Answer 3 for LDR 615 During a change initiative, what can organizations use to identify or verify truly objective and measurable success?

Various techniques can be utilized by organizations to assess the success of various change initiatives. They are vital for creating clear, measurable goals at the beginning and then monitoring progress towards them. One of the methods is the key performance indicators (KPIs) which entail measurable values that show the effectiveness of an organization in realizing vital business objectives (van de Ven et al., 2023). They can be utilized at different levels to assess success towards achieving targets. Some of the KPIs include customer satisfaction and sales revenue.  Another method is utilizing SMART goals which seek to examine if the set goals are effective (Naslund & Norman, 2022). It ensures that the project goals are specific by being simplistic and clearly outlining what is being done. The method ensures that change initiative is measurable ensuring the outcomes are tangible. It also ensures that the goals of the change initiative are achievable. The method also ensures that the goals of the change initiative are relevant and that they time time-bound to prevent delays. The balanced scorecard is another method which can be used to align the change initiative to the organizational vision (Yawson & Paros, 2023). It ensures the enhancement of communication promoting the achievement of strategic goals. Lastly, there is benchmarking which entails the organization’s change initiatives to industry best practices (Willmington et al., 2022). It is vital in determining areas for improvement and assessing progress towards the achievement of the set goals.

As a student, I can refer to my learning institution as my organization. There have been various changes in the organization such as the implementation of a new testing program. The organization utilized a combination of some of the methods such as benchmarking and KPIs. They were critical in offering a detailed assessment of the change initiative’s success.

References

Naslund, D., & Norrman, A. (2022). A conceptual framework for understanding the purpose of change initiatives. Journal of Change Management, 22(3), 292–320. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2022.2040571

van de Ven, M., Machado, P. L., Athanasopoulou, A., Aysolmaz, B., & Turetken, O. (2023). Key performance indicators for business models: A systematic review and catalog. Information Systems and E-Business Management, 21(3), 753–794. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-023-00650-2

Willmington, C., Belardi, P., Murante, A. M., & Vainieri, M. (2022). The contribution of benchmarking to quality improvement in healthcare. A systematic literature review. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-07467-8

Yawson, R. M., & Paros, A. K. (2023). A systems perspective of the use of the balanced scorecard for organization development and change. SAGE Open, 13(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231218064