ABSTRACT
One of the doctoral candidates which I supervised conducted action research into innovative ways of improving business profits. His research in a multinational company indicated that a key behavioural change by local managers, supported by their regional managers, could produce significant benefits in terms of both volumes of business and returns on that business. After using the suggested approach for several months a regional manager provided figures showing that, no matter what caveats they put on the figures, using this new approach was of tremendous value. The statement was made that this approach was revolutionary and very valuable. The regional manager then decided not to go any further with this approach because it would mean changing their culture and ‘it could make other managers look bad’. From what can be ascertained, the top leadership levels of the organisation were not involved in this decision to reject the new approach.
