to understand why. Even jazz
  • 57. music relies on a structure of defined measure, beats, and rhythms; and its complex structure with multiple iterations of named chord patterns in various keys can be simplified into just a few holistic metric representations. When we consider that metrics are the underlying, holistic representation of even one of the most improvisational music forms, we have further theoretical support for using an accounting metrics-based metaphor to view complex, organizational whole systems. Accounting Metrics as Cybernetic, Double-Loop Systems As described above, organizational accounting metrics are possibly the most relevant lens for organizational members, as well as being extremely revealing lenses based on their metaphorical and symbolic representation of the whole organizational system and of members’ cognition and sensemaking activities (Argyris, 1990; Boland Jr, 1989; Boland, 1981, 1993; Morgan, 1988; Napier, 2006; Tenkasi & Boland, 1993). However, organizational accounting metrics can go further than
  • 58. metaphorical and symbolic representation. When embedded in a diagnostic- dialogic approach as described in earlier sections, accounting metrics can serve as the foundation of cybernetic, or double-loop, systems. 21 Cybernetics is generally ascribed as originating from Norbert Wiener’s work in the 1940s (Churchman & Ackoff, 1950; Jackson, 2006; Wolfram, 2002) and can be thought of as systems control through communication (Ackoff, 1974; Churchman & Ackoff, 1950). It focuses primarily on the structure, adaptation, and learning of organizations in order to maintain stability when confronted by exogenous disturbances (Schwaninger, 2001, 2006) and is based on “active learning and control
  • 59. rather than the passive adaptability” of open systems (Flood & Jackson, 1991, p. 10). This distinction relates to the ability of a cybernetic system to exhibit double-loop feedback (Montuori, 2000), thus allowing the cybernetic system not simply to adjust to a variation of inputs in order to continue toward a preset goal but also to determine whether the preset goal is still appropriate in light of internal and external feedback (Montuori, 2000; Senge, 1990). This cybernetic process underlies the concept of learning organizations. Within OD literature, cybernetic systems are probably best represented through the double-loop learning model. This model extends the concept of single-loop feedback and correction (i.e., diagnostic processes) to double-loop feedback and learning, which do not merely make corrections to reach an existing normative goal but go further to question whether a normative goal is still appropriate or relevant and to
  • 60. provide organizational members the ability to contextually determine appropriate goals and strategies (i.e., dialogic processes) (Argyris, 1976, 1977; Morgan, 1982), 22 with an understanding that individual elements may need to operate at suboptimal levels (Pasmore & Khalsa, 1993). Using accounting metrics in a synthesized diagnostic-dialogic approach, as described in the section on organizational change approaches, creates a cybernetic, double-loop system. The diagnostic element of the synthesized approach provides the traditional, and necessary, negative feedback role associated with single- loop learning, thus enabling the equifinality aspect of systems thinking (i.e., different paths to reach the same goal) (Hammond, 1997; Montuori, 2000). The dialogic
  • 61. element of the synthesized approach provides an interactive and inclusionary role with a focus on dialogue and inquiry thus supporting Argyris’s double-loop learning process associated with organizational learning (Argyris, 1976, 1977; Henri, 2006) and thereby enabling the equipotentiality aspect of systems thinking (i.e., changing, differentiating to establish systemic congruency) (Hammond, 1997). By utilizing an accounting metrics lens that is readily available and understandable to organizational members to enable application of a systemic perspective through the potential of accounting metrics within a diagnostic-dialogic framework, the diagnostic-dialogic approach provides a resolution to the dilemma of a systemic perspective. Dilemma of Measurable Change The OD literature describes organizational change as the empirical observance of variation in an organizational entity’s form, quality, or state over time (Ford & Ford,
  • 62. 23 1995; van de Ven & Poole, 1995; Weisbord, 2004). But how is empirical observance measured? This question lies at the root of OD’s continual challenge to provide measurable evidence of the impact of organizational change interventions on performance (Pettigrew, Woodman, & Cameron, 2001; Woodman, 1989), and the dilemma of providing this evidence is that change is messy, outcomes are difficult to measure, and participants often do not see necessity of rigorous evaluation (Melnyk, Hanson, & Calantone, 2010; Woodman, et al., 2008). This study argues that accounting metrics, within a diagnostic-dialogic framework, can also aid in resolving the dilemma of measurable change by serving as change measurement instruments for both diagnostic- and dialogic-based organizational change.
