bc_04_changes in nature & society

7/23/2019 BC_04_Changes in Nature & Society

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CH NGES IN N TURE

ND SOCIETY

Prof.dr.dr .dr.h.c. Constantin Bratianu

Facul ty of Business Administration

Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest



It is not the stro ngest of the species that

surv ives, not the mos t inte ll igent , bu t the one

most responsive to change

(Charles Darw in )



There is noth ing more di f f icu l t to take in hand,

more per i lous to conduct , or m ore uncertain in

i ts su ccess, than to take the lead in the

int roduct ion o f a new order of th ings

( Nicco lo Mach iavel l i )



Evidence overwhelm ingly suggests that the

most fundamental problem in all of the stagesis changing the behavior of people

(John Kotter)



Internal field of

forces Fi

External field offorces Fe

External environment

Internal environment

Dynamic equilibrium: Fi = Fe



CH NGE DYN MICS

Initial state Final state

Inertial forces

(Resistances)

Driving forces

(Promoters)

Catalysts



Change

• Change = a natural or societal process ofalteration the initial state of a given entity,produced in a spontaneous or controlled way.

• Any entity will continue to operate in the samefunctional and structural state until a drivingforce will change some of its core characteristics.

• An organizat ional change is an alterat ion o f anorganization’s environment, structure,technology, or people

• Any change is developing as a dynamic processunder dr iv ing and inert ial forc es.



Types of change - Time

Evolutionary/ Continuous changes- continuous process of change in time, without

discontinuities

- usually, they involve small change

- usually, they involve a dynamic equilibrium

(if there are perturbations, they do not change the basic state

of the system)

Examples:

- in nature: growing trees, ageing people, weather

warming, snow melting

- in society: business development, team work, education

in schools and universities



Types of change - Time

Revolutionary/discontinuous/disruptive changes

- discontinuous process of change in time

- usually, they involve a big change

- usually, they involve a conflicting situation

Examples:

- in nature: earthquakes, floods, tornadoes

- in society: a revolution, a strike, starting up a newcompany, taking-over of a company, an invention, adiscovery



Types of change - Quantity

Small changes

- continuous improvement, TQM, innovations

- temperature variation during a day

Big changes

- reengineering a company, changing the Constitution of a

country- temperature variation between day and night in desert

- changing seasons



Spontaneous/

Emergent

Planned/

Controlled

Nature

Society

Any change produced

without human

intervention

Any change produced by

human intervention

(canals, lakes, clouds

breaking, artificial snow)

Accidents (auto, airplane)

Technology failures,

catastrophes (i.e. nuclear)

Epidemics

Diets (at individual level)

Social, economical,

political reforms

Organizational change to

adapt to the businessenvironmental needs

Types of changes



Conflict management and politics

of change

• Conflicts may appear in any organization, withrespect to change

• Conflicts are generated between the driving

forces of change and the inertial forces• Conflicts may appear at any level within

organization

• Change can be performed:

- top-down- bottom-up

- across organization



Critical views of managing

change

• Can change be managed?Planned change can be managed

Spontaneous/Emergent change cannot bemanaged 100%, but great leaders know how toenter the change process and to direct it (i.e. like

in martial arts)

• If, YES, should change be managed?

Much better than do not manage it

• What should be the relation between manageablechange and non-manageable change?

It should be a relation of integration



Cultural change

• Cultural change means change in organizationalculture

• That means changes of beliefs, values, symbols,rituals, traditions etc.

• Changing cultural values is very difficult and it takestime

• Changing cultural values is very important fortransnational companies. Many mergers failed due todifficulties in changing organizational cultures

• Conflicts may appear when top management comesfrom a different culture than most of employees (seeCraiova)



Change agents roles and

relationships

• Changes within an organization need a catalyst.

• People who act as catalysts and assume the

responsibility for managing the change processare called change agents.

• Any manager can be a change agent. Also, anyother person from inside or outside the

organization (i.e. a consultant).

• Change agents play the role of the driving forcesfor the change process



CHANGE METAPHORS

• “Calm waters” metaphor:

The organization is envisioned as a large ship

crossing a calm sea, to a well known destination.

The trip is predictable without problems.

• “White-water rapids” metaphor:

The organization is envisioned as a small raft

navigating a raging river with uninterruptedwhite-water rapids.



Organizational dynamics

complexity and change

• Within any organization there is a field of forces

representing people, processes and technologies

• These forces are interrelated and any change

induced by any of them will be propagatedthroughout organization

• Complexity makes change more difficult, such

that complexity will slow down the propagation of

any change

• Large companies are more complex than small

ones. Thus, in large companies managing change

is much more difficult than in small companies



Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Switch. How to change things when change is hard

bc_04_changes in nature & society

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