International Journal of Project Management 18 (2000) 225±233

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Seven key features for creating and sustaining commitment

Rachel Burgess, Suzanne Turner*
Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL UK
Received 6 June 1998; received in revised form 28 January 1999; accepted 18 February 1999

Abstract

Commitment is a key factor in determining how an organisation performs. It can provide employees with the motivation and
energy necessary to overcome obstacles and achieve apparently impossible goals. Furthermore, true commitment o€ers a
sustainable competitive advantage because it is dicult to imitate.
This paper examines how this commitment can be created within a project management environment, drawing upon the
lessons o€ered by high commitment situations such as crisis management, religious cults, military and political associations.
Seven key features of producing commitment have been identi®ed and their use within a project management environment has
been proposed via a time frame model. 7 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction ment, such as during a crisis, and will have noticed the
way in which it has provided the project with extra-
Commitment can be a powerful force for change. ordinary momentum.
Total commitment to an idea can provide individuals This paper aims to identify the key features which
with the motivation and energy required to sacri®ce have proved successful in building an exceptional level
everything in the pursuit of seemingly impossible of commitment in a variety of situations and explores
goals. This power has been recognised by religious, how these features may be built into a project manage-
political and military organisations for centuries; and ment environment. Commitment is particularly import-
more recently by business organisations. ant for the management of projects because of their
A lack of employee commitment to an organisation temporal nature. Their relatively short life-span and
and its goals has been identi®ed as a major constraint the need to get the team working productively as soon
upon its performance, this includes its ability to as possible requires a great deal of e€ort. Commitment
change [1]. Whilst business organisations would be can provide the additional impetus that projects
unwise to expect individuals to sacri®ce everything in require to get them o€ to a ¯ying start.
pursuit of its goals, the ability to harness even a frac-
tion of this power could provide them with a real 1.1. Commitment, not compliance
impetus and focus for change.
Some companies have already experienced the ben- Commitment is a concept that most managers are
e®ts that a high level of commitment can bring, includ- familiar with, but which is dicult to describe. Little
ing Hewlett Packard and Motorola. Indeed the strong consensus exists with respect to the de®nition of the
cultures found within these world class companies term, this is partly due to the multi-disciplinary nature
have been likened to cults [2]. In addition, many com- of the research into commitment, including contri-
panies will have experienced periods of high commit- butions from psychologists, sociologists, anthropolo-
gists and management scientists. However, there is an
underlying notion of attachment and loyalty in all the
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 01926 864467. de®nitions [1] that is re¯ected by O'Reilly's de®nition

0263-7863/00/$20.00 7 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 2 6 3 - 7 8 6 3 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 2 3 - X
226 R. Burgess, S. Turner / International Journal of Project Management 18 (2000) 225±233

of commitment as ``typically conceived of as an indivi- the organisation is motivated by extrinsic rewards.

