Article

International Journal of
Police Science & Management
A new change management approach 2018, Vol. 20(1) 52–65
ª The Author(s) 2018
for a law enforcement organization Reprints and permission:
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355718756411
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Erdem Erciyes
The Turkish Gendarmerie General Command, Ankara, Turkey

Abstract
This research uses a pilot study to investigate current change management implementation in a law enforcement
organization. Based on the findings, a new change management approach is established for a law enforcement
organization. The core research question that guides this study is: ‘How can change management be implemented
successfully in a law enforcement organization?’. Taking into consideration the research aim, type and size of the
sample, and to gain different and in-depth knowledge of the change management phenomenon, the operations division
of the Turkish gendarmerie was chosen as the sphere of interest and semi-structured interviews as the research method.
The results present a new change management model for the chosen division. The main original contribution is first
Ackerman’s change categorization at a law enforcement organization [Ackerman, L. (1986) Development, transition or
transformation: the question of change in organization. OD Practitioner 18(4): 1–8], and then developing a new change
management approach for each type of change category in this context.

Keywords
Change management, law enforcement management, management, organizational change and reform, organizational
culture

Submitted 20 Jun 2017, Revise received 02 Dec 2017, accepted 04 Dec 2017

Introduction is on active duty in 92% of Turkish territories and its

around 170,000 personnel in total. Taking into account the
Rapid and continuous change is characteristic of modern
tasks performed, the number of personnel and its areas of
life. Either consciously or unconsciously, most organiza-
responsibility, the Turkish gendarmerie is one of the big-
tions are part of this change process. Some organizations
gest state organizations in Turkey, and even Europe. Obvi-
realize the importance of change and seek ways to deal with
ously, for such a big organization, change is inevitable. In
it, whereas others cannot react properly to change and, as a
addition, economic, security, technological, sociocultural
consequence, are unable to survive in today’s highly com-
and legal regulations are changing rapidly in Turkey.
petitive world. Some 70% of all change initiatives fail
Because of this, the Turkish gendarmerie faces vague, com-
(Balogun and Hailey, 2004; Beer and Nohria, 2000;
plex and rapid change. The main research question in this
Hammer and Champy, 1993; Kotter, 2008; Senturia et al.,
2008; Sirkin et al., 2005). Many studies have sought to under- study is: ‘How can change management be implemented
stand the reasons for this failure and to find effective change successfully in a law enforcement organization?’. In addi-
management abilities that enable an organization to adapt to tion, the principal purpose of this research is to investigate
any changes it faces. It is rather obvious that a change process current change management implementation within law
requires profound research and careful implementation.
The Turkish gendarmerie is a prestigious law enforce-
Corresponding author:
ment organization both in Turkey and internationally. It has Erdem Erciyes, Personnel Department of The Turkish Gendarmerie
had major success in the fight against crime and criminals, General Command, 06560, Bestepe, Ankara, Turkey.
and even against terrorist organizations. The gendarmerie Email: [email protected]
Erciyes 53

enforcement organizations, using a pilot study, and then powerful guiding coalition; underestimating the power of
based on the findings, to establish a new change manage- vision; under-communicating the vision by a factor of 10,
ment approach for a specific division within the organiza- 100 or even 1,000; permitting obstacles to block the new
tion. To achieve the research aim of this study and answer vision; failing to create short-term wins; declaring victory
the inquiries therein, an exploratory and mostly qualitative too soon; and neglecting to anchor changes firmly in corpo-
approach is employed; but during the analysis, quantitative rate culture. Kotter then developed an eight-step model to
research based on a quota sampling is also utilized. overcome those errors: creating sense of urgency; forming
the guiding coalition; building up a vision and strategy;
communication the change vision; empowering employees
Literature review and theory for broad-based action; creating short-term wins; reinforcing
Law enforcement organizations have a strict hierarchical gains and producing more change; and anchoring changes in
management approach and the roles of subordinates in the corporate culture. The eight steps of change correspond
these organizations are mostly ignored. When overcoming to the eight common errors that lead to the failure of change
resistance to change, superiors generally use negative efforts. According to Kotter, the key to success in change
methods against subordinates, such as punishment and management is following all the steps in order. Skipping
enforcing regulations. Unfortunately, this style of manage- steps or jumping ahead might harm the change process. The
ment approach hinders the development of change manage- eight-step model followed a very long and rigid process,
ment in law enforcement organizations. and did not allow shifts in direction during progression.
Tushman and O’Reilly (1997) describe change manage- Moreover, it did not support a participatory approach during
ment as moving an organization from the now to the future the change process. Despite its inflexible nature, Kotter’s
through a transition period. During the transition period, the eight-step model is still very popular among academics and
organization divides into its constituent parts and they are can be easily adapted to strictly hierarchical organizations.
moved, unit by unit, towards the desired future. To prevent Therefore, when a top to bottom change is initiated in a law
resistance to change it is better to keep the transition time to enforcement organization, Kotter’s change model may be a
a minimum. Furthermore, to manage transition periods, it is different and useful option.
necessary to focus on the process by which a unit moves Authors such as Kotter (2008), and Beer and Nohria
from the present to the future. George and Jones (2005) (2000) concentrate on the difficulty and high failure rate
make similar assertions: organizational change aims to of change management. Despite some individual successes,
move away from the present state towards some desired most companies are not able to manage the installation of
future circumstance to increase organizational effectiveness. new technologies, downsizing and restructuring necessary
Christensen (1997) argues that companies might handle for change within their corporate culture. The main reason
sustaining changes, but when confronted by disruptive for failure is rushing by managers who want to change their
change, they might easily fail. In such cases, they are not organization. By listening to too many opinions, managers
able to adapt to radical change without difficulty. To over- are not able to focus properly on the change process. To
come such failures and manage disruptive change, compa- increase the rate of success, managers must better under-
nies must take notice of their customers’ characteristics and stand the nature of change and the corporate culture of their
investigate opportunities to increase their profits. Christen- organization.
sen and Overdorf (2000) have continued to study disruptive Degnegaard (2010) applied Kotter’s change model to
change. Before attempting any change, managers must the reform process within the Danish police. However,
understand their organization’s capacity for change. utilizing the same model for all types of changes did not
Resources, processes and values are the main factors that result in success for the change efforts. Jacobs et al. (2006)
affect organizational capacity. During a change manage- focused on German police officers’ attitudes towards
ment process, managers should assess how each of these attempts at change. They inferred that support, goals, com-
factors might affect their organization’s capacity for munication, working conditions and competence are fac-
change. They should then decide what type of change is tors in the success of a change management program.
necessary: sustaining or disruptive? Based on this analysis, Jacobs et al. (2013) utilized these factors in change man-
a specific change management model must be established agement projects in 10 European police institutions. They
to meet the needs of the company. concluded that organizational culture and identity are also
Kotter’s (2008) eight-step change management model essential components of a successful change management
has had a major impact on the change management litera- program within police institutions. Much research on
ture. He analyzed reasons for change failure and found change management in public and army institutions
eight common errors made by organizations: allowing too (Cunningham and Kempling, 2009; Davidson, 2013; Farrell
much complacency; failing to create a sufficiently and Terriff, 2002; Fernandez and Rainey, 2006; Gerras and
54 International Journal of Police Science & Management 20(1)

