In this paper we'll take a look at changes which each organization may face, discover why they appear and how they may be connected with risks. We will also discover the role of risk management in managing change.

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Managing change by managing risk

Times have changed and our thinking about the way we manage our improvement activities has to change. Good is not good enough. Only the very best will attract customers in today’s competitive environment. We have to excel in all parts of our organization. We have to have an organization that “wows” the customer, not just satisfies them.

Research confirms that as much as 60 per cent of change initiatives and other projects fail as a direct result of a fundamental inability to manage their social implications. 

Change is inevitable and we must embrace it if we are going to be successful in this challenging world we live in. Everything changes as well as each organization and, according to Waring and Glendon, change management has become a core element of management rhetoric.

In this paper we’ll take a look at changes which each organization may face, discover why they appear and how they may be connected with risks. We will also discover the role of risk management in managing change.

Types of Change
In any organization setting, change is inevitable. But not all types of change are the same - there is a distinct difference between continuous change, as in continuous incremental improvement of EXISTING products, programs, services and processes, and discontinuous change, as in reengineering using a “blank sheet” approach or new technology that relies on a complete departure from existing systems and infrastructures

Continuous change is evolutionary, whereas discontinuous change is revolutionary, and therefore extremely disruptive.

When a leader, and presumably the leadership team, calls for any type of change to occur, but especially discontinuous change, they are essentially saying to the organization “life as we know it will never be the same”. And here the process of managing change starts.

Three Basic Change Management Definitions 

In thinking about what is meant by “change management,” at least three basic definitions come to mind:

  1. The task of managing change. 
  2. An area of professional practice. 
  3. A body of knowledge.

The Task of Managing Change

The first and most obvious definition of “change management” is that the term refers to the task of managing change. The obvious is not necessarily unambiguous. Managing change is itself a term that has at least two meanings.  

One meaning of “managing change” refers to the making of changes in a planned and managed or systematic fashion. The aim is to more effectively implement new methods and systems in an ongoing organization. The changes to be managed lie within and are controlled by the organization.  Perhaps the most familiar instance of this kind of change is the change or version control aspect of information system development projects.  However, these internal changes might have been triggered by events originating outside the organization, in what is usually termed “the environment.” Hence, the second meaning of managing change, namely, the response to changes over which the organization exercises little or no control (e.g., legislation, social and political upheaval, the actions of competitors, shifting economic tides and currents, and so on). Researchers and practitioners alike typically distinguish between a knee-jerk or reactive response and an anticipative or proactive response.

An Area of Professional Practice

The second definition of change management is "an area of professional practice."  

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of independent consultants who will quickly and proudly proclaim that they are engaged in planned change, that they are change agents, that they manage change for their clients, and that their practices are change management practices. There are numerous small consulting firms whose principals would make these same statements about their firms. And, of course, most of the major management consulting firms have a change management practice area.  

Some of these change management experts claim to help clients manage the changes they face – the changes happening to them. Others claim to help clients make changes. Still others offer to help by taking on the task of managing changes that must be made. In almost all cases, the process of change is treated separately from the specifics of the situation. It is expertise in this task of managing the general process of change that is laid claim to by professional change agents.

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A Body of Knowledge

Stemming from the view of change management as an area of professional practice there arises yet a third definition of change management: the content or subject matter of change management. This consists chiefly of the models, methods and techniques, tools, skills and other forms of knowledge that go into making up any practice.  

The content or subject matter of change management is drawn from psychology, sociology, business administration, economics, industrial engineering, systems engineering and the study of human and organizational behavior. For many practitioners, these component bodies of knowledge are linked and integrated by ...

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