TIRET October 2012 Issue - MIDROC Ethiopia

COVER StORy
Change and Change Management
By Johannes Kinfu (Emer. Professor)
Asrat Bulbula
34 TireT October 2012
COLLABORATIVE
TEAMWORK
As long as there is life and activity there is change. Change
ceases when life stops. Change is an active movement
from what is to what is to be. It is a state of transposition/
transformation/transition from past, present and future.
To apprehend change one must consider bold changes,
subtle changes, sudden disruptive changes, smooth
changes, changes in substance and in form, change from
a level or stage of being to another, attractive changes
or antagonistic changes, voluntary versus mandatory
changes, physical, mental, intellectual changes, natural
changes and imposed changes. In the dynamics of
events, change is constant.
At the global level we are all appraised, amazed and
engulfed by changes in technology and innovation.
Change seems to be more real than ever, constant than
otherwise, and fast in ways “never seen or thought of”
before.
Challenge of Change
Is change something to tout about or matter to be
confounded? Most of the time change becomes a
challenge when it is sudden, externally driven, as it
EFFECTIVE
LEADERSHIP
CHANGE
MANAGEMENT
PLANNED
IMPLEMENTATION
SUPPORTIVE
CULTURE
Change Management Diagram
entails resistance, at least initially or at the outset. For
to change from what one is used to or habituated to
is not easy, one has to be willing to “think outside the
Box”. Acceptance of uncertainty and being optimistic
are big challenges. As change is inevitable, see the big
picture, the forest, by being inquisitive; and not waste
vital energy by being negative.
Change Management
In the literature change has been treated philosophically,
economically, especially in terms of economic
development and growth, and in technical innovation
and productivity, and in relation to succession
management and human resource development. Most
significantly however, the meaning and development
of “change management” has undergone extensive
conflicting and complex debate culminating in the
acceptance of two component parts. On one side
is the technical and mechanical part dealing with
technological innovation for improving productivity
and performance. On the other hand it reckons the
importance of the psychological and human aspects of
change needed for adaptation for change. It is realized