Since the management of change is a key element of a successful process improvement program, a series of actions were planned, using the IDEAL model

Since the management of change is a key elementof a successful process improvement program, aseries of actions were planned, using the IDEALmodel as a guide, in order to facilitate thedevelopment, the implementation and the adoptionof the processes, methods and tools (Laporte 1994).As an example, to build the sponsorship level, thePresident of the organization attended an executiveseminar on process improvement at the SEI; twodirectors attended a three-day seminar discussingthe CMM, process, process assessment andimprovement. Also, one member of the SEPGattended two courses at the SEI: managing techno-logical change and consulting skills. Briefing ses-sions were held and articles were written in eachcompany’s newsletter to explain the why, whatand how of process assessment and improvementCopyright  1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.