Internal vs. External Drivers of Organizational Change
This paper examines the internal and external drivers of organizational change, distinguishing their defining characteristics and illustrating how each type shapes the nature of the change an organization undertakes. Internal drivers typically reflect inefficiencies or deficiencies within the organization itself, while external drivers are largely dictated by marketplace conditions. Using Corus Strip Products and Hewlett Packard's Micro Electronics Division as case studies, the paper demonstrates how both categories of drivers manifest in real organizational contexts and ultimately determine the form and direction of change initiatives.
- Internal and External Drivers of Organizational Change: Overview of internal versus external change driver categories
- Internal Drivers: Inefficiencies and Deficiencies: Internal factors as organizational inefficiencies needing improvement
- External Drivers: Marketplace Forces: External drivers shaped by market conditions and competition
- How Drivers Shape the Context of Change: Corus's internal reforms illustrate driver-directed change
- Case Study: Hewlett Packard's Micro Electronics Division: HP restructures in response to external market downturn
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What makes this paper effective
- Establishes a clear conceptual framework early — internal versus external drivers — and consistently applies it throughout the analysis.
- Grounds abstract definitions in concrete case study evidence, using Corus Strip Products and Hewlett Packard to show real-world manifestations of each driver type.
- Maintains analytical focus by connecting each example back to the broader argument about how driver characteristics determine the form of change.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively uses comparative case analysis: two organizations are examined side by side to illustrate contrasting driver types. Rather than describing each company in isolation, the author uses them as evidence for a theoretical claim, which elevates the writing from mere summary to argumentation.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a conceptual overview distinguishing internal from external drivers, then dedicates separate sections to defining each type with supporting examples from Corus. It then shifts to show how these drivers shape organizational outcomes, first returning to Corus's internal reforms and then introducing Hewlett Packard as an external-driver case. The conclusion is implicit in the Hewlett Packard discussion, where marketplace pressures drive structural improvement and organizational survival.
Internal and External Drivers of Organizational Change
Drivers for organizational change are codified into internal or external factors. Each of these stratifications has a different set of features — significantly, these features appear to be antipodes of one another. However, they largely provide the setting and context for the actual change that takes place within an organization, since they indicate the specific problems that change is meant to address.
Internal Drivers: Inefficiencies and Deficiencies
Internal drivers for change within organizations pertain to factors that are representative of various aspects of the organization itself. The unifying feature of all internal drivers is that they represent inefficiencies — which in some cases are outright deficiencies. Very rarely does an organization induce change because it is doing something right; most internal changes are related to aspects of an organization that require improvement.
A look at some of the internal factors for change at the United Kingdom's Corus Strip Products confirms these facts. There was a point after the company's 1999 founding at which its service was characterized by tardy delivery of the steel it manufactured. Additionally, there was low staff morale during this same period, which resulted in decreased production and organizational output (No author, 2012). Both of these internal factors were inefficiencies within the organization and clear areas for improvement.
External Drivers: Marketplace Forces
The predominant feature of external drivers of change is that they are usually determined by the marketplace (Mathes, Brueck, & Luck, 2001). While the inefficiencies of internal drivers are things that a company is doing wrong, the marketplace concerns reflected in external factors typically indicate that an organization is not doing something that other organizations are.
For instance, in the case of Corus, other steel manufacturers in the international market were producing steel less expensively than Corus was. As a result, demand for Corus's product declined. Another marketplace factor that functioned as an external driver for change was the fact that "the fall in demand for steel for the automotive industry meant that Corus needed to find different types of customers or develop different products" (No author, 2012). Thus, developments within the marketplace for steel served as external factors for Corus, in much the same way that marketplace developments in general characterize external factors for any organization.
Bibliography
Green, M. (2012). "7 Pitfalls in Identifying the Key External and Internal Drivers for Change." Transitional Space. http://changets.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/7-pitfalls-in-identifying-the-key-external-and-internal-drivers-for-change/
Mathes, G., Brueck, T., & Luck, B. (2001). "External, Internal Forces Drive Change In Water Industry." Water World. http://www.waterworld.com/articles/print/volume-17/issue-12/editorial-focus/external-internal-forces-drive-change-in-water-industry.html
No author. (2013). "Case Studies." The Axelrod Group. http://www.axelrodgroup.com/case_studies.html
No author. (2012). "Overcoming Barriers to Change." The Times 100. http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/corus/overcoming-barriers-to-change/reasons-for-change.html#axzz2NdyS8Sy8
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