Thesis advisor: Andy Hargreaves / After a decade of large-scale educational reform there is now a growing interest in grass-roots self-initiated change (Datnow et al., 2002; Hargreaves, 2009; Hargreaves & Shirley, 2009; Shirley, 2009). Yet, self-initiated change (SIC) remains largely undertheorized in the literature of educational change. Even the advocates of self-initiated change do not clearly specify the underlying mechanisms and the multi-dimensional processes by which SIC occurs. Utilizing a qualitative case study approach and a conceptual framework that draws from incremental institutional change theory and the literature on social movements within institutions, this study explored the following research questions: * What mechanisms do the change agents of SIC employ, How do they implement these mechanisms and why do they employ these mechanisms? * What are the characteristics of the processes of SIC? What is the pacing and sequencing of the change? * How does SIC unfold over time, and why? In answering these three initial questions a fourth research question emerged that summates the other three: *What implications does an investigation of self-initiated change in one school have for understanding existing theories of self-initiated and imposed educational change? Findings from this study revealed that self-initiated change involved a recombination that embodied the ideal of "change without pain" by balancing change and stability (Abrahamson, 2004). The process of self-initiated change turned out to be slow-moving (Pierson, 2004; Thelen & Mahoney, 2010). Mindful juxtaposition (Huy, 2001) and a dialectical perspective (Hargrave & Van de Ven, 2009) were required to address the multiple and contradictory dimensions of change. Based on these analyses, I propose ways of conceptualizing SIC as: "change without pain"; "slow-moving change"; and "dialectical/ cyclical change." / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

No atual ambiente corporativo, a implementação de mudanças organizacionais tornou-se um fato freqüente. Nesse processo de mudanças, o discurso organizacional presente nos textos produzidos pela alta administração, que constituem o discurso formal, acaba expressando pensamentos nem sempre aceitos sem questionamentos por todos os gestores da organização, dificultando o processo de mudança. A presença de discursos menos coerentes ou de discursos que competem com o discurso organizacional pode dificultar ou mesmo comprometer a eficácia do processo de mudança. Esta tese defende que, na ocorrência de um processo de mudança da Contabilidade Gerencial numa organização, o discurso influencia os níveis de institucionalização de novos conceitos que se desejam implementados. Para realizar o estudo a respeito dessa influência, utilizou-se de uma abordagem da Teoria Institucional, sob o enfoque da Velha Economia Institucional, usando-se como arcabouço teórico o modelo proposto por Burns e Scapens (2000), com ênfase nos estágios de codificação e institucionalização, bem como o modelo discursivo de institucionalização proposto por Phillips et al. (2004). O método de pesquisa aplicado foi o estudo de caso único, realizado na Caixa Econômica Federal, uma instituição financeira pública de grande porte que realiza simultaneamente atividades de natureza social (como uma agência governamental de fomento e administração exclusiva de fundos) e de natureza econômica (como um banco comercial que compete com outras instituições no mercado financeiro), a qual passou recentemente por um processo de mudanças profundas em sua Contabilidade Gerencial. Por meio da análise documental, seguida da realização de entrevistas com gestores da administração central e da análise do discurso, foi possível detectar a coexistência de dois discursos na organização: discurso social e discurso econômico. Posteriormente, foram aplicados questionários aos gestores das agências e gestores de produtos, usuários do Sistema de Contabilidade Gerencial, obtendo-se 4.259 respostas, no intuito de se verificar a ocorrência de associações entre os discursos e os níveis de institucionalização dos novos conceitos implementados na mudança. Os dados coletados foram objeto dos seguintes tratamentos estatísticos: estatística descritiva, Análise da Variância (ANOVA), Análise de Homogeneidade (Homals) e Análise de Correspondência (ANACOR). Verificou-se que há uma associação positiva entre a concordância com os conceitos de Contabilidade Gerencial e a concordância com o discurso econômico. Os indivíduos classificados como mais aderentes ao discurso econômico encontram-se associados positivamente entre um nível de institucionalização forte e médio, enquanto os indivíduos classificados como aderentes ao discurso social apresentaram associação positiva com o nível de institucionalização fraco. Dessa forma, os resultados sugerem que há influência do discurso no processo de institucionalização de conceitos de Contabilidade Gerencial, corroborando as proposições de Phillips et al. (2004), de que uma maior coerência entre discursos e conceitos presentes em textos tende a produzir instituições mais fortes e a existência de competição, entre dois discursos, pode dificultar um processo de mudança conceitual. À luz desses resultados, infere-se que o discurso, quando inserido em um processo de mudança conceitual, deva ser estruturado de acordo com as características e com o repertório de crenças de seu público-alvo, o que poderá provocar uma união coerente entre o exercício da linguagem e a prática operacional, possibilitando a transformação do campo institucional para o campo de ação de forma eficaz. / Within the current corporative environment, the implementation of organizational changes has been frequent. In this process of changes, the organizational discourse, found in the formal