Managing ‘Change’ in a Corporate and the 4 Ps Model for Change Engineering.

 

Managing ‘Change’ in a Corporate

and the 4 Ps Model for Change Engineering.

A corporate is a legal entity like a person and possesses certain characteristics exemplified in its work culture & traditions which are carries forward for a long time. Business environment changes over time, due to external and macro factors calling for internal adjustments in existing  practices of a corporate in order to remain ‘competitive’ and ‘relevant’ in the market environment. These internal changes are related to policy, pattern (organizational structure), people and processes. Since the ‘people factor’ is the most vulnerable and delicate variable factor in any organization – it needs judicious planning and execution of any change that the corporate intends to imbibe.

This paper tried to study as to how a multinational corporation can successfully bring in change in its style of functioning i.e. how ‘change is engineered’ and the key issues it faces while doing so. The paper is being prepared in the context of actual observations done by the author in a corporate in the United Arab Emirates. 

 

Key Words: Work Culture, Transformation, Change Agents, Corporate Personality,                            Organisational Development, Change Engineering, Change Model          

                         

Introduction: The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus had made a profound statement, “Change is the only constant” -- which remained true even today, more so for a corporate entity. A large company or corporate has to keep a close watch on its working practices and work cultures as it continues to grow. In fact the work culture of a corporate defines not only its character and image in public domain, but also determines its edge over competitors and a healthy growth prospect into the future. If a corporate suffers from internal issues such as lack of cohesion between different functional departments, lack of co-ordination and break in communication flow, conflicts beyond acceptable levels, lack of team spirit, rigid top management, improper or no human resource plan, no succession plan, no clarity on corporate goals, no accountability and the list can go on – then such a corporate actually ruins itself from inside. Unless some diagnosis is done and treatment of the key issues is not brought in, it would result in a self-decay or a slow death. Gradually the corporate would become ineffective in its efforts or would fail to utilize its resources to full extent. The external factors or the macro business environment always remains dynamic and ever changing. Unless a corporate adjusts itself internally it would face stiff challenges to operate in the face of such external environmental changes. This internal adjustment from time to time is termed as “change management”. Change management necessarily takes care of the functional issues and does not touch the fundamental ethos of a corporate (if such a philosophy already exists in the corporate say from its founding fathers with a defined Vision) unless those primary stakeholders decide to build up a fresh set of mission and vision. The changes that are sought to be brought in generally revolve around the operational aspects and cultural aspects which directly affect the overall character of the corporate. Also, certain changes are of regular nature which take place at regular intervals as operational adjustments. The ‘change’ that is discussed here is about a totalitarian change in a corporate -- encompassing all aspects of its “personality” in order to make it more viable as a business entity.  (Excerpts from the paper). Publisher: Bharti Publications, New Delhi.