Wong, 2013; Gray, 2006) has also stressed the importance systems, business processes or technologies. It needs
of understanding organizational culture and acting in har- a transition period from the old state to the new.
mony with the change management process. 3. Transformational change: requires a radical shift of
Existing change management models in the literature strategy, structure, systems, processes or technol-
provide a general idea of how to implement a change man- ogy. In the beginning, the new state is unknown and
agement approach within an organization. However, no one only the general direction of change can be identi-
model is right or holds true for every organization. Different fied. This requires fundamental change in all
models and methods of implementation may also bring suc- aspects of an organization, for example, in the
cess. Every organization has different dynamics, needs and mindset, behaviors and organizational culture
culture, and consequently, a change management model (Anderson and Ackerman, 2001).
must be interpreted uniquely for each organization accord-
ing to its special features. Type of change, organizational A good practical study must be based on a profound
expectations, needs, organizational structure, culture and theoretical framework because theory and practice are inse-
staff profiles should be taken into account when choosing parable parts of research and must be complementary. The
a model. After deciding upon the type of model, it should be empirical portion of the research must overlap with its
implemented carefully with determination and patience. theoretical part. Even though this research leans heavily
Even though the Turkish gendarmerie takes orders from on change management theories, without comprehending
civilian authorities, and civil servants work there, a military and scrutinizing organizational cultures, conducting
hierarchy and discipline are its most dominant organiza- research and developing change management models may
tional characteristics. All top executive positions are held provide a shallow impression of change management.
by colonels and generals. Most of the managers follow Hereby, understanding the organizational culture within the
command and control methods, and decisions are made Turkish gendarmerie gains more importance.
from the top down. Rules are followed rather strictly by Waisfisz and Hofstede (2004) developed an organiza-
subordinates, and for anyone found to be in violation of the tional cultural model with six autonomous and two semi-
rules, punishments can be severe. The gendarmerie head- autonomous dimensions. This is also called the ‘Hofstede
quarters is the supreme body, and major decisions about the model – on strategy, culture and change’. It provides a hol-
present and future of the institution are taken there. When istic understanding of organizational culture, and due to its
internal security units and other divisions need to imple- dimensions, a suitable environment is prepared to implement
ment change, they send their proposals to gendarmerie tangible and lasting change in strictly hierarchical organiza-
headquarters. Depending on the subject and type of change, tions. Moreover, it establishes a bridge between culture and
the relevant department examines and coordinates the issue change by providing conceptual insights. To these effects,
with other related departments and divisions. The result of the ‘Waisfisz and Hofstede organizational culture model’
these examinations, in order of seniority, is first presented was utilized as a theoretical framework in this research.
to the department director, then the vice commander, and
finally the commander. The power to implement change at
the Turkish gendarmerie lies in the hands of the com- Method
mander, without whose approval, even the simplest change Qualitative research provides a flexible environment for the
cannot be implemented. researcher and participants. Inter-subjectivity between the
When the organizational structure, characteristics, pop- researcher and participants contributes to the understanding
ulation, executed duties, needs and change applications of of the inquiry. The requisite of understanding different per-
the Turkish gendarmerie are taken into consideration, Ack- spectives makes the direction of this research ‘qualitative’.
erman’s (1986) categorization of organizational change Herein, grasping the cultural characteristics of the organi-
types seems to be a convenient solution. Ackerman defines zation, the values, behaviors and beliefs of the participants
three types of organizational change: developmental, tran- gains importance in the research. Therefore, semi-
sitional and transformational change. structured interviews were utilized as the research method.
The Turkish gendarmerie adheres to a strict hierarchy.
1. Developmental change: the old order is enhanced Status is determined by military rank. High-level officers,
by small shifts. Strengthening, correcting and like majors, lieutenant colonels, colonels and generals hold
improving existing situations within the organiza- executive staff positions such as branch managers, depart-
tion using minor interventions are the most common ment directors and divisional directors. Department direc-
methods of change. tors are referred to as higher executives and are close to the
2. Transitional change: different from developmental top managers of the organization. The rank of a department
change, transitional change develops new structures, director is senior colonel and they are candidates for
Erciyes 55