texts produced by the high administration, eventually expresses thoughts not always accepted before being firstly questioned by the other managers and that may cause difficulties for the changing process. The presence of less coherent discourses or discourses that challenge the organizational discourse may hinder or even affect the efficacy of changes. This thesis advocates that during a changing process within the Managerial Accounting of an organization, the discourse influences the levels for institutionalizing new concepts. This study of such influence was carried out by means of the Institutional Theory under the focus of the Old Institutional Economy, having as its theoretical framework the model proposed by Burns & Scapens (2000), emphasizing the stages of codification and institutionalization, as well as the discourse model of institutionalization proposed by Phillips et al. (2004). The research method consisted of a single case study related to Caixa Econômica Federal, a large public financial institution which performs social activities (as a governmental agency for funding and exclusive administration of funds) and economical activities (as a commercial bank which competes with other institutions in the financial market), which has recently undergone a process of deep changes in its Managerial Accounting. Through an analysis of documents, followed by interviews with central administration managers and discourse analysis, the co-existence of two discourses in the organization could be detected: social discourse and economical discourse. Later, questionnaires were applied to the managers of the bank branches and the managers of products, and to the users of the Managerial Accounting System in order to verify associations between the discourses and the levels of institutionalization of the new concepts. Out of the questionnaires, 4,259 answers were obtained. The data were submitted to the following statistical treatments: descriptive analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Analysis of Homogeneity (Homals) and Analysis of Correspondence (ANACOR). It could be verified that there is a positive association between the concordance with the concepts of Managerial Accounting and a concordance with the economical discourse. The individuals classified as most adherent to the economical discourse are those positively associated with and between a strong or average level of institutionalization. On the other hand, those individuals adherent to the social discourse have a positive association with the weak level of institutionalization. Thus, the results suggest that the discourse influences the process for institutionalizing concepts of Managerial Accounting and corroborate the propositions of Phillips et al (2004) for a greater coherence between discourses, that concepts within texts may lead to stronger institutions, and that the existence of competition between two discourses may hinder the process of conceptual change. In face of these results one may say that the discourse, whenever placed in a process of conceptual change, must be structured according to the characteristics and beliefs of the target public, which may cause a coherent union between the exercise of the language and the operational practice and allow for an efficient transformation of the institutional site into a field of action.

A excelência logística constitui-se em um dos temas de freqüentes discussões no contexto acadêmico e empresarial, face à representatividade da atividade logística para a competitividade das organizações. Diversos autores apontam a existência de áreas-chave para o alcance dessa excelência, mas deixam de abordar as possíveis relações que possam existir entre elas. Diante deste cenário, o trabalho tem como objetivo contribuir com a identificação e caracterização das relações entre tais áreas-chave, mais especificamente no disparo e nos resultados gerados por processos de mudanças relacionados à logística. Para tanto, realizou-se um estudo de múltiplos casos junto a seis empresas do setor de bens de capital agrícolas identificadas pelo processo de amostragem do trabalho como empresas de excelência logística. Os resultados da pesquisa permitiram constatar que áreas-chave da excelência logística se relacionam diretamente com o disparo de processos de mudanças, além de sofrerem impactos com os resultados gerados pelos mesmos. Outro importante resultado reside na construção de uma estrutura apontando as principais características de casos bem sucedidos em gestão de mudanças relacionadas à logística de empresas do setor de bens de capital agrícolas, podendo servir como base de referência para empresas de outros setores na melhoria de seus processos logísticos. / The logistical excellence has been a frequently discussed topic in the enterprise and academic context, due to the importance of logistics to enhance the companies\' competitiveness. Several authors pointed out the existence of key elements to achieving the logistical excellence, but they usually fail to approach possible relationships among these elements, mainly when referring to triggers and results of logistics change process. In this way, the aim of this work was to identify and characterize these relationships. Therefore, a multiple-case study was undertaken in six companies, which were identified by research sampling process as high logistical performing companies. The results of this research confirm the relationships between the key elements and the change triggers and outcomes. The second research\'s contribution concerns the construction of a descriptive panel about the main characteristics of successful logistics change management in agricultural capital goods sector, which may be used by different industrial segments as reference for logistics process improvement.

