Conducting Business in a Fast-Paced World: The Importance of Change Management

Today companies strive to find new strategies and ways to dominate their markets. With the rapdily changing technological realm, companies are faced with a great many options of how to conduct their business. This also means that enterprises that have been around for a long time need to change to accommodate these new advances and improve their own workflows. How these companies choose to face these changes falls under the topic of change management.

Analysis of the Field

Table 1: Changes in Business Environment

With these significant changes in the business environment, it is not surprising that a number of new theories have surfaced in the field of change management. Frantz (2004) suggests that these new theories fall under two categories. The first of these categories is called the organic models. According to Frantz (2004), these models encompass new approaches that focus on natural phenomena as an explanation for how organizational change takes place. Included in this grouping is the widely discussed complexity theory which focuses on the complex interactions between components of the system.

Another collection of theories in the field of change management fall under the category of organizational stage models. According to Frantz (2004), these models focus on the life-cycle of products and services. Specifically, these theories propose that change should be handled differently based on whether the product is close to the introduction phase or close to the obsolescence phase (Frantz, 2004).

In addition to characterizing the change management models, another key to understand this field is to understand the forces that bring about change. Frantz (2004) summarizes three methods to classifying these forces. The first of the change forces is referred to as technical versus adaptive approach. This approach explains that technical problems may require more traditional remedies and that other problems may require more adaptive leadership skills (Frantz, 2004).

The second force is called the systems approach. The systems approach is an organizational behavior-based approach. It concentrates more on organizational learning and systems thinking. Specifically, the focus of the systems approach is to study the interdependency of all of the actions an organization takes (Frantz, 2004).

The last change force is called the incremental versus discontinuous approach. This approach concentrates on the pace at which changes and impacts take place. For instance, those organizations that face incremental change see a starting place and a stopping point for each period of change. On the other hand, a company with discontinuous change find themselves in a constant state of change and transition (Frantz, 2004).

As mentioned previously, several models and theories have been proposed in the area of change management. With change such an important topic for companies, it is important that companies have the right people to management change. It is important that companies look to internal leaders to help them through the change process.

The Study of Change Management

Within this area of study are several subsectors that help to define the role of change management. One of these subsectors is the study of leadership. Leaders are a valued asset to companies for several reasons. They are the key employees that help to shape an organization’s values and image. And for this reason, leaders are an important part of implementing change in any business. Researcher Kimberly Boal (2004) points out in one of her recent writings that there are several a couple of different kinds of leadership skills. Supervisory theories focus on person-oriented and task-oriented skills of leaders. Strategic leadership theories focus on the skills of those who have overall responsibility within an organization.

Whether considering the role of the supervisory leader or the strategic leader, both play a large part in the successful implementation of change. Managers and leaders that fall under the category of supervisory leaders can have a direct impact on the motivation and attitude of their subordinates. In a recent article, Robert House (1996) revisited his study of the path-goal theory of leadership effectiveness. His theory suggests that managers and leaders have a direct effect on the motivation of lower-level employees and those employees’ satisfaction with their job (House, 1996). With such a direct impact, it is apparent that these managers and leaders could shape and mold the attitudes of their subordinates through their showing of approval and positive attitude towards changes that are made.