  • 63. Accounting Metrics as Change Measurement Instruments The measurement mechanism of accounting metrics is actually incorporated within the previous sections on accounting metrics as diagnostic- dialogic change instruments, as metaphorical representation of organizational systems, and as cybernetic double-loop systems. A quick summary of elements from these arguments supports the use of accounting metrics as change measurement instruments based on their characteristics of being (Argyris, 1952; Lawrence & Lorsch, 1969; Marginson & Ogden, 2005); 2008a); with an objective view of the organization (Morgan, 1988); 24
  • 64. (Boland, 1989, p. 598); and system and members’ cognition and sensemaking activities (Argyris, 1990; Boland Jr, 1989; Boland, 1981, 1993; Morgan, 1988; Napier, 2006; Tenkasi & Boland, 1993). Through these characteristics, accounting metrics, within a diagnostic-dialogic framework, provide a resolution tool for the dilemma of measurable change by serving as a control tool to deal with “messiness” (i.e., pivotal organizational control tool), an accepted measurement mechanism (i.e., indicative of organization performance, equated with objective view), and an aid in rigorous evaluation through cognition and sensemaking activities (i.e., metaphoric symbols, shaping organizational reality).
  • 65. Diagnostic-Dialogic Organizational Change Model Table 2 demonstrates how the diagnostic-dialogic organizational change model, founded on accounting metrics, functions to resolve the dilemmas of organizational change approaches, a systemic perspective, and measurable change by: dialogic organizational change, conceptualize the system, and change. 25 T a b
  • 103. e p te d m e a su re m e n t m e c h a n is m 26 Chapter 3: Methodology The diagnostic-dialogic organizational change model developed
  • 104. in Chapter 2 was proposed as a conceptual model for organizational change based on a synthesis of the characteristics of accounting metrics as tional systems and members’ cognition and sense-making activities, -loop) systems, and But it remains for this conceptual model to be empirically tested with regard to its effectiveness as a causal agent of organizational change. The following sections provide the methodological structure and basis for empirically testing this model in an organizational setting. Methodological Structure The methodology chosen for this study is a single-case, retrospective, longitudinal field study. Each element of this methodological structure (i.e., field study, single-
  • 105. case, longitudinal, and retrospective) is both elaborated and discussed for appropriateness in the following paragraphs. Field Study A field study is a nonexperimental scientific inquiry occurring in a real organizational setting rather than in a laboratory setting. As a field research method, it serves as a powerful research approach within behavioral science (Kerlinger & Lee, 2000). Snow 27 and Thomas (1994) state that “field research methods can, perhaps more than any other method, realistically examine strategic processes and outcomes – that is, they provide mechanisms for observing strategists and organizations in their natural settings” (pp. 457-458). As a research approach, field studies are noted as comprising
  • 106. five characteristics: 1. They occur ex post facto with no independent variables manipulated by the researcher. 2. They occur in intact, naturally occurring systems. 3. Their variables are systematically measured. 4. The researcher attempts to minimize intrusion. 5. Their focus is exploration, description, or hypotheses testing. (Stone, 1978) This study is appropriately conducted as a field study because it meets the five criteria denoted. It is conducted after the occurrence period, it occurs within an existing organization, variables are operationalized and measured systematically, intrusion is minimized by limiting the research data to archival records, and the focus is to test hypotheses developed from the diagnostic-dialogic theoretical model. Using a single case to conduct the study is also valid because the study fits one of five scenarios
  • 107. described by Yin (2003) in which a single case is appropriate. Specifically, it is a 28 longitudinal study in which the researcher can study the same case at multiple points of time. Longitudinal Study Longitudinal studies can be used to provide valid measurements of development over time for explanatory or descriptive purposes (Schaie & Hertzog, 1982). In longitudinal studies, time actually sets a frame of reference, providing context for the changes seen and how those changes are explained. It is a method used “to capture reality in flight” (Pettigrew, 1990, p. 270). The ideal goal of longitudinal research, as with many research methods, is to provide clear and unambiguous answers to research questions through
