Brief Overview/Summary
The
topics covered in this lesson were: Drivers of World Change and Change
Management and Change Leadership
Prof
Shahi started off the lesson with a recap of what was discussed in week 3 on industrialization
and sustainability. There was a recap of the arguments made by both newly
emerging economies and developed countries on sustainable development –
industrialized countries routinely condemn developing countries for not
adopting clean technology in the pursuit of industrialization, whereas the
emerging economies are adamant that since current environmental issues are the result
of past destructive practices undertaken by the industrialized countries
themselves, it should be the industrialized countries who should be responsible
for the funding of green technology research and the production of clean
energy.
It
struck me that sustainable development is every global citizen’s
responsibility. We all have a role to play in ensuring the sustainability of
Earth’s resources for the very survival of our future generations. Furthermore,
in this age of representative governance, the impetus for individual
responsibility is especially pertinent, given that the mandate and support of
the people is indispensable in order to fuel the political will to make the
necessary changes.
Prof
Shahi also mentioned the need for us to be ‘unreasonable’, in the sense that we
should not be content with the status quo, but instead be advocates of change –
to believe in a revolutionary vision and hence harnessing our potentials to
seek improvement to the status quo.
Using
the flow chart illustrating two concepts of technology revolution, Prof
introduced the evolutionary and revolutionary concepts of change. Various drivers of world change such as
globalization, competition, business and commercial innovation, were also
identified.
In
the second half of the lesson on change management and change leadership, we
covered the importance of embracing change and what it takes to be an effective
leader.
Interesting Observations
and Ideas
Drivers of
World Change
Reading
1 identified and summarily explained the major drivers of global change:
1.
Climate change (its impacts and our responses);
2.
Converging new technologies (promises and perils);
3.
Demographics (notably the growth in Africa and most of Asia);
4.
Energy (emerging technologies and diversifying supplies);
5.
Food security (issues of demand and supply);
6.
World economic power shifts (the rise of China and India);
7.
Governance (attempts at both international and national levels to reduce risk
through regulation);
8.
Health and well-being (global spread of lifestyle diseases);
8.
Infectious diseases (the impact of globalization on the global spread of
diseases);
10.
Marine concerns (acidification, pollution, over-fishing);
11.
Mobility (increase in human movement);
12.
Money, wealth and economy (faltering growth and the emergence of new models of
economic activity);
13.
Resources (global scarcity and the need for efficient utilization);
14.
Values and people (generational shift and complexity in the face of
globalization and better connectivity through IT).
Reading
2 provided a further comprehensive discussion on the key drivers of change in
today’s world and they are, broadly, globalization, technology innovation and
competition (competitiveness).
Globalization
has resulted in the removal of barriers to free trade and capital mobility and
allowed for the diffusion of knowledge and information. It presents valuable
opportunities for potential economies of scale to be reaped by countries with
small domestic markets.
On
the separate front, revolution in information and communications technology has
made communication much faster and cheaper and this has led to significant
decreases in the transaction costs in the transference of ideas and
information, especially with the arrival of the internet. This allows countries
with relevant and advanced technologies to be have the comparative advantage to
innovate further and to reap the rewards of such innovation.
The
interplay between globalization and technological innovation was also
recognized in that global firms rely on technological innovation to enhance
their capabilities. Hence, it is important to bear in mind that technology is
both driven by and is a driver of globalization.
Notably,
globalization also manifests itself in the form of intensified competition
among firms and in the creation of new industry structures. This forces firms
to be innovative in terms of the responses and strategies to deal with emerging
new scenarios (e.g. the need to create new products). The ultimate purpose of
global firms is to compete, to gain a comparative advantage over and, if
possible, to eliminate the competition in the industry and to dominate the
market.
The
interaction between these 3 key drivers of change in today’s world represent a
dynamic and iterative process, taking place constantly and on the whole, may be
viewed as a positive-sum game for society, reflecting Schumpeter’s idea of
“creative destruction”.
