The Burke-Litwin model was developed by notable change consultants W. Warmer Burke and George H. Litwin in the 1960s as an organizational change framework with a focus on ranking the various drivers of change by importance. Each driver is grouped into five levels of change in decreasing order of impact on organizational performance. These levels are input, transformational (external), transactional (internal), individual and personal factors, and output.
Element
Description
Analysis
Implications
Benefits
Challenges
Use Cases
Examples
External Environment
The external factors and conditions that impact an organization, such as economic, technological, and regulatory changes.
Understanding external factors helps in assessing opportunities and threats.
Organizations must adapt to external changes to remain competitive and relevant.
Anticipating market shifts, regulatory changes, and emerging trends.
Limited control over external factors.
Strategic planning, market analysis.
A global economic recession affecting sales and market demand.
Transformational Factors
These are internal factors that initiate change, including leadership, culture, and mission and strategy.
Leadership sets the vision and direction for change, while culture shapes behaviors and norms.
Effective leadership and culture alignment are crucial for successful change initiatives.
Aligning leadership vision with strategy. Shaping a culture that supports innovation.
Resistance to cultural change. Leadership turnover.
Mergers, rebranding, culture change.
Apple’s transformation under Steve Jobs.
Transactional Factors
These are day-to-day operational elements, including structure, systems, and management practices.
Structure defines roles and responsibilities, while systems and practices govern operations.
Efficient and adaptive systems are essential for sustaining change efforts.
The Burke-Litwin model was developed by notable change consultants W. Warmer Burke and George H. Litwin in the 1960s.
Both Burke and Litwin argued that change management models were not supposed to be prescriptive or rigid. Instead, they should diagnose, plan, and manage the effects of change contextually to improve organizational performance.
The model itself is expressed as a diagram, showing twelve drivers of change across five different levels.
Each driver is ranked in order of importance, with the most critical at the top and the least important at the bottom.
Crucially, the Burke-Litwin model argues that drivers of change are interrelated.
To that end, it provides a framework for understanding the current situation and the collateral impacts of a proposed changed initiative.
The rest of this article will be devoted to explaining the various drivers and levels of the Burke-Litwin model, and how they interact.
The five levels and twelve drivers of the Burke-Litwin model
The Burke-Litwin model describes twelve drivers, or organizational variables that influence change. Seven of these have been borrowed from the McKinsey 7-S framework.
The McKinsey 7-S Model was developed in the late 1970s by Robert Waterman and Thomas Peters, who were consultants at McKinsey & Company. Waterman and Peters created seven key internal elements that inform a business of how well positioned it is to achieve its goals, based on three hard elements and four soft elements.
Each driver is grouped into five levels of change in decreasing order of impact on organizational performance.
These levels are input, transformational (external), transactional (internal), individual and personal factors, and output.
Input
External environment
The most powerful driver of organizational change.
The external environment encompasses market, legislative, geopolitical, competitive, and economic issues.
Businesses must continually be on the lookout for external drivers of change.
Transformational
Mission and strategy
Mission articulates the very reason a company exists and as such, is the foundation for strategy formation.
Mission and strategy are often sensitive to changes in the external environment and impact how the company intends to achieve its purpose over time.
Leadership
How are the attitudes and behaviors of senior management perceived throughout the organization?
Change implementation and acceptance are dependent on upper levels of management committing to the process.
Organization culture
Or overt (and sometimes covert) rules, values, customs, and principles influencing employee behavior.
Transactional
Structure
How are employee functions or relationships structured? How is power in the form of responsibility or decision-making ability distributed?
Strategy changes can sometimes lead to structural changes, which in turn upsets the status quo.
Here, management must understand the impact of structural changes and ensure subordinates understand why change is occurring.
Systems
Standardized policies and procedures tend to promote work, particularly those with incentives that encourage goal setting and buy-in.
However, systems that evolve over time can become inefficient and mired in bureaucracy.
Where possible, they must be optimized and reflect the values of the business.
Management practices
Or the actions management take to further company goals using human resources.
Do they exercise fair levels of professionalism, communication, control, or etiquette toward subordinates?
