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Change Management for Supply Chain


Leaders: Create a Communications Plan to
Activate and Sustain Change
Published: 6 August 2015

Analyst(s): Pam Fitzpatrick, Ken Chadwick, Dana Stiffler

Effective leaders recognize emotional responses to change and


communicate in ways that help people adjust and participate. CSCOs and
center of excellence leaders can use this guidance to tailor a change
management communications plan that helps people transition to new ways
of working.

Key Challenges

Change communications plans that only use critical project milestones as the impetus of
communication fail to acknowledge the emotional dimensions of change and will do little to help
people adapt to the new way of working.

Poorly executed, badly designed or contradictory communications will result in additional and
avoidable resistance on the part of change recipients.

Change management communications plans that abruptly end at the go-live- or switch-date will
fail to successfully support the organization through a full transition to the desired future state.

One-size-fits-all and one-way communication do not allow management to meet your


stakeholders where they are, or assist them through a successful transition.

Recommendations

Develop a comprehensive communications plan that cultivates understanding and a shared


sense of ownership in the initiative's success, while accounting for the level and impact of
change for each stakeholder throughout the full transition to the future state.

Craft messages from your audience's point of view which may be different from those people
who originated the idea of the change.

Ask stakeholders for input and feedback throughout each communications planning step and
apply the feedback to your program and your ongoing communication.

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Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................................ 2
Analysis.................................................................................................................................................. 5
Familiarize Yourself With Your Stakeholders' Emotional State............................................................5
Craft Messages From Your Audience's Point of View......................................................................11
Develop Messages That Will Resonate in Different Contexts..................................................... 12
Adapt the Delivery Method and Frequency to the Stakeholder Context...........................................12
When Planning Frequency, Less Is More...................................................................................13
Open Multiple Feedback Channels for Ideas on How to Evolve Your Plan....................................... 14
Select a Set of Meaningful Success Measures................................................................................14
Adapt Your Plan and Move Forward............................................................................................... 16
Gartner Recommended Reading.......................................................................................................... 16

List of Tables
Table 1. The 10 Change Stages .............................................................................................................7
Table 2. Sample Change Management Communications Plan................................................................ 9
Table 3. Tool for Tailoring Your Communications Approach................................................................... 13

List of Figures
Figure 1. Common Types of Change Within Supply Chain Organizations................................................ 3
Figure 2. Change Management Communications Process......................................................................4
Figure 3. Stakeholder Analysis Outputs Include Stakeholder Segmentation and Identification of Influential
Individuals.............................................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 4. Classify Participants Into One of Three Categories on the Change Adoption Curve.................. 6

Introduction
Your role as the chief supply chain officer (CSCO) or center of excellence (CoE) leader gives you
control over the analytical and creative processes of setting a new vision for the supply chain
organization. But the true test of your leadership resides within the managerial process that follows.
Your brightest ideas will only become a reality if you can orchestrate the people inside and outside
the supply chain organization to a new way of working.
It's tricky because no change is as simple as the flick of a switch. It's a turbulent transition from a
current state to the desired future state (see "Managing Transitions and Employee Experiences Is
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Critical to Supply Chain Change Management"). As shown in Figure 1, the future state may include
the use of new IT tools or the daily execution of a new supply chain planning process. It could mean
that people report into new managers. It could reorient the objective of each person's everyday
work to support a radically different set of performance metrics.
Figure 1. Common Types of Change Within Supply Chain Organizations

Source: Gartner (August 2015)

Change management communications is how you'll engage people in the move to the future state.
It's a process for identifying key stakeholders, analyzing how the change will affect them and
developing a communications plan that tailors a series of communications and interactions to serve
the needs of each group or individual throughout all stages of the transition. A communications plan
provides a structure for delivering the right messages to the right stakeholders at the right time, so
they can join you in moving forward.
Because change management communications are a critical part of the change management
process, it's imperative that communications are carefully planned and delivered, not issued ad hoc.
Without a comprehensive view of the effort, you'll miss opportunities to choose the most effective
means of activating the change and sustaining employee commitment throughout the entire
transition.
Adopt the right mindset as you begin your change management communications planning effort.
You're not here to issue edicts but to initiate and sustain meaningful two-way conversations with
stakeholders the people who are involved in and affected by your change effort. Listening is even
more important as talking.
Figure 2 shows the communications process that we outline in our Change Management for Supply
Chain Leaders series. This document will help you complete the second and third steps: Develop a

