Why Change Matters

Objectives
Instructor Comments
Assignment

Objectives

The aim of this assignment is introduce learners to some of the ideas underpinning the field of Change Management. It seeks to help you understand the answer to a broader concern and that is - why does change management matter?

Instructor Comments

Why should learners study change management? Well think about the role of the U.S. government in bailing out the U.S. financial sector. Literally overnight, some of the biggest companies in the world were faced with the threat of bankruptcy and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs if they did not change their ways. Think about Michael McCain, CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, a man who needed to act very quickly and adeptly to save his company following a listeria outbreak in Ontario that caused numerous deaths from contaminated meat products. Think of the B.C. forest industry whose companies needed to deal with not only softwood lumber sanctions from the U.S., but also the economic downturn of 2008/2009 and the infestation of Pine beetles that threatened to wipe out its major source of supply. Michael McCain and his colleagues in the banking sector and in softwood lumber needed sage advice and had to take steps were out of the ordinary in order to enable their companies to survive. It would be an oversimplification to suggest that the public reaction of these companies to these crises was but the tip of the iceberg in terms of what was going on behind the scenes in these companies. Without these hidden activities, it is a safe bet that many more of these companies would not have survived. The readings for this assignment focus on why change is important to understand.

Assignment

You should base your responses to the following questions on the insight found in the following readings:

Miller D. 1990. The Icararus Paradox - How Exceptional Companies Bring About Their Own Downfall, Harper Business.

Hofstede G. 1993. Cultural Constraints in Management Theories, Academy of Management Executive. 7(1) 81 - 94.

Adrian J. Slywotzky and John Drzik, Countering the Biggest Risk of All. Harvard Business Review April 2005.

Please answer the following questions:

For each paper, please use one paragraph to summarize the main ideas.

Please use one half page to summarize the ideas that are similar among all of these papers.

Why is the effective management of organizational change important?