dual's psychological bond (to an organisation), includ- This normally leads to a low positive or a negative
ing a sense of job involvement, loyalty, and a belief in orientation.
the values of the organisation'' [3]. . Moral involvement is based upon individual's belief
It should be noted that commitment is not the same in, and value placed upon, the goals of the organis-
as compliance, where an individual accepts the in¯u- ation. There is a high positive orientation towards
ence of others mainly to obtain something. Compli- the organisation.
ance is largely based upon the notion of economic
exchange, with employees seeking rewards for their Fig. 1 illustrates that there are nine types of organis-
contribution to the organisation [4]. This is often ational relationships that arise from the identi®ed
found within companies and can be easily mistaken forms of power and in¯uence. However, Etzoni
for commitment. However, commitment o€ers some- suggests that there are only three associations that can
thing that compliance does not: be considered congruent, as highlighted in Fig. 1:
``The committed person brings an energy, passion . coercive power with alienative involvementÐre-
and excitement that cannot be generated if you are lationship 1;
only compliant, even genuinely compliant. The com- . remunerative power with calculative involvementÐ
mitted person doesn't play by the rules of the game. relationship 5;
He is responsible for the game. If the rules of the . normative power with moral involvementÐrelation-
game stand in the way of achieving the vision, he ship 9.
will ®nd ways to change the rules'' [5].
Relationship 5, in the centre of the table, is com-
Etzioni [4] demonstrates this di€erence based upon monly associated with the majority of business organ-
the structures of control and the use of power isations. The use of power involves the manipulation
resources within organisations. He identi®es three of material resources and rewards, e.g., wages; whilst
di€erent types of power and involvement, which are involvement is calculative and based upon the extrinsic
summarised below. rewards. There will be a negative orientation or a low
Power di€ers according to the means by which positive orientation towards the organisation [1].
members of the organisation comply:
Commitment requires the internalisation of the
. Coercive power relies upon the use of threats, or organisation's values, norms and goals to a point
physical sanctions or force. where there is a strong correlation between them and
. Remumerative power relies upon the manipulation the individual's beliefs. This level of congruence builds
of material resources, such as wages. an intense sense of loyalty and dedication, and will
. Normative power relies upon the allocation and ma-
make employees both satis®ed and productive by their
nipulation of symbolic rewards, e.g., esteem or pres-
involvement within the organisation.
tige.
This high positive orientation towards the organis-
Involvement is the degree of commitment by mem- ation is associated with relationship 9. The normative
bers of the organisation: powerÐrelying upon the manipulation of symbolic
. Alienative involvement occurs where members are rewards such as esteem and prestigeÐcombined with a
involved against their will (e.g., in prison), there is a moral involvement is generally found in churches. It is
strong negative orientation towards the organis- also evident in companies such as Hewlett-Packard,
ation. who have an exceptionally strong corporate culture.
. Calculative involvement occurs where attachment to This commitment is preferable to the compliance of
relationship 5 because, once gained, it will be more
resilient and e€ective in in¯uencing employee beha-
viour. The internalisation of commitment is a much
stronger in¯uence than compliance based upon
rewards or threats. Commitment is based upon the
acceptance of inner responsibility for our behaviour
and thus is more likely to ensure consistency of atti-
tudes and behaviour than an external pressure [6]. Fur-
thermore it is dicult to copy this type of
commitment, thus it can provide a sustainable com-
Fig. 1. Etzoni's typology of organisational relationships [4]. petitive edge.
 R. Burgess, S. Turner / International Journal of Project Management 18 (2000) 225±233 227