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communications plan that cultivates a shared sense of ownership in success, and collect feedback
that will help you adjust the plan in response to changing stakeholder opinions and positions.
Figure 2. Change Management Communications Process

Source: Gartner (August 2015)

Before you start a communications plan, you need to complete the first step: Identify and analyze
your stakeholders. Use "Change Management for Supply Chain Leaders: Start Your Change
Communications Plan With a Stakeholder Analysis" to complete a stakeholder analysis before
moving forward with the communications plan.
Use the Following Gartner Research to Develop Your Communications Plan
The information in this document will help you tailor your communications to a change management
context. Use the following two documents to complete the communications plan

"Effective Communications for Supply Chain Leaders: How to Develop a Communications


Plan." This research outlines a process for completing a communications plan.

"Toolkit: Effective Communications for Supply Chain Leaders Communications Plan." This
Toolkit provides a template for documenting a communications plan.

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With these resources at hand, you can complete your change management communications plan
by following the steps within. Do so with the understanding that you're creating a living document
that will require revision and adaptation as you advance in the transition. Building in feedback loops
will provide insights on how to evolve your plan.

Analysis
Familiarize Yourself With Your Stakeholders' Emotional State
In your stakeholder analysis, you classified stakeholders into the three segments and pinpointed
influential individuals within each segment, as shown in Figure 3. Your analysis also took note of
their needs, interests and motivations. You also identified each group's position on an adoption
curve (see Figure 4).
Figure 3. Stakeholder Analysis Outputs Include Stakeholder Segmentation and Identification of Influential
Individuals

Source: Gartner (August 2015)

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Figure 4. Classify Participants Into One of Three Categories on the Change Adoption Curve

Source: Gartner (August 2015)

These findings will help you understand the emotional state of each stakeholder group or individual.
For communications to be effective, you must anticipate and respond to the emotional state of the
audience at the individual level. Successful leaders allow time and space for the human experience
in this process.
This requirement doesn't insinuate a slow march forward. In fact, a change management
communications plan can help you advance at a brisk pace. By looking ahead and identifying the
situations where you may encounter resistance, you can plan communications to work through it.
Tying communications to the emotional state of the audience means understanding and
acknowledging the emotional response of change recipients throughout the transition. Many leaders
prefer to set aside the "emotions" of change as not relevant to a business, thinking instead that we
are supposed to be rational actors at work. The fact is that the emotions will exist in those effected
by change, regardless of whether you acknowledge them. Leaders that acknowledge them and
indicate respect for fears and concerns, then address issues head-on, are far more successful than
those who ignore the emotional journey.
Emotional responses to change follow a predictable pattern of struggles, starting with blame and
denial, and ending with acceptance and ongoing improvement. Table 1 summarizes the 10 change
stages that people must overcome as they move from denial to acceptance.
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Table 1. The 10 Change Stages


Stage

Organizational Context

Personal
Struggle

Something is wrong in the organization.

Blame

"Yes, but it's not my fault. They caused it, so


let them change."

Something has to be done.

Denial

"The problem is not that bad. We are doing the


best we can, and changing won't make it
better."

Doing something will be hard work.


There is no quick fix to address the
issue.

Testing

"I am lost. I know we have to do something. I


don't know how to change."

We have an idea that would work if we


give it a chance. It's new, so we will
have to change.

Skepticism

"This is not new. I can wait it out. If I ignore it,


then it will go away."

Making this change is a priority, even


though it will create some discomfort.

Disbelief

"I don't believe that this change is real, even if


others do. If it doesn't work out, how will it
affect me?

The enterprise is committed and ready


to dedicate resources to implementing
the change.

Hope, initial
action

"I am willing to go along, now that I can see


the commitment. I hope that there will be
follow-through."

