Imprint: Triarchy Press
List Price: £10.00
Format: Paperback
Extent: 88pp.
Size: 13 x 20.4 cm
ISBN: 978-1-908009-74-6
Tags: Systems thinking, Vanguard Method, service sector management.

The Need for Change: 
Four Trends Endangering Every Organisation... and what to do about them     
Stuart Corrigan 

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The Need for Change: 
Four Trends Endangering Every Organisation… and what to do about them  
Stuart Corrigan

The Need for Change starts with a familiar 'problem diagnosis and solution' section that neatly describes the key problems facing almost every business and how to address them.

First, it diagnoses four rapidly growing problems which – although not new – are almost certain to be unsettling your organisation in some form:

1. The rise of the 'complaint culture', facilitated by the growing ease with which your clients, customers, patients or citizens can complain – directly or indirectly – about you (social media, internet, blogs, forums, national and local media, etc.)

2. The growing risk of 'reputation exposure' – precisely because of the ease with which these media can be accessed, where a dissatisfied customer might once have told 20 people, he or she can now tell hundreds, thousands or even (read the examples!) millions.

3. Declining staff morale – this is a complex problem made harder in a recession. Your organisation may be one of the rare exceptions, but the issue needs constant attention.

4. The growing demand for instant gratification – linked to our use of the internet and mobile phones, this disruptive change also offers a way in to rethinking your organisations main customer-facing business processes.

Stuart Corrigan then outlines ways of thinking about and addressing each of these issues. So far, the book simply makes sense of the 'noise and disruption' facing any manager and proposes some straightforward answers.

But, in the final section, Corrigan makes it clear that the approach he's advocating is far from common-sense. He introduces the tried-and-tested Vanguard method and its key terms and techniques for getting to understand the root causes of the particular problems facing your organisation. He also sets out a method for categorising and diagnosing different service systems which could be the start of a radical reappraisal of your organisation.

Readership

Stuart Corrigan’s admirably short little book is written for anyone responsible for managing all or part of a service organisation – especially public sector organisations, but including commercial businesses and the service divisions of manufacturing firms.

Written simply and clearly, it makes an ideal introduction for any organisation thinking about how to reshape and improve the service it offers its customers or the public at large. But it should be required reading for anyone embarking on:

  • a round of cost-cutting
  • an outsourcing programme
  • making changes to its call/contact centre and to the ways it communicates with customers
  • a customer satisfaction survey/audit
  • a major reorganisation of its service provision


It’s also an excellent, non-technical introduction for anyone interested in Vanguard Method and its application in the public or private sector.

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