1.2. The need for commitment have gained. They perceive that they have complied
because of the reward, rather than because they
The desirability of commitment as a characteristic of believed in the cause. Indeed, large material rewards
best practice companies and change management has may even reduce or undermine our inner responsibility
been established within the management literature (see for an act, causing a subsequent reluctance to perform
[7]). A general commitment to the organisation will it when the reward is no longer present [12].
reduce employee absenteeism, tardiness and sta€ turn- However, minor rewards or the promise of reward
over. Drennan [8] supports this view, suggesting that can be used as an initial encouragement. An example
most managers believe that with real commitment of the use of minor or non-motivational rewards is the
from sta€ the performance of their businesses could Communist Chinese government's instigation of an
improve dramatically. essay writing competition in the aftermath of the 1989
Commitment is particularly important for the suc- Tiannanmen Square massacre. In Beijing alone, nine
cessful implementation of projects and strategic pro- state-run newspapers sponsored competitions on the
grammes. The introduction of new technology or subject of the `quelling of the counter-revolutionary
strategic initiatives represents a period of discomfort rebellion'. To reduce the emphasis upon rewards for
and risk. Commitment can help to smooth this period public commitments, the government deliberately left
of transition by removing the delays, decision con- the contest prizes unspeci®ed. This essay writing
straints, and reversion to the old ways of working as- approach was also used very successfully with Ameri-
sociated with non-commitment or mere compliance [9± can Prisoners of War during the Korean War [6].
11]. Therefore commitment is an important factor Thus an individual's perception that they have freely
both in getting the resources required for a project and elected to act in some way will contribute to the degree
ensuring that it can avoid and/or overcome the bar- to which they feel committed to the act. Due to our
riers to implementation that can arise. need to justify our actions, the lack of external reward
or threat leaves us with the conclusion that we com-
1.3. The seven key features of high commitment plied because we agreed with what we were doing.
situations From here the internal need to appear consistent takes
over and we will try to continue to act in the same
The literature on a variety of high commitment situ- manner [13] (see Key Feature 5).
ations has been reviewed and seven key factors for
creating and sustaining commitment have been ident- 1.3.2. The role of uncertainty
i®ed. These high commitment situations include com- There must be a degree of uncertainty in order to
panies with strong corporate cultures, crisis build a new commitment and change both attitudes
management circumstances, religious, military and pol- and behaviours. Uncertainty provides the gaps for new
itical associations. The levels of commitment experi- ideas to be incorporated into our way of thinking.
enced in these situations were judged to be greater When we are unsure of ourselves, when the situation is
than that normally experienced within business organ- unclear or ambiguous, we are most likely to look to
isations. Thus the identi®cation of these seven key fea- and accept the actions of others as correct [14].
tures provides an indication of how companies can The creation of this uncertainty may be deliberate
increase the level of commitment they enjoy. or accidental. In a crisis situation, the cause of the cri-
sis will have created the required uncertainty. The cri-
1.3.1. Individuals join of their own free will sis undermines employee commitment to the
Individuals are more likely to be truly committed to organisation and its current way of working [15]. This
a cause if they believe they had a choice about joining produces a void which can then be ®lled by the crisis
it and did so without external coercion. ``Social scien- management team. The uncertainty makes employees
tists have determined that we accept inner responsibil- more open to the team's ideas and thus they should be
ity for a behaviour when we think we have chosen to more committed to the proposed action plan which
perform it in the absence of strong outside pressure'' o€ers an answer to the uncertainty.
[6]. Religious and military organisations use uncertainty
This inner responsibility represents the di€erence in order to build commitment amongst their recruits.
between short-lived compliance and long-term commit- They rely upon our uncertainty about the future, our-
ment. The use of external pressure, whether in the selves or what is `right' and provide solutions to our
form of rewards or threats, gives the individual a questions. This uncertainty is often constructed, par-
reasonÐan excuseÐfor their compliance. Thus, o€er- ticularly in military and cult-style religions, with a
ing employees bene®ts to participate in projects will period of mental abuse being used to undermine the
not generate inner responsibility for their membership individual's self image. Once the recruit has been bro-
as they can justify their actions by the reward they ken down and made to feel worthless, they are then
228 R. Burgess, S. Turner / International Journal of Project Management 18 (2000) 225±233