The enterprise is implementing the


change, and new responsibilities are
clear and supported.

Hard work

"This is not a temporary thing. I'll need to


invest in learning new tools, skills and
behaviors I'm changing."

The early actions are yielding results.


The organization is putting more
resources behind the effort.

Initial success

"It's working, because I am part of the change.


I am willing to accept additional levels of
change."

The organization is making its business


case for change and new ways of
working are becoming routine.

Acceptance

"This will work and I am a part of that


success!"

10

The enterprise is learning from its


results and making continuous
improvements.

Ongoing
improvement

"I knew it could be done. I am part of the


success, and I am ready to change to make
things better."

Personal Response

Source: Gartner (August 2015)

Each individual will spend different amounts of time overcoming each of the struggles. Early
adopters will quickly move through the stages and even skip some stages, while the reluctant
majority will likely spend more time in each stage. Resistant laggards will quickly (and often
loudly) demonstrate the attributes of early-stage struggles. As the leader, it's your job to
communicate according to the particular struggle or emotional state of the individual or audience at
a particular point in time. This approach means that you can't tie communications exclusively to

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project phases, because the project schedule is not aligned with the emotional state of change
recipients.
Instead, the communications plan should acknowledge these realities:

The communications timeline must be longer than the project timeline, starting before the work
of change has begun and ending after the transition to the future state has ended.

The plan should include activities to recognize the efforts of everyone involved in achieving
project milestones, including the time of crossover to a new system, structure or process.
Recognize and celebrate not only those who led or managed execution of the change, but
everyone who participated.

Project schedules are linear. The human response to change is emotional and nonlinear it
can stand still or move backward. Thus, the communications timeline should be only roughly
connected to the project timeline. Communications should progress as recipients move toward
acceptance of the change, not according to when project phases are complete.

The perceived success and impact of specific project phases will impact employees differently.
Prepare a recovery communications plan to steer the conversation back on course in the event
of project delays, missed deadlines or business issues. The communication team must stay
ahead of the narrative in these cases so as to prevent informal communication networks from
defining the story.

Table 2 is a sample plan that illustrates some of what, when and to whom to communicate
throughout the life of the change project.

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Table 2. Sample Change Management Communications Plan


Stage
of
Struggle

Messages

Delivery
Method

Feedback

Measures of Success

Timing

Purpose

Communicators

Stakeholders

Day 1 of
Project
Scoping

Inform
present the
case for
change
Consult
ask for feedback to
gauge areas
of concern
and resistance

CSCO
(change
sponsor)

All VPs and


directors

Blame

We've done well in the past,


but changing market dynamics mean there is no alternative to change.
Project is top priority for four
teams, but participation
from all is required. Cooperation is imperative.

June senior
staff meeting

Facilitated discussion at meeting; email inbox.

Managers share
candid feedback
for use in the
communications
plan.

Immediately
Following
Management Discussion

Inform
present the
case for
change

CSCO

All supply
chain associates

Blame

Same as above. Participation from everyone will be


essential to meeting our
goals.

Monthly allhands meeting

Standard webcast survey.


Feedback escalated through
mgmt.

Survey responses
express a variety
of supports and
concerns.

First 60
Days

Inspire, Consult

CSCO

Change
sponsor,
functional
leads

Denial

There is no alternative. We
must push forward according to plan to get results we
want

Live at biweekly meeting

Live talk in meetings, one-on-one


talks with VPs after meeting.

Key functional
leads can articulate a plan of action, even if they
have concerns

First 60
Days

Consult

CSCO

Influencers in
management
team

Denial

You are important to our


success. How can we get
you on board?

One-on-one
conversations

One-on-one conversations

Shift in thinking to
show more support.

First 60
Days, Upon
Receipt Of

Request

CSCO, all
change
managers

All supply
chain associates

Testing

Here's what we are finding


in our initial analysis. We
need your ideas and participation to work our way out
of it.

