While advising a global corporation in the establishment and operation of a high-performance learning organization (HPLO) in a manufacturing plant in Madras, India, the authors encountered a major conflict among the US managers brought in to establish the plant, the local managers employed to operate it, and the workers who were hired and trained to produce the products. While they shared common production goals, their mental models and their ideal visions for the organization were different. 

The framework presented here was developed to help them understand their conflict, to allow them to both agree on a common vision and to chart a transformation path to achieve it. More specific diagnostic insights emerged when this framework was applied to four case studies.