Change leadership: case study of a global energy company

Organizations operating on a global basis have wrestled with the dilemma of achieving a balance between global standardization and local differentiation. Similar dilemmas arise from a review of the literature around the challenges of implementing change successfully. There is, however, agreement that leaders play a significant role in resolving these dilemmas in the process of implementing strategic change within global organizations. This paper explores the literature on global organizations and change leadership. Building from this review, the paper presents the findings from a case study which explores the implementation of a global strategy within a large energy corporation. Based on a review of nine interviews, internal communication documents, and employee attitude survey data we found that change approaches which recognize the complexity of change combined with an involving and engaging leadership style tend to result in successful change implementation. In addition, the balancing of the global/local dilemma by leaders contributed notably to change success. We conclude with suggestions for further research and a brief discussion of the implications of the findings for the development of leaders capable of working effectively in a global organization.

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