A turbulent environment can create disruption in organizations

ST. PETERSBURG, FL (PRWeb) December 8, 2006 -- A recently released study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp, formerly HRI) found that almost half of the participating organizations said that the pace and disruptiveness of change had increased so dramatically that it was almost impossible to predict the future.

The Agility and Resiliency Study was commissioned by the American Management Association in order to assess organizations' perception of pace, disruption, shock and turbulence in the workplace and their ability to successfully manage through change. More than 1,400 respondents participated in the survey, which was sent out to organizations around the globe. A full 37% of respondents said that they had experienced "more to many more" shocks and surprises during change than they had in the previous five years, while 39% said that the pace of change was faster but still predictable. Of those organizations experiencing disruptions, 40% had experienced a shock or surprise within the past year alone so severe that it disrupted their core operations, business strategy or mission and even threatened viability.

"The view that environmental turbulence is increasing appears accurate," surmised Joseph McCann and John Selsky, both business professors and lead academic researchers for the i4cp study. "Events such as 9/11 certainly focused attention on the potential for disruption, but the scale of impact is beyond expectation, not just in the U.S. but globally and across a wide range of organizations."

The study also explores how well individuals, teams, organizations, and industries are managing such change, in particular what they are doing to build their agility and resilience. Key findings illustrated that organizational performance - measured by profitability, market share, and competitiveness - is strongly related to a company's agility and resilience.

"The highest-performing organizations were those that were most positive about change, able to move quickly and able to 'take a hit' and respond well," said Mark Vickers, i4cp's Senior Research Analyst. "If individuals and organizations are going to manage change in today's environments, they have to be both agile and resilient. Investing in those capacities will be essential for sustaining performance, based upon what this study reveals."

For more information about this study, contact Greg Pernula at (727) 345-2226.

About i4cp, inc.
Building on the 35-year history of its predecessor, the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp, inc., formerly HRI) improves corporate productivity through a combination of research, community, tools and technology focused on the management of human capital. With more than 100 leading organizations as members, including many of the best-known companies in the world, i4cp draws upon one of the industry's largest and most experienced research teams and executives-in-residence to produce more than 10,000 pages annually of rapid, reliable and respected research and analysis surrounding all facets of the management of people in organizations. Additionally, i4cp identifies and analyzes the upcoming major issues and future trends that are expected to influence workforce productivity and provides member clients with tools and technology to execute leading-edge strategies and "next practices" on these issues and trends. i4cp is a for-profit company with offices in
St. Petersburg, FL.