o€ered salvation via membership of the organisation. armed services, new members must undergo terrible
The organisation gives them a new purpose and a ordeals before they are accepted as members of the
sense of belonging, just when they have become con- group. William Styron, a former Marine, describes his
vinced that their life has no meaning [6]. experiences of training as `one of the closest things in
Likewise, managers wishing to introduce change the free world to a concentration camp'. Yet he also
into a business organisation may use the small steps says:
described in Key Feature 3 to start weakening the sta-
tus quo. 3M actively encourages its employees to ``There is no ex-Marine of my acquaintance . . .who
explore new ideas, however risky and uncertain they does not view the training as a crucible out of
maybe. Their philosophy is that `every idea evolved which he emerged in some way more resilient,
should have a chance to prove itself' and this is sup- simply braver and better for the wear'' [17]
ported by the approach of `make a little, sell a little'.
The company tries a lot of ideas on a small scale and .
develops those that work [2]. Uncertainty is an Indeed a West Point cadet was expelled in 1988
accepted part of the business and thus it is easier to because he refused to subject newcomers to the tra-
build commitment to new products and ideas. ditional hazing (initiation) rituals, which he saw as
`absurd and dehumanising' [6].
1.3.3. Start small and build up The harshness of these initiations is a vital tool for
In trying to build commitment to a new idea, one ensuring the survival of the group. Aronson and Mills
that is possibly contrary to the current thinking, an have shown that individuals that have had to endure a
extravagant launch is not necessarily the best great deal of trouble or pain to attain something tend
approach. A sudden challenge to the status quo is to value it more highly than those who attain the same
likely to be met with instant, automatic resistance. thing with the minimum of e€ort [18]. The e€ort
Instead small, inconsequential requests have been involved acts in two ways to build commitment:
shown to be begin a `momentum of compliance' that 1. It dissuades those who would not value the group
slowly undermines the status quo and builds a new from trying to join. Therefore those entering the in-
commitment [16]. itiation process already have some level of commit-
This links back to the idea that behaviour and atti- ment to the group and agreement with its values.
tudes support one another. By altering an individual's 2. Having undergone their ordeal, individuals will per-
behaviour in some small way, so their attitudes are suade themselves that their membership is worth-
being weakened and made more receptive to change. while and attractive, and become more committed
Charitable organisations make use of this technique to the group.
to gain commitment for their cause. Asking individuals
The advantage o€ered by making it dicult to join
for their signature on a petition may appear a minor
the group has been employed many successful business
act, but it has been shown to be the ®rst step in a pro-
organisations, including Proctor & Gamble, MacDo-
gressively escalating commitment which leads to mon-
nalds, and the American retailers Nordstrom [2]. These
etary donations and voluntary work for the group [16].
organisations employ tough recruitment and selection
Thus the initial request must be one that is not per-
processes to ensure a good `®t' between employees and
ceived as a direct threat to the individuals' current atti-
the company's ideology. They also insist that all
tudes, but does start them down the path towards a
employees, however quali®ed, start at the bottom of
new set of attitudes. An extreme example is an exper-
the corporate ladder and work their way up the organ-
iment conducted on a beach (described in greater
isation. Thus the e€ort required to succeed within the
detail in Key Feature 5) which asked individuals to
organisation separates out the truly committed from
`watch my things' whilst the researcher went for a
those who just want a job.
walk. In itself this request did not appear to be con-
siderable, as individuals were unlikely to think that it
would lead to them chasing a thief. However, having 1.3.5. Public acts of commitment
agreed to behave as a protector, the individuals atti- Consistency of character is generally considered to
tude to chasing a thief was also altered and when a be a good trait for individuals. Without it we may be
(staged) robbery did occur they were far more likely to judged to be ®ckle, uncertain, scatterbrained or un-
intervene. stable [19]. Thus individuals will try to avoid looking
inconsistent, even if it is not in their best interests.
1.3.4. Joining requires an individual e€ort For example, an experiment was carried out where a
The initiation ceremony is a common feature of researcher would set up a beach blanket and a radio
many high commitment associations. From the rites of near to a randomly chosen individual. After a few
passage of primitive tribes to the `boot camps' of the minutes the researcher left their belongings to take a
 R. Burgess, S. Turner / International Journal of Project Management 18 (2000) 225±233 229