Individual and personal factors
Work unit climate
How do employees feel about their colleagues and immediate working environment?
The latter is particularly important since it often shapes an employee’s opinion of the whole organization.
Changes to a work environment need to be managed sensitively as they are likely to invoke an emotional or political response.
Individual needs and values
In an ideal world, all employee teams would have the perfect mix of abilities, skills, and personality types.
In reality, the team leader needs to identify potential conflicts and mitigate them as best as possible.
Motivation
Change is made much easier when employees are motivated to further company strategy.
Motivation also helps the employee transition through the change process itself, which can take weeks or even months.
Task requirements, individual skills, and abilities
Does the organization understand the requisite skills or knowledge for each task?
More importantly, can it recruit individuals that are a good fit for each role?
Output
Individual and organizational performance
Or the outcome of the change and the effect it has on performance at a micro and macro level.
This involves measuring productivity against key performance indicators and identifying areas for improvement.
In theory, the change then impacts the external environment which creates a new input and forms a loop.
Drawbacks of Using the Burke-Litwin Model:
While the Burke-Litwin Model is a powerful tool for organizational analysis, it has some limitations and potential drawbacks:
1. Complexity:
The model is relatively complex, involving multiple interconnected factors, which may make it challenging for some organizations to apply comprehensively.
2. Resource-Intensive:
Implementing the model may require significant time and resources, including data collection and analysis, which can be burdensome for smaller organizations.
3. Subjective Assessment:
Assessing some elements of the model, such as organizational culture or leadership effectiveness, may be subjective and open to interpretation.
4. Limited Focus on External Factors:
The model primarily focuses on internal organizational factors and may not give sufficient attention to external factors that can influence an organization’s performance.
When to Use the Burke-Litwin Model:
The Burke-Litwin Model is valuable in various scenarios within organizational development and change management:
1. Organizational Diagnosis:
Use the model when you want to conduct a comprehensive assessment of your organization’s performance and identify areas for improvement.
2. Change Initiatives:
Apply the model when planning and executing change initiatives to understand the impact of changes on various aspects of the organization.
3. Performance Improvement:
Use the model to identify the root causes of performance issues and develop strategies for improvement.
4. Strategic Planning:
Incorporate the model into strategic planning processes to align organizational structure and culture with strategic goals.
How to Use the Burke-Litwin Model:
Implementing the Burke-Litwin Model effectively involves several key steps:
1. Identify Organizational Variables:
Identify and categorize the 12 organizational variables outlined in the model, including external environment, leadership, strategy, structure, culture, and more.
2. Assess the Variables:
Conduct a thorough assessment of each variable through data collection, surveys, interviews, and analysis to understand their current state.
3. Identify Key Drivers:
Identify the key drivers or critical factors that have the most significant impact on the organization’s performance and change efforts.
4. Understand the Relationships:
Examine the interrelationships between variables and identify any cause-and-effect relationships that may exist.
5. Develop Action Plans:
Based on the assessment and understanding of key drivers, develop action plans and strategies to address areas of improvement and drive positive change.
6. Implement and Monitor:
Execute the action plans, monitor progress, and continuously assess the impact of changes on the organization.
What to Expect from Implementing the Burke-Litwin Model:
Implementing the Burke-Litwin Model can lead to several outcomes and benefits:
1. Comprehensive Diagnosis:
The model provides a comprehensive diagnosis of an organization’s internal dynamics, facilitating a deeper understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.
2. Informed Decision-Making:
By identifying key drivers and causal relationships, organizations can make informed decisions regarding change initiatives and strategic planning.
3. Effective Change Management:
The model guides effective change management efforts by highlighting areas that require attention and intervention.
4. Improved Performance:
Organizations can expect improved performance and alignment with strategic goals as a result of implementing changes based on the model’s insights.
5. Enhanced Organizational Culture:
The Burke-Litwin Model can help organizations shape and align their culture with desired values and behaviors.
6. Adaptation to Environmental Changes:
By assessing the external environment, organizations can adapt to external changes and challenges effectively.
