Scotland's First Transformation Readiness Index 2026 finds many organisations are struggling to realise the full benefits of major change programmes.
Only one in seven respondents (14.5 per cent of 165) said their organisation fully delivered the intended results of its most significant recent change initiative, according to a new report from the University of Aberdeen Business School.
The study, based on responses from 165 people working across Scottish organisations, found that more than half of major change initiatives ran behind schedule (55.8 per cent) and over budget (55.8 per cent). Among the 123 respondents able to estimate the financial impact of change initiatives that did not go to plan, one in five (20.3 per cent) reported costs of £100,000 or more.
The Index is believed to be the first Scotland-wide study focused specifically on organisational readiness for change. While many business surveys explore business confidence or economic outlook, the Index examines whether organisations have the capabilities, culture and processes needed to deliver significant transformation successfully.
The research was conducted by Dr Iva Atanassova and Dr Ye Li between May and July 2026, with distribution supported by more than 15 partner organisations including Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, Decom Mission, the Interdisciplinary Energy Institute, Peer Works, Business Gateway, NESA and others.
The findings suggest that organisational culture may play an important role in shaping change outcomes.
While 70.3 per cent of respondents feel safe challenging ideas or decisions at work, fewer than half (48.5 per cent) said it was easy to speak up. In addition, only 29.1 per cent said mistakes are routinely used as opportunities for structured organisational learning; while the most common response to mistakes was to implement a quick fix (32.7 per cent).
The study also found a strong relationship between organisations’ ability to identify emerging change and their confidence in future preparedness.
Among respondents who said their organisation often or almost always identifies important change early, 67.8 per cent (40 of 59) rated their organisation as fairly or fully prepared for future industry challenges. This compares to 28.4 per cent (19 of 67) who said their organisation only sometimes identifies change early, and 7.7 per cent (3 of 39) who said it rarely or almost never does. The researchers not that this finding demonstrates an association rather than a causal relationship.
Dr Iva Atanassova, Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Aberdeen Business School, said: “Scotland does not have a change failure problem. It has a change completion problem. Change gets off the ground, but too often it falls short of delivering its full intended value. The Index provides a snapshot of how prepared Scottish organisations are to deliver change and where some of the most significant barriers may lie."
Dr Ye Li, Lecturer and Director of Research for Business Management at the University of Aberdeen Business School, said: “Transformation is not a one-off decision. Organisations need to maintain momentum while continuing to learn, adapt and respond to new challenges. Readiness is therefore not only about having an ambitious vision, but about having the capability to carry that vision through to completion.”
The full report is free and available to download here