  • 108. the benefit of a view of complex and dynamic changes over time (Collins, 2006; Featherman, 1980). This ideal is most closely met when the longitudinal research seamlessly integrates three characteristics: 1. It is based on a well-articulated theoretical change model. 2. Its temporal design provides a clear and detailed view of the research process. 3. The resulting data is statistically analyzed through a model that operationalizes the theoretical model. (Collins, 2006) 29 This study fits the longitudinal research ideal since -dialogic
  • 109. organizational change model developed from the literature review provided in Chapter 2, section, and operationalized version of the theoretical model and is statistically analyzed. Retrospective Study While sometimes opportunistically chosen, retrospective longitudinal data is actually an advantageous resource for research data. One of its benefits is its provision of simultaneous, replicative measurements, which improves measurement consistency and equivalency (Featherman, 1980). Retrospective data also provides a viable manner for conducting longitudinal studies since it provides a view of complex and dynamic changes over time, while reducing one of the primary drawbacks to longitudinal research, namely, the time span and cost required to do the study (Featherman, 1980). Although one weakness typically identified
  • 110. with retrospective studies is the unreliability of memory recall (Featherman, 1980), this study avoids that weakness because its design relies completely on written, archival data. Research Setting The following sections provide a contextual setting for this research study by briefly describing the WholeCo organization, as well as the customer proposal process and the process interventions that serve as the focus of this research study. 30 The Company The research setting is a group of consumer products organizations with more than 50 years of history, referenced in this study as WholeCo. WholeCo comprises two consumer products companies with multiple categories and operating under the
  • 111. umbrella of one management group. WholeCo operates as a wholesaler to home hardware centers, mass merchants, wholesale clubs, and the electrical contractor market. Product breadth ranges from textile and hardware products with low consumer brand recognition and relatively high volatility in the exogenous environment (CommodityCo) to specialty electronics products with high consumer brand recognition and relatively low volatility in the exogenous environment (SpecialtyCo). Although WholeCo enjoys a substantial market position within almost all its product lines, some of its categories compete as commodities against many domestic providers and direct foreign importers, while other categories benefit from high brand recognition and have few direct competitors. WholeCo is a U.S.-based company but operates as a global sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution company with sourcing activities throughout the Americas, Europe,
  • 112. and Asia; manufacturing operations in the Americas and Asia; and distribution occurring either directly or through distributors in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. WholeCo seeks to maintain a competitive cost position, but it does not strategically operate as a low-cost provider since much of the company’s market and competitive positioning are believed to result from its long history in its product categories, its 31 substantial breadth of product line, its supply-chain flexibility, and its long relationships within its customer channels. The Situation The time period in this longitudinal study occurs during a volatile, rapidly changing environment. Retrospective, longitudinal data is drawn from June 2008 through
  • 113. October 2011, a well-recognized period of domestic and global economic distress including high unemployment, a depressed U.S. housing market, and bank and business closures. Many of these items affected WholeCo, since performance of its key product categories is directly tied both to retailer performance and to housing starts. Market volatility was high and predictability low for WholeCo during this period as retailers increased the frequency of product line reviews in an effort to both lower their own cost structures and improve their cash flow positions. Simultaneously, product and component suppliers increased their selling prices to help offset rising production costs, and lenders tightened credit policies, which forced several of WholeCo’s long-time customers to file bankruptcy, thus confronting WholeCo with both loss in receivables and loss in continuing revenue stream. In summary, during the study period, WholeCo operated as a complex and dynamic
