Implementing organizational change – the case of the Kinnock reforms (in Special Issue: Reforming the European Commission ed. Michael W. Bauer)

Abstract: This article furthers Kassim's analysis of change in the Commission as a result of the Kinnock administrative reforms. Delving into the innermost parts of the organization, it takes the analysis to a meso-level in order to give a more fine-tuned account of the scope of change in two functionally distinct Directorates-General (DGs), DG TREN and DG REGIO. Based on official documents and a series of 32 semi-structured qualitative interviews with Heads of Units, this paper aims to tell the story of reform in action. Using the lens of translation of policy into action, it looks at the dynamic of change and explains why the implementation of the Commission-wide Kinnock reforms has produced varying degrees of change in DG REGIO and DG TREN. It concludes that supportive leadership is the key element which explains ownership of the reform by officials and therefore effective change.