This thesis is aiming at finding a solution for the manufacturing company IRO AB inUlricehamn, Sweden to communicate the changes that are made in processes and products ofthe company to its Chinese subsidiary company IWTC. The company wants to have a systemthrough which any change and improvement happened at one company is communicated toanother one in order to exercise the same changes at parallel processes that are running at bothcompanies. To solve their problem and to find an effective solution, first current situationregarding change processes at the company is examined to make sure that all changes andimprovements made at the company are registered in a structured way. Then differentcommunication channels existed between two companies is reviewed to find out thepossibilities and capacities of the company. This thesis focuses on using the ERP system as acommunication tool at both companies IRO AB and IWTC through which all the changes canbe registered and communicated in an effective, fast way. This capacity in ERP systems isfound out through a comprehensive study of this concept and its characteristics that has beendone in this research.

The overall goal of the thesis was to investigate the nature of the healthy human self and the process of achieving health. This was undertaken by reviewing established self-theory and presenting a summary of each theory and its position with regard to self-composition, self-agency and the nature of the healthy self. An inclusive self-theory was then developed, congruent with reviewed literature, which positioned spirituality as the essential core of self. From the foundational Spiritual Theory of Self and the findings of the first study in this thesis, the Health Change Process Theory was developed to explain and predict how people achieve sustainable health. Three subsequent studies resulted in the construction and testing of a quantitative measure which enabled scientific investigation of the nature of the healthy self and the process of achieving health. Method The methodology of the four studies in this thesis was based on the instrumental approach which posits that, while there are procedural differences between qualitative and quantitative methodologies, philosophically speaking, there is no fundamental difference as they are both equally applicable and valuable. Consequently, the methodology judged to be the most appropriate instrument to investigate each study's topic of inquiry was chosen rather than allegiance to either qualitative or quantitative methodology. The first study was qualitative, as it investigated the definition of health and the process by which it was achieved from the perspective of 30 people with chronic musculoskeletal impairments. The findings from this study provided the theoretical basis for the three subsequent questionnaire development and validation studies. The second study used qualitative methodology with 59 participants to identify participant-generated items used in a new quantitative holistic health questionnaire and then employed quantitative methods to perform preliminary tests of the reliability and validity of this measure. The third study used quantitative methods with 233 participants to evaluate more robustly the reliability, content and concurrent validity of the original developmental measure and another, behaviourally-orientated assessment instrument, which used the identical item content but re-framed in the past tense. The fourth study employed qualitative and quantitative methods with 205 participants to evaluate the clinical validity of the scale found to possess reliability and validity in the previous investigation. Results The critical review of self-theory concluded with the development of the Spiritual Theory of Self. The initial study supported this theory as a robust explanation and predictor of the determinants of a healthy self. Furthermore, the findings of this study and a review of relevant literature concluded with the development of a Health Change Process Theory, which was based on the Spiritual Theory of Self. The Health Change Process Theory explains and predicts the process by which a healthy self develops. The subsequent questionnaire development and validation studies sought to provide a quantitative holistic assessment tool, congruent with the Health Change Process Theory, and found the 28-item QE Health Scale (QEHS) to be a reliable and valid measure of holistic health. These results also demonstrated that the Health Change Process Theory and the underpinning Spiritual Theory of Self were robust. With regard to clinical application, the QEHS was found to aid assessment, therapeutic intervention, a client-centred holistic approach to healthcare and evidenced-based practice. The Patient Profile, derived from QEHS responses, provided a tool that enabled theory to