1. Business and Management
Critically evaluate and discuss the statement “Change is
the only constant in the business”
Group Essay
Group Number 2
Akta Gupta
Akhilesh Khanna
Anujika Kumar
Kunal Bansal
Sanchita Bhagat
Vibhuti Pradeep
Section A
Workshop B
Module: MNGT120
Module Leader: Dr. Seema Bhatt
Cohort: 2010-2013
Word Count: 2000 words

2. MNGT120
Defining change in simple words would mean “to make the form, nature, content,
future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if
left alone.” Imagine, an organization with no change in its workforce, suppliers,
buyers, products, style of working, not affected by the external environment for its
entire lifetime. The existence of such an organization would be difficult even to
imagine because in the real world, every organization undergoes a change in its
workforce, suppliers, buyers, products, etc. The dynamic nature of the business
environment has forced organizations to come up with new strategies or even minimal
changes if that is what helps them to survive in this constantly changing business
world. Since an organization cannot survive without an interaction with the outside
world, this interaction will bring a change in the organization and only “change” is a
factor that will be consistentin an organization forever. No building, machine,strategy,
person would last forever in a companyand would be replaced or changed. If the
company tries to bring this imaginary world to the real one, it would fail terribly and
would engender its own downfall in this world of changes as nothing but change
remains constant.
Every organization like a human being has stages of life and needs to grow, which
could be in terms of market share, profit levels, increasing brand image, etc but to do
so it has to adapt itself to the changing world. If not adopted and changed
accordingly, the company would not prosper and would ultimately die out as a sunset
industry/company as it could not meet up with the changing environment and the
expectations of the market. As a new baby comes into this world, it grows, matures
and dies one day, similarly an organization or business would once start, grow and
ultimately come to an end. But in this process, it would have to go through a number
of changes as one grows; being more knowledgeable and experienced with age. These
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3. MNGT120
changes could be in physical form whether external or internal.Nothing remains
constant for an individual over his lifetime and so is the condition of an organization.
The external environment, in which it works, like the business cycle,changes in the
consumer demand trends, etc thus bringing about a change. The internal changes like
employees coming in and going out, financial fluctuations, change in projects, change
in technology, etc would constantly force the business to accept a new medium to do
the same work it did, or maybe force it to start with something new because its initial
projects are low in worth, now. If traditions, let it be in a community or organization,
were not evolved over time, prosperity and development would be restricted.
Economies have evolved over time, revolutions have forced companies to try
innovative methods and deviate from the existing norms or restrictions as the market
is continuously infested with competition. No company can survive if it sticks to the
traditional or previously set strategies or methods. In this time where every individual
is looking for budget cuts, high efficiency and quality at low costs andbetter results
within little or no time, the need for change is now surfacing. Kotter (1996) in this
book, Leading Change, stated, “The rate of change is not going to slow down anytime
soon. If anything, competition in most industries will probably speed up even more in
the next few decades.”An organization would have to try different ideas to stay in the
market.Inability to change is considered as unsatisfactory and leads to being one of
the major threats as to why businesses fall in today’s world. Following the words of
Scott G.McNealy, Chairman, President and CEO of Sun Microsystems “Miss one
development cycle and you are seriously hurt. Miss two and you are mortally
wounded,"it can be observed how important in the world of today is keeping with
change rather being able to accept it and devising ways to achieve the organizational
goals with the presence of a ever changing or dynamic business environment.
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4. MNGT120
Adaptation of change with the product lifecycles becoming smaller by the day and
constantly changing consumer demands has gained ample importance over the last
few decades. Changes could be adopted in various ways. This could involve a routine
change like employee turnover, changes in the product or service, changes in the
compensation, etc, such changes are easier to manage but some changes can be non-
routine and can bring uncertainty and anxiety within the workplace, such a change
could be a merger or a takeover, complete change in the organizational culture,
rebranding, etc. Introducing changes in a subtle manner from time to time would not
only reduce resistance on the part of the employees but also make the functioning of
the organization highly dynamic.
According to the perception of some companies, changing the way the employees
think and perceive could do wonders wherein; it brings about changes in their vision,
mission and values. Whereas, according to some, by bringing in a new leader,
appointing a new CEO for the company would be enough, but change is just not it. A
change can be as small as adding a new coffee machine to the workplace to a
complete rebranding of the organization. It is a full circle that would bring a series of
other changes as one change would have some after-effects and some resistance as it
is difficult for people to get accustomed to new measures for they are not willing to
leave their comfort zones. This decision caneither result in being a benefit to the
business or become a reason for the company’s doors being sealed.