The
fourth reading presented a refreshing perspective on the drivers of change
affecting the construction industry in Zambia. It highlights several similar
drivers as those identified in the previous readings. Notably, the key drivers
of change in our world today are largely
analogous and universal across industries and economies.
Change
Management and Change Leadership
Several
key ideas may be drawn from the readings for this section.
1.
The traditional approach to change management, which adheres to conceptual
model of unfreeze-change-freeze, is no longer relevant.
In
this model, change is treated as an aberration, a temporal disturbance in a
generally stable organizational environment. However, in today’s competitive
and volatile economic context where change is the norm and steady-state
situations are “fleeting and illusory”, in order to ensure an organization’s
viability in the long-run, the willingness and openness to continuously adapt
to change is paramount.
2.
It needs to be recognized that organizations are not the entities that adapt to
change, it is the people who make up the organization that do.
Leadership,
judgment, flexibility and innovation of management is what is essential to
achieve effective organizational change.
Reading
1 highlights the example of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems which is
implemented with the aim of providing seamless integration of critical
information flows. However more often than not, the ERP systems fail to achieve
these goals because of an underestimation of the human element required to
bring about the desired change. As the article notes, “without proper training,
incentives and leadership, a flexible, integrated system will not magically eradicate
organizational silos to produce a flexible, integrated workforce.
3.
It is critical to engage all stakeholders of the organization in order to
achieve the desired goals of change.
Oftentimes,
well-intentioned and promising initiatives for change are unwittingly sabotaged
by employees of the same organization who do not understand the imperative and
workings behind the changed system.
Statistics
bear out the hypothesis that effective change management is not prevalent – a
2002 Watson Wyatt study found that only 49% of respondent employees say they
understand the steps that their companies are taking to reach new business
goals – a 25% drop from 2000. Shockingly, a significant number are confused
about the link between their jobs and company objectives. This is necessarily
detrimental to recovery efforts by the company.
The
article also pertinently notes that “people resist change only when it makes
them feel out of control – when the change is foisted on them without their
consent”. Hence, there is an imperative for companies to embark on an inclusive
and consultative change process with their employees – employees need to feel
as though they have a stake in the organization and that their own goals are
aligned with that of the company.
4.
Leadership is meaningless without followers.
Through
the two videos shown in class, Prof conveyed the concept of leadership in a
realistic setting – a leader is merely a “lone nut” – albeit a courageous one
who is unashamedly public in the pursuit of his activity – without a group of
followers. The first few followers of the leader play a crucial role in
enabling leadership – the leader needs to conscientiously nurture his first few
followers and to treat them as equals.
The
video on the little Indian boy who decided to change the status quo of the
situation conveyed the powerful message that in order to bring about change,
there is firstly a need for initiative. Someone has to be willing to take the
first step to challenge the status quo and set an example for others to follow
suit.
Key Take Away Points
1.
The government of Singapore embodies visionary leadership and a proactive
leader of change. This is illustrated in how even before a pressing need
arrives, there are already plans in the pipeline to build a fourth aircraft
terminal in the country. This is as Singapore anticipates that it is set to experience
massive increases in the amount of aircraft traffic in the near future, with
the ongoing phenomenon of globalization.
2.
The concept of leadership is inexplicably tied to the concept of followers. No
form of leadership, whether effective or not, can exist without follower
presence. As per the idea conveyed in reading 4, leaders are defined by their
ability to leverage with those who associate with them.
Personal Ratings for Session
I felt that the
choice of videos to convey the concept of leadership were very powerful and
appropriate. Also, the presentations were comprehensive in their coverage of
the pertinent issues of the lesson’s topics. For instance, Eric Sim’s
presentation on how the proliferation in use of social media platforms in China
has profoundly changed the way Chinese youths express themselves in reaction to
societal issues and this has in turn, great significance for the way these
issues are ultimately dealt with in the country. This widespread penetration
and use of social media platforms could not have been possible without the
driver of globalization and innovation. The presentation on Jack Welch also
provided a useful insight into how change management and change leadership is
effected.
I would rate
this session 8/10.
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