be applied to practice by identifying the key indicator personal attributes determining holistic health status. Conclusion The research results demonstrated that the Spiritual Theory of Self and the Health Change Process Theory provide valid explanations of the constructs that enable people with musculoskeletal disorders to remain otherwise healthy with such conditions. Furthermore, the relationship between the findings and established self-theories suggest that the Spiritual Theory of Self and the Health Change Process Theory may advance knowledge of the predictors and interventions that enable all people to undertake a health-enhancing process of change when confronted with adversity. The QEHS and associated Patient Profile were found to be reliable and valid tools that facilitated assessment and enhancement of the holistic health status for people with musculoskeletal impairments. These tools identified barriers to achievement of holistic health, predicted by the Health Change Process Theory; facilitated the therapeutic process through a focus on issues meaningful to those receiving healthcare; aided treatment decision making; and enabled quantitative evidence-based evaluation of the efficacy of interventions. Moreover, the overall results have advanced psychological knowledge with implications for all fields of psychology involved in the study of people. The evidence of the research undertaken provides a basis for promoting knowledge and research of chronic healthcare delivery and a spiritually based conception of self and health. The QEHS and associated theories provide a tool and basis for investigations where people are experiencing traumatic, irreversible crises. However, the initial aims of further research should be to refine the QEHS and the associated Patient Profile to enable the use of theory and the QEHS across a diverse range of research populations and to investigate the applicability of these to facilitate the maintenance or achievement of a healthy self.

<p><p><strong>ABSTRAKT </strong><strong></strong></p></p><p> <strong>Syfte: </strong>Detta arbete har haft två syften:</p><p>1) Att skapa en ökad förståelse för hur en organisationsövergripande konsekvensanalys kan inverka på förändringsprocessers utfall.</p><p>samt</p><p>2) Att inleda utvecklingen av ett pedagogiskt verktyg för att genomföra konsekvensanalys i förändringsprocesser samt genomföra ett inledande test av detta verktyg.</p><p><strong>Metod:</strong> Detta arbete är en kvalitativ fallstudie. Efter en inledande litteraturstudie har metoden för datainsamling varit kvalitativa intervjuer av såväl ostrukturerad som semi-strukturerad karaktär. Vid analysen av insamlad data har tillämpats ett hermeneutiskt synsätt.</p><p><strong>Resultat & slutsats: </strong>Den i undersökningen genomförda konsekvensanalysen visar tydligt hur en konsekvensanalys kan förändra underlaget för beslut, planering och implementering av förändring i organisationer. Grund för konsekvensanalysens betydelse har således funnits i såväl teori som empiri. <strong></strong></p><p>Testet av verktyget visade att de fokusområden som tagits fram upplevdes som relevanta i undersökningsföretagets kontext. Verktyget kräver dock troligtvis vidareutveckling i form av en tydligare handledning och utbildning för att en förståelse av fokusområdenas innehåll och dess inverkan på varandra ska kunna skapas utan konsulthjälp i de flesta organisationer. Detta var ett inledande antagande som stärkts av undersökningens resultat.</p><p><strong>Förslag till fortsatt forskning:</strong> En svaghet i undersökningen är att konsekvensanalysen på grund av tillgången på undersökningsföretag fick utföras i ett annat skede av förändringsprocessen än vad som är tänkt vara dess huvudsakliga placering. Det vore önskvärt att i framtiden utföra det på sin tänkta placering, innan beslut om och planering av förändring. Med tanke på den aktuella organisationens begränsade verksamhet då den i princip enbart innefattar försäljning vore det också både intressant och nödvändigt att testa fokusområdenas relevans och konsekvensanalysens inverkan på en större organisation med en högre grad av diversifiering av verksamheten. Dessa är båda lämpliga uppslag för framtida undersökningar.</p><p><strong>Uppsatsens bidrag: </strong>Min förhoppning är att denna uppsats skapat en ökad förståelse för en konsekvensanalys betydelse för ett förändringsarbetes resultat. Arbetet med ett verktyg för att utföra en konsekvensanalys har inletts. I färdigutvecklad form är min förhoppning att detta verktyg ska vara till hjälp för organisationer som ska genomföra förändringsarbete.