In conclusion, the Burke-Litwin Model is a valuable framework for understanding organizational dynamics and driving performance improvement and change.
While it has its drawbacks and complexities, understanding when to use it and how to apply it effectively can lead to comprehensive organizational diagnosis, informed decision-making, and improved performance.
By following the steps outlined in the model and recognizing its potential benefits and drawbacks, organizations can leverage the Burke-Litwin Model to enhance their organizational development and change management efforts.
Case Studies
External Environment (Input Level):
Market Disruption: A tech company experiences a sudden shift in market demand due to a new competitor entering the industry. This change necessitates a strategic response to maintain competitiveness and market share.
Mission and Strategy (Transformational Level):
Sustainability Emphasis: An organization revises its mission to emphasize sustainability as a core value. This change in mission influences the development of new strategies focused on eco-friendly products, supply chain sustainability, and corporate social responsibility.
Leadership (Transformational Level):
Change in Leadership: A change in senior leadership, including a new CEO, brings a fresh vision and cultural shift within the organization. New leadership styles and priorities may require adjustments in how the organization operates.
Organization Culture (Transformational Level):
Innovation Culture: A company promotes a culture of innovation by encouraging employees to share creative ideas, experiment with new approaches, and reward innovative thinking. This cultural shift fosters a more dynamic and forward-thinking workplace.
Structure (Transactional Level):
Production Team Restructuring: A manufacturing company reorganizes its production teams, shifting from a hierarchical structure to cross-functional teams. This change aims to improve efficiency, collaboration, and decision-making on the factory floor.
Systems (Transactional Level):
HR Software Implementation: An organization implements new human resources (HR) software to streamline its HR processes. The software improves employee management, simplifies payroll, and enhances recruitment and onboarding procedures.
Management Practices (Transactional Level):
Retail Manager Training: A retail chain introduces comprehensive training programs for store managers to enhance customer service, sales performance, and inventory management. These new practices improve overall store operations.
Work Unit Climate (Individual and Personal Factors Level):
Team Building in a Call Center: In a call center environment, supervisors focus on team-building activities and improved communication among agents. This effort reduces employee turnover, boosts morale, and enhances customer service quality.
Individual Needs and Values (Individual and Personal Factors Level):
Managing Work Style Diversity: A manager identifies conflicting work styles within a project team. They facilitate team discussions to help members understand and respect each other’s work preferences, leading to smoother collaboration.
Motivation (Individual and Personal Factors Level):
Performance-Based Bonuses: An organization introduces performance-based bonuses to motivate employees during a challenging merger. This initiative encourages employees to maintain high levels of productivity and engagement.
Task Requirements, Individual Skills, and Abilities (Individual and Personal Factors Level):
Hiring for Specialized Skills: A software development company identifies a need for specialized skills to complete a complex project. They recruit employees with expertise in specific programming languages, ensuring the project’s success.
Individual and Organizational Performance (Output Level):
Improved Patient Care: After implementing a new training program focused on patient care, a healthcare facility measures improved patient satisfaction, reduced medical errors, and enhanced employee satisfaction. These outcomes reflect positively on the organization’s performance.
Key takeaways:
The Burke-Litwin model is an organizational change framework helping businesses diagnose, plan, and manage the effects of change.
The Burke-Litwin model excels as a change framework because it considers the interconnectedness of change drivers and the collateral impacts of change implementation.
The Burke-Litwin model evaluates twelve key drivers of change in decreasing order of impact on organizational success: external environment, mission and strategy, leadership, culture, structure, systems, management, work unit climate, individual needs, motivation, task requirements, and individual and organizational performance.
Key Highlights:
Burke-Litwin Model Introduction: The Burke-Litwin model was developed by W. Warner Burke and George H. Litwin in the 1960s as an organizational change framework. It focuses on understanding and ranking drivers of change by their impact on organizational performance.
Model Purpose: Unlike prescriptive change models, the Burke-Litwin model emphasizes diagnosing, planning, and managing change effects in context to improve organizational performance.
Framework Structure: The model is diagrammatic, representing twelve drivers of change across five levels, ranked by importance. It highlights the interconnectedness of these drivers.
