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Change Project at Inter Milan

How effectively has Inter Milan applied the Change Kaleidoscope to forecast project
outcomes?
Change Kaleidoscope is a model that was developed by Julia Balogun and Hope
Hailey in 2004 to help organizations implement successful changes that fit their
organizational context (Haggblade & Resnick, 2018). The model appreciates the fact that
there is no change approach that works in all organizations. Therefore, it provides decision
makers with contextual features that they need to examine before choosing a given change
design choice. These contextual features include the scope of change that the organization
plans to undertake, the speed with which it wants to make the change, the degree of resistance
or acceptance to the envisioned changes, and the relative power of the change initiator
(Haggblade & Resnick, 2018). Other factors to consider are readiness for change as well as
the capacity and capability of the people making the desired changes and the organization
itself.
The changes that Mr. Thohir plans to make at Inter Milan are transformative. He plans
to overhaul the club’s field and financial performance through changing its business model
and expanding into Asian markets, particularly among middle-class fans. It is possible to
predict whether the transformative changes envisioned by Mr. Thohir are going to succeed or
fail by analyzing contextual features that either enable or constrain the changes.
For transformative change that is envisioned by Erick Thohir to succeed, the enablers
in the Change Kaleidoscope are high relative power of the initiator of change, readiness for
change, minimal resistance to change, and high levels of capability and capacity to
effectively carry out the changes. Owning 70% of the club, Mr. Thohir has enough power to
initiate the changes that he desires. Additionally, given the poor performance of the club and

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the resulting disappointment of fans, it can be concluded that there are high levels of
readiness for change in the club. Lastly, Mr. Thohir’s experience in Indonesian and American
basketball and football clubs as well as his hiring of experienced British and American
executives means that there is capacity and capability to carry though the desired changes.
The main change inhibitor is the culture of Inter Milan which is Italo-centric and,
therefore, may not be open to certain changes, such as signing non-Italian players like
Nemanja Vidic who can help the brand grow in the Asian markets that Mr. Thohir targets. On
the whole, therefore, the club has effectively applied the Change Kaleidoscope to forecast
project outcomes.
What change management validity tools could be used to evaluate approaches to the
problem stated?
The change validity tool that can be used to evaluate the stated problem is culture
mapping. This tool will help the club’s leadership to determine the behaviors and norms of
the club’s stakeholders at different times of the change implementation process. The club
will, therefore, be able to know whether the implemented changes are being supported or not
and also the perceptions of the club’s stakeholders on their effectiveness.
Based on your analysis of the context, what advice can you give to Erick Thohir and his
team about the change implementation design options that they should consider?
The change implementation design options that they should consider are top-down
approach (change start point), cultural interventions (change interventions), and longer
timescales for the change outcomes (change path). Top down approach is the preferred mode
of bringing about the desired changes because the club’s majority shareholder, Eric Thohir,
has a lot of power in the club to effect any change that he desires. Cultural interventions are
needed to make the club more outward-looking and global while putting longer timescales on

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when the goals of the implemented changes are to be achieved. Longer timescales will reflect
the fact the results of transforming a club’s culture and business model often take long to
occur.
What major mistakes would you advise them to avoid when implementing their
proposed changes?
The club should not rush through the changes. Given that Mr. Eric Thohir and the
British and American executives are not familiar with the Italian premier league, it will help
to implement changes incrementally as they learn more about the league.

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References

Haggblade, S., & Resnick, D. (2018). Conceptualizing Key Drivers of Policy Change An
Introduction to the Kaleidoscope Model (No. 1878-2018-5032).