</p><p><strong>Nyckelord: </strong>organisationsförändring, konsekvensanalys, förändringsprocess, förändringsledning</p> / <p><strong>ABSTRACT</strong></p><p><strong>Aim:</strong> This thesis has two purposes:</p><p>1) To create a better understanding of how an impact analysis may affect the outcome of organizational change processes</p><p> </p><p>and</p><p> </p><p>2) To initiate the development of a tool for carrying out an impact analysis in an organizational change process and carry out an initial test of this tool.</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> This thesis is a qualitative case study. After an initial literature review, the method of data collection has been qualitative interviews of unstructured and semi-structured nature. In the analysis of collected data a hermeneutic approach has been applied.</p><p><strong>Result & Conclusion: </strong>The impact analysis carried out in this case study clearly shows how an impact analysis can affect the basis of decision making, planning and implementation of change in organizations. Thus theoretical as well as empirical ground has been found for its value in organizational change processes. <strong></strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The test of the tool showed that the focus areas developed were perceived as relevant in the company context. The tool, however, most likely needs further development in the form of a user's guide to achieve an understanding of the focus areas, their content, and their impact on each other, good enough to be applied without using external consulting services. This was an initial assumption that was strengthened by the results of the study.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Suggestions for future research: </strong>One limitation of this study may be that the test of the tool had to be carried out at a different stage in the change process from what was initially planned. It would be suitable to test the tool at its originally suggested stage of a change process and also in an organization of a more diversified character. The above mentioned are both suggestions for future studies.</p><p><strong>Contribution of the thesis: </strong>My hope is that this thesis has created a better understanding of how an impact analysis may affect the outcome of organizational change projects. The development of a tool for carrying out an impact analysis has been initiated and in its future complete version this tool may well be of much help for organizations involved in organizational change projects.</p><p><strong>Key words: </strong>organizational change, impact analysis<strong>, </strong>change process, leading change</p>

<p>Sammanfattning</p><p>Utveckling och förändring är kanske två av de mest omtalade begreppen i företagsvärlden, speciellt vad gäller organisationsfrågor. Förändringar är något som organisationer tampats med genom alla tider. I tidigare forskning låg fokus till stor del på hur organisationer skulle bli effektivare genom att höja produktionstakten och liknande. I dagens forskning ligger intresset i att förändringstakten har ökat och förändringarna tenderar att bli mer omvälvande och drastiska. Forskningen idag är även inriktad på mjukare faktorer så som kultur och ledarskap.</p><p>Vårt syfte med undersökningen blir utifrån detta att genom en fallstudie beskriva, förklara och analysera vilka faktorer som främjar och bromsar genomförandet av en förändringsprocess. Vi har valt att göra en fallstudie på en organisationen som nyligen genomgått en förändring samt står inför en förändring av produktionslinjen. Den genomförda förändringens syfte var att effektivisera och höja produktiviteten i en tidigare splittrad och ostrukturerad organisation, bland annat genom att skapa en ny organisationskultur och därigenom förändra mentalitet hos de anställda.</p><p>Till grund för analysen låg vår valda teoriram som vi utvecklat utifrån olika teorier på området förändring, ledarskap och kultur. Vi ansåg det nödvändigt att använda befintliga teorier för att få en bättre och mer strukturerad bild av vad som påverkade olika samband. Några av de teoretiker vi väljer att utgå ifrån är Kotter, Sandström och March och Simon när det gäller förändringsprocesser. Vad gäller organisationskultur valde vi bland annat Schein, Argyris, McGregor, Bang och Herzbergs.</p><p>För att få fram den komplexitet som råder mellan de olika faktorerna valde vi att göra semistrukturerade intervjuer utifrån vår teoriram. Efter en analys av dessa kopplad till teorin kunde vi bland annat dra slutsatserna att ett ledarskap som stödjer delaktighet och kommunikation underlättar mottagandet och genomförandet av förändringsprocesserna. Brist på delaktighet och kommunikation och därmed på informationsutbyte skapar osäkerhet och en lägre acceptansnivå. Vidare kan den genomförda förändringen inte ses som helt genomförd då ledarna fortfarande brister i mjuka delar så som informationsdelgivning.