The development of an organizational transition framework: the application of change models to the Kennedy Space Center

Summary form only given. The contribution of the paper is a framework for organizational transitions involving both changes in mission/role and the number of personnel. The framework is an integration and extension of organizational models, best practices from the literature, interviews from senior executives who experienced significant organizational change, and issues and concerns identified by senior management at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). KSC as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Association´s (NASA) efforts to perform “better, faster, cheaper” has begun a large-scale organizational change effort. The drivers for KSC´s transition include: the reduction in NASA´s budget, the development a space flight operations contractor (SFOC) for shuttle processing, and a definition of KSC´s roles based on NASA´s strategic plan. These circumstances lead KSC to undergo a large-scale orderly organizational change. Their effort is similar to the other private, public, and government organizations who have attempted efforts such as downsizing to meet performance requirements. An applied research methodology was designed to ensure a theoretically sound, valid framework was developed which reflected KSC´s unique environment, goals, objectives, and concerns because there isn´t a universal change model. We propose a model for organizational change which describes the fundamental problem that KSC is experiencing when managing a large-scale transition or change: doing the right work the right way with the right people at the right time. The implications of the model are discussed