Monthly allhands meeting and


weekly team
meetings

Live discussion
during team
meetings; email
inbox for CSCO

Ideas that support


vision; feedback
from team managers about resistance.
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Timing

Purpose

Initial Analysis

Communicators

Stakeholders

Stage
of
Struggle

Messages

Delivery
Method

Feedback

Measures of Success

and project
leads.

Source: Gartner (August 2015)

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Craft Messages From Your Audience's Point of View


People need to understand why the change is happening, what it is and, most importantly, how it
will affect their lives. However, crafting the right message is often misunderstood by change leaders.
Change sponsors often believe their own motivations are shared among all change recipients. This
is rarely the case.

Change managers: Typical motivations for change managers include the desire for more
visibility, desire for more control and desire for more transparent work processes.

Change participants: Typical change participants' motivations include the desire for autonomy,
desire for structure, desire to provide a great customer experience and desire to be trusted.

If you don't craft messages that address each stakeholder segment's point of view, then your
communications will fail. Change leaders and participants are left feeling misunderstood,
overlooked or marginalized, and you may prolong resistance at a scale that can derail the entire
project.
Each segment will also have different needs for information.

Change sponsors: The people who advocated and helped you secure resources for this effort
will need regular assurance that the project is going as planned and is on track to achieve the
promised outcomes.

Change managers: The people who are responsible for orchestrating teams toward a defined
goal may be most interested in how their personal and team success will be measured in the
change and transition.

Change participants: Those who must adapt to a new way of doing things will want to know
how this change will affect their daily tasks and their future livelihood.

Change influencers: The formal or informal leaders who are critical to your success will want to
know how this change will affect their standing, daily tasks and personal success.

Your messages introducing the change must articulate the drivers behind the change in a way that
will resonate with each particular stakeholder segment. What is most important to them? How will
this change improve their work or ability to contribute to the company's goal? If it does not improve
their work, then why should it be important to them to change?
For example, the proposed change in a system and supporting process may give change
managers the resources they need to help their teams achieve their annual performance targets.
Change participants may want to know that the change in process will not eliminate their role, but
will instead enable them to spend more time focusing on giving customers more accurate
information about shipment times and less time tracking down data from multiple sources. With this
approach, you've taken the goal that matters most to you such as making a positive contribution
to the company's P&L and contextualized it to the people who can help you achieve the goal.

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Develop Messages That Will Resonate in Different Contexts


Apply these general stakeholder considerations as you plan messages for change managers and
change makers when formulating your message:

Familiarity with the issues: Is this the first time that people are hearing about these problems,
issues and concepts? Give them time to absorb the new ideas, ask questions and assimilate
and integrate them into their thought processes. You may need to deliver messages in
incremental stages that enable them to process and adjust the big idea first, followed by the
details.

Length of time with the organization: Are these stakeholders new to the organization,
requiring more historical context to understand the change and transition? Or, have they been
part of the organization for a long time? If the latter, then have they been through similar
changes in the organization, and were those changes successes or failures from their
perspective?

Location: Are stakeholders part of the corporate headquarters or located remotely? Remote
workers will receive and respond to messages differently than people in the office who may
have more frequent, informal conversation about the change.

Culture: Will differences in your stakeholders' cultures or countries affect how a message
should be delivered or crafted? Cultural differences can affect all aspects of communications.
You may choose to communicate in a different setting (for example, over lunch rather than in the
office on opposite sides of a desk) or in a different language (for example, where English is a
barrier to communication).

Relationship to the problem and solution: How close is a particular segment of stakeholders
to the identified problem, and to what extent will they be engaged in the development and
implementation of the solution? Does your message make it clear what you want them to do
next? Are you expecting them to make a decision, change their position, do something different
or contribute input? If people in this segment are not involved in the development and
implementation of the solution, then how else may they be affected by the change? Can you
clearly articulate the impact and expectations for change to them?