promotion to general. The other category of executive staff

is branch managers. Their rank is usually that of major,
lieutenant colonel or colonel. Because they are usually
younger than department directors, they mostly function as
a bridge between top management and subordinates. There-
fore, it was assumed by the researcher that this distinction Yes
Partial Yes
within the executive staff should bring a different perspec-
No
tive to the research. In general, junior officers, non-
commissioned officers (NCOs) and civil servants work in
subordinate positions. Junior officers mostly work as project
officers at gendarmerie headquarters, but when promoted to
the rank of major, they become potential candidates for a
branch manager role. Even though they may currently hold a
subordinate position, after several years, they have the Figure 1. Perception of participants’ change experience in the
chance to become managers. The other type of subordinates Turkish Gendarmerie.
are NCOs, who make up the highest number of personnel at
the gendarmerie. They mostly work as operative NCOs 1987). Hereby, coding and categorization gain importance
when at gendarmerie headquarters. The last type of subordi- because they connect other components of the DCA and
nate is civil servants, who have graduated from civilian uni- provide more explanatory information. Initial codes were
versities and work as experts or operative employees at generated from the answers to the questions. Herein, dichot-
gendarmerie headquarters. They could contribute to the omous and listing questions were ignored and not included
study with their civil knowledge, while their diverse perspec- in the coding process. Research questions, research aim,
tives may bring more richness to the research. For these theoretical framework, initial codes and interview texts were
reasons, they were included in the interviews. scrutinized more judiciously in the process of generating and
Depending on the location of each department, all inter- categorization processes. Because of security concerns at the
views were conducted in the various facilities of the gen- Turkish gendarmerie, the introduction, which contained per-
darmerie headquarters in Ankara. In order not to reveal the sonal information on participants, was removed from the
identities of contributors for reasons of security, except for queries and instead the main part of each question was asked
ranks and positions, no personal information about the par- in the interviews. Some questions differ according to the
ticipants such as name, age or education is given during the rank of the respondent, but most are the same for both exec-
analysis. In the selection process, to gain a holistic and utive staff and subordinates.
different perspective of departments, ‘quota sampling’ was
utilized as the data selection method. From all the depart- Question 1: Could you elaborate on the most recent
ments of the operations division, one department director,
changes that have occurred in the Turkish General
one branch manager, one project officer, one NCO and one
civil servant provided data for the empirical part of the Command of Gendarmerie?
research, based on the voluntary participation principle. Because of the need to reveal the current condition of change
Participants of varying ranks and branches were encour- implementations, a time limit of 2 years was reflected in the
aged to participate in the research. In total, 30 personnel questions, which indicates the degree of each participant’s
from the operations division (six department directors, six self-awareness of change implementation. The distribution
branch managers, six officers, six NCOs and six civil ser- of participants’ responses is seen in Figure 1.
vants), five from the finance division, and five from the Twenty-six of 30 respondents emphasized that the Turk-
general plan and policies division, participated in the semi- ish gendarmerie has been experiencing some changes in
structured interviews. recent times. Three of 30 respondents have seen partial and
limited change. Only one of 30 participants had not seen
any change in the environment of the organization,
Analysis and interpretation although mentioning that ‘in lieu of change, improvements
While analyzing the gathered data, data content analysis have been seen in the gendarmerie’. Participants who
(DCA) was utilized. DCA aims to interpret communica- answered yes, or a partial yes, elaborated their answers,
tional meaning while verifying theoretical relationships. and mentioned the most recent changes they had seen at
To achieve this, DCA sets in motion a reflexive relationship the Turkish gendarmerie. Even though the organization has
between sampling, data collection, data coding, data analyz- a highly hierarchical structure, the findings show that
ing, theoretical framework and interpretation (Altheide, recently more human-oriented management approaches
56 International Journal of Police Science & Management 20(1)

OD

Signals

Internal Sec. Units

Personnel Div.

Intelligence Div.

Logistics Div.