Levels of Change:
Input: The external environment, including market, legislative, geopolitical, competitive, and economic factors.
Transformational (External): Mission and strategy, leadership, and organizational culture.
Transactional (Internal): Structure, systems, and management practices.
Individual and Personal Factors: Work unit climate, individual needs and values, motivation, and task requirements.
Output: Individual and organizational performance, affecting the external environment and creating a loop.
Origin of Drivers: Seven drivers are adapted from the McKinsey 7-S Model, developed by Robert Waterman and Thomas Peters in the late 1970s.
Interconnectedness: The model stresses that change drivers are interrelated, influencing each other and the broader organizational context.
Application: The Burke-Litwin model aids in understanding current situations and predicting collateral impacts of proposed changes.
Key Takeaways:
The Burke-Litwin model is an adaptable change framework focusing on diagnosis, planning, and management of change effects.
It comprises five levels of change: input, transformational, transactional, individual and personal factors, and output.
The model includes twelve interconnected drivers, highlighting their impact on organizational performance.
The model offers a holistic view of change dynamics, fostering more effective change management strategies.
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McKinsey’s Seven Degrees of Freedom for Growth is a strategy tool. Developed by partners at McKinsey and Company, the tool helps businesses understand which opportunities will contribute to expansion, and therefore it helps to prioritize those initiatives.
Mintzberg’s 5Ps of Strategy is a strategy development model that examines five different perspectives (plan, ploy, pattern, position, perspective) to develop a successful business strategy. A sixth perspective has been developed over the years, called Practice, which was created to help businesses execute their strategies.
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The TOWS Matrix is an acronym for Threats, Opportunities, Weaknesses, and Strengths. The matrix is a variation on the SWOT Analysis, and it seeks to address criticisms of the SWOT Analysis regarding its inability to show relationships between the various categories.
Lewin’s change management model helps businesses manage the uncertainty and resistance associated with change. Kurt Lewin, one of the first academics to focus his research on group dynamics, developed a three-stage model. He proposed that the behavior of individuals happened as a function of group behavior.
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eBay was until recently a multi-divisional (M-form) organization with semi-autonomous units grouped according to the services they provided. Today, eBay has a single division called Marketplace, which includes eBay and its international iterations.
IBM has an organizational structure characterized by product-based divisions, enabling its strategy to develop innovative and competitive products in multiple markets. IBM is also characterized by function-based segments that support product development and innovation for each product-based division, which include Global Markets, Integrated Supply Chain, Research, Development, and Intellectual Property.
Sony has a matrix organizational structure primarily based on function-based groups and product/business divisions. The structure also incorporates geographical divisions. In 2021, Sony announced the overhauling of its organizational structure, changing its name from Sony Corporation to Sony Group Corporation to better identify itself as the headquarters of the Sony group of companies skewing the company toward product divisions.
Facebook is characterized by a multi-faceted matrix organizational structure. The company utilizes a flat organizational structure in combination with corporate function-based teams and product-based or geographic divisions. The flat organization structure is organized around the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg, and the key executives around him. On the other hand, the function-based teams based on the main corporate functions (like HR, product management, investor relations, and so on).
Google (Alphabet) has a cross-functional (team-based) organizational structure known as a matrix structure with some degree of flatness. Over the years, as the company scaled and it became a tech giant, its organizational structure is morphing more into a centralized organization.
Tesla is characterized by a functional organizational structure with aspects of a hierarchical structure. Tesla does employ functional centers that cover all business activities, including finance, sales, marketing, technology, engineering, design, and the offices of the CEO and chairperson. Tesla’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, decide the strategic direction of the company, with international operations given little autonomy.
McDonald’s has a divisional organizational structure where each division – based on geographical location – is assigned operational responsibilities and strategic objectives. The main geographical divisions are the US, internationally operated markets, and international developmental licensed markets. And on the other hand, the hierarchical leadership structure is organized around regional and functional divisions.
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Microsoft has a product-type divisional organizational structure based on functions and engineering groups. As the company scaled over time it also became more hierarchical, however still keeping its hybrid approach between functions, engineering groups, and management.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