An extreme case of implementing a change within an organization is the case of
rebranding UTI bank to Axis Bank, where the former UTI bank not only changed its
name to Axis Bank but also the brand, along with the , symbol andsignage to reflect
the new look, which provided a complete transformation of the bank. This helped in
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5. MNGT120
changing its image in the eyes of the public from a quasi-government bank to a
private bank. It also altered 96other elements, some of which involvedcheque books,
pay-orders, dress code of the employees, working ambience, the branch look, etc to
suit the new name of the bank. But this change could have become very tragic to the
company as customers tend to get emotionally attached to companies and changing
the brand value and look could bring a sense of alienation. If it did not convey a right
message about this change to their present and potential investors and the consumers
the new name and look would could have made them feel different about their
dealings. To deal with this uncertainty, a promotion strategy was marketed which
aired the message of the Axis Bank stating that, “Everything is the same, except the
name.” so that investors and customers would not flee away due to various concerns
like change in brand image, value and other norms as these usually are marked as thee
harbinger of uncertainty. This was the biggest voluntary change in the banking sector
that was long term, but there are various other changes that the Axis Bank has to go
through every day to keep the business working and profitable like making smart and
analyzed investments, adding new customers, etc. If it planned to stop changing and
stick to its basic form, it would probably not be known to the large number of people
for its significant change and crash as the customer and market demand keep
changing inevitably with other banks in the private sector always trying to seal the
deal.
The other example of growth in an organization due to the adoption of change was the
achievement of the British Airways in cultural change. British airways started during
1935, when the private UK airlines came into existence. A change had taken place to
develop BOAC (The British Overseas Airways Corporation) with the help of
government nationalized British airways and Imperial Airways. At this point of time,
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6. MNGT120
there was stability and predictability in the external markets and the implementation
of competitive strategies was also not required for British airways. The changes had
taken place due to the rise in the organization. From the year 2001-06 British airways
was undergoing devastation, but because of the following changes like the overhaul of
buying procedures, the aviation of procurement and finance conference, the
organization had recovered all its losses.
Multinational food chains like McDonalds and KFC, brought changes into their
served menu while entering the Indian market, to suit the tastes of the targeted
market. This change was introduced e.g., Mc Aloo Tikki, by McDonalds and veg.
zinger burger by KFC only in India, and the foreign branches do not serve these in
their menu, as their customer demands vary. If it did not bring this change, it would
have not survived in this market.
These were some successful changes in the history of change management but there
have been attempts to bring about a change in the market trends and consumer
demands by trying new ideas that have not only come at a great cost but also have
failed tragically. One such example is the “Premier” the smokeless cigarette, RJ
Reynolds invested millions to launch this product but could set the name of the
company only as a market disaster in bringing new products. He did try to change the
perception of smoking to a smokeless cigarette, but failed. So was with the case with
the colorless version of Pepsi cola, Pepsi Aha (Pepsi with lemon), Vanilla Coke were
other market failures. Some changes are not acceptable in the market, as the
consumers cannot accept some changes as they are attached to the previously
launched products but they still take place as the race to be in the line of competition
never ends.
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7. MNGT120
In this world of changes, bringing about change is important and so is adapting to the
changing markets. So was the case with the Bethlehem Steel, which at one point of
time was the only steel producing company in America, it ranged from railroads to
cargo vessels and coal to warships.But this company could not change with the
economy that led to a service-based economy in the 1990s and thus failed and filed
for bankruptcy in 2001.
Such instances show how evident is the involvement of change in any business and
jots down the numerous consequences that company failing to comply with it have to
face. Under such circumstances, their existence itself becomes the question. This has
been observedin the functioning of the Indian handloom industry. It has faced intense
competition over the years, survived with grasping breaths, having no change in their
form, but now needs to be revived to meet the competition that globalization brings
along with it. With the trend of reducing demand of these goods probably because of
the dearth of knowledge, expertise and skills in this field, the adoption changes could
slowly show the true potential of this industry enabling it to survive. Even the public
sector undertakings like Engineer India, Coal India, PowerGrid, Rural
Electrifications, etc, despite being run with rigid rules and sometimes inflexible, have
had to adopt changes once in a while so as to adjust to the dynamic nature of the
business environment. They do so by timely policy changes because they desire to
show the same acceleration and excellence in growth as they have exhibited overtime.
"Everybody has accepted by now that change is unavoidable. But that still implies
that change is like death and taxes — it should be postponed as long as possible and
no change would be vastly preferable. But in a period of upheaval, such as the one we
are living in, change is the norm."
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8. MNGT120
-Drucker. P (1999)
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9. MNGT120
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