Figure 2. Distribution of units experienced the most changes.

have been witnessed. For example, showing more respect Yes No Partial Yes
to subordinates, listening to their opinions, encouraging
their participation in the decision-making process, convin- Figure 3. Following particular or distinct approach in change
cing them about organizational decisions, establishing units implementations.
to listen to their problems, implementing reforms in the
assignment policy and personnel rights, and utilizing more According to the findings of the second question, the
objective and transparent management approaches through operations department is well ahead of all other units at the
the sharing of information with them. According to the organization vis-à-vis experiencing change. These findings
organizational cultural dimensions of Waisfisz and Hof- also support the choice of the operations department as a
stede (2004), we can infer from the findings of the first subject area in this investigation. Most changes in the oper-
question that even the Turkish gendarmerie is a work- ations division were seen in the anti-smuggling and orga-
oriented organization, with a new generation of managers nized crime department, forensics and the education
who have a tendency to transform it into an employee- department. After the operations department, the second
oriented organization. greatest degree of change was implemented in the informa-
The Turkish gendarmerie places more importance on tion technologies and telecommunication department (SIG-
organizational development: the gendarmerie follows tech- NALS), followed by the internal security unit. These results
nological developments closely within all units and tries to are consistent with the findings of the first question. The
adapt to the latest technology and adopt the most modern common function of these divisions is that they focus on
equipment into its structure. To increase operational effi- increasing operational effectiveness and utilizing the latest
ciency, many reforms have been carried out in the context technologies, which can lead organizational development.
of professionalism, specialization and reinforcement of
operational units. Furthermore, there is a recent tendency
Question 3: Do you think that changes in the Turkish
to increase the influence of civilian authorities within the
gendarmerie. Providing and maintaining public order is the General Command of Gendarmerie follow a
fundamental responsibility of all law enforcement organi- particular or distinct approach?
zations. The gendarmerie has a close interaction with the The answers are showed in Figure 3.
public, as one of the interviewees referenced: ‘[I]f the gen- This question is also part of the above-mentioned sub-
darmerie is thought [of as] an enterprise, our clients are sidiary research inquiry and complements the previous two
[then our] citizens . . . ’. The organization aims to improve questions. Before developing a new change management
the quality and efficiency of public service, and for this approach, it is important to understand current approaches
reason, it implements many changes. to change at the organization. Therefore, this question clari-
fies whether a particular or distinct change approach has
Question 2: Which units of the Turkish General been followed during change implementation processes at
Command of Gendarmerie have experienced the the gendarmerie. Half of the participants were totally una-
ware of any particular approach. Three of 30 participants
most changes in the recent past? recalled seeing a partial approach, such as asking opinions,
The distribution of units that have experienced the most methods of trial and error, investigating other organiza-
change is presented in Figure 2. tional approaches, and adapting useful methods into the
Erciyes 57

35
Developmental
30 Transitional
Transformational
25

20

15

10

0
The commonness The success The need

Yes No Figure 5. Comparison of change types.

Figure 4. Seeing any obstacles toward change in the Turkish Question 5: There are three main types of change in
Gendarmerie.
the gendarmerie: developmental, transitional and
gendarmerie. Twelve of 30 believed that the Turkish gen-
transformational. According to your opinion, which
darmerie follows a distinctive methodology. After analyz- type of change is most common in the Turkish
ing all the answers to Question 3, it was established that to General Command of Gendarmerie?
successfully implement change, it would be desirable to According to 27 of 30 participants, developmental change
initially form a project group and then determine some is the most commonly seen type at the organization; the
implementation ground rules for that group. If a need other three participants saw transitional change as the most
emerges for technical phase of a change, for example how common. Because of its radical nature, no one chose trans-
to analyze gathered data, members of the group should be formational change. The gendarmerie has a very strong
trained in this issue. The project group should probe the organizational culture based on almost 200 years of history.
opinions of related units and its members must then take Therefore, it is not very easy or common to see change in
note of, analyze and discuss all the gathered views and long-held organizational habits. The success rate for
recommendations. After concluding the analysis process, change implementation, from the most to the least success-
the results should be presented to the command echelon, ful, is: developmental, transitional and then transforma-
and if the commander approves, change should be tional. This finding is also consistent with the nature of
implemented. change because, in any type of organization, managing
small changes is always easier than handling major change.
Question 4: Can you anticipate any obstacles to By contrast, 23 of 30 participants posit that the Turkish
gendarmerie needs transformational change most; 6 of 30
change in the Turkish General Command of chose transitional change, and only one thought that devel-
Gendarmerie? opmental change is enough for the organization. A com-
The findings of this question give an idea of how to develop parison of the change types is shown in Figure 5.
a new change management approach and make suggestions According to Figure 5, it is evident that any approach
of how to deal with the noted obstacles. Figure 4 indicates specifically developed for one division of the organization
the distribution of the replies. must cover all these different change types.
Twenty-four of 30 participants anticipated obstacles
to the change process in the organization, whereas only Question 6: In your opinion, what are the main
six of 30 inferred that there are no impediments to
reasons for change in the Turkish General Command
change. Nine main hurdles to change were identified:
(1) external environment, (2) internal environment, (3) of Gendarmerie?
financial restrictions, (4) ambiguity, (5) legislation, (6) There are five main reasons for change: (1) internal factors,
assignment policy, (7) the status quo, (8) hierarchy and (2) external factors, (3) organizational development, (4)
(9) subordination. improving personnel rights and (5) increasing efficiency.
58 International Journal of Police Science & Management 20(1)

I do not have any role Expressing opinion

Coordinate Being part of an ongoing change
Initiate Control
Being leader of a change

Figure 7. Roles in change management.

