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We use the case of German aviation Group Deutsche Lufthansa and its strategic change program, ‘D-Check Maintaining Leadership’, to illustrate how a large company was able to execute group-wide change in order to effectively secure its future despite a highly turbulent environment. In this context, we found that top executives must systematically make two decisions. First, they need to decide what the right change is for their company and second, they need to decide how to implement the change correctly. In the process of making these decisions, various critical factors also need to be taken into individual consideration in a methodical, deliberate way. Details of Lufthansa's program are provided and the benefits of and insights into pre-implementation decision-making processes are assessed for framing and subsequently implementing strategic change. The impact of leadership and management decisions for successful strategic change is discussed in the analysis. We round up our discussion with major ...

This paper describes the way Lufthansa has undergone fundamental change – its approach relying on people. As opposed to a top down planned approach, Lufthansa has put emphasis on managing the process and creating conditions that activate a critical mass of change actors. Human resource management has played a crucial role in the transformation as well as in the management of the process of strategic renewal. Core elements of this strategy involve providing space for reflection and dialogue despite the crisis pressure, building networks of change actors and creating durable platforms for emotional mobilisation and reflection on action.