  • 114. entity in a volatile environment that required organizational change to be frequent, rapid, and coordinated throughout the whole-system of WholeCo. The following section describes a particular process, the customer proposal process, used by WholeCo to coordinate organizational change. 32 Customer Proposal Process As is common with the wholesaler-retailer relationship in the consumer products industry, frequent customer proposals are submitted by WholeCo to its retail customers. These proposals are often initiated by retailer line reviews, which typically resemble an auction process as the retailer bids out a particular category to the incumbent wholesaler and its competitors in order to obtain price concessions and improve its product portfolio. WholeCo may also initiate
  • 115. customer proposals as it develops new products, enters new categories, or attempts to change pricing in order to compensate for cost changes or to potentially delay retailer line reviews through price reductions. WholeCo has long used a cross-functional process for developing and approving customer proposals because of their critical importance to its revenue and profit. It is essential for the continued relationship with its customers that WholeCo makes only proposals that it can fully support from a product, delivery, and financial standpoint. WholeCo seeks to ensure this support through cross-functional alignment before it submits proposals to its retail customers. In order to establish cross-functional alignment, customer proposals are initiated by the WholeCo Marketing department, either in response to a customer request or as a proactive push for new product placement or pricing, by
  • 116. compiling information (see Figure 1) including product mix and estimated volumes, customer programs, product 33 costs, estimates of retail sales price and retailer margin, and aggregated sales and profit impact for WholeCo. Once initiated by the Marketing department, customer proposals flow through each functional department (Operations, Finance, and various Sales channels) for review, commentary, and approval or rejection (see Figure 2). Customer proposals might be modified anywhere along the process but generally require unanimous approval before submission to the CFO and CEO for final approval. A flowchart of the process is presented in Figure 3.
  • 117. The WholeCo customer proposal process is presented in this study as an example of a whole-system process since it serves as a critical component of external and internal systems boundaries between the organization, its customers, its suppliers, and its parent organization. It involves essentially all functions of the organization (either directly or through representation), it provides feedback both to and from the system and its exogenous and endogenous environments, and the WholeCo metrics it represents (e.g. sales, margins, and profitability) define WholeCo’s raison d’être relative to its parent company. 34
  • 137. 35 Figure 2. Customer Proposal Approval Form Originator: Date: Project Title: Number:
  • 138. Project Description: Product Category: New Model Number: Expected Launch/Ship Date: Approval / Signatures Yes No Comments: Originator(s) (Trade Mktg Mgr & Sales) Date Comments: Marketing Manager--Trade Date Comments: VP Marketing Manager - Retail Date Comments: VP Marketing Manager - Contractor Date Comments: VP Sales Date Comments: VP Sales Date
  • 139. Comments: Director of Finance Date Comments: VP Finance and Operations Date Comments: Director of Supply Chain Date Comments: CFO Date Comments: CEO Date APPROVAL APPROVAL FORM 36
  • 140.
  • 159. 37 Interventions Because of the critical role of the WholeCo customer proposal process in generating and managing organizational revenue, margins, and profitability, WholeCo management initiated two distinct and successive interventions during the longitudinal period covered by this study, in efforts to improve the efficacy of the customer proposal process by quotation responses to customers, so that decisions were more relevant to the current environments of both WholeCo and its customers, and maintain alignment of each proposal with the greater system goals.