</p><p>Vad gäller kulturen i fallföretaget påverkar den införandet av förändringsprocessen på olika nivåer. Ledarna arbetar för att skapa en kultur gynnsam för förändringar. Hur de anställda sedan upplever detta och om de sedan väljer att lyssna beror på de subkulturer som råder. Att ta bort dessa, som ledarna önskar, kan ta tid. En öppnare organisation med mer dialog och en mindre hierarkisk struktur är förmånligt för förändringen under förutsättningen att alla inblandade har full förståelse för helheten och vad som måste göras och på vilket sätt.</p><p>Slutligen blir frågan om kulturen ska förändras först eller sist, när organisationen står inför en förändring. Här måste en återkoppling göras till dagens föränderliga samhälle och svaret ligger i linje med detta; situationsanpassning.</p> / <p>Abstract</p><p>Development and change may be two of the most discussed subjects in the corporate world, especially when it comes to organizational issues. Change is something organizations has struggled with through the years. Earlier research focused on organizational effectiveness by increasing productivity rates. Focus in to days research lies in softer values like culture and leadership and the increasing pace of organizational change and the fact that changes tends to be more drastic.</p><p>With this in mind the purpose of this study will be to through a case study describe, explain and analyze which factors supports and hinders a successful completion of a change process. We have chosen to conduct our case study at an organization who recently has undergone a change process and are in the preface of a change in their production line. The purpose of the completed changes was to increase the production effectivity and productivity in an earlier divided and unstructured organization, by creating a new organizational culture and there by changing the mentality of the employees.</p><p>As a starting point for our analysis lied our theoretical framework that we developed from different theories on change, leadership and culture. We found it necessary to use existing theories in order to get a better and more structured picture of how the different factors influenced each other. Some of the authors which theories we used are Kotter, Sandström and March and Simon on change process. When it comes to organizational culture we used Schein, Argyris, McGregor, Bang and Herzberg.</p><p>In order to point out the complexity that exist between that different factors we chose to conduct semi structured interviews that were based on our theoretical framework. After an analysis of the interviews linked to the theories we were able to conclude that a leadership supporting participation and communication makes the reception and completion of a change process easier. Lack of these factors and there by of information exchange creates insecurity and a lower level of change process acceptance. Further on can’t the completed change be said to be fully completed as the leaders still fail on the information exchange factor.</p><p>The organizational culture affects the change process on different levels. The leaders try to create a culture supporting change. How the employees see this and if they choose to listen depends on what kind of subcultures that exists. To eliminate these subcultures as the leaders wants can take time. A more open organization with a developed dialog and less of a hierarchic structure will benefit the change process given that all employees are fully aware of the bigger picture and what needs to be done and how.</p><p>Finally the question is whether organizational culture should be changed first or last when an organization faces a change. Here a reconnection has to be done to today’s constant changing society and the answer lies in line with this; situation adjustment.</p>

Sammanfattning Utveckling och förändring är kanske två av de mest omtalade begreppen i företagsvärlden, speciellt vad gäller organisationsfrågor. Förändringar är något som organisationer tampats med genom alla tider. I tidigare forskning låg fokus till stor del på hur organisationer skulle bli effektivare genom att höja produktionstakten och liknande. I dagens forskning ligger intresset i att förändringstakten har ökat och förändringarna tenderar att bli mer omvälvande och drastiska. Forskningen idag är även inriktad på mjukare faktorer så som kultur och ledarskap. Vårt syfte med undersökningen blir utifrån detta att genom en fallstudie beskriva, förklara och analysera vilka faktorer som främjar och bromsar genomförandet av en förändringsprocess. Vi har valt att göra en fallstudie på en organisationen som nyligen genomgått en förändring samt står inför en förändring av produktionslinjen. Den genomförda förändringens syfte var att effektivisera och höja produktiviteten i en tidigare splittrad och ostrukturerad organisation, bland annat genom att skapa en ny organisationskultur och därigenom förändra mentalitet hos de anställda. Till grund