Figure 6. Respondents’ familiarity with change management

concept.

Question 7: Before this survey, had you ever heard of

the change management concept?
As shown in Figure 6, 18 of 30 participants had not heard of
the change management concept before the interview, Motivation Showing respect
whereas 12 of 30 were familiar with it. Delagation of Authority Discussing
After the researcher had explained the change manage- Training Developing sense of belonging
ment concept, the eighth question was put to the respondents. Taking care of personnel problems Asking subordinates' opinions
Being a role model
Question 8: Do you believe in the necessity of change
management in the Turkish General Command of Figure 8. Methods of enlisting subordinates’ support toward
change.
Gendarmerie?
All respondents agreed on the need to implement change
Six of 30 participants believe that they do not have a role
management at the gendarmerie. These findings illustrate
in change management. Most conjectured that, due to the
the perspectives of gendarmerie personnel from their replies
military hierarchy, roles in change management are directly
to the subsidiary research question. Consequently, there is a
related to rank and position. Some 13 of 30 respondents
consensus among staff on the importance of change man-
were not as negative as these six, but they saw their role as
agement for the future of the Turkish gendarmerie.
only being part of an y ongoing change and thought that
they could not be involved in initiating the change process.
Question 9: Have you ever participated actively in However, the remainder (11 participants) had more posi-
change implementation or initiated any change tive views of their roles. They noted having had the expe-
processes in your department during your service in rience of: expressing their opinions, leading processes of
change, and initiating, controlling and coordinating a
the Turkish General Command of Gendarmerie?
change process.
Some 24 of 30 participants were initiating or experiencing
some type of change at the institution, whereas 6 of 30 had
yet to experience change implementation.
Question 11
The 11th question was differentiated according to the pro-
file of the participants.
Question 10: How would you define your role in an
Executive staff were asked: How would you enlist the sup-
organizational change? port of your subordinates towards change? The main methods
The main referred roles are showed in Figure 7. mentioned by executive staff are demonstrated in Figure 8.
Erciyes 59

developing a specific change management approach for the

Turkish gendarmerie.

A new change management approach

Having investigated the existing change management lit-
erature, it was realized that many change management
approaches were developed from general perspectives
that could be implemented in many different contexts,
such as packet programs. Yet, every organization has its
own culture, characteristics and needs, and there is no
cannot contribute not showing resistance guarantee a successful change management approach can
Being part Inculcang change into my collegues be applied to a different context. Therefore, each organi-
Making analysis Expressing opinios zation needs a specifically developed model. Nonetheless,
when the population and their wide-ranging duties are
Figure 9. Ways of subordinates’ participation to change process. taken into account, reaching a whole organization and
providing different units with access to the research
By contrast, subordinates were asked: How can you becomes too difficult. However, choosing a specific unit
contribute to change in the Turkish General Command of for a pilot study can provide an in-depth understanding of
Gendarmerie? Ways in which subordinates were able to the research topic.
contribute are indicated in Figure 9. The operations division is the largest and the most popu-
By comparing Figures 8 and 9, it can be seen that to lous division at gendarmerie headquarters. All the gen-
enlist the support of subordinates, one-third of executive darmerie’s operative functions are monitored and
staff prefer to ask for their opinions. In addition, half of the strategic operational plans prepared by this division. As
subordinates think that they can contribute to a change can be seen in the results section, the operations division
process by expressing their opinions. However, both groups deals with change more often than other divisions. To this
approve of the importance of asking opinions within the effect, a new approach was developed for the operations
organizational culture. It is clear that organization’s new division and its transferability to other divisions investi-
change management approach should continue to ask the gated. One of the interviewees stated that, ‘ . . . this change
opinions of related units and personnel, and give weight to management model should be applied like a stairs model: it
their concerns. must pass through certain steps. A front step can be passed
in horizontal models, but it cannot be passed on in the stairs
model’. Kotter (2008) also utilized this stairs approach in
Question 12: In your opinion, what factors contribute his model. Appelbaum et al. (2012) emphasized the impor-
to successful change implementation in the Turkish tance of following the sequence of a change process
General Command of Gendarmerie? attempt in Kotter’s model. If the first step cannot be imple-
mented, it is impossible to pass onto the other steps. Fol-
Twenty-two factors were mention by the participants:
lowing the sequence was one of the difficult aspects of this
increasing personnel excellence; consolidating a sense of
model. However, due to its rigid structure, in contrast to the
corporate belonging; abolishing uncertainty in the organi-
private sector, the stairs approach seems very applicable to
zation; implementing long-term plans; persuading the com-
a law enforcement structure. As the participants inferred:
mand echelon; determination; declaring an intention
to change; preparing the intellectual infrastructure for a
. . . We test the feasibility of this formed idea and we take
change; good analysis; establishing a special center for opinions from related units about this idea. Then, we evaluate
change; decreasing bureaucracy; maintaining continuity these opinions and after giving last version of our study, to get
of positive changes; implementing a pilot test; training our general commander’s approval, we present our study to the
change agents; overlapping organizational and individual commander. After the approval of commander, we begin to
aims; establishing good control units; converting to a one- implement.
headed ranking system; utilizing human-oriented manage- . . . If I do not have any support from my superiors, I will
ment; providing common wisdom according to the material not be able to do many things related to the change.
needs of the organization’s reorganization; having . . . When we informed our hierarchical superiors about the
patience; and increasing the reputation of cooperation. All demand for change, it was investigated by them, and after their
these factors are taken into consideration below while approval, the change was implemented.
60 International Journal of Police Science & Management 20(1)

