2. 2
Introduction
Managing change and crisis control are about doing business and surviving in the 21st century. The pro-
cess of managing change and crisis control is no longer a luxurious addition to the profit centre of or-
ganisations and is not the setting in which alternative scenarios are examined, and simulations introduced.
Managing change is a way of life and is business as usual in our world of economic crisis and unlimited
numbers of change initiatives on all business, political and economic fronts.
The CPI International Group Switzerland is a daughter company of this century, for which the group strat-
egy, business development and value creation are all structured around change management, crisis con-
trol and sizing opportunities. This has been the case since the inception of its first educational unit in 1983
as the Parthenon Innovation group in Nashville, USA, to the establishment of the midsize pharmaceutical
company and small educational centre in Switzerland in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Currently, the op-
erating business hosts seven companies with activities in 19 countries, in four major areas – healthcare,
education, renewable energy and software development – and had a forecast worth of nearly two billion
Swiss francs at the beginning of 2016. To understand the revolutionary change and the stories of success
and failure that have formed the history of the CPI Group, we should look back to the work and research
done by Sashkin and Burke (1987) in describing the process of organisational development and crisis man-
agement. We should also understand the research theory proposed by Armenakis and Bedeian (1999) in
relation to the components of change process and the factors involved. It is also crucial to understand
that the change programmes and management strategies that have affected growth and development at
the CPI International Group involve two main approaches: first, the blue ocean strategy proposed by Kim
and Mauborgne (2005), and second, the ALSKLS (Action Learning, Structured Knowledge, Lead Strategy)
model developed by the CPI founders.
Today and in the first quarter of 2016, CPI is facing a major change programme that may determine the fu-
ture existence of the group during the next decade. To withdraw from the pharmaceutical business, move
all resources toward renewable energy and education, while at the same time launching a state of the art
software development company, presents unlimited challenges.
3. 3
Understanding the Process
In our attempt to understand the process of change management and crisis control at the CPI Group and
to describe the strategies used to manage the group during recent decades, we will look into different lit-
erature and research which has covered this field. Chakravarthy and Lorange (1991) offered a guideline to
CPI’s process via the teleological theory, in which value creation and profit have been at the centre of any
process in the group’s history. It is also our argument that the macro and micro theory offered by Weick
and Quinn (1999) offered a sound explanation for the very large number of micro change programmes at
the group, many of which successfully competed, several failed, and some were never concluded. Those
microprograms acted as precursors to the major changes that hit the group every decade. This type of
significant change is viewed as episodic at the CPI Group, and occurred as a strategic move when the
required level of micro changes was achieved. It is also crucial to understand the role of leadership and
management in the business development formula at the CPI Group in light of the agencies model offered
by Caldwell (2003) in which structure, content and process played an important role in drawing the map of
change at the CPI International Group Switzerland.
The process of crisis control is entirely attached to the process of managing change and can be considered
an integral part of any change program. The complexity of crisis control can be understood in view of the
definition offered by Pearson and Clair (1998) which to a great extent explained crisis control as the world
of the unknown with all its own fears and uncertainty. It is also our experience at the CPI Group that sup-
ports our argument that in every change programme, there is a high level of crisis predictability which is
always attached to the unknown part of the process. According to Abrahamson (2000), up to 70% of all
change programmes end in failure.
Additionally, Fink (1986) offered a valuable model for crisis development with four stages: the prodromal,
acute, chronic and resolution stages. On the other hand, Weick (1988) discussed the internal effect of a
crisis on the ability of management to develop or execute any successful strategy due to the intensity of
the process. One of the very important studies on crisis control is that offered by Diamond (1985), with
respect to the sense-making process during a crisis situation and in the absence of any logical structure or
approach.
Political forces among others may influence the behaviour of employees and affect their ability to innovate
or to engage in a successful change process (Argyris, 1977). This model of influential political leaders is
well established within many international organisations including the CPI Group.The more successful the
PRODROMAL STAGE
VALUABLE MODEL FOR CRISIS DEVELOPMENT
ACUTE STAGE CHRONIC STAGE RESOLUTION STAGE
4. 4
leader, the more his/her views and opinions turn out to be the role model and policy. It is also our opinion
that employees prefer to follow in the steps of their successful leader and to land on the first solution of-
fered for business problems instead of looking for alternatives (Redding, 1985).
