Using change management to remain competitive

The world today is changing faster than ever before. Technological developments, financial constraints, expanding markets, restructuring and mergers, new philosophies and government legislation are all putting pressure on organisations to change. Yet the process of change is far from easy, and implementing it successfully makes considerable demands on the managers involved.

“It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change”. – Charles Darwin

In our fast-moving, highly competitive global marketplace, change is continuously required, if an organisation is to remain competitive. A company can’t remain on the cutting edge by standing still. The key to effective organisational performance lies in the competence and commitment of the people. The clue to effective and successful management lies in understanding the nature of people, their behaviour, drives, hopes, fears and expectations, and the circumstances and activities necessary to bring the best act of them. Respect and value for people is a basic pre-requisite for the effective management of human resources so organisations have to create the conditions for fostering management need to create structures and cultures that are positive and organic and develop individuals and groups to their full potential to face emerging challenges.

Types of change:

At present, four kinds of change processes are emerging and prevailing.

1. The first kind of change is the overall change in structures, composition and management of the company because of various mergers and amalgamations taking place in companies. These mergers and amalgamations are of three types.
   1. The first is Vertical mergers. i.e., a merger of a small organisation with a bigger organisation.
   2. The second is Horizontal mergers. i.e., similar kinds and strengths coming together to form a big company.
   3. The third is Cross Mergers. i.e., different types of companies collaborating to capture more market share and size.
2. The second kind of change process begins in an organisation when a new product is launched in a market. Further, this kind of change is made for two reasons, that is, follow market skimming to earn Goodwill, money and reputation in the market. The second policy is market penetration just to capture more market share and to expand the customer base by lesser price policies.
3. The third aspect of change is incorporated whenever a new leadership is introduced in an organisation. This results in major shifts from one policy to another which can sometimes lead to productive changes and sometimes can attract retaliation from the staff members.
4. Technological advancements and the latest developments are the fourth major driving force to initiate the change process in any organisation because it can result in major capital expenditures and a complete change of existing structures.

Major Preparation for Change:

For any organisation to incorporate the change it must prepare in advance and follow some of the following mentioned steps to handle Change:

1. To implement any kind of change the first and foremost important element is that the leaders must be respected and effective in the management so that they are effective enough to enforce the change process easily.
2. Secondly, the motivational processes and techniques must be carried out in such a planned way and manner that each and every employee must be highly motivated enough to implement the change easily.
3. Thirdly an organisation must remove the aspect of Complacency in it. This can be done by:
   • Generating formations about the organisation’s situations about current and prospective problems.
   • Creating opportunities for employees to educate management about dissatisfaction and problems.
   • Creating a dialogue on the data and statistics collected and generated.
   • Setting very high standards and expect people to meet them.

In conclusion:

Change is a complex phenomenon. Whenever an organisation imposes new things on people there will be difficulties. Participation, involvement and full communication are important factors in bringing effective change processes in an organisation.