Prosci’s 2009 Edition of Best Practices in Change Management

Prosci's sixth global benchmarking study since 1998 reports the insights and lessons learned from business leaders and change professionals in 575 organisations across 65 countries.

The 2009 report found that a significant correlation between Change Management effectiveness and meeting objectives and staying on schedule.

Key findings include:

• Effective Change Management is strongly correlated with successful achieving business outcomes, and staying on schedule and on budget
• Change projects that include effective Change Management are five times more likely to meet objectives and achieve business results
• More than 50% of employee resistance to change would have been avoidable with effective change management

The report also provides best practices and benchmarking data across all 21 topics in Change Management, including:

• Greatest contributors to success and greatest obstacles.
• Budget and FTE for Change Management.
• Role of effective Sponsorship and key activities.
• The role of managers and supervisors.
• Resistance to change.
• Change saturation.

The IBM Global Making Change Work Study 2008

This global study of 1,500 change practitioners worldwide found that only 41% of projects were considered successful. It also found that organisations using a structured Change Management approach and employing professional change managers have higher success rates. Read more.

Why CEOs Get Fired by Mark Murphy, Leadership Excellence, September 2005

Research by Leadership IQ into 286 organisations found that the number one reason for the departure of the CEO was "mismanaging change". Article published in Leadership Excellence, September 2005. Download

Helping Employees Embrace Change by Jennifer LeClair and Ravi Rao 2004, McKinsey Quarterly Magazine, 2004, Number 4.

This study of 40 organisations found a strong positive correlation between effective change management practices and benefit realisation. It also found the success rate of change overall was only 39%. Read more.

Boosting Business Performance through Programme and Project Management by Daniel Evrard and Antonio Nieto Rodriguez, PriceWaterhouseCoopers 2004

This study of 200 organisations worldwide by PriceWaterhouseCoopers found a "systematic approach to Change Management is fundamental to a superior performance."

It identified a strong positive correlation between Change Management and achieving project performance, as well as a strong connection between project performance, maturity level and change management. Read more

Organisational Transformation, McKinsey Global Survey Results, McKinsey Quarterly Magazine, August 2008

Only 30% of change initiatives succeed, according to McKinsey’s study of 3,199 executives from industries and regions around the world in July 2008. This report also identifies the most effective tactics that organisations use to successfully transform themselves.

The most significant tactic is "Setting clear and high aspirations for change". A second tactic is "engaging the whole company in the change effort." Read more