för analysen låg vår valda teoriram som vi utvecklat utifrån olika teorier på området förändring, ledarskap och kultur. Vi ansåg det nödvändigt att använda befintliga teorier för att få en bättre och mer strukturerad bild av vad som påverkade olika samband. Några av de teoretiker vi väljer att utgå ifrån är Kotter, Sandström och March och Simon när det gäller förändringsprocesser. Vad gäller organisationskultur valde vi bland annat Schein, Argyris, McGregor, Bang och Herzbergs. För att få fram den komplexitet som råder mellan de olika faktorerna valde vi att göra semistrukturerade intervjuer utifrån vår teoriram. Efter en analys av dessa kopplad till teorin kunde vi bland annat dra slutsatserna att ett ledarskap som stödjer delaktighet och kommunikation underlättar mottagandet och genomförandet av förändringsprocesserna. Brist på delaktighet och kommunikation och därmed på informationsutbyte skapar osäkerhet och en lägre acceptansnivå. Vidare kan den genomförda förändringen inte ses som helt genomförd då ledarna fortfarande brister i mjuka delar så som informationsdelgivning. Vad gäller kulturen i fallföretaget påverkar den införandet av förändringsprocessen på olika nivåer. Ledarna arbetar för att skapa en kultur gynnsam för förändringar. Hur de anställda sedan upplever detta och om de sedan väljer att lyssna beror på de subkulturer som råder. Att ta bort dessa, som ledarna önskar, kan ta tid. En öppnare organisation med mer dialog och en mindre hierarkisk struktur är förmånligt för förändringen under förutsättningen att alla inblandade har full förståelse för helheten och vad som måste göras och på vilket sätt. Slutligen blir frågan om kulturen ska förändras först eller sist, när organisationen står inför en förändring. Här måste en återkoppling göras till dagens föränderliga samhälle och svaret ligger i linje med detta; situationsanpassning. / Abstract Development and change may be two of the most discussed subjects in the corporate world, especially when it comes to organizational issues. Change is something organizations has struggled with through the years. Earlier research focused on organizational effectiveness by increasing productivity rates. Focus in to days research lies in softer values like culture and leadership and the increasing pace of organizational change and the fact that changes tends to be more drastic. With this in mind the purpose of this study will be to through a case study describe, explain and analyze which factors supports and hinders a successful completion of a change process. We have chosen to conduct our case study at an organization who recently has undergone a change process and are in the preface of a change in their production line. The purpose of the completed changes was to increase the production effectivity and productivity in an earlier divided and unstructured organization, by creating a new organizational culture and there by changing the mentality of the employees. As a starting point for our analysis lied our theoretical framework that we developed from different theories on change, leadership and culture. We found it necessary to use existing theories in order to get a better and more structured picture of how the different factors influenced each other. Some of the authors which theories we used are Kotter, Sandström and March and Simon on change process. When it comes to organizational culture we used Schein, Argyris, McGregor, Bang and Herzberg. In order to point out the complexity that exist between that different factors we chose to conduct semi structured interviews that were based on our theoretical framework. After an analysis of the interviews linked to the theories we were able to conclude that a leadership supporting participation and communication makes the reception and completion of a change process easier. Lack of these factors and there by of information exchange creates insecurity and a lower level of change process acceptance. Further on can’t the completed change be said to be fully completed as the leaders still fail on the information exchange factor. The organizational culture affects the change process on different levels. The leaders try to create a culture supporting change. How the employees see this and if they choose to listen depends on what kind of subcultures that exists. To eliminate these subcultures as the leaders wants can take time. A more open organization with a developed dialog and less of a hierarchic structure will benefit the change process given that all employees are fully aware of the bigger picture and what needs to be done and how. Finally the question is whether organizational culture should be changed first or last when an organization faces a change. Here a reconnection has to be done to today’s constant changing society and the answer lies in line with this; situation adjustment.