Middle management has an essential role in this influential leadership model at the CPI Group (Beech,
MacPhail & Coupland, 2009). The power of storytelling is another major influence that has played a crucial
role during the last two decades at the CPI Group, particularly the monologic stories of the founders which
represent the inspiration for the CPI model of success (Buchanan & Dawson 2007). However, in recent
years, CPI has presented another fantastic self-criticising learning approach similar to the one proposed by
Shotter (2006), particularly with respect to the vast change in business structure and the penetration into
new major industries, including renewable energy and software development.
In establishing a proper understanding of the process of change management and crisis control, it is also
absolutely essential to study the learning process inside organisations and how models of learning influ-
ence the process of managing change and crisis. Simon and Pauchant (2000) offered an excellent learning
model with its three branches, the behavioural, paradigmatic and systemic learning. At the CPI Group, the
process of learning is a live corporate organism that matures, evolves and adapts itself to the business
environment. The behavioural learning represents the early history of the group and the change program
which concluded after the crisis hit the Middle East market at the beginning of this century. In 2003, the
CPI Group started a process of radical changes involving the entire business structure and profile, while
simultaneously maintaining the same business objectives and industries as a model of paradigmatic learn-
ing. These two models of learning formed the foundation for the ALSKLS model which was created inside
CPI and dominates its business structure to today; ALSKLS can be considered one of the very advanced
systemic models of learning. The ALSKLS model represents the core of business development and strat-
egy creation at the CPI Group. It utilises the entire group’s resources to develop competitive models that
ensure the creation of value in different industries and different markets. The model is complex, but has its
own autonomic system that offers better options to create revolutionary, but structured change models.
(Haunschild & Sullivan, 2002)
Managing Change and Crisis Control: The Art of Life at the CPI Group
The CPI Group is a dynamic, diversified multicultural organisation with businesses, offices, partners and
operations in more than 19 countries around the world. It is not only the multicultural settings of the
group and the broad spectrum of internal and external factors that influence the business, but also the
nature of the regulated industries in healthcare, education and energy sectors that affect the process of
change and crisis control at the CPI Group. The current group status is a direct continuation of the limitless
number of change initiatives that constitute CPI’s history. To withdraw from the pharmaceutical market
is a major change process in which several agreements have been terminated, businesses sold, units re-
5. 5
structured, closures and layoffs experienced, along with many other factors that influence the process at
this stage. Moving the entire business resources towards education and renewable energy, and investing
heavily in new power stations in the new projects in Turkey, Qatar and Ireland, are all elements of the mas-
sive change programme currently underway at the CPI Group.
At the CPI Group, we created and developed our own school for managing change and crisis control
throughout the years and particularly during the last two decades. By understanding the critical role of
managerial behaviour and activities, we are able to develop strategic systems that value the process of
emotional intelligence as central to the process of change management. (Van de Ven & Poole, 1995).
The ALSKLS Model at CPI
In this same context, the corporate school of action learning at the CPI Group
developed an advanced action learning model that represents the core strat-
egy at CPI today. ALSKLS (Action Learning, Structured Knowledge, Lead Strat-
egy) represents an innovative strategic model in which business cases and
collective experience from the group’s operations around the world have
been screened and reviewed by expert teams and talented managers. The
process moved to the CPI Corporate University, known today as CCU (Cam-
bridge Corporate University). At the CCU the action learning process is con-
verted into a structured knowledge and corporate curriculum where more
than 220 students are currently enrolled from inside and outside the group in
different programmes, degrees and countries. This process is the foundation
for the creation of value creation strategic leads that describe and draw the
future map of the group. We do argue that the ALSKLS model corresponds
with the work of Clegg and Walsh (2004) which focuses on the need to pre-
sent a new mindset to the process of managing change and crisis control away from the dominant resist-
ance approach that occupies most of the available models.
STRUCTURED
KNOWLEDGE
LEADING
STRATEGY
lectures and
training programs
improve
the businesses
ACTION
LEARNING
6. 6
BIS (the Bio-Immune System) at the CPI Group
If ALSKLS is at the core of the strategy development process at the CPI Group, the BIS is the
heart of the crisis management process in the group and is the main life-supporting system
in any change program at the CPI.The BIS system is a structured multistage system focusing
on the role of people in the process of managing change and crisis control. The system is
the outcome of nearly 30 years of business experience in different business environments
and within extreme business circumstances and cultures. It is based on the concept of de-
veloping and maintaining a human skeleton inside with a broad range of outstanding abili-
ties and skills within the CPI Group.
