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Case Study

Oticon: Building a flexible world-class organization (A)

By Paul Strebel and Brian Rogers

9 pages

September 2005

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Reference: IMD-3-1500

The A case chronicles the radical change management program put in place at Oticon during the early 1990s by Lars Kolind, who was managing director at the time. Because of increasing competition, poor results and the firm’s inability to adapt to new technological developments, Kolind introduced a radical change program, which significantly altered the management structure, organizational processes, job content and careers at the company. The newly transformed organization became known as the ‘spaghetti organization’. Results improved dramatically. Meanwhile, Oticon garnered international attention and was hailed by many as an innovative and forward-thinking company.

Keywords

Change Management, Organizational Development, Hearing Aids

Settings

Denmark
1990-1992

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

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