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.
“Bad” changes – a silver lining
During difficult financial times, organizations are changing. Often, this means that people lose their jobs. This type of change has more of an effect that just about anything else that happens in the workplace.
Sometimes, people use this change in their own circumstances to reappraise their life. Of course, this isn’t easy. But it is possible to end up with a positive outcome – people can set up their own businesses, sometimes even find a better job, or do some retraining. We must force ourselves to look for the silver lining.
Beer, Berlin and Organizational Change Management
I came across this interesting article from last year by Stefan Stern on the Financial Times web site – Bosses with a thirst 
for change. I live in Berlin, so his discussion of how the managers of brewing firms in the former East Germany adapted to the fall of the Berlin wall was interesting for two reasons.
Reason 1 – I like the beer
Reason 2 – the managers showed a great deal of skill in adapting to the changing business environment (what we at Turris Consulting call the external change context).
Good questions for organizational change management
“What kind of employees do you want? What kind of organisation do you want?”
These questions are posed in an FT book review that you can read here. No matter how you answer them, you need to do some organizational change to have the kind of organization you want.
But before you decide, here’s a tip — speak to the employees first. They will tell you what organizational change is needed.
Introduction
This is a blog where I will be posting thoughts, pieces of information, and whatever else might be of interest for people interested in organizational change.
I will be paying particular attention to things that are relevant to the fact that I work and live in Berlin. This means that some of the articles and links that I post will be in German.
I’ll be posting two or three times a week. You can have an RSS feed to learn of new posts – see the link on the right of the page.