Mainly, there are two main approaches in the military lit-

erature: first, when the desire for change comes from subordi-
nates, the opinions are taken from related divisions and units Implementing change
about the change. Then, the result of the detailed analysis was Providing Information on the Change
presented to the commander, according to the order of the Process to the Personnel
commander, the implementation is launched. In the second Getting Approval from the Commander
approach, change is directly launched promptly by the order Presenting the Results of the Analysis to the
of commander. Command Echelon
Analyzing Previous Works and Opinions
This is because under a strict hierarchy, if you cannot About the Change Topic
convince one of your managers, you cannot bypass the Gathering Opinions of Related Units about a
chain of command and therefore cannot reach the higher Change Topic
echelons. For this reason, all the new change approaches
are designed as stair models. Without finishing one step, it
Figure 10. New change management approach for developmen-
is impossible to pass on to higher steps in the model.
tal change.
When the features of the Turkish gendarmerie and the
operations division are taken into consideration, for example
organizational structure, characteristics, population, exe- change management approach for developmental change
cuted duties, needs and change applications, Ackerman was established as shown in Figure 10.
(1985)’s categorization of organizational change types
seems to be most appropriate for this research: developmen-
tal, transitional and transformational. Rather than developing Step 1: Gathering the opinions of related units about
one approach and applying it to three different contexts, it a change topic
was decided to develop three approaches and implement
Asking the opinions of related units about an implementa-
each separately. The first approach is developmental change.
tion is an important component of the organizational cul-
According to the findings, 27 of 30 participants think that
ture. Most of the time, the opinions of related units are
developmental change is the most implemented, and there is
sought regarding a desired change implementation, or
also consensus that it is the most successful type of imple-
when a unit presents the results of an analysis, a memor-
mented change. For this reason, it is obvious that the oper-
andum or an instrument of approval to the commander.
ations division experienced developmental change rather
This step provides different perspectives on a change pro-
often and many attempts at change were successful. Conse-
cess. Moreover, when other units and staff are included in a
quently, a new approach for developmental change was cre-
change process, they become a part of that process, and as
ated from the interview findings, and because of this
Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) note, staff participation
realization, a new model similar to the existing change
diminishes resistance toward the change process.
approach emerged. The third interview question investigated
current change implementation approaches. Some of the
methods inferred by the participants were: Step 2: Analyzing previous work and opinions about
First, a project group is formed. This group collects data and
the change topic
analyzes it. Then, other equal organizations’ similar implemen- This step is also part of current change implementations in
tations and sub-units’ opinions are examined. The most suitable the organization. Opinions gathered during the first step,
course of action is determined and by getting the approval of the and previous work about the change topic, must be ana-
commander, the change implementation is launched. lyzed by the units responsible using a scientific approach.
First, opinions are asked of related units. Received opinions This step must be carried out carefully and profoundly, or
are evaluated and according to the results of the analysis, most problems may emerge in the subsequent steps.
acceptable courses of action are presented for the approval of
command echelon. After their approval, the implementation
will be launched. Step 3: Presenting the results of the analysis
First, the opinions of subordinate units are taken; these
to the command echelon
opinions are analyzed scientifically. Then, the approval of the
command echelon is sought. The Turkish gendarmerie’s work principle is based on a
strict hierarchy, and therefore, before seeking the approval
Taking into consideration currently successful change of the commander, results must be presented to the chain of
methodologies in the Turkish gendarmerie, an adapted new command and their signatures obtained at every level.
Erciyes 61

