NHRD Journal - National HRD Network

BOOK REVIEWS
1. MANAGEMENT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE: LEVERAGING TRANSFORMATION BY K.HARIGOPAL
SECOND EDITION (2006), PUBLISHED BY RESPONSE BOOKS, A DIVISION OF SAGE PUBLICATIONS.
Business organizations and change are concepts that have been in the realm
of discussion and research ever since management developed as an independent
field of study. The development of management studies and its
expansion can be attributed to the ever growing and changing pace of business
transformation, the pace of which has accelerated after World War II.
Triggered and stoked by changing business scenarios due to technological,
political and economic forces, resultant intense competition has led to organizations
going through the cycle of birth, growth, decay and death. In all
these, change remains the common factor. Therefore organizational change
is synonymous with organizational activities. Since organizations consist of
people, organizational change is predominantly behavioral change. Learning
has to precede such a behavioral change.
In the present world of hyper competition, management of organizational change is a continuous
and ongoing phenomenon. organizations need to master the skills required to manage organizational
change as organizational flexibility is the key to success. Therefore the need to understand
and manage organizational change is a requirement for practicing managers, students who are
future managers and academicians and practicing academicians who intend to unravel the process
of change.
In the light of such a scenario, a book on management of organizational change seems to be in
perspective, although such books are numerous to the extent that books on specific aspects of
organizational change are in vogue such as social interaction, learning or informational technology
and change.
The book under consideration has been purported to have been written to address the needs of
students and practicing managers. The author, a widely experienced academician and trainer,
has attempted to express in a very simple and lucid manner the conceptual foundations, the
systems and processes associated with organizational change and its management. The book
is divided into six chapters.
The first chapter introduces the reader to the phenomenon at a conceptual level to facilitate his
understanding. It covers the meaning, nature and types of change. It also deals with the forces
which trigger organizational change. Chapter two and three deal with the concepts and processes
associated with planning for change such as strategic planning, management of transformation
and role of support systems. Having established the basis for understanding of organizational
change; the book, in the next three chapters, deals with the process of management of
change. Chapter four deals with the strategic levers which are used to implement change. Chapter
five deals with organizational culture and its role in management of change while chapter six
deals with the management of change through management of people.
The content of the book reflects the background of the author, whose main field of expertise is
human resource management, especially conflict management. The book is written in a simple
and lucid manner and uses boxes to highlight and stress upon certain key concepts associated
with organizational change. It also gives end of the chapter exercises to facilitate skill building for
management of organizational change.
Although the author uses his experience and case studies to buttress his arguments, yet the
book lacks case studies of business organizations which could have given the positioning of the
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November 2007 NHRD Journal