walk down the beach. Once they had left, a theft was sive appreciation of an idea, while membership
staged to see if the onlookers would intervene. Under demands an active presentation and defence . . . '' [23]
normal circumstances individuals were reluctant to get The need for involvement also underlies the Chinese
involved and only 20% of people tried to stop the Communist use of essay writing as a means of building
thief. However, when the onlooker was asked to commitment. It was never enough for prisoners to lis-
`watch my things' by the researcher before he left, the ten quietly to the pro-Communist arguments or even
number willing to tackle the thief rose to 95%. Having to agree verbally, they were always urged to write their
made a commitment to protect the researcher's belong- agreements down. Once the statement had been written
ings, the individuals were compelled to intervene in down, the prisoners had made an active commitment
order to appear consistent, even though it meant risk- and began to feel psychological pressure to bring their
ing personal harm [20]. self-image into line with the written statement [6].
Whenever an individual makes a stand that is visible Thus the development of commitment involves the
to others, there arises a drive to maintain that stand in interplay of both behaviour and attitudes. The process
order to look like a consistent person [21]. The use of through which commitment is built involves self-rein-
company songs, pledges and chanted slogans are crude forcing cycles of attitudes and behaviours that evolve
tools in building employee commitment to the corpor- over time and strengthen each other [7]. This is illus-
ate ideals. Although more subtle approaches are used trated in Fig. 2.
in many organisations, such as quality circles and writ-
ten statements, the idea of getting employees to make 1.3.7. Clear messages and clear lines of communication
public acts of commitment is still used. The high commitment situations studied have a ten-
dency to have simple and clear messages. There is very
1.3.6. Active involvement little ambiguity about expected behaviour and atti-
``Actions speak louder than words.'' Our best evi- tudes, you are either committed to the organisation
dence of the beliefs of others comes from how they (the solution) or are part of the problem. This can be
act, rather what they say. This is also true of ourselves, seen in a crisis, as well as in religions and the military.
individuals scrutinise their own behaviour to decide These messages are also supported with the careful use
what sort of person they really are; it is a primary of images, symbols, stories and actions. For example,
source of information about our beliefs, values and heroic mythologies about employees who best rep-
attitudes [22]. resent the corporate ideals are commonly used in com-
This builds upon the need for individual e€ort and panies with strong cultures, such as IBM and Proctor
the use of public acts in building commitment, dis- & Gamble. Such organisations also place a strong
cussed above. Active involvement not only requires an emphasis upon the training of employees, including
individual e€ort, it also often requires the individual to their initial ideological orientation [2].
demonstrate their commitment in front of others. To ensure that these messages remain clear and do
This need for involvement has been recognised by not become compromised, clear lines of communi-
political leaders for many years, Adolf Hitler recog- cation are set up. New recruits are often assigned an
nised the power of involvement and used it to great experienced `mentor' who works with them to ensure
e€ect in building commitment to and belief in the Nazi their socialisation. Thus new employees are continu-
cause in Germany: ``Followship demands only a pas- ously fed the company values and have a role model
to learn from. In military `boot camps' recruits look to
their sergeant for guidance: in organisations such as
Nordstrom a more senior employee takes the role [2].
A further technique often employed is to isolate the
members from external in¯uences, which may provide
alternative views, so that only one source of infor-
mation exists. Thus Proctor & Gamble, MacDonalds
and IBM all have their own self-contained `univer-
sities' [2]. Here employees can be isolated and taught
the corporate doctrine, in a similar manner to a mili-
tary boot camp or religious retreat.
This isolation, coupled with the `them and us' atti-
tude often portrayed in the organisations' messages,
can lead to a feeling of elitism. Members are taught
that they are part of something special, that they are
somehow better than the `outsiders'. Many organis-
Fig. 2. Reciprocal in¯uences between attitudes and behaviour [7]. ations actively discourage their members socialising or
230 R. Burgess, S. Turner / International Journal of Project Management 18 (2000) 225±233

