Offensive change management with the step-by-step method

The need to turn companies around can arise for defensive as well as offensive reasons. In the case of defensive reasons, such as cost reductions, one usually has to rely on rather authoritarian methods. When the driving force is of an offensive nature, as in the case of re-engineering, introduction of e-commerce or business unit management, the step-by-step method of change has proven itself powerful. This is illustrated here in a case involving the introduction of business unit management in a functionally organised multinational enterprise. An evaluation of and a speculation on the area of application of the method are given at the end of the paper.