Senior managers at The Morgan Company had developed a new and inspiring mission statement—one that set a new direction for the company with ambitious strategic goals. Management continually emphasized the new strategy and asked employees what they needed to do to achieve the new goals. Although some employees didn’t want to embrace the new strategic direction, most were excited to participate in and support the new strategy. The employees began to make suggestions for improving the organization and identifying the necessary changes. Many of their ideas pointed to a significant change in the culture of the organization. And that was when the wheels fell off. Employees were told to step back; management didn’t want to make any radical changes. Employees were told that they could only change one or two items and then only to a very small degree. No money could be spent, and the actions of senior management implied that employees’ ideas really didn’t matter. People became disillusioned and disgruntled. At least two people left every month for other positions during the last 18 months of the 24-month “transformation” process. The best people left because they had no voice and no ability to change a broken organization.

How did management fail in its strategic planning?