Change Management Plan: Performance Reviews at Cincom Systems
This paper develops a change management plan for Cincom Systems, a privately held U.S. enterprise software company that has not offered annual pay raises since the 1990s and lacks a formal performance review process. The absence of structured appraisals has produced high turnover among top engineering, marketing, and sales employees while allowing underperforming workers to remain unchallenged. Drawing on Kotter's 8-step change model and Management by Objectives (MBO) methodology, the paper proposes an annual performance and salary review program, outlines communication and diagnostic strategies, and addresses expected resistance from senior management. The plan aims to redefine company culture around accountability, reward high performers, and position Cincom for sustainable growth in a competitive enterprise software market.
- Overview of Cincom Systems and Its Core Problems: Company background, market context, and cultural complacency
- The Lack of Performance Reviews and Pay Raises: How absent appraisals harm employee quality and motivation
- Proposed Annual Performance and Salary Review Program: Kotter-based program design and resistance management
- Communication Strategies: Company-wide and individual feedback communication methods
- Diagnostic Tools: Surveys and attitudinal tools to measure program impact
- Sustaining Change: Long-term cultural reinforcement and feedback mechanisms
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its recommendations in a concrete organizational context, using specific details about Cincom Systems (revenue figures, turnover rates, employee behavior patterns) to make the problem tangible and credible.
- It applies a recognized theoretical framework — Kotter's 8-step change model — systematically to each stage of the proposed intervention, demonstrating how academic models translate into practical action.
- The paper balances problem diagnosis with solution design, devoting roughly equal attention to explaining why change is needed and how it should be implemented, including resistance and sustainment strategies.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied framework analysis: it takes Kotter's 8-step change leadership model and maps each step explicitly onto the Cincom context. This technique shows the writer's ability to operationalize theory — not merely cite it — by connecting abstract change-management principles (creating urgency, building coalitions, generating quick wins) to specific organizational challenges such as engineering turnover and senior managers running side businesses during work hours.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a situational overview establishing the company's competitive and cultural context. It then diagnoses the specific failure — no performance reviews or raises — and categorizes the resulting employee types. The central section proposes a detailed remediation program anchored in Kotter's model and MBO methodology, followed by brief but distinct sections on communication strategies, diagnostic tools, and long-term sustainment. References are formatted in APA style throughout.
Overview of Cincom Systems and Its Core Problems
Cincom Systems is one of the leading enterprise software companies in the United States, serving aerospace and defense, industrial, and high-tech electronics manufacturers. The company's founder and CEO continues to operate its five divisions privately, with only a handful of insiders knowing the company's true financial condition. During the recessions of the 1990s, management decided to forgo annual raises, and none have been offered to employees since. It is common knowledge within the company that the only way to receive a raise is to obtain a job offer from an outside firm and see whether Cincom will match it — which they often do — or to leave and return years later at a higher salary, a path several employees have taken.
Cincom is having difficulty retaining its highest-performing engineering, marketing, and sales employees as a direct result of the absence of an annual performance and salary review process. The U.S. software industry was valued at $161 billion in 2012, growing to $173 billion in 2013 — a 7.6% increase — with enterprise software and the streamlining of manufacturing among the most significant growth catalysts (Business Monitor International, 2013). Cincom has reported to Dun & Bradstreet a run rate of approximately $100 million per year in revenues, the majority of which derive from existing contracts for installed enterprise applications.
Like Oracle, Cincom began as a database applications company. Over time, the company has grown complacent by relying too heavily on enforcing existing contracts rather than attracting new customers with more valuable software applications. Through a coercive approach to contract management, the CEO and senior management are paradoxically shrinking the market faster than market dynamics alone would force. By pressuring existing customers to purchase more, the company is alienating them more rapidly than competitors would.
References
Business Monitor International. (2013). United States Information Technology Report — Q3 2013. Business Monitor International Publishing.
Hoadley, E., & Lamos, J. (2012). Change management: An information flow approach. International Journal of Management & Information Systems (Online), 16(1), 83.
Kotter, J. P. (1978). Power, success, and organizational effectiveness. Organizational Dynamics, 6(3), 26.
Kotter, J., & Sathe, V. (1978). Problems of human resource management in rapidly growing companies. California Management Review, 21(2), 29.
Scott, G. M. (2000). Critical technology management issues of new product development in high-tech companies. The Journal of Product Innovation Management, 17(1), 57–77.
Shabayek, A. A. E. (1999). New trends in technology management for the 21st century: An analysis. International Journal of Management, 16(1), 71–76.
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