  • 160. The successive timing of these two management interventions provides three distinct time segments within the longitudinal period that serve for hypotheses testing as quasi-experimental groups (see Figure 4): -faire group – experiencing no intervention itional group – experiencing a diagnostic-based intervention, and -Dialogic group – experiencing a diagnostic- dialogic-based intervention. 38 The following sections frame the research question,
  • 161. operationalize the three quasi- experimental groups, operationalize five outcome variables, and develop hypotheses to respond to the research question and to test the effect of the quasi-experimental groups on the outcome variables. Research Question Based on the three quasi-experimental groups (Laissez-faire, Traditional, and Diagnostic-Dialogic), the research question is: In the context of the WholeCo customer proposal process, how do the effects of a Diagnostic-Dialogic intervention contrast with those of a Traditional (diagnostic) intervention and those of a Laissez-faire approach? The research question refers specifically to the following: the quality of commentary incorporated into the process, Figure 4. Longitudinal Timeline
  • 162. Diagnostic-Dialogic From: June 10, 2008 March 3, 2010 March 3, 2011 To: February 26, 2010 February 28, 2011 October 25, 2011 Laissez-Faire Traditional 39 proposal profitability metrics, and Quasi-Experimental Groups The following sections describe the organizational changes initiated by the two management interventions that operationalize the three quasi- experimental groups. Laissez-faire The Laissez-faire group of customer proposals may be characterized as opportunistic or reactive proposals since they were generally initiated in
  • 163. response either to a general growth goal or to a retailer special request. While the process flow and approval forms were consistent with the description provided earlier, each proposal tended to stand alone and was evaluated on somewhat ambiguous standards. WholeCo set total business objectives during this period, but it did not typically establish aligned and specific profit objectives by customer and product categories. This practice essentially made general revenue growth and average profit rates the primary benchmarks. Both the WholeCo CEO and CFO were heavily involved in most customer proposals during this period, since each proposal was unique and was often evaluated against overall strategic plans and management intuition. Traditional As WholeCo experienced growth, WholeCo management realized that the Laissez- faire customer proposal process was becoming too burdensome to maintain, since it
  • 164. 40 required the CEO and CFO to allocate greater amounts of time evaluating an increasing number of customer proposals. This realization led to a management intervention in March 2010 designed to provide WholeCo functional areas with a budgetary framework for proposal evaluation, as is characteristic of a traditional, diagnostic-based process, by requiring that all customer proposals include a diagnostic review form (see Table 3). With this intervention, WholeCo management hoped to influence functional behavior by reducing ambiguity relative to business objectives (i.e., financial goals), enabling comparison with a known performance standard, constructing a comparative framework for dialogue, and encouraging functional areas to prescribe changes to meet normative
  • 165. standards. These goals are each consistent with diagnostic organizational change approaches that are characterized by comparative and diagnostic dialogue and by a focus on gathering data in order to diagnose problems, prescribe change, and influence behavior. Diagnostic-Dialogic WholeCo management initiated another organizational change to the customer proposal process in March 2011 in response to concerns that too many proposals were becoming stuck in a “churning” mode as the Marketing department wrestled with incompatible WholeCo and retailer goals for product pricing, delivery timing, or other objectives. Management realized that the Marketing department (proposal initiating department) often dealt with these dilemmas by repeated shuffling of potential product offerings and by procrastination in proposal routing.
  • 166. 41 Direct appeals by the Marketing department to the CEO, prior to routing customer proposals, also became more commonplace as a result of concerns that the Finance department or the CFO would reject the customer proposal because of its inability to meet targeted WholeCo profit goals as defined by the diagnostic process Table 3. Traditional Intervention - Diagnostic Tool
  • 167. Better Packaged (Worse) Proposal Plan vs. Plan Gross Sales $230 $185 $45 Customer Allowances 30 10 (20) Net S ales 200 175 25 Product Costs 150 140 (10) Product Margin 50 35 15 % of Net Sales 25.0% 20.0% 5.0% Other Cost of Sales 25 10 (15) Gross Margin 25 25 0 % of Net Sales 12.5% 14.3% -1.8% Sales & Admin Costs 5 3 (2) Profitability $20 $22 ($2) % of Net Sales 10.0% 12.6% -2.6% DIAGNOS TIC COMPARIS ON 1 1 Numbers are demonstrative and are not drawn from any sp ecific WholeCo p rop osal in
  • 168. order to maintain confidentiality 42 used in the Traditional segment. In these cases, the CEO and CFO generally met to personally structure creative proposals that would provide a competitive offering to the retailer and provide WholeCo with a sustainable revenue and profit stream. These restructured proposals often required contemplation of factors outside the normal diagnostic process to alter the perception of either WholeCo or retailer goals in order to create a previously unrecognized alternative. With this second intervention, WholeCo management intended to their interrelationships for deeper dialogue;
