Strategic Drivers of Organisational Change
Introduction
The constant change in modern economy is a subject that has been discussed since the beginning of this module. It can’t be avoided and it became part of all types of business present in the current market. It is even correct to say that change is the most common characteristic among firms (John Olaghere, n.d.). Since companies cannot avoid changes, they need to prepare their organization as much as possible to deal with them. Successful firms will be the ones that embrace changes and grow with the challenges and difficulties they bring.
Changes usually are seen negatively, and this is one of the reasons why they lead to failure (Child, 2005). It is estimated that 70 to 90 % of organizations have had bad results after implementing changes (John Olaghere, n.d.). This fact cannot be the reason to ignore or fear them, it dictates the need of being more flexible and aggressive to adapt quicker and stay in the competition; the attitude that everyone in the firm takes towards changes is generally the big factor to achieve short and long term improvement.
There are two main types of changes’ drivers, external and internal:
External drivers, as the name suggests, are situations and events that happen outside the company and for this reason they cannot be controlled. In some cases they can be anticipated, giving firms a chance to prepare themselves to better approach it; other cases are not predictable, they require quick and efficient reaction from managers as well as a good defensive plan. External drivers are globalization, regulations, technological innovations, hypercompetition, advance in education, demographic changes and others.
Internal drivers occur within firms, they can be firms’ decision or under firms’ control. Examples are innovation, organizational culture, management systems and others. Most decisions taken regarding internal changes have proactive behavior in order to be more competitive or more successful in the market. Internal drives
The constant change in modern economy is a subject that has been discussed since the beginning of this module. It can’t be avoided and it became part of all types of business present in the current market. It is even correct to say that change is the most common characteristic among firms (John Olaghere, n.d.). Since companies cannot avoid changes, they need to prepare their organization as much as possible to deal with them. Successful firms will be the ones that embrace changes and grow with the challenges and difficulties they bring.
Changes usually are seen negatively, and this is one of the reasons why they lead to failure (Child, 2005). It is estimated that 70 to 90 % of organizations have had bad results after implementing changes (John Olaghere, n.d.). This fact cannot be the reason to ignore or fear them, it dictates the need of being more flexible and aggressive to adapt quicker and stay in the competition; the attitude that everyone in the firm takes towards changes is generally the big factor to achieve short and long term improvement.
There are two main types of changes’ drivers, external and internal:
External drivers, as the name suggests, are situations and events that happen outside the company and for this reason they cannot be controlled. In some cases they can be anticipated, giving firms a chance to prepare themselves to better approach it; other cases are not predictable, they require quick and efficient reaction from managers as well as a good defensive plan. External drivers are globalization, regulations, technological innovations, hypercompetition, advance in education, demographic changes and others.
Internal drivers occur within firms, they can be firms’ decision or under firms’ control. Examples are innovation, organizational culture, management systems and others. Most decisions taken regarding internal changes have proactive behavior in order to be more competitive or more successful in the market. Internal drives
References: Child, J. (2005) Organization: Contemporary Principles and Practice, Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. John Olaghere (n.d.) ‘Internal and external drivers of change’ [Online]. Available from http://johnolaghere.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/internal-and-external-drivers-of-change.pdf (Assessed 9 August 2013). Leahy, L, & Chamberlain, N. (2008) ‘Surviving change’, Strategic HR Review [Online], 7, 6, pp. 23-29, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost. Available from http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/journals.htm?articleid=1747668&show=abstract (Assessed: 9 August 2013). Mühlbacher, J, Nettekoven, M, & Kovac, J (2011) ‘Competency management in Slovenia: Paradoxes between development trends and drivers of change’, Journal For East European Management Studies [Online], 16, 1, pp. 75-90, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost. Available from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=17e074a3-13dc-4890-8282-01aef781df27%40sessionmgr4&vid=3&hid=16 (Assessed 9 August 2013).