Session 4 (6/9) Reflections

Brief Overview

This week we look at the global drivers of change and how to effectively manage change.

Interesting Ideas/Observations

Drivers of Change

Reading 1 identifies global drivers of change to 2060 while reading 3 predicts what the global landscape would look like in 2025, splitting the scenarios between those which are relatively certain as well as key uncertainties and fleshes out what the implications are. Both readings mention the increase stress on limited resources, a shift in world economic power (rise of China and India) and climate change.

It was mentioned during the discussion that infectious diseases (one of the drivers mentioned in reading 1) were historically a driver of change (e.g. the black plague). I thought that was rather enlightening and recent experience from SARS, bird flu and H1N1 has definitely highlighted the continued impact infectious diseases have on the world.

It is interesting to note that technology is implicitly present in discussions of drivers of change or how the global landscape would be in the future. For example, the increase stress on scarce resources, whether energy, water or food, requires technological advancement to try and solve these problems. Another example is terrorism; it is noted in reading 2 that opportunities for mass-casualty attacks will increase as “technology diffuses”.

Reading 2 focuses on globalization, technology and competition as drivers of change. Although the reading appears to be slightly dated, the core ideas are still relevant. Some observations and ideas raised are particularly noteworthy:

• -        Technology is both driven by and is a driver of globalization
• -        Globalization manifests itself in intensified competition which is a positive-sum game for society
• -        Investing in new technology and enhancing entrepreneurial capabilites is necessary for firms to maintain or increase their competitive advantage

Of the three presentations for this segment, I found Aishwarya’s presentation, which looked at human ingenuity as the foremost driver of change, to be the most interesting. I liked the idea that technology need not be complex to change someone’s world. Simple, new technologies can be created using everyday objects in less developed areas as long as one is able to harness this ingenuity.

Change Management

Reading 2 suggests some differences between leaders and managers. From the discussion in class, which I agree with, leaders provide the vision and the direction while the management implements it. When coping with change, leaders will ‘make it happen’ while managers ‘respond when it happens’.

The main point this reading 1 emphasizes is that the human element is essential in change projects, since it is not organizations that adapt to change, but their people that do. It is observed that the traditional approach towards change management: unfreeze-change-refreeze, is now obsolete and continual change is necessary. Change projects have to be aligned with human nature, what motivates people varies from individual, a one-size-fits-all, top-down approach is bound to fail. Human behavior, however, can be modified using a combination of incentives and disincentives, if the desire for change is created in the individual.

Reading 3 sets out a systematic approach towards directing and managing change from a manager’s perspective, which if applied well, could help increase the will of employees to work. It proposes that in order to adapt to change, it is necessary to forecast the future and plan what needs to be done, policies need to be decided on then implemented through setting targets. Performance needs to be evaluated regularly in order to ascertain the effectiveness of these policies in adapting to change. This reading also echoes reading 1’s point that tasks or targets imposed from above are unlikely to be done willingly or well. Instead, the manager is encouraged to frequently engage in dialogue with his subordinates in every stage of change management.

For the second part of presentations, I found Jiaming’s presentation which examined the human psychological side of change, was very much in line with both reading 1 and 3. His presentation outlined 4 basic conditions to successful change projects: (i) a compelling story, (ii) role modeling, (iii) reinforcing mechanisms and (iv) capacity building, all conditions were mentioned at some point in reading 1 or 3.

Key Take Away Points

• There are numerous drivers of change which could lead to both positive and negative changes, some of the current drivers of global change include climate change, shift in world economic power, new technologies, diseases and scarcity of resources.
• Technology is both driven by and is a driver of globalization
• The human element is important in change projects
• Managers should seek to let employees take ownership of the change project through engaging them in the entire process, this would increase the likelihood of success  

Issues for Further Discussion

• What are ways in which the chasm between early adopters of new technology and early pragmatists can be crossed? What implications does this 'chasm' have on inventions and their inventors?

Rating

7/10