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  • Essay / Analysis of the institutionalization of Hewlett-Packard...

    Organizational change is difficult and challenging. However, once the change has been achieved and succeeded, there remains one final step to take: the institutionalization of the change. According to Fernandez and Rainey (2006), this is where employees learn and establish new behaviors and leaders institutionalize them so that the new behavior patterns become the norm. This has also been discussed by Cummings and Worley (2009) as refreezing from Lewin's three-stage model of change, where refreezing involves making the new practice routine. Therefore, institutionalization is an important element of any change program aimed at maintaining long-term success. Hewlett-Packard is an example of an organization that has institutionalized structural change within its organization. Institutionalization FrameworkAccording to Cummings and Worley (2009), there is an institutionalization framework that will affect an organization's success in change programs. First there are the characteristics of the organizations and the characteristics of the interventions. These two factors then influence the institutionalization process which can be measured by institutionalization indicators (Cummings & Worley, 2009). Organizational Characteristics There are three main characteristics which include congruence, stability of environment and technology, and unionization (Cummings & Worley, 2009). Unionization was not a problem for Hewlett-Packard, but congruence and stability were. Congruence is the extent to which the intervention is intended to be aligned with the management structure and culture of the organization (Cummings and Worley, 2009). This was a problem for Hewlett-Packard when they moved from 50 decentralized stand-alone product divisions to one centralized company...... middle of paper ...... largest computer company in the world by one count business totaling $126 billion in fiscal year 2010 and was ranked eleventh in the Fortune 500 in 2010 (Hewlett-Packard Development Company, LP). Additionally, Hewlett-Packard is one of the few organizations to have successfully launched a dozen change programs since its founding in 1939, making them a great example of how culture and reward systems fit together. in the context of institutionalization and the success of the intervention. (Cummings and Worely, 2009). Therefore, it is important to understand not only the institutionalization framework, but also the culture of the organization and its impact on an intervention. In the case of Hewlett-Packard, they have a very strong culture of individualism and teamwork which had to be taken into account when launching new interventions so that they were accepted and institutionalized..