discussing their work with non-members, including team should be volunteers, not conscripts. The use of
Proctor and Gamble and IBM [2]. Not only does this bribes and pressure from superiors in order to get indi-
build the individuals' sense of self-worth, it also avoids viduals to join the project will not develop commit-
possible con¯icting messages from outside the organis- ment to the team or its goals; there must be at least
ation. the illusion of freedom.
Employees must also see non-compliance and resist-
ance to the project as an alternative. The culture of
1.4. The application of the seven features the company should be such that individuals can
express their discontent before and during the project,
Having identi®ed the seven key features of high they must have the right to disagree with the project
commitment scenarios, the next stage is to identify without fear of reprisals. This free will must also
how they can be applied within ®rms in order to raise include the ability to leave projects if they become dis-
their levels of commitment. It is not the authors' inten- contented and to change their minds after the project
tion to suggest that companies should try to build the has been completed and to become committed. Such
same levels of fanaticism that are experienced within acts should be embraced rather than ridiculed. How-
religious cults or the strict obedience demanded by ever, due to the need for individual e€ort in building
political dictatorships. However, the examples used in commitment (see Key Feature 4), those that leave the
this article do provide some arresting evidence as to project team should not be allowed to rejoin.
the important requirements for building commitment.
The inclusion of these features within a business orga- 1.4.2. The role of uncertainty
nisation's change management process can be seen in Uncertainty plays an important role in laying the
Fig. 3. foundations for change, before the project can begin
It can be seen from the model that building commit- employees need to be freed from their commitment to
ment is a continuous process, starting before the pro- the past:
ject itself begins and requiring reinforcement even after
it has ended. Indeed commitment on one project ``Nothing stops an organisation faster than people
should feed into the next project that individuals work who believe that the way they worked yesterday is
on, each building upon the last. the best way to work tomorrow. To succeed, not
only do your people have to change the way they
1.4.1. Individuals join of their own free will act, they've got to change the way they think about
As shown in the Figure, members of the project the past.'' [24]

Fig. 3. Using the seven key features to build commitment in project management.
 R. Burgess, S. Turner / International Journal of Project Management 18 (2000) 225±233 231

This uncertainty can come from poor ®nancial 1.4.4. Joining requires an individual e€ort
results or customer criticisms, or it can be intentionally Being the member of a project team should appear
created by the management through the questioning of attractive, being exciting, challenging and rewarding;
the status quo. This then begins to open up opportu- but it should not be seen as an easy option. Individ-
nities for change and improvement. Although uncer- uals must have to invest something in the project if
tainty can be seen as unsettling, it can also be seen as they are to be committed to its success. This e€ort to
an opportunity for empowerment. The questions raised join may come in the form of an initiation ritual, such
should o€er employees the scope to participate in as training or team-building activities, to build the elit-
in¯uencing the running of the company and its future. ism described in Fig. 3.
As the projects progress the uncertainty should les- However there is also the danger that the elitism cre-
sen as commitment to the chosen solution grows. ated amongst the project team will lead to a `them and
However, as noted in the quotation, too much cer- us' situation, with the development of barriers and jea-
tainty can lead to stagnation. Whilst there must be lousy between the team and the rest of the organis-
commitment, it should be commitment to an ideal ation. Thus there is a need to balance the elitism of
rather than to a way of achieving it. On a company- belonging to the team with the necessity to gain the
level, this has been described as `preserving the core, commitment of the rest of the organisation. Communi-
whilst stimulating progress' [2]. cation of the project goals, ideas and problems is key.
In the same way that a strong corporate culture can This communication must be two-way, with the team
sti¯e creativity, produce groupthink, and limit diver- actively encouraging the participation of others in the
sity, commitment can actually hold back the company. achievement of their goals.
To counteract this danger there is a need to stimulate This elitism also has repercussions after the project
progress. Thus there needs to be an underlying com- has been completed, with the need to reintegrate the
mitment to the organisation and/or its ideals, but there members with the rest of the organisation. Like sol-
must also be room for new ideas. For example, the diers returning to civilian life, project team members
strong ideology of the Nordstrom organisation is may require reorientation before they return to their
balanced by operational discretion; employees have a line duties or join another project team.
great deal of latitude in how they perform their
workÐthey do not need rules and procedures, just
basic guideposts. 1.4.5. Public acts of commitment
The commitment of team members and those that
support them must be announced, both verbally and
in writing. This must start with public demonstrations
1.4.3. Start small and build up of senior management commitment to the project. The
New ideas should be introduced gradually in order commitment of senior executives is vital in ensuring
to allow individuals to adjust to them, starting small that the project is adequately resourced, but it will also
and gaining momentum as they become established, as act as a catalyst for the commitment of others. Thus
illustrated in Fig. 3. Before the project begins the foun- making this commitment public not only obliges senior
dations can be laid by seeking minor concessions that executives to continue to support it in order to appear
things need to change and via minor demonstrations consistent; it also makes the project appear attractive
of bene®ts. These activities provide a `hook' which to others because it has senior management support.
captures the imagination of othersÐbuilding commit- During the project, as shown in Fig. 3, team mem-
ment and interest in the projectÐwhilst not appearing bers must also demonstrate their commitment through
signi®cant enough to appear threatening or to produce public meetings, newsletters and other forms of public
an automatic resistance reaction. expression. The `magic of writing things down' can be
Thus at an early stage the project needs to demon- employed, as it was by the Chinese Communists, to
strate `quick hit' successes to prove their worth. This capture and advertise the commitment of individuals.
approach is also useful in overcoming resistance and in This commitment will be greater and more obvious if
building rapport with those who need to `buy-in' to a project is viewed as attractive and worthwhile, rather
the change. One technique that can be used is to ask than as fad or ine€ective.
resistant individuals to perform minor tasks to help When a project has been completed it should not be
the team, including asking for their input on the allowed to `tail o€' or disappear into oblivion; there
team's ideas. Thus in the same way that the exper- should be a de®nite ending. This event can be used for
iment on the beachÐwhich asked people to `watch my Senior Management to demonstrate their support for
things'Ðled to individuals chasing a thief, minor con- what the team has achieved (even if the project has
cessions can be used as ®rst steps towards building a been a `failure' lessons will have been learnt). This
greater commitment. show of support will help to build commitment on
232 R. Burgess, S. Turner / International Journal of Project Management 18 (2000) 225±233