Step 4: Getting approval from the commander communication channels are important in developmental
change: giving staff information about a change process
Leaders play vital roles in the success of change manage-
will establish good interactive relations for the sake of
ment. The commander holds the highest position in the orga-
providing success in change management.
nization, therefore, without receiving the commander’s
approval, no change can be initiated at the Turkish gendarm-
erie. Yet, this approval on its own is not enough to ensure the Step 6: Implementing change
success of any change. Change management is a team effort
After the above-mentioned steps are complete, change can
and many actors can affect its success. Hence, the leader
be initiated on order of the commander.
should understand the real needs of the organization, and
The second type of change is transitional Change.
according to these needs and dynamics, must ensure a suit-
Although only 3 of 30 participants think that transitional
able environment for success of a change process.
change is the most common type, all agree on its impor-
tance, in second place, for the success of current change
implementations. In addition, 6 of 30 participants note that
Step 5: Providing information on the change process
the Turkish gendarmerie needs transitional change the
to the personnel most. We can easily conclude from these findings that
Change is not something that can be managed by only one current transitional change requires some updated new
or even all these elements. There might be greatly talented change management and shall hold an important place in
leaders, knowledgeable change agents, and very hard- the future of the institution:
working human resource managers in an organization, but
if the employees do not believe in the necessity for change We made a long-term plan. We spread out this plan into years
and show resistance to it, the desired change does not last and we carried out our target step by step. In every step, we
very long. The role of employees in the change manage- revised our plan by analyzing financial, legal and scientific
ment process is no less important than that of the other situations and finally, we reached our target.
actors. Because of the hierarchy, it can be easily assumed I brought a talent that the gendarmerie did not have by
that if there is an order, everybody must obey it, and the establishing a section from scratch. First, a project group was
role of subordinates is not as important as that of employees established. Then, I made a plan and spread this out over a
2-year calendar of activities. There were sub and main subjects
in the private sector. There is no doubt that the order will
in the calendar of activities. We investigated legislation, the
have to be followed immediately by subordinates. Yet due
needs of personnel and equipment and who had experience of
to major assignment rotations, especially in decision-
this work in Turkey and the world. Then we got in touch with
making positions or when the executives are assigned to
those with experience and got them to educate our personnel.
new positions, group dynamics begin to mobilize and Lastly, we launched the implementation.
senior subordinates may convince the new executive man- . . . Using seminars and information meetings, personnel
agement to remove change implementations by noting their and public should be informed about changes in the gendarm-
negative experiences with the current change. Furthermore, erie and the perception of the gendarmerie’s modern law
the results of any change implementation mostly affect enforcement should be reinforced.
subordinates as they must live with that change for the . . . Before beginning change, a pilot test should be made.
duration of their service in the organization. Therefore, it Previous successful change implementations should be
is crucial that personnel are supported during the change examined, and they should be evaluated.
process. Informing subordinates about change management
is a rather efficient approach to gaining their support. Regarding the theoretical framework of the research, the
Moreover, the importance of the staff’s role in the change Turkish gendarmerie is a work-oriented organization. How-
management process is increased in parallel with the devel- ever, new-generation managers tend to transform it into an
opment of human-oriented management at the organiza- employee-oriented organization. A reflection of this finding
tion. If a successful staff (employee) engagement model can be seen in Step 9: subordinates were encouraged to be
is applied for the Turkish gendarmerie, there is no doubt part of the change process by providing them with education
that as resistance to change diminishes, the success change and information. The new change management approach for
management will increase. As a part of this model, before transitional change is shown in Figure 11.
beginning any change implementation, all staff must be
informed about the process through explanatory docu-
ments, conferences, papers and other possible means. Thus,
Step 1: Establishing a project group
the impression must be given that they are inseparable parts As noted by the participants, when a topic involves the
of the change process. As Ackerman (1986) noted, open responsibilities of other units, a project group made up of
62 International Journal of Police Science & Management 20(1)

Step 5: Presenting the results of the analysis to the

Keeping Abreast of the Results of Change through a Special command echelon
Unit
Implementing Change The results must be presented to the chain of command and
Providing Education, Training or Information about Change
Process to the Personnel their opinions and experiences included in a change
Revising Change Implementation according to the Results of process.
the Pilot Test (optional)
Making a Pilot Test (optional)
Getting Approval from the Commander
Presenting the Results of the Analysis to the Command
Step 6: Getting approval from the commander
Echelon
Analyzing Previous Works and Opinions about the Change
According to the rules of organizational hierarchy, to
Topic implement any change attempts, approval must be given
Gathering Opinions of Related Units about the Change Topic
by the commander. Their support is crucial to continue the
Developing Timelines (short, middle and long term),
Establishing a Project Group
change process. Subsequently, all previous results must be
presented to the commander by senior members of the
project group together with alternative courses of actions.
Figure 11. New change management approach for transitional The commander’s orders must be followed.
change.

members of related components is often established at the Step 7: Conducting a pilot test (optional)
organization. Most of the time, work groups establish a more If a desired change affects a large number of staff or units and
collaborative, coordinated and participatory environment. results in permanent change, it must first be applied to a small
Transitional change requires more careful implementation, sample group from a major unit before full implementation.
focus and control than developmental change, therefore According to Baker (1994), a sample size of 10–20% of the
while establishing a project group, the aim is to fulfill these units that are affected by the change can provide valuable
requirements. What is more, to develop diverse perspectives feedback in a pilot study. This ensures no unforeseeable
for the benefit of implementation, the project group must be events, gives opportunities to assess the feasibility of any
composed of staff from different units, divisions and ranks. change implementation, and helps in making alterations.
Even though there will still be a strict hierarchy within the Moreover, after seeing the main areas of resistance, and to
group, to encourage the participation of members, every eliminate them, some proactive action could be implemented.
participant must have equal voice in the discussions.

Step 8: Revising change implementation according to

Step 2: Developing timelines (short, middle the results of the pilot test (optional)
and long term)
The project group will take feedback from participants of
The nature of transitional change requires a transitional the pilot test. After combining these results with their
state from old to new, but this transition cannot be com- observations, necessary modifications will be carried out.
pleted promptly and must be spread out over time. Three
main timelines, short, middle and long term, are used at the
organization. Therefore, a project group must develop this Step 9: Providing education, training or information
timeline and implement it accordingly. about the change process to staff
If change implementation requires expanding the knowl-
Step 3: Gathering the opinions of related units about edge base of personnel or strengthening their skills, this
a change topic step is vitally important. Depending upon the content of
the change implementation, education, training or informa-
The project group will ask for and gather the opinions of tion must be provided to staff. The Turkish gendarmerie
related units about the change topic. places much importance on the training and education of its
personnel: every year, a large proportion of its budget is
spent on expenses relating to training and education. There-
Step 4: Analyzing previous work and opinions about
fore, providing education and training on the change pro-
the change topic cess to personnel is a very logical and consistent approach
The project group will decide what type of analysis method that sits well with the organizational characteristics while
to utilize. If necessary, training in research methods should trying to overcome the resistance of personnel from any
be provided to the members of the project group. and all sides.
Erciyes 63

