(BPT) - Professor David W. Miller, executive director of the Princeton Faith & Work Initiative and lecturer at Princeton University, has announced his latest white paper, 'The Ethics of Organizational Change.' The paper offers an academic perspective on organizational change and transformation at the intersection of historic, cultural and social change.
In partnership with Dr. Michael J. Thate, Miller's research looks at issues from financial market downturns, major social movements and political shifts to consider the ethics and methodology around organizational change and transformation from Alexander the Great and the 2008 recession to the cancel culture of today. At the core, their theories emphasize the need to find 'an inclusive way forward' among organizations and stakeholders toward organizational transformation.
The paper is grounded in Miller and Thate's novel Transformation Assessment Model (TAM), a three-part framework developed for business leaders to gauge the viability of transformational change in their organizations. TAM critically explores the vectors of believability, buy-in and barometers. Determinants of organizational shifts include whether business goals or objectives should alter course due to market pressures, or major social upheaval, and how to balance these shifts without submitting to political pressure and divisive stakeholder rhetoric. They present macro questions to consider when business leaders are formulating plans for change, which include:
- Was the pressure to change internal (e.g., leadership shifts, employee demands) or external (e.g., regulatory agencies, market shifts, public pressure, pandemic, war)?
- Was the change an intentional pivot or an unintended drift?
- Was the change grounded in a higher-order purpose, purely profit-driven or reactionary?
- Did the change occur on the margins or at the core?
- Were a variety of voices, constituencies and stakeholders involved or consulted to help define the process, design and end goal?
The TAM framework can also be an assessment tool for internal and external stakeholders with a material interest in transformation.
Philip Morris International's U.S. affiliate (PMI) sponsored a luncheon, and the white paper launch in Austin, Texas, in mid-October. Marian Salzman, PMI's SVP, U.S. Strategic Projects, trendspotter and communications strategist, joined Miller to discuss business transformation and organizational change with business leaders across the region. Salzman has built her career on helping companies and brands anticipate the future ahead of the competition. Miller serves as an independent external ethics adviser to PMI.
The conversation was moderated by Clay Hebert, founder of Take Back Perfect and a marketing and funding advisor to hundreds of startups counseling them on innovation and entrepreneurship. Topics explored included social upheaval, pandemics, political interference, technological innovation, economic volatility, and the myriad external forces today that can influence or derail change.
To download the white paper, visit TEOOC.com.
About David W. Miller
Miller is the director of the Princeton Faith & Work Initiative, a senior professional specialist in ethics and a lecturer. In addition to his oversubscribed classes, ground-breaking research and public outreach, he also advises corporate CEOs and senior executives on ethics, values-based leadership, culture and the role of faith at work.
As a thought leader, many C-suite executives seek his counsel, and scholars, NGOs and the media seek his views. He has presented on 'A Restoration of Trust?' in Davos and is a regular participant at the Yale CEO Summit. An article in the Wall Street Journal featured his work with one global client referring to him as the 'on-call ethicist.'
Prior to academia, Miller lived and worked in London, England, where he was a partner in a private equity firm specializing in international investment management, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Before that, he was a senior executive and director of the securities services and global custody division of HSBC Group, and previously held the same position at Midland Bank plc before its acquisition by HSBC.
After his corporate experience, he entered academia, receiving his M.Div. and a Ph.D. in ethics from Princeton Theological Seminary. Before joining the faculty at Princeton University in 2008 and launching the Faith & Work Initiative, he taught for five years at Yale Divinity School and Yale School of Management and was the executive director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture.