ABSTRAKT  Syfte: Detta arbete har haft två syften: 1) Att skapa en ökad förståelse för hur en organisationsövergripande konsekvensanalys kan inverka på förändringsprocessers utfall. samt 2) Att inleda utvecklingen av ett pedagogiskt verktyg för att genomföra konsekvensanalys i förändringsprocesser samt genomföra ett inledande test av detta verktyg. Metod: Detta arbete är en kvalitativ fallstudie. Efter en inledande litteraturstudie har metoden för datainsamling varit kvalitativa intervjuer av såväl ostrukturerad som semi-strukturerad karaktär. Vid analysen av insamlad data har tillämpats ett hermeneutiskt synsätt. Resultat &amp; slutsats: Den i undersökningen genomförda konsekvensanalysen visar tydligt hur en konsekvensanalys kan förändra underlaget för beslut, planering och implementering av förändring i organisationer. Grund för konsekvensanalysens betydelse har således funnits i såväl teori som empiri. Testet av verktyget visade att de fokusområden som tagits fram upplevdes som relevanta i undersökningsföretagets kontext. Verktyget kräver dock troligtvis vidareutveckling i form av en tydligare handledning och utbildning för att en förståelse av fokusområdenas innehåll och dess inverkan på varandra ska kunna skapas utan konsulthjälp i de flesta organisationer. Detta var ett inledande antagande som stärkts av undersökningens resultat. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: En svaghet i undersökningen är att konsekvensanalysen på grund av tillgången på undersökningsföretag fick utföras i ett annat skede av förändringsprocessen än vad som är tänkt vara dess huvudsakliga placering. Det vore önskvärt att i framtiden utföra det på sin tänkta placering, innan beslut om och planering av förändring. Med tanke på den aktuella organisationens begränsade verksamhet då den i princip enbart innefattar försäljning vore det också både intressant och nödvändigt att testa fokusområdenas relevans och konsekvensanalysens inverkan på en större organisation med en högre grad av diversifiering av verksamheten. Dessa är båda lämpliga uppslag för framtida undersökningar. Uppsatsens bidrag: Min förhoppning är att denna uppsats skapat en ökad förståelse för en konsekvensanalys betydelse för ett förändringsarbetes resultat. Arbetet med ett verktyg för att utföra en konsekvensanalys har inletts. I färdigutvecklad form är min förhoppning att detta verktyg ska vara till hjälp för organisationer som ska genomföra förändringsarbete. Nyckelord: organisationsförändring, konsekvensanalys, förändringsprocess, förändringsledning / ABSTRACT Aim: This thesis has two purposes: 1) To create a better understanding of how an impact analysis may affect the outcome of organizational change processes   and   2) To initiate the development of a tool for carrying out an impact analysis in an organizational change process and carry out an initial test of this tool. Method: This thesis is a qualitative case study. After an initial literature review, the method of data collection has been qualitative interviews of unstructured and semi-structured nature. In the analysis of collected data a hermeneutic approach has been applied. Result &amp; Conclusion: The impact analysis carried out in this case study clearly shows how an impact analysis can affect the basis of decision making, planning and implementation of change in organizations. Thus theoretical as well as empirical ground has been found for its value in organizational change processes.   The test of the tool showed that the focus areas developed were perceived as relevant in the company context. The tool, however, most likely needs further development in the form of a user's guide to achieve an understanding of the focus areas, their content, and their impact on each other, good enough to be applied without using external consulting services. This was an initial assumption that was strengthened by the results of the study. Suggestions for future research: One limitation of this study may be that the test of the tool had to be carried out at a different stage in the change process from what was initially planned. It would be suitable to test the tool at its originally suggested stage of a change process and also in an organization of a more diversified character. The above mentioned are both suggestions for future studies. Contribution of the thesis: My hope is that this thesis has created a better understanding of how an impact analysis may affect the outcome of organizational change projects. The development of a tool for carrying out an impact analysis has been initiated and in its future complete version this tool may well be of much help for organizations involved in organizational change projects. Key words: organizational change, impact analysis, change process, leading change

This research is a cross sectional study which is conducted as an email survey. Accordingly, 22 companies have been surveyed to investigate the tendency and barriers for SMEs in Sweden regarding implementation of lean production. For that, barriers are categorized into two categories. The first category includes the ones which prevent SMEs from starting lean production (introduction barriers). The second category encompasses the ones which SMEs face while they are implementing lean production (implementation barriers). Moreover, to obtain a better view about problematic areas in lean transformation for SMEs, improvements and achievements of the investigated companies in their lean implementation processes have been assessed. However, it was not a detailed or in depth analysis, since the main purpose of this research was not to assess SMEs progress, rather it was to identify the hindrances in SMEs’ path to become lean. The results from this survey showed that most of the lean principles are applicable in SMEs. However, SMEs have problem with lack of time, management support, finance, resistance to change, change process, and training.  In addition lack of skilled employees for implementation of lean production was found as the biggest introduction barrier for SMEs. Moreover, the result of this research shows that small companies do not show tendency to implement lean production.