subsequent projects, as teams will know that senior 2. Conclusion

managers will not desert them when problems arise.
Likewise written records of projects should be kept Whilst it is not the purpose of this paper to suggest
and used. This not only aids corporate learning, but that business organisations should attempt to mimic
also demonstrates the value that has been placed upon the behaviour of cults, there are some important les-
the project. sons that can be learnt from the extreme situations
cited within the examples. The techniques employed by
cults, military and political organisations point to im-
1.4.6. Active involvement
portant psychological traits which can be used to build
The active involvement of individuals must start
commitment. The awareness and employment of these
early if they are to feel that they are able to in¯uence
psychological features can help companies to build and
the outcome of the projects. The start small and build
harness the commitment of their employees towards
up approach may mean that this early involvement
the corporate goals.
just asks for opinions and ideas from individuals, but
Building commitment in change and project man-
as the project progresses involvement must become
agement is more than just a case of `carrots and
greater and broader, including as many people as poss-
sticks'. The energy, loyalty, resilience and competitive
ible that will be a€ected by the changes. This is shown
advantage o€ered by normative-moral commitment
in Fig. 3 by the arrow, with an increasing scale and
cannot be reproduced via coercion or material
scope of involvement as the project progresses.
rewards. These may produce compliance, but they do
This active involvement has serious implications for
not induce the internalisation of company values,
the use of consultants in company projects. Over-
norms and goals that true commitment does.
dependency upon consultants can lead to the loss of
Projects must appear attractive if employees are to
individuals' commitment, as well as the loss of
make the individual e€ort to join them and advertise
employee knowledge. If employees perceive the
their commitment. This means that they must have the
changes are being imposed upon them by outsiders
support of senior managers, focus, be part of a bigger
who have little understanding of the true situation, re-
vision and the ability to make a real di€erence to the
sistance will be signi®cant and participation minimal.
business. Organisations need to build a reinforcing
Ultimately it is the employees who must use the new
cycle of behaviour and attitudes in order to build com-
systems and processes, and they must be committed to
mitment to both corporate and project goals.
them if they are to make them work.
Once the project has been completed, it may be
possible to continue this participation by employing
team members in line positions or new projects which References
build upon their prior experience. Thus team members
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