  • 169. through a systemic lens and multiple frameworks; and WholeCo environment continued to dynamically change in relation to suppliers, retailers, its parent company, and the overall marketplace. Management intervened in the customer proposal process by requiring all proposals to include a diagnostic-dialogic, accounting metrics review (see Figure 5) to encourage organizational change, a systemic perspective, and rigorous measurement. 43
  • 213. to m a in ta in c o n fi d e n ti a li ty 44 As indicated in the conceptual diagnostic-dialogic model developed in Chapter 2, the WholeCo diagnostic-dialogic, accounting metrics model (Figure
  • 214. 5) starts with an accounting metric symbolization of WholeCo’s link with its parent company (exogenous system). From this normative boundary (i.e., budget or plan), the diagnostic section of the WholeCo model recognizes environmental impacts through the feedback properties of accounting metrics (i.e., change in demand and increase in supplier cost). It then reveals diagnostic (corrective) processes that attempt to sustain homeostasis (stability) among the WholeCo (endogenous) system and exogenous systems (i.e., release of customer program funds). Following this diagnostic section, the diagnostic-dialogic section of the WholeCo model demonstrates how accounting metrics promote and record the double-loop processes that are in action. This characteristic is shown by the encouragement of collaborative discussions to reach a new goal state (i.e., new sales opportunity, make/buy conversation, and incremental overhead absorption
  • 215. opportunity) indicative of a cybernetic double-loop process. The WholeCo model then completes with a summary of both diagnostic and diagnostic-dialogic impacts of the customer proposal. But perhaps the best way to demonstrate the diagnostic-dialogic and systemic characteristics of the customer proposal process, post- diagnostic-dialogic 45 intervention, is to provide a narrative account of one of its successes, which resulted in the launch of a new million-dollar product line. Diagnostic-Dialogic Narrative Early in the second quarter of 2011 (after the diagnostic- dialogic intervention), the WholeCo Marketing and Sales functions met with a major retailer to propose its
  • 216. switch of a particular product line from a competitor to WholeCo. This proposal was unsuccessful; however, during their meeting, the retailer mentioned an issue it faced with a Christmas promotional offering that required a specialty product outside of the product categories offered by either the competitor or WholeCo. This type of discussion would typically have ended in pleasantries such as “maybe we can help in the future” or “perhaps next year we can meet again,” particularly since the specialty product mentioned was not contemplated as a WholeCo product line, the introduction timeframe was extremely short (approximately six months), and initial profitability levels would not likely meet WholeCo targets. Indeed, the meeting ended without commitment but with a general understanding that WholeCo would see what it could do. The Marketing and Sales functions returned to WholeCo and initiated interactive
  • 217. discussions, using a diagnostic-dialogic process (see example in Figure 5) to determine whether a feasible alternative to the specialty product might be offered to the retailer. During the next few weeks, the various organizational functions gathered 46 data on sourcing and manufacturing capabilities, estimated marketplace acceptance, preliminary product designs, investment requirements, and estimated profitability. This data gathering resulted in the generation of an alternative that would meet the retailer’s objective and timeline but would not meet WholeCo profit requirements. However, the strategic importance of the retailer was highlighted during dialogue initiated as part of completing the diagnostic-dialogic model; and because of the revised lens of the customer proposal as a “new product
  • 218. introduction” rather than as a one-time product promotion, WholeCo committed to the project. The subsequent proposal won the retailer’s Christmas promotion. WholeCo delivered the product in less than six months, dramatically less than normal product development time of a year or more, and the product was a hit on the retailer shelf. But like any good story, there was not an immediate happy ending; the project reduced WholeCo profitability in the category below its planned objectives. Retailer promotions, especially seasonal promotions, are notoriously unpredictable in their potential for recurrence, and the mix of retail product success but WholeCo profitability reduction would normally have led to this WholeCo event being relegated to “experience” while it moved on to the next line review or next promotional opportunity. But WholeCo was intrigued by what it had accomplished—
  • 219. something that had not been done before; and the functional areas continued running 47 the customer proposal process to determine whether potential for a better outcome existed. Note that the process was not running in a typical “corrective” fashion that would seek to turn around profit margins on a poorly performing product line. This product was considered one-time, and WholeCo was content to recognize it as a strategic concession for future growth with its customer. But this time was different. Now the WholeCo functions had a way to surface hidden functional assumptions through accounting metrics embedded in a diagnostic-dialogic process and to see them through a greater lens, a systemic lens. The WholeCo functions continued to use the customer proposal forms as a framework but also
  • 220. extended discussions outside the official forms in order to discover resolutions to the dilemmas revealed through the surfacing of underlying assumptions. In short order, WholeCo was able to accomplish several objectives: -party royalty charge by converting to a related company brand ncept to similar product items 48 Changes occurred throughout the WholeCo system, resulting in the launch of a new million-dollar product line for WholeCo with higher than planned profitability.
