The change means the alteration of status quo or making
things different. It may refer to any alteration which occurs in the overall
work environment of an organization. When an organizational system is disturbed
by some internal or external force, the change may occur. The change is
modification of the structure or process of a system, that may be good or even
bad. It disturbs the existing equilibrium or status quo in an organization. The
change in any part of the organization may affect the whole of the
organization, or various other parts of organization in varying degrees of
speed and significance. It may affect people, structure, technology, and other
elements of an organization. It may be reactive or proactive in nature. When
change takes place due to external forces, it is called reactive change.
However, proactive change is initiated by the management on its own to enhance
the organizational effectiveness. The change is one of the most critical
aspects of effective management. It is the coping process of moving from the
present state to a desired state that individuals,
Organizational change is the process by which
organizations move from their present state to some desired future state to
increase their effectiveness. The goal of planned organizational change is to
find new or improved ways of using resources and capabilities in order to
increase an organization’s ability to create value and improve returns to its
stakeholders. An organization in decline may need to restructure its resources
to improve its fit with the environment. IBM and General Motors, for example,
experienced falling demand for their products in the 1990s and have been
searching for new ways to use their resources to improve their performance and
attract customers back.
The Importance of Change
One can try to predict the future. However, predictions
produce at best a blurred picture of what might be, not a blueprint of future
events or circumstances. The effective and progressive management of change can
assist in shaping a future which may better serve the enterprise’s survival
prospects. Change will not disappear or dissipate. Technology, civilizations
and creative thought will maintain their ever accelerating drive onwards.
Managers, and the enterprises they serve, be they public or private, service or
manufacturing, will continue to be judged upon their ability to effectively and
efficiently manage change. Unfortunately for the managers of the early
twenty-first century, their ability to handle complex change situations will be
judged over ever decreasing time scales. The pace of change has increased
dramatically; mankind wandered the planet on foot for centuries before the
invention of the wheel and its subsequent “technological convergence” with the
ox and horse.
In one ‘short’ century a man has walked on the moon;
satellites orbit the earth; the combustion engine has dominated transport and
some would say society; robots are a reality and state of the art manufacturing
facilities resemble scenes from science fiction; your neighbour or competitor,
technologically speaking, could be on the other side of the planet; and
bio-technology is the science of the future. The world may not be spinning
faster but mankind certainly is! Businesses and managers are now faced with
highly dynamic and ever more complex operating environments. Technologies and
products, alongwith the industries they support and serve, are converging. Is
the media company in broadcasting, or telecommunications, or data processing,
or indeed all of them? Is the supermarket chain in general retail, or is it a
provider of financial services? Is the television merely a receiving device for
broadcast
the airline a provider of transport
or the seller of wines, spirits and fancy goods, or the agent for car hire and
accommodation?
As industries and products converge, along with the markets
they serve, there is a growing realization that a holistic approach to the
marketing of goods and services is required, thus simplifying the purchasing
decision. Strategic alliances, designed to maximize the ‘added value’
throughout a supply chain, while seeking to minimize costs of supply, are fast
becoming the competitive weapon of the future. Control and exploitation of the
supply chain make good commercial sense in fiercely competitive global markets.
The packaging of what were once discrete products (or services) into what are
effectively ‘consumer solutions’ will continue for the foreseeable future. Car
producers no longer simply manufacture vehicles, they now distribute them
through sophisticated dealer networks offering attractive servicing
arrangements, and provide a range of financing options, many of which are
linked to a variety of insurance packages.
Utility enterprises now offer far more than their original
core service. Scottish power have acquired utilities in other countries and
have recently moved into water, gas and telecommunications, to become a
‘unified’ utilities company offering ‘one-stop shopping’ to domestic and
commercial customers. How can we manage change in such a fast moving
environment without losing control of the organization and existing core competencies?
There are no easy answers and certainly no blueprints detailing best practice.
Designing, evaluating and implementing successful change strategies largely
depend upon the quality of the management team, in particular the team’s
ability to design