The CPI BIS System is Structured according to the Following Phases:
People are at the core of the BIS; it is all starts with recruitment. At the CPI
Group, we have developed a recruitment system that seeks the appoint-
ment of future change agents, change managers, change leaders and
change champions. By focusing on a detailed list of required skills and per-
sonal characteristics, we ensure the recruitment of emotionally intelligent
leaders and prominent business futurists.
The recruited candidates will go through a structured training program
at the Cambridge Corporate University (CCU). The programme focuses
on equipping candidates with very advanced skills and capabilities in the
fields of managing change, strategy development and crisis control. The
process involves two branches: the executive training programmes and
the formal education one. All programs at the CCU are industry based and
lectures are delivered by outstanding scholars who are also professionals
with top experiences and records in related fields. The CCU training and
curriculum, degrees and programs are offered in the core business areas of
the CPI Group including pharmaceutical, healthcare, educational develop-
ment, and renewable energy.
1. The Recruitment Phase:
Recruiting the Behaviour
2. The Training Phase:
Training the Future
RECRUITING
THE BEHAVIOUR
The Recruitment Phase
TRAINING
THE FUTURE
The Training Phase
MANAGING
THE REALITY
Living the Change
CULTURING CHANGE
Creating the New Culture
7. 7
The talented, recruited and trained team also get the opportunity to prac-
tise and participate in an actual action learning model while engaging in
the ongoing complex change programmes at the CPI Group. The reality
school of change management and crisis control processes allows our
team to excel and innovate in creating outstanding blue ocean strategies
inside the school of reality. It is at the actual school of life where value crea-
tion and profit maximisation are the only measurements of success or fail-
ure. This part of the system graduates managers talented on different lev-
els and with a particular focus on the CPI fields of activity. At this school of
reality, success means the achievement of business objectives, the making
of a successful career, a wealthy life and a bright future, where failure risks
losing the job and sacrificing a glorious future at the CPI Group.
At the CPI International Group, we recognise the fact that for any new
change strategy or change programme to be successful, it should become
part of the organisation’s culture, and not be forgotten, diluted and disap-
pear. The CPI BIS uses the ALSKLS approach to integrate new change into
the organisation’s culture and to ensure the continuity of the change’s ef-
fects and outcomes.
Conclusion
The CPI Group is a direct product of the process of change, where the process has progressed throughout
the years and has turned into a live corporate organism for which systemic learning, the ALSKLS model and
the CPI BIS are the lifesaving organs maintaining a healthy and a profitable organisation. The CPI offers a
unique business model in which crisis turned into opportunities and change is an essential tool for busi-
ness development and value creation (Brockner and James 2008).
The BIS System is structured in a consistent, integrated harmonic formula that ensures dynamic stability
and allows for fine-tuning of the process at all levels. The BIS is a people system with which CPI recruits,
trains, educates, engages and promotes outstanding, talented change leaders.The structure of the system,
with its phases and processes, creates a natural immune system that allows organisations not only to man-
age change and to control crisis, but also to seek opportunities in the roots of the crisis and to create value
in tough circumstances.
4. Creating the New Culture:
Culturing Change
3. Living the Change:
Managing the Reality
8. 8
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9. 9
Dr. Hossam El-Shazly is President & CEO of the CPI International
Group, an International Swiss organisation hosts seven companies
with activities in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, education and
renewable energy industries and with offices and operation in 19
countries on four continents.
Dr. El-Shazly is the chief architect of the incredible story of success
of the CPI group in Switzerland. Growing the firm from a middle
size Swiss pharmaceutical company with a small Corporate Train-
ing Center in 2000 to an international giant group with forecasted
activities of Two Billion Swiss-Francs in the year 2016 with a broad
network of leading industry and business partners around the
world.
As an Outstanding Political Analyst & an Int’l Expert in Change
Management, he regularly appears in most known TV-talk-show
& Programs including: “World Today, Around the Globe, Daily Debate, Nile Cruise, Breakfast Show, Good
Morning Egypt, Egypt Today in Both Arabic & English Languages”.
He has an Outstanding record as an international negotiator with First class experience in managing global
partnership, running and managing multilevel alliance negotiations with partners, alliances, agencies, dis-
tributors and principles in different cultures.
He is the author of groundbreaking articles, and publications and a leading authority in his respective field.
As a CEO, Professor, Politician, board members, industry expert, consultant and field researcher, he has an
immeasurable wealth of real-world expertise.
Dr. El-Shazly can be reached via email at helshazly@cambridgecu.ch
