A new change management approach for a law enforcement organization
| Published date | 01 March 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1461355718756411 |
| Author | Erdem Erciyes |
| Date | 01 March 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
A new change management approach
for a law enforcement organization
Erdem Erciyes
The Turkish Gendarmerie General Command, Ankara, Turkey
Abstract
This research uses a pilot study to investigate current change management implementation in a law enforcement
organization. Based on the findings, a new change management approach is established for a law enforcement
organization. The core resea rch question that guides this st udy is: ‘How can change managemen t be implemented
successfully in a law enforcement organization?’. Taking into consideration the research aim, type and size of the
sample, and to gain different and in-depth knowledge of the change management phenomenon, the operations division
of the Turkish gendarmerie was chosen as the sphere of interest and semi-structured interviews as the research method.
The results present a new change management model for the chosen division. The main original contribution is first
Ackerman’s change categorization at a law enforcement organization [Ackerman, L. (1986) Development, transition or
transformation: the question of change in organization. OD Practitioner 18(4): 1–8], and then developing a new change
management approach for each type of change category in this context.
Keywords
Change management, law enforcement man agement, management, organizational c hange and reform, organizational
culture
Submitted 20 Jun 2017, Revise received 02 Dec 2017, accepted 04 Dec 2017
Introduction
Rapid and continuous change is characteristic of modern
life. Either consciously or unconsciously, most organiza-
tions are part of this change process. Some organizations
realize the importanceof change and seek ways to deal with
it, whereas others cannot react properly to change and, as a
consequence, are unable to survive in today’s highly com-
petitive world. Some 70%of all change initiatives fail
(Balogun and Hailey, 2004; Beer and Nohria, 2000;
Hammer and Champy, 1993; Kotter, 2008; Senturia et al.,
2008; Sirkinet al., 2005). Many studieshave sought to under-
stand the reasonsfor this failure and to find effective change
management abili ties that enable an organization to adapt t o
any changesit faces. It is rather obvious that a change process
requires profound research and careful implementation.
The Turkish gendarmerie is a prestigious law enforce-
ment organization both in Turkey and internationally. It has
had major success in the fight against crime and criminals,
and even against terrorist organizations. The gendarmerie
is on active duty in 92%of Turkish territories and its
around 170,000 personnel in total. Taking into account the
tasks performed, the number of personnel and its areas of
responsibility, the Turkish gendarmerie is one of the big-
gest state organizations in Turkey, and even Europe. Obvi-
ously, for such a big organization, change is inevitable. In
addition, economic, security, technological, sociocultural
and legal regulations are changing rapidly in Turkey.
Because of this, the Turkish gendarmerie faces vague, com-
plex and rapid change. The main research question in this
study is: ‘How can change management be implemented
successfully in a law enforcement organization?’. In addi-
tion, the principal purpose of this research is to investigate
current change management implementation within law
Corresponding author:
Erdem Erciyes, Personnel Department of The Turkish Gendarmerie
General Command, 06560, Bestepe, Ankara, Turkey.
Email: erdemerciyes@yahoo.com
International Journalof
Police Science & Management
2018, Vol. 20(1) 52–65
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355718756411
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