Adapt the Delivery Method and Frequency to the Stakeholder Context


The delivery method should vary according to the scale and impact of the change each stakeholder
will experience. Failure to use the right method can lead to needless change resistance among
participants. For example, when someone's work and role will change entirely as a result of the
initiative, it is important to use personal and, if possible, face-to-face methods to communicate. As
a rule, the more a change affects an individual's role in the organization and the work he or she
does, the more personal and frequent the communication needs to be.
In instances of process and related role changes, Table 3 is an assessment tool to determine the
type and degree of change produced for an individual and the type of communications required in
each case. Analyze impact as a given combination of process and role change. Only when the
process and role remain the same is group communication alone sufficient. In all other cases, some
combination of personal and group communication methods is required. If they are located
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remotely, then you may need to find creative ways to get your message through, since you will likely
not be able to rely on frequent, in-person, face-to-face communication.
Table 3. Tool for Tailoring Your Communications Approach
Same Role

Modified Role

New Role

New
Process

Process change requires


personal conversation. Skill
improvement requires email
or group presentation.

New process requires one-toone, face-to-face


communication. Modified role
requires one-to-one
communication.

Process and role changes require


personal, face-to-face
conversations. One-to-many
communication is not
recommended.

Modified
Process

Process improvement
requires one-to-one
communications. One-tomany communication is
sufficient for process change.

Improved process and role


require one-to-one
communication. One-to-many
communication is not
recommended.

New role requires face-to-face, oneto-one communication. One-tomany communication is not


recommended. Improved process
requires one-to-one communication.

Same
Process

There is no significant
change. One-to-many
communication is sufficient.

Modified role requires one-toone communication. One-tomany communication is


sufficient for role change.

Role change requires face-to-face,


one-to-one communication. Inperson is preferable to video. Oneto-many communication is sufficient
for process change.

Source: Gartner (August 2015)

When Planning Frequency, Less Is More


Certain situations call for more frequent communication, but limit the number of messages that you
communicate. Creating a few very clear, concrete messages that are repeated in various public
forums and personal conversations is more effective than creating a longer, but less concrete, set of
messages. Change leaders should have a well-honed set of messages that can be delivered in two
minutes, 10 minutes or two hours, depending on the audience's needs, appetite for detail and
available time.
These messages should be honest and direct: otherwise, communication will be regarded as
management spin. If a change will result in job losses, be as honest as possible about this upfront,
and explain how the company will help (for example, whether those affected will be offered other
jobs inside the organization) to avoid rumors and fear-mongering becoming the primary sources of
information.
Strike a balance between creating clear, repeatable messages and contextualizing these messages
to each stakeholder audience. Too much tailoring results in the politicization of the message and a
consequent loss of trust in the communicator. Too little tailoring makes the message generic and
engenders resistance and apathy on the part of your audience. Consistency breeds trust; trust
smoothens transitions.

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Open Multiple Feedback Channels for Ideas on How to Evolve Your Plan
It's time to repeat our earlier advice: Effective communication is two-way, not one-way. Use the
communications planning process to identify opportunities to ask for and listen to feedback. Your
stakeholders will often tell you how to make the project a success or why they are struggling to
support the change effort but, they can only do so if you take time to ask.
Effective communications means soliciting the ideas, opinions and feedback of your audience, not
just delivering information. Every single communication should provide a mechanism for receiving
feedback. The feedback is a valuable resource for improving subsequent communications.
This means that change sponsors and managers must be perceived as accessible and open to
dialogue with change participants. "Accessible" means providing a way to communicate with the
change participants throughout the transition, not just at the beginning and the end. "Open" means
that you receive ideas, questions and yes, even complaints without defensiveness. Only after
you listen and acknowledge the validity of the stakeholder's concerns do you respond, with the
stakeholder's point of view as the guide for your reply.
People leading change often underestimate how much time is required to be an accessible change
leader. Gartner estimates that between 50% and 70% of a change leader's time is spent
communicating about the change with change participants.
When receiving questions from the audience, change leaders should answer them as candidly as
possible. Direct answers, allay fears and reduce misinformation. If the answer to a question is not
immediately available, then let the questioner know when and how you will get the answer and
follow through on that promise.
To prompt change participants to provide feedback, ask them:

What is positive about this change? What do we need to get right?

What are your biggest concerns regarding this change?

What can we do to assist you to overcome these concerns?

