Change Management in China - An application of Meta-Strategies Practice

Change processes and projects have traditionally used a variety of strategies to ensure initiation, engagement of participants, and successful implementation. General strategies (meta-strategies) of change identified by the literature include use of information, values, power and, more recently, trust as "meta-strategies" associated with change management efforts. This article outlines the underlying philosophy and rationale of the four meta-strategies and outlines the perceived importance and frequency of use of each set of strategies in China. Findings indicate that, in China, values-driven strategies are perceived as most important in relation to change success and are also the most frequently used in practice. Trust based strategies, while declared to be the least important of the four meta-strategies, are the second most frequently used in actual change management practice. Power, an underlying theme in Chinese culture where position and hierarchy are perceived in general to be critical, is third in declared importance and fourth (last) in frequency of use while information is second in declared importance but third in actual frequency of use. Results of the study suggest an increased balanced use of all four of the strategies for effective change management