Presentation:

"Building Change Capabilities"

Increasingly uncertain and dynamic environments call for strategies that are nimble, organization designs that are flexible, and change management capabilities that are reliable. Unfortunately, the process of building new capabilities is not well understood, and even less is known about how to build change and orchestration capabilities. This presentation will describe the lessons learned from cases where organizations attempted to build a change capability, including the requirements for new skills and knowledge, new designs and infrastructures to support change, and the required experiences to build the capabilities.

Biography:

Chris Worley is a Research Scientist at the Center for Effective Organizations at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He also serves as a professor of management at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management. He is a recognized leader in the field of strategic change and organization design. Prior to coming to CEO, he served as Director of the Master of Science in Organization (MSOD) program at Pepperdine University. He was awarded the Luckman Distinguished Teaching Fellowship in 1997. Dr. Worley has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Pepperdine University, the University of San Diego, University of Southern California, and Colorado State University.

Dr. Worley is co-author (with Ed Lawler) of Built to Change in addition to Integrated Strategic Change: How OD Builds Competitive Advantage in Addison-Wesley's OD Series. He is also co-author (with Tom Cummings) of Organization Development and Change, the leading textbook on organization development. His articles have appeared in The Sloan Management Review, the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, and the Journal of Organization Behavior among others. He has contributed numerous chapters in edited volumes and made presentations to scholarly societies such as the Academy of Management, the Strategic Planning Forum, and the Conference Boards of the U.S. and Canada. He also served as Chair of the Academy of Management's Organization Development and Change Division.

Dr. Worley consults with organizations on strategy formulation and implementation, organization design, and the longitudinal evaluation of strategic change. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies in technology, chemicals, natural resources, and financial services as well as leading organizations in health care and the public sector. His consulting activities are complemented by more than 15 years of management experience in academic, for-profit, and government organizations.

Dr. Worley received his Ph.D. in strategic management from the University of Southern California, an M.S. in organization development from Pepperdine University, an M.S. from Colorado State University, and a B.S. from Westminster College.  He is a member of the Strategic Management Society, the Academy of Management, and the Organization Development Network. 

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