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SeCtion tWo Change approaches & management tools
In the model above, mission is understood as the approach adopted to meeting organisational goals; tasks as the means by which work is accomplished; prescribed networks the ‘formal’ organisational structure of departments and governance relationships; people the characteristics of organisational members; processes the mechanisms by which formal organisational structures are discharged including rewards and sanctions; and informal processes those emergent relationships between members. Crucially, Tichy overlays the technical, political and cultural (TPC) dynamics operating within each of the variables to generate four diagnostic questions:
1. How well are the parts of the organization aligned with each other for solving the organization’s technical problems?
2. How well are the parts of the organization aligned with each other for solving the organization’s political problems?
3. How well are the parts of the organization aligned with each other for solving the organization’s cultural problems?
4. How well aligned are the three subsystems of the organization, the technical, political, and cultural?
The model posits that each of these three systems (TPC) must be aligned with each other in order for change to be effective. This is often explained through the metaphor of a ‘rope’ in which each strand needs to be interwoven.
Use
Tichy’s rope metaphor
The model is intended to be used to facilitate discussion and to diagnose areas requiring improvement from a predetermined set of factors including coordination of tasks, staff relationships and organisational processes. It was initially envisioned that it would be used by an external organisational development consultant. They would collect data relevant to the four questions for each variable in the model, through document analysis, interviews and/or questionnaires. Summary data is be displayed in a matrix and analysed for alignment to inform action planning.
Strengths and limitations
The approach has been praised for its combination of ‘soft’ organisational components (staff, style, shared values and skills) as well as ‘hard’ factors (strategy, structure and systems), and its
technical political cultural stands
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