Change in an uncertain world
I recently did a search of the online journals of the academic publishers Taylor and Francis. This revealed that the phrase “unprecedented change” has been used in reference to many, many topics, including life in rural communities, Italian politics, healthcare, libraries, information technology and education.
It is not surprising, then, that implicit in many management texts, articles on business in newspapers and magazines, and management training courses is the view that the world is changing more quickly than ever. This point is made explicitly equally often. To give but three examples:
- “We are living at a time when the competitive environment has a steep and rapid learning curve. It’s also a time of unprecedented change.”
- “Today, however, companies are in a process of retooling and developing new strategies which will assist them to be competitive at a time of unprecedented change in product and labour markets and technology.”
- “All parts of organizations are going through unprecedented change as a result of the volatile business environment, including such well-known items as exploding technology, globalization, and new work processes.”
In the terms we use at Turris Consulting, this means that the outer context is not stable. This in turn means…. organizational change! So how should managers deal with this instability?
The Contexts of Organizational Change
Organizations do not exist in a vacuum. The model of organizational change that I developed specifically takes account of what I call the external context. This includes – but is not limited to – developments that directly affect the financial aspects of business.
As the outer context changes, my model suggests that this then has an affect on any change processes that are taking place in an organization. The Euro is now losingvalue against the dollar.
Let’s assume that your organization is going through some change initiatives that require money (and they all do). How are you going to manage that? Will you change the scope of the change? Carry on anyway? One thing is certain – the change you began with will not be the same change that you end with.
Copenhagen: The Real Organizational Change Environment
The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference is coming up.
Organizational change takes place within a change context, which includes what is happening in the broader economic, political and social context. This is the outer context, and is the environment in which the organization operates. This is what people usually think about when they talk about organizational change.
But part of the business environment is the real environment – the air we breathe, the water we drink.
Responsible organizations should already be undergoing organizational changes to improve their environmental record. One of their challenges is to go through these changes without weakening their competitive position. Careful change management is obviously essential.
Some organizations view EU and national government plans as being too radical and as a threat to competitiveness. These companies need to get their priorities straight, though. The concept of stakeholders should help these companies to understand that their organizational changes should include changes to help the environment: we are all stakeholders in the environment.