Step 10: Implementing change

Change must be initiated with an order from the commander. Keeping Abreast of the Results of Change through
Change Agents
Institutionalizing Change
Step 11: Keeping abreast of the results of change
Implementing Change
through a special unit
Providing Education, Training or Information about
During the change process, one of the biggest mistakes Change Process to the Personnel
made by an organization is declaring an early victory. Developing Time Lines (long, middle and short terms)
Because of the hierarchical nature of the military, most
Employing a group of change agents from inside and
people assume that when an order is given, a change is outside of the organization
completed, even though the reality is obviously different.
As executive posts are changed in short bursts and new
managers are assigned, they want to set their own manage- Figure 12. New change management approach for transforma-
ment approaches and change anything that they are not tional change.
happy to implement. In addition, as some participants
noted, impatience is an important characteristic of the orga- essential component of change management. The character
nizational culture. The results of change are desired in a and experience of change management are rather important
short period, and new change is initiated without seeing the with regards to its rate of success as a change agent. A change
results of the current change implementation. To prevent agent can be an internal or external individual because there
this and monitor the results of change implementation from are no strict rules in such regards, and it rather depends on the
one center, a new unit must be established at gendarmerie type of change, or the needs, of the organization in question.
headquarters to follow and register change actions.
The third type of change is transformational change.
None of the participants think that this is common at the Step 2: Developing timelines (short, middle
Turkish gendarmerie and therefore they chose it as the least and long term)
successful change type. Nonetheless, surprisingly, 23 of 30
To lessen the impact of future ambiguity, timelines that
participants see it as the most needed change type for the
includes short, middle and long terms must be developed
organization. Therefore, this newly developed model,
and followed by change agents.
which is based on the research findings, will be a reference
point for radical change attempts in the future.
Step 3: Providing education, training or information
A branch named organizational development can be established about change process to personnel
to conduct change management operations from one center.
. . . Changes should be managed from one center. The desired change situation is totally new to personnel,
. . . It is not so important how you make a perfect change and it is normal that individuals show resistance to uncer-
plan, if people do not believe its importance, that change cannot tain phenomena. To lessen ambiguity and make them feel
be successful, that is why convincing people is very important. more secure, before implementing a change, depending
. . . Change agents should be trained as well. upon the type of change topic, all personnel must be pre-
. . . In order to direct all change effort from one center, a pared for the new state of affairs through education, train-
unit can be established. At the same time, this unit should ing or information.
manage the flow of information.
. . . It is very important for change to be introduced and be
shown to be useful to everyone. Like conference and informa- Step 4: Implementing change
tion note. Change must be initiated with a detailed and clear written
This is shown in Figure 12. order from the commander.

Step 1: Employing a group of change agents from Step 5: Institutionalizing change

inside and outside the organization Change must be embedded in the organizational culture
Because of radical and unknown characteristics, transforma- through continued open support by executive staff, building
tional change requires more professional support, and for this other implementations on the new change implementation,
reason, a group of change agents must be employed from and rewarding personnel who are to adapt quickly to this
inside and outside the organization. The change agent is an new process. Herein, the commander has a fundamental
64 International Journal of Police Science & Management 20(1)

role to play. If the commander displays the characteristics different divisions of the gendarmerie headquarters. Hence,
of transformational leaders, such as providing a clear view this study may be expanded to the whole of the headquar-
of the future by developing a well-defined vision, and ters, and other units of the gendarmerie, by further research.
encourages and supports all personnel, change can be inte- Moreover, test the applicability of this new change man-
grated more easily and more successfully into the organi- agement approach, deductive research that covers this new
zational culture. methodology may be implemented for real change situa-
tions in the operations division. Finally, the researcher
Step 6: Keeping abreast of the results of change could not get permission to conduct interviews with top
managers of the Turkish gendarmerie (generals) in this
through change agents study. To this effect, specific research that includes the
When a change implementation is finalized, early victory perspective of generals may be conducted in the future.
must not be declared, and the results must be followed up
by internal change agents, and the latest circumstances Author note
discussed with external change agents. The results must The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do
be presented to the commander, and according to the con- not reflect the official views and position of the Turkish
ditions of the implementation, the necessary intervention Gendarmerie.
must be executed immediately.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
Conclusion respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
This research holds an important place within and makes article.
the following original contributions to the existing litera-
ture. First, the researcher realized that change management Funding
is mostly seen within the existing literature as a packet The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
program that can be applied to all types of changes and authorship, and/or publication of this article.
organizations. However, each organization’s functions are
operated over a rather broad and varied spectrum. For this ORCID iD
reason, it is posited that change types require categoriza- Erdem Erciyes http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7842-0967
tion. Even though Ackerman’s (1986) change categoriza-
tion was developed for the private sector, when taking References
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(2006) The fatal smirk: insider accounts of organizational many research articles and books on these issues.