  • 221. Subsequently, WholeCo management requested feedback from the functional managers about the customer proposal process post- diagnostic- dialogic intervention. The following quotes, obtained from that feedback, provide additional empirical observation of the dual characteristics of the diagnostic- dialogic, accounting metrics process. (Marketing Head) One of the primary differences in the [diagnostic-dialogic] process is that it opens up discussions to new options as well as recognizing the consequences of those options and potential alternatives. It widens the benchmarking process from a narrowly defined goal benchmark to discuss what is the actual, right benchmark for comparison. It forces you to think not just of the decision of the moment but also about likely future impact and decisions that will need to be made
  • 222. down the road. (Operational Head) You have to anticipate how the proposal will fit with existing goals and call together functions to determine appropriate corrective actions or goal revisions before submitting the proposals if you see there is a disconnect. It helps make departmental functions aware of changing priorities and helps them know when to call together ad hoc groups for discussion. This results in more discussion and better alignment among the functions and enables proposals to go through more quickly. (Finance Head) Preliminary conversations are key to the process, and the written commentary within the proposal forms is reflective of those preliminary conversations. This results in proposals being
  • 223. accepted by management faster and more frequently. 49 (Sales Head) One of the differences in the [diagnostic-dialogic] process is that it is not just a financial tool. It is a decision process to see more scenarios and to help make strategic decisions. Hypotheses The research model is designed to test the impact of the three quasi-experimental variables on five outcome variables: completion time, quantity of commentary, quality of commentary, profitability alignment, and customer acceptance. With the exception of profitability alignment, each outcome variable was
  • 224. present in all quasi- experimental groups. The outcome variable profitability alignment was present only in the Traditional and Diagnostic-Dialogic groups since archived data was not available for the Laissez-faire group. The following paragraphs describe the operationalization of these outcome variables and develop a priori hypotheses regarding their behavior under the influence of each quasi- experimental group. Hypothesis 1: Completion Time Each customer proposal contains an initiation date to indicate when the WholeCo Marketing department initiated the approval process) as well as the date of final approval or rejection (see Figure 2). The time between the final approval or rejection date and the initiation date is captured as a total number of elapsed days to represent completion time.
  • 225. 50 Because of the ambiguity of the Laissez-faire process, the greater structure of the Traditional process, and the greater interactive nature of the Diagnostic-Dialogic process, I hypothesized the following: H1a Completion time will decrease in the Traditional group relative to the Laissez-faire group. H1b Completion time will decrease in the Diagnostic-Dialogic group relative to both the Traditional and Laissez-faire groups. Hypothesis 2: Quantity of Commentary As shown in Figure 2, specific and assigned space was provided on each customer proposal, during all quasi-experimental groups, for each functional head to record any written comments desired. While comments were not required, they were encouraged, particularly in cases where the functional head had a strong
  • 226. opinion (pro or con) or where the functional head believed additional explanation was required to explain what might appear a strategic or counterintuitive decision. This written commentary was captured by department for each customer proposal and maintained on the archived proposals. The quantity of commentary for each proposal was captured by dummy coding, with “0” being assigned for each comment field that either was blank or contained only the notations “N/A” or “None,” and with“1” being assigned for each comment field that contained written commentary other than “N/A” or “None.” The aggregate number of nonzero comment fields for each record was assigned as the value of quantity of commentary for that record. The potential value for any record 51
  • 227. ranged from 0, reflecting no comments, to 9, reflecting comments by each function (i.e., marketing, 3 sales functions, operations, finance, other, CFO, and CEO), although no record exhibited more than 6 comments. Since the diagnostic nature of the Traditional group should logically motivate individuals to explain significant differences of the proposal to the normative goal (plan), and since the combined nature of the Diagnostic- Dialogic group should logically motivate even greater commentary because of its inclusion of both normative comparison and generative double-loop construction of new goals, the following hypotheses were proposed: H2a Quantity of commentary will increase in the Traditional group relative to the Laissez-faire group. H2b Quantity of commentary will increase in the Diagnostic- Dialogic group relative to both the Traditional and Laissez-faire groups.
