Spinning on dimes: the challenges of introducing transformational change into the UK Ministry of Defence

The UK Ministry of Defence ( MoD) continues to be a significant customer for the major management consultancies proclaiming their expertise in change management. This paper assesses the degree to which change is being delivered effectively within the MoD and in particular within the business space. The paper finds, based on a mixture of primary and secondary data, that the complexities of the MoD are working against the successful delivery of change in a number of ways including: civil servants and military staff needing to have a much deeper understanding of the subject of change management; deficiencies in establishing the necessary sense of urgency for change in the business space; and a failure to make the distinction between incremental and transformational change, leading to unrealistic expectations of the time required to deliver change. The paper also notes that failures in the delivery of change in the business space will ultimately lead to important shortcomings in military operations. Copyright (C) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.