Effective communications plans always include a mechanism to feed this information back to the
project change manager team. Change managers can use collaboration technologies, instant
messaging, email and blogs to make themselves more accessible to change participants. In
addition, ensure you have the resources to address the concerns that surface. Asking for people's
viewpoints is better than not asking, but only when that feedback is taken seriously and visible
follow-up actions are taken. Asking for feedback with no intention of addressing it undermines your
credibility as a change leader and demoralizes those who offered feedback.

Select a Set of Meaningful Success Measures


As you think about how to measure the communications plan success, focus your indicators on
your performance as a change management communicator, not on the participants' pace of
adopting the change. Change sponsors and managers must also remember to "play the long
game." Success does not mean that all involved change participants are immediately convinced of
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the need for change or your solution to a problem. Instead, they are engaged along the way, in
different ways and at different paces.
Identify performance indicators that align with your objectives for change communications to:

Create two-way dialogue with stakeholders

Help stakeholders move through the rational and emotional stages of the change until they have
successfully transitioned to the new way of doing things.

With this in mind, plan to design success measures that help you understand if you are successfully
engaging people in the right ways. They are likely to be qualitative, rather than quantitative,
indicators. Because it's impossible to thoroughly research and predict the responses of each
employee as you develop your communications plan, the planning process is iterative and often
involves course correction as you move forward with the change effort and the plan.
Consider ways to obtain answers to the following questions, as indicators of successful
communications.

Have we correctly identified all of our stakeholders, including change influencers? If we


overlooked some on our first effort, then have we subsequently added them and brought them
into the effort?

Have we correctly segmented our stakeholders as early adopters, the reluctant majority and the
laggards? Does our segmentation follow a normal distribution?

Have we engaged our change influencers throughout the project?

When we ask for ideas, are people openly sharing negative and positive feedback through at
least one of our feedback mechanisms?

If a particular message failed to connect, then did we see improvements in a response to our
revised message?

Did our recognition of recent milestones and achievements have any effect on stakeholder
perceptions of this effort? If not, then what might we do differently the next time?

Do we know which communicators are most effective at communicating with particular


stakeholder groups?

Have the same questions or concerns persisted, even after we thought we adequately
addressed them?

What shape is our adoption stage distribution in at this point in the transition? (See Figure 4.) As
time goes on, are we seeing more stakeholders gradually transition through the change
struggles from denial, to hard work and acceptance?

When we are requesting action, are people executing on that action, with few errors or
mistakes?

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Adapt Your Plan and Move Forward


Open your mind to receiving the feedback both good and bad. Both types will offer insight that
you can use to adapt your plan as you continue to engage people in the transition. Dig into each
type of feedback so you can truly understand why certain approaches succeeded and others failed.
Continue to assess the position of your stakeholders on the transition curve. How many have
moved toward commitment? Are any groups or individuals stuck in place or backsliding? Find out
why and develop a communications plan to address it.
As you refine your communications plan, remember to share the rationale behind any plan changes
with your change communications team. Your core team of communicators, including change
sponsors and change managers, will need this understanding so they can execute their part with
confidence and project a sense of unity among the change leaders. These qualities will fortify the
change participants' sense of trust in leadership and commitment to the new way of working.

Gartner Recommended Reading


Some documents may not be available as part of your current Gartner subscription.
"Five Strategies for Successful Supply Chain Change"
"Managing Transitions and Employee Experiences Is Critical to Supply Chain Change Management"
"Toolkit: Effective Communications for Supply Chain Leaders Stakeholder Analysis"
"Toolkit: Effective Communications for Supply Chain Leaders Communications Plan"
Evidence
This research is based on work from Mary Mesaglio of the Gartner CIO research team and was
originally published as "Leadership Development Module 5, Chapter 5: Best Practices in
Communications."
The findings are rooted in widely accepted best practices for business change management
communications and are appropriate for adoption by supply chain leaders. We have changed
language and examples to make the findings and directives relevant to the issues faced by supply
chain executives. We also added and revised sections to align with our body of supply chainfocused research on change management, as referenced throughout this document.

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