  • 228. Hypothesis 3: Quality of Commentary Written commentary provided in the space for functional comments was maintained verbatim in the archived forms. These comments provided the basis for the outcome variable, quality of commentary, by representing the degree of systemic commentary present in each proposal. 52 The archived proposals contained a total of 1,206 comments, which were coded as functional, systemic, or unclassified. Quality of commentary is defined for each record as the number of systemic comments divided by the total number of functional and systemic comments, namely, Systemic / (Functional + Systemic). Descriptions of functional and systemic comments, examples of each type of comment from the
  • 229. Marketing department, and a discussion of the iterative coding process are given in the following sections. Commentary Types Functional comments are those describing or justifying the decision to approve or reject a proposal without evidence of discussions with or data retrieval from others. Examples include the following: TDA are due to the heavy amount of business [customer] does in [specific product which]…is our highest margin sku. . . . Priced to be competitive at retail with [competitor] & provide [customer] a min margin of [X]% centages prep for line review Systemic comments are those describing or justifying the decision to approve or reject a proposal, with specific reference to discussions or decision-making activities
  • 230. with (or data retrieval from) other organizational or external functions. Examples include the following: 53 [Customer] and [WholeCo] with a positive change… The long term goal is to show a lift in POS [i.e. retailer sales rate] with this new sku which will lead to increased distribution and possible [sic] an innovation end cap feature. Sales team indicates a high confidence in successfully passing …. price adder to the customer….. This will be a good test of [product] in market in U.S. (emphasis added) proposing this sku as a tax season promo for 2012 that should still provide a re-order for us in 2011. This lowers GM
  • 231. [slightly]. This is a small impact to keep our positive positioning going with the Associate buyer as we were recently notified we will have a new buyer and we wish to start our relationship positively. This is a new buyer and we are working to build a relationship with him. (emphasis added) needed. The plan per [Sales] is to maintain these at [X]% EBITDA which is above plan. levels and offer them at a net- net with no program or Price up if program is needed (emphasis added) Unclassified comments are those representing comments that are neither functional nor systemic. Examples include the following: [customer] by [date]. -time purchase. Consensual Coding Process Before proceeding to hypotheses development for the outcome
  • 232. variable, quality of commentary, it is important to describe the iterative process used to code commentary in the customer proposal forms. Through this process, I reached full consensus with 54 the WholeCo CEO as to the coding for each of the 1,206 comments as functional, systemic, or unclassified. Step 1 All comments were segregated by their membership in the following functional departments: Marketing, three different Sales functions, Finance, Operations, and Other. In order to avoid potential bias in coding, all comments from the CFO and CEO were excluded, resulting in an exclusion of 159 comments and a final coding population of 1,206 comments.
  • 233. Step 2 All record identifiers were hidden before coding, leaving only the department name and actual comment visible in order to ensure blind coding. The department name was necessary in order to make contextual judgments about whether a comment was functional or systemic based on the intradepartmental, interdepartmental, or external nature of discussions. Step 3 As researcher, I conducted initial coding of 483 comments made by the Marketing department and subsequently requested that the CEO code a sample of 19 of the most difficult comments, representing approximately 4% of the Marketing comments, for comparison. Comments were identified as difficult whenever I vacillated between the appropriate codes during coding. The first round of coding comparison resulted in a 31.6% agreement rate between my coding and the CEO’s coding.