The Stinky Cheese Company has just undergone a major and complex change effort that will require employees to work in self-managing teams.The VP of Human Resources is concerned that the institutionalization of the change will be difficult.You have been hired as a consultant to inform her of the factors that can inhibit institutionalization.What will you tell her and recommend that she does to ensure that the change is institutionalized?

The factors that can inhibit institutionalization include the following: Promised extrinsic rewards might not be developed to accompany changes.Failure to develop such rewards to accompany change can inhibit institutionalization.Similarly, intrinsic rewards that might have accompanied initial changes might have created higher expectations and these expectations need to be fulfilled.Institutionalization can also be damaged if new hires are not carefully socialized to understand the unique environment of the changed organization.Thus they need to be socialized accordingly.The change effort might backslide as turnover occurs and key management supporters of the change effort might resign or be transferred.Environmental pressures such as decreased sales or profits can cause management to regress to more familiar behaviours and abandon change efforts.Many of these problems can be overcome by careful planning and goal setting during the diagnostic stage.It also suggests that continued efforts and attention to the change program are required during the institutionalization process.